Kelly Semple Blog #3: Inclusion/A Contemporary Challenge-My Perspective.

 

                After reading the chapters in the text book and assignments in Module 3, I felt very confused.  So then I thought I would read some blog posting from the teachers in the class, there were only two postings.  My third attempt was to actually look up the definition of inclusion; it basically states it was more about the "basic rights of disabled students".  The right to a free public education, to the best of society’s abilities.  That was not very encouraging.  The actuality is that this is the definition of utopia (at least an educational utopia).   Education for an individual according to their needs!    Our text book states that inclusion is not required if the student will not benefit from being placed in general education but so many of the successful stories given are about  how the disabled student does nothing but benefits from inclusion.  

I believe that the system can work; I just haven't seen it too often. I read Sandra Zeman’s blog about how the school where she teaches implements an early childhood inclusive program, I feel that it is much easier to teach a young child acceptance and limitations then it is to expect them to adapt midstream.  I believe this situation of early childhood inclusion is utopia.  In the text book it lists examples of many school systems that seem to excel in the inclusive programs but it seems the geographic location is much different than ours.  Most school appeared to be in California, which I believe has a great deal to do with the system working.  The community has a major influence in the way education is presented, California is very liberal.  I also feel that family, the school, and the way they interact play major roles in the success of inclusion. 

As a whole I do not believe that inclusion is very successful unless all the stars align. With the current changes in academic requirements for teachers and students, it seems inclusion will only suffer more.  The idea of perfect education for me was to be able to show a student how it works, I believe in group learning, visual and not audio learning, early childhood fun education and most important exposure; what better way to actually learn something but to see, hear, taste or feel it.  With such a different opinion I thought I would ask the masses, people I work with-all around skilled labor to higher educated individuals the responses were amazing:  1. White female fiftyish thought it would be a good experience for the normal kids to see the disabled children aren’t so scary.  2. White male grown children had his daughter graduate with a brain injured student, the disabled student graduated tenth in the class (with a lot of extra help) and his daughter graduated eleventh.  3. The same man in #2 had a nephew who was completely deaf and attended public school they placed him in a resource room in the basement and none of the teachers signed.  4. Younger white male in rural school system his youngest goes to school with a sixth grade boy with autism, the boy has multiple outbursts and disrupts the class.  5.  The last a black male, public city schools, bi-racial marriage and five children had very strong family, church and community values, faith based system.   The push in education definitely seems to side with inclusion, I just don’t know if our system or our community has evolved to accommodate.