Jack Cogan

Dr. Robinson

SPED 854

5/20/2019

Personal Philosophy Statement

When working within special education, it is important to understand that student needs are

unique, dynamic, and abundant. No two students are the same, and therefore no two needs will

ever look exactly alike. This being said, the amount of needs to be met within special education

are far too many for one teacher to handle on their own and this is where it is important to use

collaboration. Collaboration allows for a collective voice to be used to create plans and

opportunities for students to succeed. With collaboration, multiple ideas come together to help

build and structure plans around student’s specific needs. The plans have a level of expertise for

each need that would be difficult for one teacher to handle on their own.

Collaboration in special education predominantly entails the IEP (Individualized Education

Plan) team. The IEP team is in charge of creating an Individualized Education Plan for each

student in special education that addresses the specific needs of students. When the IEP team is

collaborating on this, it is important that they are aware of several key factors to help ensure

successful collaboration. The first factor when collaborating is to have an overarching mutual

goal of student success be the main focus. By having the student be the mutual goal shared by all

individuals on the IEP team, the team will continue to have a shared commitment throughout the

collaboration process. The second factor is understanding that team members all have a different

expertise and therefore a different element to bring when collaborating. Although it may seem as

simple as everyone contributing their expertise to the IEP, this is not the case. An IEP team
should have parity when collaborating to allow for all voices to be heard in every area of a

student’s education. The third key factor within collaboration is the necessary sense of

community and trust that grows. A sense of community encourages the willingness and

enthusiasm to put forth a positive and collaborative effort towards the overarching mutual goal.

Trust allows for team members to feel respected and secure when voicing their opinions.

Combined, a sense of community and trust can lead to successful, enjoyable, and fulfilling

collaboration.

Considering the IEP team is the main group that uses collaboration within special education,

there are potential barriers that can affect successful collaboration. A common and difficult to

control barrier is difficulty finding time for the IEP team to meet as a whole to visit and

collaborate. Especially considering the size of certain IEP teams, finding a time to meet as a

whole can seem nearly impossible. Another potential barrier is the differing levels of power

within an IEP team. As a first year teacher, I have experience sitting within meetings feeling it is

not my place to contribute a thought or trying my best not to blurt out at the risk of interrupting

another team member. My sense of community was not fully developed and therefore I felt more

time should be allowed for other team members with more perceived power. The last potential

barrier is the effort required to correctly collaborate can cause stress and difficulties for members

of the IEP team. It is important to understand that all members of the IEP team are working in

parity towards the mutual goal of student success, but it is easy for individuals to begin to feel

cumbersome towards others or weighed down by the amount of effort they are putting in. Once

again, a sense of community that provides support for one another is important to help team

members stay focused and actively engaged in collaborating.

 Although collaboration in special education happens mainly during IEP dates, evaluations,

and other meetings that require the entire IEP team to be brought together, this does not mean

that collaboration shouldn’t be a constant at all times during a student’s schooling. Collaboration

does not require every member of the team to be involved, it requires every member of the team

to be focused on completing the shared goal of student success. With a sense of community and

trust, team members will find time to collaborate with each other whenever necessary instead of

attempting to solve issues individually. Team members will share resources, work together with

parity, and be diligent in achieving the team goal. Collaboration done correctly will combine

multiple minds with multiple expertise into one well thought out dynamic plan to make sure

students receive the best possible service they can.