Four Deceptive Words You Don’t Want to Hear
Have you ever been in an IEP or 504 meeting and heard these four deceptive words: “I already know that.” from a staff member? Now you may be wondering why I consider these deceptive words…
Let’s first look at the different levels of knowledge and use inclusive education as an example.
Level 1: New information: this is completely new knowledge, inclusive education hasn’t been heard of before, there is no background knowledge the person can use for context. The person doesn’t know what the talk is about.
Level 2: In the brain: A person has heard about inclusive education, can possibly describe it, however, won’t be able to implement it. The person talks about inclusive education, but avoids it. The person is talking the talk.
Level 3: In the heart: At this level a person knows, deeply understands, and can implement inclusive education. And perhaps, most important is the passion the person has. The person is walking the talk.
If you hear someone say, “I already know that.” and you know they aren’t at the point where they can implement their new knowledge, it needs to raise a red flag for you. The “I already know that.” are the four deceptive words.
This is a person who is at Level 2, the person can be over confident, thinking he knows everything there is to know about a subject. When the person’s knowledge is just in the mind, it can’t be successfully implemented.
Knowing is one thing. Doing and being is a whole different level. If a teacher just talks without doing the walk, he most likely will be one that only gives inclusive education a causal focus.
Teachers that are committed to meeting the needs of all students will be consistently focused and take the effort to move knowledge from “in the brain” to “I live this.” May these types of teachers be in your child’s life!
If this TIPspiration article is motivating you to take more action, feel free to contact me and we can chat. My email is charmaine@cspeda.com and my phone number is 208.340.5874. I’d love to brainstorm some next steps you can take for your child.
Take care,
Charmaine
