so, i recently got a job as a special education teacher. I have some pretty cool and unique job experience relating to that and based on that and my attitude multiple different places wanted to hire me extremely bad.
i chose the one closest to my house so that i wouldn't have to wake up earlier and just due to general laziness.
i know the general rule is don't do any extra work besides what you're getting paid for but its harder cause i work in a childcare field so ultimately the one who suffers from the management being garbage is the kids which is hella fucked up.
recently i had a problem with a teacher. you see i'm part of an inclusion program (currently we only have inclusion) which means the kids i work with are included with the other kids, which im totally for. the problem is that it means i have to work with and abide by the teacher of that classes rules. when there is a good teacher there are good teachers but when there are bad teachers there are horrible ones.
for the most part i've been able to go to these different teachers rooms during my schedule and do what i need to do…. except this teacher. This is that teachers first year as an inclusion teacher. shes made it very clear that she doesn't like accommodations. she feels like the disable kids i work with “just have to learn” and that any accommodations being made to them is unfair for the other kids. when i do something to help de-escalate or prevent the kids i work with from having behaviors she disagrees because i'm not doing it her way, and that she believes most of these behaviors aren't a part of their disability its just them misbehaving. so when i step in she wants to have me explain everything i'm doing so that she can approve it or not. at first i attempted to do that but when i did she just kept on disapproving of my methods or undermining me in some way.
so i should just stop trying right?
well, i tried that in her class and when the kids have a good day and there are no behaviors she will point it out and tell me “see i told you my method works”. when the kids have bad days tho…..
first off, she is extremely rigid with her rules and wants complete compliance without any accommodations and whenever a kid is in a behavior she will do things that very obviously escalate the situation (i.e. following the child when they are trying to get space to decompress and repeating their name over and over) and she'll do this until it becomes “too much” for her and then she'll just let the kid do whatever they want and we're all supposed to ignore them cause “they've made their choice” and then that kid gets a note home. when it escalates to that point she will then look at me and tell me that i'm not doing my job and that it's “my job to intervene so that she can teach”. she also treats me like im a second assistant for her and not a sped teacher….
i tried talking to my principal about it who told me to talk to my co-sped teacher (she has more experience than me and has been with the district for longer). my co-sped teacher feels for me but we both have our hands tied on the matter.
recently, we had to have a meeting about it and because i wasn't comfortable doing my job in her class i've basically been doing nothing and leaving it to the teacher and her aid to handle. also, the kids have been having some good days.
in the meeting, i was thrown under the bus for my “lack of communication” and the teacher basically blamed me for causing behaviors citing me taking a hands off approach as the reason for the kids having a good day. so the meeting basically concluded with it being labeled as a “miscommunication”. me having to agree to constantly tell her what i am doing at all times including when a student is in a behavior and her having to vaguely promise to allow the kids to have accommodations.
i'm just done. i feel so bad for the kids cause they're being labeled as bad kids (they're not), but at this point i'm done. I have already mentally checked out and i cant wait to get my degree and never work with kids again cause of stuff like this.