Teacher Preparation for Educating the Disturbed: Graduate, Undergraduate, or Functional?

Abstract

One can submit that the issue of undergraduate versus graduate education for teachers of emotionally disturbed children reflects a form of rigidity in our own behavior in the field and a lack of recognition of what truly are the underlying problems of effective preparation and need for qualified people in a critical area. To arbitrarily state that it is inadvisable to have undergraduate programs is to deny both the evidence which can be gathered and the experience of several universities. The evidence seems to show that undergraduates can and do have a role in teaching emotionally disturbed children. We might also want to look at the idea that longer training does not necessarily mean better training, and that, rather, the intensity and therefore the quality of preparation enable one to approximate the behavioral outcomes which may be desired as a result of any particular program. There is little evidence to demonstrate the inadvisability of carrying on certain preparation programs. Currently, the prevailing opinion is expert, and this is conceptually limiting to the field. What is required is a new teacher preparation—a breaking away from the traditions of the university and a movement into functional, innovative preparation. The demand is highest in special education. One particular preparation mode, the intensive training institute, has been suggested. We cannot afford to wait—the time for revitalization is upon us.