A Story About Claudia
Learning
diversity is an important concept to understand in the classroom. It is the
understanding that every student learns differently (Exceptional
Children, 2008). With that in mind, the education system has placed
opportunities for students with disabilities to obtain an equal education with
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Exceptional
Children, 2008). Teachers are faced with many obstacles in the
classroom, but the overall goal is meeting the needs of all learners. Students
with disabilities require additional attention and necessary accommodations
and/or modifications so he or she has a successful experience (Exceptional Children, 2008). Teachers have to
reform their own practices and be open to resources around to create a positive
unbiased experience.
One student that created an impact
to remember goes by the name of “Claudia.” Claudia is a young lady who comes
from an upper class family and had to leave her private Catholic school after
she discovered she was pregnant (Hayden, 1982).
First meeting Claudia, my impression was that she excelled in school, was
family oriented, and participated in church practices. At the age of 12, she is
a bright young lady who was very shy. She never participated in group
activities until the day her fellow classmates: Thomaso, Boo and Lori
participated in quiet art time (Hayden, 1982).
Thomaso began a conversation with Claudia by asking if she was placed in the
class only because of being pregnant. Later on, Claudia shared her experience
with me that she had only had sex once with a fifteen-year-old boy who claimed
she could not get pregnant until she was further developed. She was just a
child herself who was not aware of the consequences. This one mistake would
change her life forever. Claudia suffered from extreme self-esteem issues and
certainly did not belong in my classroom, but I wanted to make sure that I
could reach out in any way that I could to help. She was placed in the class
for a half a day then attended vocational and baby-care classes with high
school students during the other half of the day. Claudia exhibited compassion
for her classmates and showed her ability to assist with caring and looking
after them. Unfortunately, she did not show this same compassion for herself
since she had ups and downs. Claudia attempted suicide, but because of her
experience in the classroom, she was able to go on to live a happy and
successful life (Hayden, 1982).
To make Claudia’s experiences better
for her in the classroom, Claudia needed more support and people who would
listen to her trials and tribulations (NCWGE, 2015). This did not involve
family that believed that hiding her “mistake” would solve the problem. I had
to understand that Claudia came from a family who believed her feelings should
be kept inside and secluded. She received minimal attention and even less after
finding out she was pregnant. Claudia’s parents did not offer support other than
offering to take care of her baby after it was born (Hayden,
1982). Claudia needed a place where she felt comfortable so she could
deal with her problems. Claudia’s initial reaction in the classroom was
negative, but by providing her with a comfortable environment; Claudia
developed the ability to talk about her problems and what she could do to solve
these problems. Claudia was provided with patience and respect. By being honest
with Claudia, it helped build a relationship. Claudia was provided with an
opportunity to ask questions and be provided with honest answers so she could
be aware of the situation and develop her own ideas. This helped enhance her
critical thinking ability and problem solving skills (Charles
& Dickens, 2012). Claudia was treated like she was a mature young
woman by giving her responsibilities inside and outside of the classroom.
Claudia would help set up classroom activities. She would also look after Boo. This
provided an opportunity for Claudia to develop through social interaction while
supporting her classmates academically (Charles
& Dickens, 2012). Claudia was able to be involved in planning to
help provide additional support to the students. She was handed responsibility
as an adult by having a teacher role in the classroom. One of the interventions
attempted was to provide Claudia with outside help; however, her parents denied
that their daughter needed help so it was unsuccessful (Hayden, 1982). I find it important to reach out to the parents
to make sure they are aware that I genuinely have their child’s best interest
in mind and care about their education. Claudia was a young girl who was
pregnant and needed additional support so with understanding that she would
miss school, I provided her with the support outside of school to talk and an
opportunity to do homework on the days that were missed by emailing her the
documents and listing them on my school website. Claudia was a unique student
since she did not have problems academically, but she did face emotional needs
based on her pregnancy at a young age. Even though support was provided, there
were drawbacks that came in the way.
The first drawback existed with the family.
Claudia had a difficult time being able to talk to her family and completely
understand the results of her consequences (Hayden,
1982). She was young and confused. In a way, the family was in denial
and disappointed with their daughters situation. This is a problem between the
child and parent since communication is hindered resulting in emotional
distress with both parties (NCWGE, 2015). I found that the mother had the most
difficult time because she wanted to support her daughter and be more involved
in helping Claudia, but the father exhibited strong frustration and lacked
talking about the pregnancy. By parents having a difficult time talking about
life experiences, challenges, and helping resources; this makes it difficult to
full meet the needs of the student in the classroom. It does make it difficult
on a teacher because there are limitations to our responsibilities of the
student that we cannot cross. A teacher’s responsibility to the student does
not stop in the classroom, but it is providing full support to the student even
outside (NCWGE, 2015). By having her parents deny additional support that was
offered; Claudia’s problems were not being addressed. The next drawback was
reaching Claudia’s needs while addressing her classmate’s needs. Claudia was an
older student who did not have academic problems so how could I use her in the
classroom or address her needs? This all begins with listening and providing
emotional support where it is needed. Another drawback was public support
because there was not many support groups or resources for a 12 year old who
was pregnant (Hayden, 1982). It almost
seemed as if the world was trying to hide these experiences like Claudia’s
parents were. Drawbacks are just challenges that need to be solved for the best
interest of each student because it does cause issues for the student.
Thinking about issues that students
face in their own situations is a concept that all teachers should become aware
of. We are here to provide support instead of cause more issues that could
result in more problems. In Claudia’s situation, she faced emotional problems
that were not being addressed by her family so she attempted suicide (Hayden, 1982). Because of this situation, Claudia
was assigned a counselor, which her and her mother attended. This could not be
discussed with Claudia’s father. Claudia still lacked the full support she
needed to help talk about her problems and address her needs by her father. She
was at a sensitive stage of her life where she did not completely understand
what was happening to her. Claudia did not have an opportunity to use outside
resources like she needed with her family being in denial so it did not provide
her with an opportunity to understand more about her situation and what was
about to change her life. She was still a child who was being forced to ignore
the severity of her situation. She was being prevented of thinking like an
adult, which should be the stage when she would be having a child, but instead
she was a child who felt disappointed, lacked social interaction, no support,
and felt alone in the world. If Claudia would have continued not having her own
needs addressed then she would have possibly attempted suicide again, kept the
child and faced many hardships as a young mother does, or not learned from her
mistakes and continued to make more. Claudia needed to be able to express
herself and talk to someone so my classroom was designed to provide her with
real-life experiences that would address her needs.
My responsibility was to help
Claudia deal with her pregnancy, self-esteem issues, and family that provided
little to no emotional support. Claudia was a pregnant teenager who had rights according
to Title IX (NCWGE, 2015). By treating Claudia like a responsible young woman
who could talk about her problems and find solutions, it allowed Claudia to
make decisions for her child as well. She decided to place the child up for adoption
after understanding that she was too young to care for a newborn. Being
pregnant at 12 is a difficult challenge since there are not many girls at that
age that understands what it means to be pregnant, the pregnant girl would be
looked at differently, called names, bullied, parents would not let their
children hang out with her, parents would believe she is a bad influence, and
being pregnant at 12 forces that child to grow up faster. Teachers should
always be mindful by viewing through their student’s eyes to see how they feel
and gain a more personal understanding of the challenges he or she faces.
Students with disabilities face so many obstacles, but it is important to
create an environment where everyone supports each other and encourages motivation
even in the hardest times. We are provided with so many different resources to
help students with disabilities so he or she does not feel alone or face
self-esteem problems. Our goals as educators is to make sure our students get
the most out of their education and are provided with the support that he or
she needs. By listening and giving the students the attention that they need,
students become more involved in their education and are able to develop a
relationship with the teacher to encourage feedback and motivation. Teachers
and classrooms should not exhibit any form of bias in the classroom. We do not
completely understand what each student is going through, but we need to create
an environment where the students feel comfortable to express themselves and
understand that he or she can make a difference. We need to remember the
importance of our positions and how we can change lives!
Work Cited
Charles,
Kelly J., Dickens, Virginia. (Nov-Dec 2012). Closing the Communication Gap:
"Web 2.0 Tools for Enhanced Planning and
Collaboration". Teaching Exceptional Children (Vol 45 n2
p24-35.)
Hayden,
T. (1982). Somebody else's kids. New York, NY: Avon Books.
Pregnant
and Parenting Students. (2015, July 15). Retrieved August 5, 2015, from http://www.ncwge.org/TitleIX40/Pregnant-Parenting.pdf
Skiba,
Russell J.; Simmons, Ada B.; Ritter, Shana; Gibb, Ashley C.; Rausch, M. Karega;
Cuadrado, Jason; Choong-Geun Chung. (Spring 2008). Achieving Equity in
Special Education: History, Status, and Current Challenges.
Exceptional Children (Vol. 74 Issue 3, p264-288. 25p.)
