ONE LEARNER, TWO PARADIGMS: A CASE STUDY OF A SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENT IN A MULTIAGE PRIMARY CLASSROOM

Abstract

This article explores the literacy development over a period of 3 years of 1 child who is a member of a whole language, multiage classroom, but who also receives special education services because he is considered both “learning disabled” and “severely language impaired.” The ways in which Martin's development is perceived by his 2 teachers vary considerably, because his classroom teacher was trained in a holistic‐constructivist paradigm of language and literacy development and his special education teacher was trained in mechanistic, reductionist traditions. The author contrasts these views, discusses the implications of each, and calls for some new, positive terms that describe readers and writers who have developed slowly and seemingly with difficulty.