Preparing Special Education Leadership for Problem Solving in a High Tech World

A broad range of national and international social structures are changing rapidly as we become a nation engaged in the business of thinking and communicating knowledge as opposed to the historical base of industrial manufacturing. What these dramatic changes hold for the well-being of handicapped people is unknown. The resulting challenge to the new leadership in special education is perhaps the greatest in the history of the profession. New approaches to new problems will require new approaches to leadership preparation, yet we must continue to meet present needs. The leadership preparation model described responds to both current conditions and future needs. The model anticipates that the special education leaders in the next decade will be able to reconceptualize future professional roles, identify new knowledge and approaches to instruction, design new curricula, establish effective transdisciplinary models for administering special education programs, and become effective advocates for handicapped people in a high technology world. The model proposes multiple learning environments and mentors through which inquiry, innovation, application, evaluation, and new technology can be brought to bear on the preparation of individuals for leadership in solving the critical issues with which special education will move into the 21st century.