Rethinking the work and training of special education teachers: Colorado,USA, viewed from a Scottish perspective

ABSTRACT

Colorado, the USA and Scotland are alike in many ways. Both have a relatively small population (3.3 and 5 million respectively) and, though Colorado is bigger than even the entire United Kingdom, both are largely rural, with most people living in the central area. The educational challenges which they face are, as in most advanced nations today, determined by considerations of economy as well as of philosophy and these pressures have led to changes in the delivery of special educational services, the way teachers are certified and the content of their training. This article examines these changes and concludes that Colorado has been more radical in the reorganization of its service delivery and certification of teachers, with changes in the schools being the stimulus to change in the state administration of education and thus the training provided by the universities. In Scotland, on the other hand, change in schools has been more gradual, but the education authorities and the colleges have had a greater hand in the process.