Where Special Education Law Meets Imposter Phenomenon

Constrained Psychology of Educators (and Administrators) Pt 2

In part one I explained how a fundamental idea in school culture – the idea that teachers have the answers – constrains the creativity and effectiveness of educators and counselors. 

This cultural belief pressures teachers and counselors into thinking they should be able to provide easy and effective responses to complex and challenging social, emotional, and behavioral presentations of students. And if they don’t have easy-to-understand solutions ready to implement, they better find them soon! 

You would be hard-pressed to design better conditions for developing imposter phenomenon in school staff. The staff role at this point can become less about improving access to education for students, and more about maintaining an image of knowledgeability and competence to administrators and colleagues.

This constrained thinking runs in opposition to the kind of curiosity, wonder, and patience required to form real relationships and real understanding. I find it fascinating that relationship is a buzzword in educator professional development, but somehow does not have the same cache in the school counseling community.

This school culture problem of feeling pressured to behave as if easy answers are available extends into the individual education program (IEP) process as well. People find reassurance in the idea that special education law is clear and easy to understand, but this is not the case. Important parts of special education law are squishy, unclear, and sometimes not particularly coherent. Unfortunately, you won’t hear very many people acknowledge this truth.

This set of circumstances leaves parents at a disadvantage. They are generally counting on the school’s educators and especially administrators to be expert on the implementation of the law. Educators and administrators often claim, or have come to believe (with the help of a big dose of imposter phenomenon), that the laws are straightforward. 

Many school administrators and staff do not make distinctions between their district policies and practices, and what the law dictates. This all makes for a very confusing and disempowering experience for parents.

Here’s a demonstration of this phenomenon from a conversation in a teacher Facebook community. Someone asked: “How shortly after the IEP meeting should parents receive a copy of the written IEP?” 

A Facebook user responded “All this information is readily available on Google and standardized on the federal level.” receiving a shower of likes and loves for this comforting but incorrect idea.

Here is the actual law, which is not easy to find nor clear to interpret. 

Beyond that, there are separate memorandums from the state regarding the interpretation of the law.

As educators, school counselors, and administrators, we would all be better off to be patient with ourselves, acknowledge complexity and ambiguity – especially when working with parents – and support each other through a complex process.