The Reform of the Special Educator (1090 words) / November 5, 2019

Part 1: A Strong Economic and Professional Foundation

The profession of a Special Educator is a position that has largely been shaped in adherence to the wishes of employers, parents, and traditionally routinized instructional pathways created by private and public schools. It is a profession wherein the professional is told what their job is before they figure out that they have to be these innovative, artistic, entrepreneurial powerhouses of creativity, motivation, and dynamic service. Educator colleges literally train Special Educators to only work in school environments. The raising up and certification of such a peculiar teacher attains form in the educational colleges, yet and unfortunately, like cattle, these are immediately herded into the employment of large-scale academic operations, otherwise known as private and public schools. This construct limits the creative direction and range of thought and action of the Educator; their professional development and abilities are not allowed to truly develop and thus–become stunted according to a tremendous set of rules.

As we enter the twenty first century, nation-wide, America’s communities would be greatly helped if a sustainable portion of such Educators be pivoted away from mass-scale educational employment in order to bring about a leadership, vision, and purpose that guides reform in the standardization of Special Education. As it exists, there tend to be finite tools and resources, finite zones of instructional work space, and legally-binding student goals and objectives set forth and stamped in individualized educational plans that constrain and consume the professional breadth of Special Educators. 

21st Century Special Educators benefit from: 

1. Being able to shift gears: Special Educators need to be able to have greater control over the speed at which they move. 
2. Have creative, strategic direction: They have to have more creative agility in real-time as to what goals and objectives to work on and how to go about achieving them. As well as, to have the freedom to try new approaches and ideas, therein being strategic and tactile in bringing about success in their students.

A hybrid twenty-first century Special Educator that can excel in these two points can be put together using a new economic foundation of employment that increases professional freedom and development: community entrepreneurship. A Special Educator, community entrepreneur, or ‘social edupreneur’ continues to have to acquiesce to the wishes of patrons, parents, and basic agreed upon instructional modalities, but now such a professional is a self-employed, artistic physician and business innovator who can choose to whom and with whom service is rendered. The balances of being able to shift gears in the creative, strategic direction for a student sways in the direction of the Special Educator, howbeit, such professional freedom must quickly prove its worth as an effective and efficient production mode. 

With the awareness of an economic foundation of community entrepreneurship, a pathway of prospective employment is available as an option to new Special Educators exiting teacher schools. No longer is entering employment in a school environment the only road to take. Now the Special Educator can choose to create their own employment. So it must be also then that teacher schools train students in the growth and management of social, community enterprise. They have to understand how to be financially literate in such endeavors in order to create their own economy. Not only that, the study of political science should compliment a teacher colleges curriculum. Political Science is a process of observation, analyzation, and application of understandings of the relationships between governments and people, ethnicities and economic characteristics and influences, both historic and present, and how these work with one another and/ or impact each other, if at all, on a local, national, and global level. A Special Educator aspiring to launch a non-profit foundation or what are now known as B-Corporations (a hybrid of   a 501c3 non-profit foundation and an S-Corp business model), benefits from knowing how to access and seek local town and state government supports and collaborations if they endeavor to scale their operation or firmly safeguard the financial vitality of their endeavors.    

Part 2:  A 21st Century Special Educator’s work: Creating Renaissance Men & Women

Given the rise of such phenomenons as ‘autism,’ and the public’s call to increase the quality in quality of life services for youth, adults, and senior citizens with special needs, along with the distinct need to address global professional, smart worker competition, a call for more mighty, effective, and efficient Special Educators will begin to sound with greater precision. 

Government can help in bringing about awareness through the creation of economic incentive supports made directly to these professionals and to teacher colleges open to creating and sustaining the rise of these mighty, hybrid Special Educator/ community entrepreneurs. That the rendering of the collaborative work of the community-created Special Educators support the creation of renaissance men and women.  As it was known a few centuries back, a renaissance person is more than proficient in a number of strengths, purposes, and professions. The Special Educators workmanship becomes a craft focused on developing a sound mind and body that is agile, adaptive, and versatile… like a mighty person trained to be innovative, creative, and industrious. Therein, such a person must dutifully be about acquiring new skills as a routine, and given the array of possible learning situations a Special Educator is at their best, truly physically fit and in peak health and physical flexibility.

A Special Educator who works/ coaches through their community enterprise foundation has to be efficient and effective, continually novel, fun, and energetic. Their work will only be appreciated as awareness of what is possible for the developing profession of a Special Educator grows. Pioneer Special Educator Entrepreneurs will guide the way into this new frontier. They must be about taking on new initiatives if they want to be on the leading edge of what Special Education can deliver. And they must be about being innovative with new strategies and activities, open-minded to feedback and adaptable to change, mentally flexible, and finally, physically energized to ‘be ready and feel ready’ to launch new projects and programs requiring great expenditures of mental and physical energy.

This is in alignment with an empathic practice of capitalism. One in where people are empowered to be about making a living while purposefully caring for the health of community though public service. It truly makes America great, strengthens family, builds up individuals and reforms the traditional role of the Special Educator. 

Begin.