1. My Special Education Philosophy
SPE-330Special Education Foundations and Framework
April 28, 2013
Holly Love

2. Introduction
In my journey to become an educator I have encountered several people along the way
that have helped me shape what are my views for education and learning. I have been very
fortunate enough to observe in an inclusion setting and self-contained classroom as well.
Interviewing and studying the methods of the educators that I have been able to observe have
helped me tremendously. Whether the interviews used in this essay were conducted face to face
or via electronic communication the spirit of what educators hold dear poured from their words.
Education is more than just the lessons that we teach but it is the lessons we learn from our
students, the experiences we have along the journey with our students and the discovery of self
around each turn.
Section One
The first section of developing my Special Education Philosophy was to think about the
different philosophies that will sculpt my philosophy. In everything there is a sense of logic or
purpose. There are laws or boundaries that contain or shape our thinking, beliefs, and values.
Knowing what I hold as the most important building block of my philosophy is what will
strengthen me in my journey as an educator when I may question why I chose this profession. I
asked the question which philosophy you incorporate into your professional operation in
education: metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, or logic or do you use a mixture of the
philosophies. Conducting interviews with various educators from a self-contained setting or
inclusive setting and with a principal I received a wealth of information. When I discussed what
their principles or theories were for education I had a wide range of answers. According to J.
Boykins (personal communication, 2013), “I assume the axiological perspective towards

3. education. My philosophy is that every child should be empowered through education. Education
is empowering on all levels regardless of the disability”. What I took from her statement was
education has the value of empowering students no matter what their disability. According to
M.J. Bender (personal communication, 2013), “I feel that a combination of all them
(philosophies)”. Another educator Marcus Hawkins stated (personal communication, 2013), “I
believe that I’m more of a logical teacher. My main purpose is for each student to become active
learners. I want them to be aware of the outside world. I want them to separate truth from fiction
and real from make believe. Once students are able to understand the difference, then they can
make their own decisions about their lives”. He wants students go beyond the classroom and get
a real grasp of learning where it is applicable for them. It is one thing to learn it in a classroom
but it is another thing to have to apply it outside the classroom in life. James Urquhart, the
principal that I interviewed to get an administrator’s view of Special Education Philosophy stated
(personal communication, 2013), “I believe it is important to incorporate a mixture of
philosophies to meet the individual needs of each student. My philosophy is a school,
administrator, and/or teacher should do whatever it takes to meet the individual needs of each
child”. Reading their responses as well as a few others that contributed to my learning process I
have come to understand that although I may lean towards being logical and axiology I do
incorporate all into my personal philosophy.
Section Two
Taking into consideration about the theory of metaphysics and epistemology it is not that
I do not chose to include them in my philosophy because they are there on some level. However
they are not the building blocks for what my philosophy is built upon. According to J. Boykins
(personal communication, 2013), “Metaphysics is a philosophy that I would be less likely to use

4. when working with my students because it is limiting”. Interestingly enough Marcus Hawkins
stated (personal communication, 2013), “I would use all. I think you need to use metaphysics and
epistemology because you have to think outside the box when creating lessons for special needs
children”.
The educator that I observed Richard Romeo stated (personal communication, 2013), “As
a special education teacher and educator I believe that incorporating all philosophies into your
classroom is empowering and rewarding. However there are some components or beliefs within
a philosophy that I don’t necessarily agree with. For example: one component of pragmatism is
that pragmatist’s believe that teachers are supposed to help students examine and clarify their
values. Even though this is true I feel that in order for students to truly understand the material,
students should examine and clarify their own values. Teachers can provide explanation if a
student asks for it but overall the teacher shouldn’t examine values because eventually they will
instill their views on the student for their benefit in my opinion. Values should be clarified by
family members, not teachers”. I agree that we as educators have to help students examine but
we should do it from a point of view that does not push our beliefs onto the student.
One thing that was brought to my attention that I had not really thought of is how
educating students maybe looked at as a “factory production” view, sort of like using one
template for all. Although I had not thought of it as a philosophy in some ways it seems to be one
or at least portrayed on some levels in education. According to Clee Lee (personal
communication, 2013), “The philosophy that all children should be treated the same way and
have the same expectations”. The meaning I took for that is all children learn differently and at
different stages, so for myself as an educator to expect the same out of two different students
with the same disability is truly unfair and inexcusable, therefore never put into practice by me.

5. Section Three
According to M. Hawkins (personal communication, 2013), he stated “Emotional: This is
probably one of my weaknesses. With emotional students, I tried to talk to them logically.
Axiology is probably sufficient with this type of disorder. Physical, Mental, and Social: I
understand their limitations so I would use logic to develop lessons that will satisfy their
limitations. If they have social limitations, I would not give them low marks because they were
unable to present in front of the class”. This gives me a format to look to when I work with
various disabilities and how to sculpt/guide those students to where the end result is for them in a
respectful way. R. Romeo (personal communication, 2013), stated “My philosophy indicates that
teachers should always emphasize discipline in their classrooms and set clear expectations
through classroom rules and procedures. Teachers should teach to meet the individual needs of
the students. They should manage their classrooms and have a mutual respect with their students.
Teachers should never be arrogant, sarcastic, negative, or show favoritism. Instead, teachers
should create a positive learning environment that is inviting to all types of learners. Teachers
should provide immediate feedback and always speak in a positive way”. Principal Urquhart
(personal communication, 2013), echoed the thoughts of Mr. Romeo in saying “My philosophy
is that you do whatever you can to allow students to achieve success. High expectations should
be set for all students with clear rules and procedures. A positive learning environment is critical
for student success”. In setting my personal philosophy in word I will make sure that I also set it
in deed/actions when working with my students and setting the atmosphere in the classroom. The
breakdown for each disability being addressed by my philosophy would be: (1)emotional-set an
atmosphere that promotes achievement and gives feedback in a positive & constructive way that
builds the student up, (2)physical- have a classroom that is accessible for students and have

6. available resources for those needs of my students, and (3) mental and/or social- provide stable
and positive activities as well as a calm environment that allows the student to learn in a safe
space or stress free space but also equip the student with techniques (actions and consequences)
that allow them to release their emotions but in a safe and positive way.
Section Four
The way that I would implement my philosophy in an inclusive classroom would be that
my classroom is not only stated to be a safe space but it would be structured to be one as well.
There would be a list of expectations that would be posted in the room where it would be
accessible to all students to see. We would also go over those expectations at minimum twice a
week, preferably at the beginning and ending of the week. That way we can start off the week
with what we want to accomplish but end the week with what we did get accomplish. My
thinking is that in doing this we as a class can see what we did well and what we have to work on
next time but celebrate what we got done that week. This would create a more positive
atmosphere, promote learning and create a more cohesive community of learners.
Implementation of my philosophy in a self-contained classroom would look pretty much
the same but we would go over our expectations daily before class starts and once class is done
at the end of the day. This would be also built in as part of a daily checklist to not only hold
myself accountable but to hold the students accountable as well. Breaking it down to a daily
activity instead of a checklist for the beginning of the week and ending of the week is to keep the
self-esteem of my students high due to being in a particular classroom all day. There may be
more of a need to promote the achievements of the class more than just twice a week.
Section Five

7. My mission statement as a special educator is simply this “My mission to my students is
to educate, respect, learn from, laugh with, grow with and honor them. My mission to my
profession is to promote, advocate, develop, and challenge my fellow educators to the
professional level that exemplifies a Special Educator. My mission to the parents of my students
is to each day making sure that I attempt to adhere to the mission of my students and my
colleagues.”