The Inclusive Education and IEP Centre (IEIEPC) has said that it is crucial for teachers of learners with special needs to be abreast and equipped with in-demand skills and knowledge in teaching and training these learners in order to help them lead independent and productive lives.
This much was articulated at a one-day intensive training workshop on inclusive and special education, organised by IEIEPC in collaboration with the Ogun State Ministry of Education Science and Technology at Lisabi Grammar School, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
In his keynote address at the train-the-trainer workshop, the Director, IEIEPC, Mr Oyeyinka Oluwawumi, said the workshop was borne out of the centre’s passion for seeing learners with special needs excel irrespective of their disabilities.
He said to achieve this, special education teachers need to be grounded on ideal practices and advancements.
“This gap in knowledge always compelled me to at all times want to know: if there was a case conferencing on students with special needs and what assessment plans and follow-up data they are employing.
“It is quite unfortunate that there is no standard plan by the school, and even most schools in Nigeria, although some consent to be using a timetable. The obvious and realistic question we should ask is what informed the timetable? And if teachers don’t have guides or see good reasons to have a modified curriculum for specially attending to students living with disabilities, how then do we give these children opportunities to also fulfil their dreams and become successful?”
Oluwawumi also noted that regular teachers should be trained on special education teaching for both regular students and learners with special needs in an inclusive learning environment.
“We have also seen the need to develop the capacity of regular teachers on the basic special education and learning disabilities to enhance their teaching skills to be able to help regular children who are facing these challenges.
“In line with this, IEIEPC strongly advocates that special educators should be in all our regular schools just as we have guidance and counsellors. We think this is an effective all-inclusive approach to follow,” he said.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Professor Abayomi Arigbagbu, while delivering a welcome message virtually, noted that the state had made significant efforts in its quest to provide for all categories of students and learners.
“In revamping the special education sector, some of the developments already brought into the unit include, 50 per cent increase in the feeding allowance of the learners; renovation of classrooms and hostels in the schools; provision of assertive equipment to the learners with wheelchairs given to the mobility restricted and white canes to the visually impaired; provision of modern toilets in each of the primary schools among others.”
The President, International Association of Special Education (IASE), Nigeria chapter, Prof Tolu Eni-Olorunda, while delivering a lecture titled, ‘Teacher-parent collaboration in the management of children/persons with special needs,’ said that learners with special needs to lead independent and productive lives, there has to be a nexus between teachers’ efforts and the home.
“Studies have shown that children learn best when the significant adults in their lives such as parents, teachers and other family members work together or collaborate to encourage and support them.
“Schools alone cannot also address all of a child’s developmental needs. The meaningful support of parents is essential. It is encouraging that today, most parents, unlike some decades ago, desire to collaborate with school so as to keep abreast with the progress of their children. They often look forward to their children’s report from school,” she said.
The Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan, Prof. O.A Fakolade, who spoke on ‘Classroom management strategies for children with special needs,’ maintained that special education teachers must always be in control of their classrooms while understanding that learners have unique characteristics, behavioural and learning patterns.
He said: “Each student is unique and different in behavioural needs within the classroom. Interventions that address behavioural issues must be individualised and implemented with specific behavioural outcomes that meet the unique needs of special education students. It is the teacher in the student’s classroom who must understand that students with special needs must be addressed individually when creating effective classroom management strategies for the classroom.
Other facilitators at the workshop include Prof. John Oyundoyin of the Department of Special Education, University of Ibadan, who spoke on ‘Best practices for inclusive and special education’; Dr Kelechi Lazarus, a learning disability specialist, who spoke on ‘Effective teaching strategies for inclusive and special education teachers’ and Dr Esther Oyefeso, a Computer-Assisted Instruction specialist, whose lecture was titled, ‘ICT relevance for special education teachers.’
Some of the participants at the workshop, including Mrs Queensly Owoade, a special educator at Makun High School, Sagamu and Mr Razak Shittu from School for Children with Special Needs, Ijebu Ode, expressed delight with the knowledge gained from the workshop.