Adult-child discourse: A focus on paraprofessionals in early childhood special education.

Abstract

Employing paraprofessionals in early childhood special education is a growing practice in education. Most of the previous research on paraprofessionals has relied on survey data. Specifically, this investigation focused on: (a) delineating the various roles which paraprofessionals play in early childhood special education services; (b) describing these early childhood settings in terms of micro-contexts; (c) identifying variations in paraprofessional roles across contexts; and (d) describing the discourse structure between paraprofessionals and special needs children across paraprofessional roles and micro-contexts. A constant comparative design (Stainback & Stainback, 1988) characterized this qualitative investigation. Data were collected over 22 weeks (January-June, 1991) for four mornings per week. Case studies were developed with three early childhood education paraprofessionals working with special needs children in a rural Canadian school. The results show that, first, early childhood special education environments are made up of a series of micro-contexts which in turn are defined by the activity and the participants. Second, paraprofessionals play a variety of roles which clustered around four classroom functions: (a) direct instruction; (b) curriculum design; (c) classroom management; and (d) child advocacy. The definition and behavioural correlates of the roles were impacted by: (a) parents; (b) teachers; (c) administration; and (d) paraprofessionals themselves. Third, paraprofessional-special needs child discourse changed across micro-contexts in the percentage of discourse exchange types used by both the adult and child. However, the general patterns of paraprofessional and special need child discourse were remarkably stable, suggesting both parties may be using a "school register" (Cazden, 1986). Such a register was characterized by the paraprofessionals controlling most of the discourse exchanges. However, the special needs child could recognize that different contexts within the school day required different language structures. The author concluded by suggesting that the roles of paraprofessionals be expanded to include community liaisons. Paraprofessionals are also seen as being an excellent source of child advocacy. However, such roles require additional education and openness from the professional constituents.