Child and Youth Profile: A Toolkit to Facilitate Cross-Disciplinary Educational Planning.

Inclusive experiences for all children are foundational to New Zealand early childhood education, yet teacher beliefs and practices related to identification and referral processes may be delaying access to important early intervention support for children with disabilities. To better understand teachers’ perspectives, past and present, this article details the findings from two studies conducted 14 years apart. Through comparison of findings from the work of Aspden and Baxter, this article explores teachers’ beliefs and experiences related to identification and referral practices. In the original 2003 study, 50 early childhood teachers completed a paper-based postal survey, whereas in the 2017 replication, 78 early childhood teachers completed an online survey. Persistent concerns about teacher engagement with identification and referral processes were evident both past and present, particularly in relation to perceived parental reaction and beliefs about the adequacy of service provisions. Furthermore, the data revealed tensions between embracing a strengths-based approach and the need to identify children’s disabilities. The findings provide insight into referral practices in the New Zealand early childhood context and suggest the need for ongoing teacher consultation in relation to policy and practice, the development of more formal referral policies and procedures, as well as enhanced professional support and development that targets teachers’ need for knowledge of and connection with specialist agencies.

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Identification and Referral for Early Intervention Services in New Zealand: A Look at Teachers’ Perspectives – Past and Present

Aspden

Baxter

Clendon

et al. 2019

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

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Interdisciplinary Pre-Service Professional Preparation Through Video Modeling

Chatlos

Hoeh

Bonati

et al. 2022

Handbook of Research on Interdisciplinary Preparation for Equitable Special Education

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Preparation of pre-service professionals to work in the field of special education requires explicitly taught approaches to collaboration as a part of a multidisciplinary team. The authors' faculty learning community provides a model to emanate the skills, knowledge, and dispositions of a high-functioning collaborative team expected from pre-service professionals through a mock individualized education program (IEP) team video series. Issues (origin story), solutions (video modeling), and areas of future research (mock interdisciplinary student teams) will be discussed. A description of Cox's (n.d.) 16 recommendations to frame a faculty learning community, video production, and other relevant topics for potential implementation will also be included. The faculty learning community and its video modeling products are presented as an exemplar for interdisciplinary, cross-departmental/institutional expertise to model a positive student-centered mock IEP team.

show abstract

Child and Youth Profile: A Toolkit to Facilitate Cross-Disciplinary Educational Planning.

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

Identification and Referral for Early Intervention Services in New Zealand: A Look at Teachers’ Perspectives – Past and Present

Identification and Referral for Early Intervention Services in New Zealand: A Look at Teachers’ Perspectives – Past and Present

Interdisciplinary Pre-Service Professional Preparation Through Video Modeling

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