Excerpt
Excerpted from Chapter 1 of The Educator's Guide to Medical Issues in the Classroom, by Frank M. Kline, Ph.D., Larry B. Silver, M.D., & Steven C. Russell, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2001 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
The intent of this book is to assist educators in providing the best possible education by equipping them to communicate clearly and effectively with those in the medical profession. Although in decline over the last few decades, the relationship between medicine and learning actually predates the formation of education as a field of study. From the very beginning of schooling, education and medicine have been inextricably intertwined. Many of the earliest studies of education were conducted by physicians who understood the impact that one's physical being can have on one's learning. Hinschelwood's studies of "word blindness" are an excellent example. Basic concepts of education such as ability were also often explored in medicine before educators began to struggle with these ideas.
Since education has been publicly organized and made available to all, the relationship between learning and medicine has become more confused. No longer does the locus of study of these two areas lie within one person or even within one field; no longer are physicians also educators. Other factors also contribute to the general decline of the relationship between the medical and educational communities. First, in its desire to be recognized as its own field, education may have divorced itself from its roots in psychology and medicine too completely. Second, various people discontented with the efficacy of education have called for a narrower focus in the field. This was once called "back to the basics." The call in the late 1990s for "competency-based education" might also refocus education in a narrower vein. As a result, areas not seen as integral to a narrowly focused mission of education (i.e., teaching the basics, meeting the competencies) are often jettisoned. Other forces have also conspired to pry apart a formerly close relationship between medicine and education. For example, educators and those in the medical community do not have routine conversations; even the position of school nurse is frequently being eliminated in favor of more teachers (Adelman, 1998; Cranston et al., 1988; Hardiman, Curcio, & Fortune 1998; Marshall & Wuori, 1985).
The reemergence of special education as a mandated field in the early 1970s has resulted in a renewed discussion regarding collaboration between schools and various other community entities, including the medical community. Efforts to collaborate have risen out of the desire to better serve those in need and to use the resources of the community efficiently and effectively. These efforts were largely initiated by the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (PL 94-142), passed to ensure fair and appropriate public education for all individuals. The physician's role was not specifically delineated in this law. Collaboration between medical professionals and educators on behalf of the same students, however, is often beneficial to all involved parties. The next section briefly explores some difficult terms related to collaboration. The remainder of the chapter covers the role of official policy (in the form of legislation, case law, and guidelines of various professional organizations) in developing relationships between education and medical communities, describes several models used for collaboration, and shares a brief description of the rest of this book.
TERMS
The Oxford American Dictionary defines collaboration as to "work in partnership" (Ehrlich, Flexner, Carruth, & Hawkins, 1980, p. 122). The Oxford American Dictionary provides two definitions for integrate