Responding To Students Concerns About Fairness
By Ann B. Welch
The article by Ann B. Welch, Responding to Students Concerns About Fairness, was eye opening to the opinions of the regular education students. They had very firm opinions about the special education students and their modifications. Some regular education students resent the fact that special education students have modifications that will help them through school and pass regular education classes. They are upset because they think they are getting special treatment because they are different.
Ann Welch gave us three kinds of fairness to take into consideration: 1. Equality, everyone participant receives the same reward, 2. Equity, reward in proportionate to input. The person who contributed the most or scored the highest receives the greatest reward, and 3. Need, those who have the greatest need receive the greatest reward (pg.3). These are all true, but it all depends on the classroom teacher and which one they implement and the technique they use to do so.
All teachers have to take in a count for the students belief system and each culture has different or similar core beliefs. The teacher can’t change this but work with is in their classroom to make a difference. This is all done while following the school rules, district and state wide, and implementing Individual Education Plan modifications. Life isn’t fair and everyone has to deal with that, even teachers who are trying to work with all the rule and regulations.
Teachers also need to realize that with one student that has modifications, they don’t make the modifications for the rest of the class. Educators are legally and morally obligated to ensure that they provide necessary accommodation whether on not other students approve (pg. 6). It is not up to the students, but the IEP team to decide what is appropriate and what is not. This doesn’t mean that we as teachers don’t hold high expectations and providing quality instruction for all stud4ents. The challenges are tremendous, but so are the rewards (pg. 7).
Welch reminds us that “fair” is treating everyone the same (pg. 8). But, in special education we need to take in consideration the students personality and disability before we can create a fair atmosphere for everyone to learn in.