Explain the interview with a teacher or caregiver
Application: Special Needs from a Variety of Perspectives
Interview with a Teacher or Caregiver
For your Application Assignment this week, you have a choice of interviewing a teacher whose expertise is special education and who works with children ages 3-8, or a classroom teacher or caregiver who has a child or children in his/her setting who have been identified with special needs.
To complete this Application Assignment, do the following:
Plan: Choose a person to interview. Explain that the interview will take approximately one hour and the purpose is to help you better understand the processes involved in special education and the experiences and educational philosophies of a teacher or caregiver who works with young children who have special needs. The following is additional guidance for planning your interview:
Confirm the best way to conduct the interview-face to face, by phone, or by e-mail. Agree on a date and time. Be sure you have the meeting address, phone number, or e-mail address, as well as permission to do the interview.
Ask the age and category(ies) of special needs of the child or children the teacher or caregiver works with, to help you prepare for the interview.
Review the readings from this week and related readings from Week 1 on early intervention.
Read the section or sections in your text that cover the specific category or categories that pertain to the child or children in the teacher or caregiver’s setting. (You may need to read ahead.) Try to tune into any overgeneralizations and stereotypes that you do not want to bring to the conversation.
If you plan to tape-record the interview, test your recorder to be sure it works.
