October 2002 Speaker's Corner in JVIB - Dr. Phil Hatlen

Posted by on 2/15/2002 7:05:35 PM.

There are currently 5 replies.

• 
  1 . Re: Speaker's Corner in JVIB
  Posted by Crista on 10/31/2002
  
  I enjoyed the article very much. I have a practical question. Is it the case that many, possibly most, children who attend schools for the blind have to travel to do so? Don't they live in one community and go to school in another? How would a partnership work between two such schools or districts?
  

  ---

• 
  2 . Re: Speaker's Corner in JVIB
  Posted by Stuart on 11/01/2002
  
  Hi Phil,
  
  As usual your writing has given us much to consider and asked us to really look at our values and ideals. Thanks for that. I always learn something from your presentations and articles.
  
  In California, we are struggling with this same construct of shared responsibility between families, state schools, and local school districts. We find it often works well, especially when the special school can provide technical assistance to assure that the transition back and forth is given every opportunity to be successful. But in about one case out of ten one of the partners decides that a specific placement is the ONLY appropriate placement -- and the relationship breaks down into an adversarial conflict.
  
  Our laws and regs seem to almost encourage this kind of battle. And everybody seems to have a lawyer anxious to advocate for the child with an almost religious fervor convinced that their position is the only correct one.
  
  The energy, anxiety, expense, and time that this takes can dissuade us from offering this for the other 9 out of 10 times that it works. How do we build trust in an environment whose rules inherently provide a structure for distrust?
  
  We implement these ideas anyway because we believe it's the right thing for the kids. And 90% of the time, it really pays off for all the parties. But in that one case out of ten, we sure pay for it in terms of stress and legal fees and time. And maybe, as they say in the private sector, that's the cost of doing business.
  
  Stuart Wittenstein, Superintendent
  California School for the Blind
  

  ---

• 
  3 . Re: Speaker's Corner in JVIB
  Posted by 236301 on 11/01/2002
  
  The outcome for which Dr. Hatlen advocates is one that I agree with and have in some way worked towards. If there is agreement upon the desired outcome, maybe we need to look at the possible reason why it is not being achieved. Is the level of leadership both within the local school district and the residential schools capable of implementing such a movement? Quality individuals who are needed for this task seems to be selecting professional field other than education. Within the last few years, the children of my colleagues out of education and rehabilitation have reached the work force. These are bright, intelligent, energetic young adults. Most have taken on the challenges of advance degrees by attending university programs. Have even competed for placement in such programs. Have moved across the country to attend programs that have national recognition. However, none of these programs are in the field of education let alone in the area of vision education. The programs around the country that offer masters degree in business are most impressive and programs from which the university teacher preparation programs might learn something. Not everyone who applies for a MBA program is accepted. These programs are preparing students to implement systems of goal setting, collaboration, communication, corporation, team building and celebration of achievement. The university teacher preparation programs need to consider if they are providing local school districts and the residential schools the personal to complete the outcome for which Dr. Hatlen is advocating.
  
  Dr. Hatlen wrote, "For this model to work effectively, we will have to develop a level of trust and honesty between local districts and schools for the blind…" Trust and honesty are characteristics individuals bring to the situation. In the current educational employment environment it is a challenge to demonstrate trust and honesty when in many educational situations educators do not feel valued, appreciated or respected.
  
  Maybe if we could ever get our representatives in government to be as involved in education as they are in business, we might get the funding to get all of this accomplished. This will happen when intelligent sophisticated educator and advocates for children with vision impairments join together in collaboration to advocate with dedication and passion for the cause. What do we need to do to light such a fire?
  
  Eileen Siffermann, COMS
  
  

  ---

• 
  4 . Re: Speaker's Corner in JVIB
  Posted by 2906 on 11/02/2002
  
  Phil,
  You have offered some provocative thoughts on a challenging issue. .
  The issue of shared responsibility for placement when the child graduates
  from high school also comes up between the school system and the
  local vocational rehabilitation agency. I hope my rehab colleagues will
  read your article with care. J. Elton Moore
  

  ---

• 
  5 . Re: October 2002 Speaker's Corner in JVIB - Dr. Phil Hatlen
  Posted by Nic on 03/18/2004
  
  I am a teacher for the VI in Australia (QLD) and we have a similar situation in that students can attend a close local school and receive visits from a teacher for the Vision Impaired, or attend a "regular/sighted" school which has a Special Ed. Unit attached. In Qld we have no "Schools for the Blind" as such - the closest we get to this idea is a Unit, where students are enrolled in the regular school program but can have full access to VI staff and resources on a daily basis. I work in a VI Unit that is attached to a high school and while we have more opportunity than visiting Teachers to teach the Expanded Core Curriculum it is still a juggling act to ensure students are receiving a balanced education. We have overcome this by timetabling ECC as a subject within the Vi child's school timetable - with tremendous support from our school, and discovered that students can be intergrated on a day-to-day basis in a local school setting (and acheive to a tertiary level etc) and still enjoy the benfits of an ECC program. You are right - This does free the students from a level of dependence to independence and it is amazing to see the results!!!
  

  ---

Post a new response | Track this topic by e-mail