Research On The Development Of Pre-service Education For Special Education Teachers In The United States (1817-2022)

The development of special children cannot be separated from the guidance of special education teachers,and the reason why special education teachers can become teachers also requires specialized learning and training.But specialized teacher training is not always present,it has gradually matured with the development of special education and teacher education.From the perspective of special education,studying the pre-service training of special education teachers is an inevitable move to promote and deepen research on special education,and is also an important prerequisite for achieving the development of high-quality special education.From the perspective of teacher education,studying the pre-service training of special education teachers has certain typicality and representativeness,which can better grasp the forefront of global teacher education reform.As the most developed country in special education in the world today,the United States has developed a historical process of pre-service training for special education teachers from scratch,from simplicity to complexity,and constantly advancing through innovation and change.This can provide experience and reference across time and space for today’s special education and teacher education.The laws behind this transformation process are also worth pondering by educational history researchers.This study is based on a review of the development history of pre-service education for special education teachers in the United States.The evolution process from the colonial period to the present is divided into five stages in chronological and logical terms: the first stage is from the colonial period before 1817 to the early days of the founding of the country.At this time,there were no special education schools or narrow defined special education teachers in the North American continent,so the pre-service training of special education teachers had not yet emerged.Very few religious figures,workshop masters,family teachers,and philanthropists have carried out sporadic educational activities for a small number of disabled children,becoming the earliest "special educators" in the United States.Some education activists have also issued calls for the development of special education and teacher training.The second stage was the beginning period from 1817 to 1887.From the establishment of the first special education school in 1817 to the training of blind education teachers at Columbia University in 1884.In the context of the public school movement in the 19 th century,the field of special education gradually formed a school system with deaf,blind,and intellectual education as the basic types,and professional associations of special education teachers also emerged during this period.At this stage,two initial models of special education teacher training emerged,namely the "apprenticeship and internship" model and the "normal school plus internal training" model.Their common feature is that they both attach great importance to the accumulation of teaching experience,and teacher candidates spend the majority of their time practicing and learning in real-life scenarios in special education schools.The third stage is the exploratory transformation period from 1884 to 1945.During this period,three modes of special education teacher training coexisted,and the two traditional teacher training modes began to seek transformation and development.The pre-service education mode for special education teachers in universities and colleges gradually took shape through exploration.The driving force behind it cannot be separated from the accelerated development of special education and the profound transformation of teacher education.As universities and colleges begin to cultivate special education teachers,their pre-service education system has gradually formed at this stage.The fourth stage was an accelerated expansion period from World War II to1975.At this point,the trend of universalization of pre-service training for special education teachers has been fully established.The federal government has provided external support for the training of special education teachers from the institutional level through policy intervention and legislative funding,resulting in a rapid expansion of the scale of special education teacher training.The fifth stage is from 1975 to the present.With the joint efforts of the disabled population,parents of disabled children,and special education workers,the promulgation of a series of bills has greatly improved the quality of special education teachers,and also promoted the continuous improvement of the pre-service training system for special education teachers,with higher education institutions as the main body,in the reform.The criticism and discussion of the quality of pre-service training for universalized special education teachers during this period prompted people to explore new paths to cultivate high-quality special education teachers.Some new explorations,represented by selective teacher certification programs,"campus based models," and "high leverage practices," have continued to emerge,enriching the overall appearance of pre-service training for special education teachers in the United States.Based on the historical retrospection,problem reflection and contradiction analysis of the pre-service education of special education teachers in the United States,we can find that in the whole development process,the United States has produced three different types of special education teacher training models-"apprenticeship and internship" model,"normal school plus internal training" model,and professional training model of universities and colleges.The first two models trained special education teachers,who were the main source of special education teachers in the 19 th century America.The rise of university oriented teacher education brought the third model to the forefront and gradually became mainstream in the first half of the 20 th century.After World War II,the deep intervention of the federal government accelerated the development of pre-service training for special education teachers,and higher education institutions became the absolute mainstay of teacher training.However,at the same time,the drawbacks of emphasizing theory over practice have gradually emerged,prompting relevant parties to explore new paths for cultivating special teacher qualifications in the reform.A new pattern has gradually formed,with university oriented and professional training as the main focus,supplemented by multi path,non directional,and practical training.This study objectively presents the roles of government,society,schools,and other factors in this process of change,as well as the influence exerted by groups composed of teachers,disabled individuals,and parents.It analyzes the causal relationship between various forces in promoting the development and transformation of pre-service training for special education teachers,reveals the internal laws of pre-service training for special education teachers,and puts forward several suggestions for the pre-service training of special education teachers in China.