Ashley Shetter

Practical Applications Teaming

Short paper #3
10/15/19
Option 2

Traditional approaches between educational professionals have been used in the past

which makes it more common to find resistances than conflict between team members.

According to, (Cook & Friend, 2017) when compared to other professions (such as business,

law, and psychology), education has neither evolved a systemic means of considering conflict as

part of the work environment nor developed models for resolving it”. In the past, tasks were

assigned to the various providers and they were responsible for carrying out those tasks with

very little help from others. Due to the fact that individuals were isolated in their roles, conflict

was very rarely identified or addressed. This lead to resistance being more common in the work

environment. Even if they were not necessarily problem solving together changes in their roles

or the procedures could often lead to resistance amongst colleagues. 

It is not uncommon for individuals to display symptoms of resistance throughout the

educational and early intervention programs. These symptoms include but are not limited to

refusal to participate, relying on past practices and displacing responsibility. An example of

refusing to participate would be the Parker Ellis case study. Dana was unhappy with the

decisions and proceedings of the IEP meeting so instead of working with her fellow colleagues

to problem solve; she flat out refused to participate (McWilliams, n.d.) The more appropriate

response would have been to engage with her colleagues and express her concerns as they came

up. Relying on past practices is another symptom that may come up when working with others in

a team setting. It can be difficult to change the way a clinician practices, especially when they

have been doing it a certain way for many years. An example of this would be the transition from
a clinical based intervention to a family centered one. Although it has been proven that family

centered intervention is best practice for Early Intervention, clinicians may have been resistant to

change because of the many years of clinical base practices. Finally, colleagues may see

members of their team trying to displace responsibility. They may try to displace responsibility

onto the parents or other faculty members involved. The individual may make it seems as if

those individuals would never allow the change to be made in the first place so that is why it will

not happen.

When it comes to my individual’s practices there are some topics I am resistant to

change.  When something does not align with my personal philosophy or values, it is very

unlikely that I will make the change. This is because I take a strong stance on my values and do

not faultier with them. For example, many facilities have the child come into the clinic and

administer therapy on site. I believe that the child should be in a setting that is most comfortable

to them, so I administer therapy in-home. I personally do not believe it is in the child’s best

interest to change settings to a clinic, therefore I would be resistant to the change. However, I

must always keep in mind that my decisions affect the family and child. There will be times

when something does not align with my personal philosophy or values. I can accomplish this

change by removing my emotional component from the equation. I have to put the families needs

and beliefs before my own so that I can support them in the ways they need me to. I can also

reach out to other team members who may be familiar with the circumstances so that I am as

informed as possible when providing services.