Is it all about loving the kids? Perceptions about expertise in special education

Teachers, school leaders, and faculty (n = 32) were interviewed regarding their perceptions about the expertise of teachers of students with significant support needs. While participants agreed that expert instruction was characterized by knowledge about the student and positivity, their beliefs dif...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching and teacher education 2018-04, Vol.71, p.319-328
Main Authors: Ruppar, Andrea L., Roberts, Carly A., Olson, Amy J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Severe/significant disabilities
Special education
Teacher expertise
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Teachers, school leaders, and faculty (n = 32) were interviewed regarding their perceptions about the expertise of teachers of students with significant support needs. While participants agreed that expert instruction was characterized by knowledge about the student and positivity, their beliefs differed in relation to the functions of those expert skills. Findings revealed that deficit- and asset-oriented views of students were related to views about the professionalism of teachers. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the apparent link between deficit views about students and views of special education teachers as professionals. •Perspectives on expert teaching reveal assumptions about students.•Perspectives on expert teaching reveal assumptions about the purposes of special education.•Forms of expert teaching met different functions depending on expectations.•Positive narratives about teachers and students contrasted with deficit-oriented views.
ISSN:0742-051X
1879-2480
DOI:10.1016/j.tate.2018.02.001