Dr. Morfidi and I are engaged in a project where we are interviewing Greek special education teachers about their perspectives on the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classroom. Two years ago Greece passed a law mandating that students with disabilities be educated in the general education classroom if at all possible. To put this in perspective the United States is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
As is true with any questionnaire there are some questions that work and some that need further refinement. However, there is one question that is generating some interesting responses. In this question, we ask if a teacher could be granted three wishes that would help their student educationally, what would these be? The first teacher we interviewed, a male teacher who works with high school age students with developmental disabilities, responded to this question by saying, "Love, love, love." My first reaction to this was to be analytical. Of course love was important, but a teacher with specific skill sets to teach students with disabilities was more important in my opinion. However, upon further reflection, I had to admit that this teacher was expressing a universal truth. If a teacher of students with disabilities is lacking in love or compassion for his or her students, then the battle is over before it begins. Truly, you need a teacher that can recognize that a student with a disability can learn and can become a productive citizen. Most importantly, you need someone who can recognize the innate human spirit that resides in every student, no matter how severe the disability. Perhaps Lennon & McCartney are right: All you need is love.
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