Diplomacy is the big one because you have to be a diplomat with parents, you have to be a diplomat with the other teachers and you have to be diplomatic in your services to the child. You have to be very careful that you’re not treating the child as something less than any of the other students in the school. You have to be careful that you’re not looking down on the disabilities of the student. You have to make sure that parents know that this child is just as importent as any other child in the school. You have to make sure that you’re making your point clear and making the needs of the student clear to the other teachers withou being a threat to them and their secure environment in the classroom.
The M&R teachers interviewed repeatedly stressed they need to be innovative, flexible, creative and observant. “I get to know the student by observing. Prior to an assessment, I go into the classroom, and talk to them on the playground. I make a point of being around them, watching their games.” “I never thought I was, but I have to admit I find I’m getting more and more creative as the year goes on. I’m not afraid to try something different. I came up with ten ways for a teacher to plan a test for a student. And they’re successful.”
They emphasized the need for good problem solving skills, for the ability to have insight into a specific situation and see what was really critical to its resolution. They talked about the need to be alert and aware and to think quickly:
If you are a person with a mind-set that this is the way it should be and it’s the only way to do it, then you’re going to have a lot of stress because if one strategy doesn’t work, you won’t know what to do next. You have to be able to say, “I made a mistake and I can’t change that, but I can go on and do something else and try to make it better”. And I think it’s good if you can make other people feel able to say, “Big deal! It didn’t work. We’ll do something different.” The teacher has to be flexible as well.
