Special Education and New Curriculum

There has been so much change in the Educational System in Argentina in the recent years. I am so honored to have been able to learn about what has been changing in the educational system in Argentina. We got to learn about the Special Education Program and the new curriculum. I was very eager to learn about the Special Education Program. My heart goes out the these types of programs even though I am not in Special Education.

Special Education:
Special Education is different in Argentina than what I can remember from my high school and from field placements back at UIUC. There is a school for special education but that is just for the very extreme cases. All the other people they try to integrate them into normal classrooms. There are no special education programs in the schools. There are just a group of certified teachers that work to set goals for the students and adapt the curriculum for them. The way to evaluate if a special needs student passes a grade is if they reach the goals that were set in the beginning of the school year. They do not need to take the same test as all the other students. The teachers have to submit their lessons to this one teacher who will adapt it for the special need student. There are classroom aids that come by but they don't work everyday so some days its just the normal teacher that is there to work with them. Not all special needs students go the whole day. Some just come for a few class periods or a half session since schools in Argentina and broken into morning and afternoon sessions. It is harder for this group of teachers that overlook special education when the student gets to high school. Some high schools study up to 20 subjects so some special needs students just have to follow the normal curriculum because not every curriculum can get adapted for them. When it comes to the special education program, there are 4 parts that need to work together or the program in order for it to work. I think they were the special education team, the school/teachers, the parents, and the student. I love the fact that the parents are completely involved in this process. I know I should remember the 4 parts but I just remember the lady saying that there are 4 parts that need to work like a table needs all 4 of its legs.  An other part that I found interesting is that the teachers tell the parents that just because the special needs students is getting a lot of help at school does not mean that help from doctors or psychologist outside of school can stop. Some parents apparently think that the school will fix all the problems and that they do not need to do anything outside of school to help their child. I guess this is an other reason why to be qualified for this program is very extensive. Sometimes it takes years to be qualified because they want to make sure that these people are not taking advantage of this program that is instilled by the government.

New Curriculum:
Now my memory about this part of the meeting is kind of spacey because I was really interested in the Special Education so I lost concentration when it came time for the new curriculum information. I remember the principal of the school holding up a new curriculum books for the teachers that are now required. They have a little section to record when students leave the room, what students are misbehaving, and such. They are now required, by the government, to make curriculum books and they kind of look like scrapbooks for the elementary teachers. I posted a picture of one in an earlier blog post. Some schools have been requiring for awhile, like San Martin, but now every school has to have plan books. There were so many different school changes that I barely remember anything. I just remember her talking about the government passing new laws and taking more charge then they have in the past. It was also mentioned the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd were grouped more together in goals for the students and that 4th, 5th, and 6th were grouped together. There are also different foci for both groups when it comes to subjects. I know the government is taking for of an initiative to help schools out by providing netbooks and books to schools that need them. There have actually been a bunch of days throughout the trip that had information about the different educational laws but I definitely don't remember all of it. I just know that at the moment I was very impressed with the initiative that Argentine government has been taking for their schools.