Cec Standards

CEC Standards

CEC, Council for Exceptional Children was founded in 1922. “It began when educators from New York attended a summer session at Teachers College of Columbia University. The group was concerned that exceptional children were receiving inappropriate, and in many cases no, instruction in the public schools and was formed to provide advocacy and support for exceptional children and their parents.” (pg. 18, text Exceptional Students) CEC standards are the same as normal academic standards just for a certain group of people, the exceptional student. In my opinion the movement for CEC Standards was a good one, I feel they are just as important as the regular academia standards. I feel that all the standards are equally important, however standard #9 had an impact on me when reading it. I feel that Professional and Ethical Practice is an important one to have. Ethics is a big part of everyday life and children with exceptional needs should get the ethical standards we all receive. “Special educators are aware of how their own and others attitudes, behaviors, and ways of communicating can influence their practice.” Being a special educator is a practice and we as special educators have to be aware of the impact we and others can have on our children. I also felt standard two was influential to me, the Development and Characteristics of Learners. “Special educators know and demonstrate respect for their students as unique human beings,. Special educators understand the similarities and differences in human development and the characteristics between and among individuals with and without exceptional learning needs (ELN). Moreover, special educators understand how exceptional conditions can interact with the domains of human development and they use this knowledge to respond to the varying abilities and behaviors of individual’s with ELN.” This to me is stating that these individuals are just as human as the rest of us, they just need to be treated in special ways. They have the same emotions as we do and they need to be treated as human beings. We have the means to research and learn of the problems and how to treat them. We now have the educators to help them to live a normal life, socially and educationally. The CEC has been a big stepping stone for our society. We have come a long way with our understanding of individuals with exceptional learning needs. We keep evolving due to education, research and understanding our exceptional students. The CEC standards has helped us in so many ways, and I have no doubt we will continue down the right path. This gives us the chance to help these people live normal lives educationally, socially, and individually. I hope that one day I can have an impact on someone’s life to help them as an educator.