Dear NOMC,
Although this list is primarily for posting jobs and other announcements, we
did set it up as a discussion list and from time to time we have enjoyed a
bit of back and forth on important topics.
I received the below correspondence from an NOMC and I thought it was a good
question and a good thing for all of us to think about and ponder. I have
tried to take care to remove the personally identifying information about
the person and state, but I do think that this is perhaps a broader issue
and one that we should talk about openly. Maybe it is a growing problem,
maybe it is not.
What say you all?
***
I have now seen three other NOMC's come through our state agency/center. . ,
I have got to work with a few that have made their way through. I have seen
a common problem that concerns me. The problem is that I have seen all three
of these NOMC's sit in their office all day long and never leave to
teach-students are just ALWAYS sent out on independent routes. I have gotten
their students when they have moved on or left the center/agency that have
been here for months but are nowhere near where they should be. All of them
have mentioned to me that their travel instructor never went out with them
on routes. This concerns me a lot, and I'm not sure if it's a state problem
or an NOMC wide one, but I suspect that this is NOT the only place this
happens.
I see this becoming a major issue in our field--that maybe we are
understanding the independence aspect and structured discovery method the
wrong way. In our Master's program, you and Darick always drilled into us
the value of guided learning and teaching the skill set first--so I'm not
sure why this is happening. I am concerned that this "laziness" (which is
how I see it) might negatively impact our growth in the field and might need
to be addressed. Maybe I'm way off--maybe it is just a center/state
thing--if so, feel free to tell me. My frustration stems from teaching
students who claim they are not getting any, or minimal, one-on-one
instruction.
My suggestion is some kind of friendly reminder to NOMC's about the value of
hands on instruction and the detriments of leaving students to learn it ALL
on their own.
***
What do you all think?
Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC
Director, Professional Development and Research
Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554 Fax: 318.257.2259 (Fax) Skype:
edwardbell2010