Everyone Wants What’s Best, So How Can “Best” Be So Different
[Pin It]
In this assignment you will demonstrate your understanding of the following learning objectives:
Analyze ways to create a collaborative school culture to promote professional growth and leadership;
Determine some of the causes of education-based conflict.
Evaluate problem solving and negotiation strategies to resolve education-based conflict.
Recognize the importance of knowing personal strengths and weaknesses in conflict resolution.
Justify the collaborative role of transition team members who actively participate in transition meetings.
Additionally, the assignment represents your mastery of Course Learning Outcomes 1, 2, & 3.
Providing tools for academic success to students with disabilities is a collaborative effort. Sometimes however, individuals within the collaborative team face conflict due to a strong emotional or professional investment from a particular member. Examples of education-based conflict include disagreements over the allocation of limited resources and funding, differing curriculum delivery methods, class behavior management styles, misinterpreted conversations (due to cultural differences, communication styles, personal or professional backgrounds, and other differences), and misunderstanding of professional roles, school policy, and other school or district-based guidelines. Chapter 9 in your Murawski and Spencer (2011) text outlines the causes of conflict and how to problem-solve through negotiation strategies with peers and in a collaborative team setting.
Instructions:
Content
The collaboration steps, as defined by Windle and Warren’s (n.d.) Collaborative Problem Solving: Steps in the Process, are listed below. Use the headings named in this section within your paper.
Before the Meeting – Interests and Options (1 point): Windle and Warren (n.d.) suggest that interests are the “underlying need, want, or desire that we are trying to satisfy with our position (solution)” Consider that statement, then:
Identify each team member’s interest in Lily’s post-graduation goals, including options that may be available given each team member’s point of view.
During the Meeting – Perception/Emotions (1 point): Remember that by sharing why your perception is important and relevant, the team will understand why each member has a certain perspective. In this section of your assignment:
Hypothesize each team member’s perceptions and the emotions tied to those perceptions, including an explanation that supports your rationale for the perception and associated emotions.
During the Meeting – Define the Issue (2 points):Windle and Warren (n.d.) suggest that an issue “may be defined as an element of the dispute that represents a party’s need or interest.” Consider that statement, then:
Identify one issue that the team will discuss, including a supporting rationale for your choice of this issue over others.
During the Meeting – Generate Options/ Brainstorming (2 points): Windle and Warren (n.d.) suggest that “Most of us are not accustomed to inventing options and we slip easily into critiquing and judging as soon as possibilities are put on the board.” Consider this statement, then:
Using each team member’s ideas, perceptions, and the overall issue, describe at least five options that may satisfy the interest of all the team members, including a rationale for your chosen options.
During the Meeting – Objective Criteria/ Reach Agreement (1 point): After you have generated a list of brainstorming options, in this section of your assignment you will:
Decide which option is the most agreeable to everyone, including a justification of how this agreement meets each team member’s interests, options, and perceptions.
During the Meeting – Self-Reflection (2 points):Using what you learned about yourself from the Week 1 self-assessment and other knowledge you have acquired throughout the course:
Write a self-reflection about the strengths and weaknesses you have in relation to the case study for this assignment. Be sure to consider what you know about how you can leverage your personal strengths as a team leader in the transition meeting in the role of special educator.
Lily Case Study
Lily was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome at age eight when she started displaying ”typical behaviors” including misunderstanding social cues with girls her age, perseverating on Sponge Bob cartoons, and holding her ears every time a bell would ring to change classes. She has always been educated in an inclusive general classroom using the collaborative consultation model, receiving pull-out SLP (Speech & Language Pathologist) services where she learned social skills and how to communicate with peers. Lily’s teacher says that she loves writing stories about her favorite cartoons and has always loved Sponge Bob. She is an outstanding artist and works well independently because she gets overwhelmed very easily in a group. Her least favorite subject is social studies as she has a very difficult time understanding past events as the concepts are too abstract.
Now that she has turned 16, Lily’s transition team is meeting for the first time to discuss a post-graduation plan. They need to set realistic goals, discuss interest inventories, and evaluate Lily’s options. Included in this meeting is the lead special education coordinator, Lily’s mother and father (who are divorced), the general educator, the school psychologist, and the speech and language pathologist. Her past IEP meetings have been very challenging; although everyone has her best interest at heart, they have differing opinions of how “best interest” is defined. Lily’s parents want her to go to a 4-year college with a focus on computer animation. The special education coordinator supports Lily’s wish to work at a daycare center as an assistant, because she really enjoys children and doesn’t feel her usual social anxiety around them. The general educator and speech and language pathologist at this school don’t know her well enough to provide post-graduation input. The school psychologist says that Lily’s interest inventory identifies that her area of strength is in an engineering field working independently with concrete concepts.
Written Communication
Page Requirement (1 point): Five to seven pages, not including the title and reference pages.
APA Formatting (1 point): Use APA formatting consistently throughout the assignment.
Syntax and Mechanics (1 point): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar.
Source Requirement (1 point): Reference five scholarly sources in addition to the course textbook that provide compelling evidence to support your ideas. All sources on the references page need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.
