There are students who need more special attention than the typical ones. Some people call them as less-intelligent or even abnormal students. That may be how some people rudely call them, but it is better to describe them as special students. These special students might not be like the normal ones – mainly because they have special needs. They might be having difficulties or challenges with learning or they might be having a hard time with communication. Some special students might have behavioral or emotional disorders while others might have physical disabilities that prevent them from learning the same way and pace like typical understudies. Because of these special needs, it is necessary to create a certain category of education that would cater to these types of individuals – special education. So, how does special education from differ from the more common and widely used general education?
Special education uses quite a different approach from the general education, although some areas overlap. General education involves presenting the standard curriculum set by education authorities using standard teaching methods. General education involves the typical classroom setting, wherein teachers address the needs of the class as whole. Teachers in general education implements procedures and teaching methods regardless of the differences between the students.
Special education, meanwhile, is the opposite of general education. Special education uses a certain special curriculum which caters to a certain special student type. For example, the procedures and teaching methods used to attend to one special student are different from methodology implemented on another student. The focus of special education is to address the students’ individual needs and differences. To do that, it may require various teaching methods, learning materials and support equipment. Thus, instead of using the typical classroom set up, special education teachers use the resource room set up.
