Maybe, but I suspect that special education teachers would benefit more from psychology courses than neuroscience courses. Special education teachers do not need to know (for example) that one of their student's behaviors are likely caused by a mutation in a GABA neurotransmitter. They would, however, benefit from research in psychology on how room organization or light brightness affects students with different needs. That is, psychology would provide more accessible and practical information than a neuroscience course.
There is a much bigger problem here, as education in general is an evidence-free area. Educationalists as a whole need instruction in the scientific method, and in common errors in thinking, eg confirmation bias. They need to look on biology and genetics as helpful friends, not implacable enemies.
Hi Melissa, As one who has worked with Special Educators for 40 years or so, I think that there are several courses that would benefit these individuals. Certainly some more background in neuroscience would be of use to them. I find that SPED teachers have spent too much time with methods courses based upon behaviorist principles that don't really have much long-term impact on their students. Less coursework on such "cookbook" approaches and more on basic neuroscience, principles on constructivism, language development and course on meaning-based literacy instructions would help. Most of my experiences with SPED teachers suggest they are very concerned about their students and want to help them...but the pedagogies they employ are often without strong foundations other than tradition.
I am sure that they would benefit, especially from practical knowledge about executive functions and language processing.
As being an experienced special education teacher, I got a course in neuroscience and I strongly believe that special education teachers would benefit from taking a course in neuroscience in various ways. If you take a neuroscience course, you will know how human brain working and what cause to what kind of disabilities or malfunctions. You will know much more about your students and it will help you to paw a way to educate your students. If you know what cause the deficit, you will try to work on other ways to reach to your student.
Yes they should. It can make them more knowledgeable about their students, and hence make their teaching more effective.
It should be imperative for special education teachers to take courses in neuroscience. Neuroscience is one of the key fields where the etiology of syndromes characterizing students in need of special education is taught and discussed. Special education teachers need to be aware of the genetic and neurological issues that specifically affect their students. This awareness can lead to the use of more specialized teaching strategies and to the development of pedagogy more suited to their students' needs.
Currently psychology and neuroscience are considered to be closely allied subjects and in some of the most prestigious universities, inter-disciplinary degrees that combine psychology and neuroscience are offered. Current special education studies include courses from neuroscience because of the accumulated research evidence that indicates that issues dealt with in neuroscience are related to the issues dealt with in special education. Following are references of scientific papers that examine the relationship between (special) education and neuroscience:
Eden, G. F., & Moats, L. (2002). The role of neuroscience in the remediation of students with dyslexia. Nature Neuroscience, 5 Suppl 1(11), 1080-1084.
Hruby, G. G. (2011). Minding the brain. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(5), 316-321.
Hruby, G. G., & Goswami, U. (2011). Neuroscience and reading: A review for reading education researchers. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(2), 156-172.
Howard-Jones, P., & Fenton, K. D. (2012). The need for interdisciplinary dialogue in developing ethical approaches to neuroeducational research. Neuroethics, 5(2), 119-134.
McCall, L. A. H. (2012). Brain-based pedagogy in today's diverse classrooms: A perfect fit-but be careful! Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 78(3), 42-47.
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