Working in Special Development education as a CRT - What you're in for.

In many States and Territories of Australia you don't need a spec Ed qualification to work in Spec Ed schools.  CRT work in a Spec Ed school can also be a gateway to getting the required experience to take on a full time position in one of these schools.  What follows is all based around my personal experiences in Special Development Education and it should be noted that the schools are not all the same.  The school I work for caters to many types of education from Therapy through to VCAL while some in more populated areas will streamline what they provide and may not supply the full range of educational opportunity the one that I work in does. 

Like many CRTs, working in Special Development education wasn't something I initially aimed for.  I sort of just "ended up there"...  

I had worked in other schools for a couple of the teachers that moved into special development and they were asking me to come see the school so I could replace them when they were away.  It wasn't something I'd ever really thought about at that time and it did take them a while to convince me to give it a go.  Now the local Special Development school is one of the main schools I work at (it accounts for over 2/3 of my daily hire and all of my contract work each year).

It is a daunting thing to begin working in Spec Ed and one of the main things that made me balk at the opportunity I was being offered was that I lacked any Spec Ed qualifications.  As a CRT in Victoria you don't have to be spec ed trained to work in a special development school as a CRT, although the schools certainly prefer it, but it still makes a difference to your personal outlook.  Don't let it!  Special development is certainly rewarding as a Teacher but it's not for everyone by any means.

Of course I've done some excellent PD for working in Spec Dev and got a lot of on the job training in the intervening years but in the end it wasn't a lack of specialised training that was the biggest hurdle to overcome.  The mindset is quite different as is the focus of what you do as a teacher.  Initially I had to accept that in certain rooms I was pretty much there to fulfil legal requirements and it was really the ES staff who were in charge until I found my footing and got up to speed.

Not to say that as a CRT you won't be doing anything in these rooms, far from it, but thank you to the dedicated and understanding ES staff who prevented me from making so many easily preventable mistakes in those early times!  There were there to guide me through my learning, help me understand and build strategies for dealing with the students and so on.

Provided you listen to the ES staff in your room the actual "learning to work in special development" part isn't so hard.

The difficult part for most is how different they are in ideology and atmosphere from a mainstream classroom.  They are high-stress environments which means there's often a fair bit of work on offer as stress contributes to illness and so on but it also means you're going to be working in a higher stress environment than is typical in mainstream schools.

It can be a tough job both physically and emotionally.

This is something CRTs need to be aware of.  I don't want to be scaring anyone off but forewarned is forearmed.  What I am about to describe is not a universal truth, some classes will not have these issues and new CRTs to the school are usually put in the "safer" rooms.  In some rooms, however, without heightened awareness and very good classroom management skills, violence can become a daily occurrence.

During a meeting with some of the members of the AEU CRT Association recently a few things came up regarding working in special development classrooms.  Namely the violence that can occur.  On my last contract alone I was hit, scratched, bitten, kicked and dragged to the ground on numerous occasions and it also happens for daily work.  Another teacher got a concussion from being head butted by a student.  In another local school, in the same week, an aide was dragged to the ground and sprained her wrist.

While in an ideal world this wouldn't be happening, the simple fact is that these things are part of the job.  In the meeting the word "assault" was used but it must be remembered that you are working with students without the mental capacity to understand the danger they are putting someone, or themselves, in when they do these kinds of things.  They are unable to regulate their own behaviour and it will be up to you and the Aides to do it for them.

This means that when something goes wrong, the student is not necessarily "the one to blame".  Their behaviours happen for a reason and we often have to ask ourselves what warning signs we missed and what we should have done at that time to prevent the escalation.

Of course this not only goes for situations that can become violent but other challenging behaviours as well.  The students may just melt down, try to "escape" or use other behaviours as a means to an end.  Working in special development is a lot more hands-on in teaching behaviour regulation to these students than in mainstream schools.

http://www.autismtraining.com.au/public/index.cfm?action=showPublicContent&assetCategoryId=1029

This is a good short read with a couple of videos to back it up.  As a CRT it is likely that you won't be doing this yourself on a daily hire basis but it's a good thing to understand.  Something that is very important here is that you are not going to be the expert when it comes to these matters.  Unlike Mainstream schools, you will often be working with one or more ES staff who are far more familiar with the class and students than you are.  It is they who are going to recognise the warning signs and you should be looking to them for direction in this area.

Unlike Mainstream, this will not be an arena for you to be bringing your own behaviour management resources.  It is important that these students will have plans in place and it is very important to follow those plans.  It is a VERY good idea to have a word with the ES staff at the start of the day and let them know that you plan on bowing to their expertise on this one.  Let them know that you don't need to fall flat on your face to learn to work with them as a team.

Then make sure you follow their direction or advice.  Like you they are education professionals and a little bit of respect will go a LONG way.  These are the people you are going to be learning 90% of what you need to know to work in special development schools from.  A positive team dynamic is 100% essential to your survival in Special Development education.  A vast array of my personal knowledge and skills in this area have been taught to me by ES staff!

Don't underestimate their importance in accelerating your trajectory up the learning curve.

Now;  the hardest part.  I'm also teaching a couple of students that are quite rewarding to work with but heart breaking at the same time. 

One of them in particular has a condition that means that he should have passed away by now but he's met each milestone so far, beating the odds at each turn.  He's a wonderful boy and I enjoy having him in my class but, sooner or later, he won't beat the next milestone.  Attending his funeral is a likelihood that sometimes keeps me up at night and if you choose to work in Spec Dev these are realities you will possibly end up having to deal with sooner or later.

Working in Spec Dev can take an unusual level of resilience that some just don't have or a level of professional detachment that many cannot maintain.  It has a way of cracking even the toughest shell from time to time.  I have seen some CRTs leave the Spec Dev after only a relatively short time because they lack the ability to deal with the above on an ongoing basis.  They come to realise that over time the situation will take it's toll and simply burn them out, they have to get out just to preserve their longevity in the teaching profession.

I have seen both teachers and CRTs who are Spec Dev trained not make it despite doing an absolutely outstanding job in their classrooms. 

Just to recap, don't let this put you off!  I've been working as a CRT in special development for over 5 years and, although I've come home sore on occasion, I've never sustained a major injury and never had to attend a funeral (knock on wood).  They are, however, things you need to be aware of and accept if you wish to move your career into these kinds of schools as  they aren't the kinds of issues that will go away through lobbying or discussion. 

Even if you're an experienced CRT and master of mainstream classrooms, moving into Spec Dev education will put you back on the learning curve.  Most people who keep that in mind and remain open to gaining the knowledge they need to do the job will find themselves becoming capable over time and even learn many tricks to carry back into their mainstream classrooms.

Regards,

Mel.