加载中…堪萨斯大学在特殊教育领域居于领先地位
(2012-10-16 12:45:19)
标签：
沃尔瑟-托马斯堪萨斯城堪萨斯大学特殊教育伯纳德教育 |
分类： 文化和教育 |
堪萨斯大学位于劳伦斯（Lawrence），该市人口大约8万，距堪萨斯城（Kansas City）开车不到一个小时。
Jeffrey Thomas | Special Correspondent | 2012.10.15
华盛顿——在有些国家，特殊教育指为有视觉或听力障碍的人提供的教育项目。但是在美国，从事特殊教育的人士在教室里面对的是多种类别的残障，他们的职能甚至延伸到教室以外，需要与家庭合作、教育公众和参与学校改革。
几十年来，堪萨斯大学（University of Kansas）教育学院开设的特殊教育项目被公认为非常出色，不仅在于这个项目在课堂教学方面的研究和努力，还在于它在教育公众和影响公共政策方面扮演的国际性角色。
今年是堪萨斯大学特殊教育系成立54周年。特殊教育系主任克里斯·沃尔瑟-托马斯（Chriss Walther-Thomas）说：“如果你想研究学习障碍问题，或者家庭合作，或者正面的行为支持，或者特殊教育政策，那么你真应该来我们这里学习，因为我们的教师都是国内外知名的学者。”她还说：“我们的教师从事大量的研究，发表大量的文章，很多外国学生因此慕名而来——因为他们读到了我们发表的文章，特别是现在他们可以通过互联网读到许多这类文章。”
博士生安善英（Sunyoung Ahn）来自韩国，她曾于2008-2009学年在堪萨斯大学学习。她认为该校的教师是“最宝贵的资产”。
安善英说：“当我第一次来堪萨斯大学时，他们让我感到宾至如归。”她接着说：“我很幸运遇到这么多的好教授，他们对学生总是保持着开放、鼓励的态度。在我攻读博士期间，我了解到他们不只是好人，而且是优秀的学者。从他们身上，我不仅学到从事研究的技能和知识，还学到了他们的勤奋和优秀的职业道德。”
苏珊娜·伯纳德-利博尔（Susana Bernad-Ripoll）是来自西班牙的博士生，她在2008至2009年间在堪萨斯大学学习。她说：“堪萨斯大学的教师们努力将特殊教育变成这个国家的一项重点，使残障人在成年后可以对社会作出贡献，全面参与社区生活，并能够履行他们的公民义务。” 她补充道：“通过教师们设计课程、讲座和作业的方式，我发现他们全都致力于追求这个目标。他们对学生抱有很高的期望，把他们看作是未来的领袖，同时他们自己一直站在各自专业领域的前沿并发表学术成果。”
伯纳德-利博尔说：“我学到的所有东西都可以在我的祖国应用，这里的专业不仅内容广泛，而且非常深入。”
皮尔逊大楼（Pearson Hall）是特殊教育系的教学楼，该系有6位博士和13位硕士在2011年毕业。
沃尔瑟-托马斯认为，对留学生而言最有利的是有机会与教师们互动，因为这些教师本身在研究方面都非常活跃。留学生得以参与教师正在从事的研究。沃尔瑟-托马斯说：“在幼儿教育和自闭症方面，我们的教师非常成功地让硕士生和博士生参加实地研究，使他们走出去，观摩示范项目，亲眼看到教师如何帮助残障儿童学习，有自闭症的学生如何融入普通课堂，我认为这样的研究会对我们的学生产生重要的影响。”
特殊教育系与好几个著名的研究单位有合作关系，其中包括学习研究中心（Center for Research on Learning）、比奇残障中心（Beach Center on Disability）、施费尔布施生命全程研究所（Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute）和刺柏花园儿童项目（Juniper Gardens Children's Project）。
大多数博士生拥有相关领域的专业背景。沃尔瑟-托马斯说：“我们有很多留学生学过心理学或曾经担任学校的心理学家。”她说：“他们带着一个想法到这里来……，将来回去从事师资培养，成为大都市地区幼儿项目的主管，还有一些曾做过学校心理学家的学生计划回去自己开业，例如，帮助那些可能因为孩子有自闭症或其他类型的残障而向心理学家求助的家庭。”
沃尔瑟-托马斯说，堪萨斯大学努力培养在政府中任职、能够从事师资培训和研究工作的专家。她说：“我们谈到他们在政府部门的作用，谈到我们应当善于了解服务对象的需求，而这不仅仅是孩子们，还包括他们的家庭。多年的研究已经表明，如果家长能够成功地倡导孩子的权益，就会对他们的未来产生巨大的影响。”
她说：“对于硕士生，在很大程度上我们侧重于对业经证明有效的方法的运用。对于博士生，我们关注的则是研究和写作的综合技能。我们非常重视‘如何改变体系’。在学校进行改革的目的不一定是单独建立特殊教育项目，而是要使残障学生融入普通教育体系，这样不仅有利于残障学生，也有利于所有的儿童。长期以来，我们始终提倡采用更为包容的特殊教育方法。”
安善英也提到“积极的学生参与”是堪萨斯大学特殊教育系的一个强项。她说：“特殊教育系有好几个学生组织，我们通过这些组织互相交流，分享我们的研究兴趣，并对彼此的研究提出宝贵的意见。”
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/chinese/article/2012/10/20121015137464.html#ixzz29QzAU1FE
Faculty Makes University of Kansas First in Special Education
By Jeffrey Thomas | Special Correspondent | 11 October 2012
The University of Kansas campus is located in Lawrence, a city of about 80,000, less than an hour’s drive from Kansas City.
Washington — In some countries, special education means programs for those whose vision or hearing is impaired. In the United States, special education professionals address a much wider range of disabilities in the classroom and see their roles as extending outside the classroom to working with families, educating the public and participating in school reform.
The School of Education at the University of Kansas (KU) has for decades offered a program widely considered outstanding not only because of its research and effect on classroom practices, but also because of its international role in educating the public and influencing public policy.
“If you are a student wanting to study learning disabilities or family partnerships, or positive behavior support or special education policy, you really come here to study with people who are nationally and internationally renowned,” said Chriss Walther-Thomas, chair of the Department of Special Education, which this year celebrated its 54th anniversary. “Our faculty does a lot of research and writing, and so that’s where many of our international students find us — as a result of reading the publications, and especially now that they can get so many of those via the Internet.”
Sunyoung Ahn, a doctoral candidate from South Korea who studied at KU during the 2008–2009 academic year, said the faculty members are “the greatest asset.”
“They made me feel welcomed when I came to KU for the first time,” Ahn said. “I was lucky to meet many professors who were always open and encouraging to students. During my Ph.D. program, I learned that they were not only good people but also great scholars. I not only learned research skills and knowledge from them but also their diligence and good work ethic.”
“The KU faculty is truly committed to make the world of special education a priority in this country so that people with disabilities can become productive adults who are full participants in their communities and who can fulfill their citizenship duties,” said Susana Bernad-Ripoll, a doctoral candidate from Spain enrolled at KU in 2008 and 2009. “I found that all faculty members are committed to pursue this goal by the way in which they design their course, lectures and assignments. They hold high expectations for their students as future leaders and they keep themselves at the forefront of research and writing in their areas of expertise.”
“Everything learned can be applied in my country, and their program is wide yet very deep in content,” Bernad-Ripoll said.
Pearson Hall is the home of the special education department, which graduated six doctoral students and 13 master's students in 2011.
Walther-Thomas considers the opportunity to interact with faculty members who are active researchers the most important advantage for international students. “They get involved in the research the faculty is doing,” she said. “In both early childhood and autism, faculty are very successful in getting these masters-level folks and doctoral folks involved in field research, so they really are out there seeing model programs of how teachers work with young children with disabilities, how students with autism are being included in general education classrooms, and I think that makes a huge difference.”
The department is affiliated with a number of well-known research units, including the Center for Research on Learning, Beach Center on Disability, Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute and Juniper Gardens Children’s Project.
Most doctoral candidates have a background in a related field. “Many of our international students studied psychology or were school psychologists,” Walther-Thomas said. “They come here ... with the idea that they will go back and be teacher educators, supervisors of early childhood programs in large urban areas, or some of the school psychologists plan to go back and go into private practice — for example, working with families whose children have been referred to psychologists because of possibly having autism or another type of disability.”
KU strives to prepare teacher educators and researchers who are civic professionals, Walther-Thomas said. “We talk about their role working in the public sector and how we need to be sensitive to the constituent groups, and that’s not just children but their families. Research over time has shown what a powerful difference it makes in what children do when their parents are able to advocate for them successfully.”
“A lot of what we focus on at the master’s level is the use of evidence-based practices,” she said. “What we focus on at the doctor’s level is a combination of research and writing skills. There’s a real focus on ‘how do you change systems?’ How do we reform schools, not so separate special education programs are necessarily developed, but so students with disabilities can be included in the general system of education for the benefit of students with disabilities, but also for the benefit of all children. We have long been advocates for a more inclusive approach to special education.”
Sunyoung Ahn also cited “active student involvement” as one of the great things about the KU program. “We have several student organizations in the department through which we socialize, share our research interests, and provide valuable collegial feedback on each other's work.”
For more information, see the eJournal USA issue “Disability and Ability."
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2008/09/200809300952071cjsamoht0
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