This shows that the ability to keep things in perspective and come up with practical approaches is essential. If suggestions made to teachers are too ambitious, and require unrealistic approaches or changes in the classroom, they’re unlikely to be implemented. In addition, the M&R teacher must do everything possible to see that new approaches get off to a good start in the classroom. Throughout the process, they can count on criticism, complaints and grumbling. One teacher said she felt she had to be tough and not “let them make me the low man on the totem pole.” Others referred to “having a thick skin” and “letting everything run off you like water off a duck.”
One of the most important attributes is a genuine concern for the success of students with special needs. This commitment is especially difftcult because the M&R teacher has an indirect influence on a student’s success, meaning that they often see the credit for success attributed to someone else. “You won’t be given credit. Don’t expect people to say, ‘Hey, good job!’ If there’s going to be glory, it’s going to be for the regular classroom teacher.”
Skills
M&R teachers must know the educational needs of students with disabilities. In an integrated model this requires an understanding and appreciation of the benefits that integrated instruction can bring to the child. This knowledge provides the framework for judgments about the student’s program. You have to have a knowledge of what integration is all about. You have to have a value base and an understanding of what the goals are for the education of a student with special needs.`"
Skills in formal and informal assessment and diagnostic procedures used to determine a student’s needs and to develop IEPs are also important.
