There are many challenges that come with inclusion. There are challenges that come with anything that is new or different. People learn to adapt and make the changes necessary so that there is an easy transition into whatever they are doing. When it comes to full inclusion of students with disabilities in the classroom, the challenges can be very great and there may not be as many resources available as expected. That leads me into the first problem with full inclusion – lack of money or funds to make it work. In the YouTube clip “Including Samuel”, Joe Petner, the principal of Haggerty School, notes “that schools have to invest in an intensive level of professional development.” I feel that inclusion can work everywhere, but if there is not money invested in training teachers and equipping them with the technology and tools available it will not be successful. The second problem is that inclusion may not work for every student with special needs. Emily Huff, who was interviewed in “Including Samuel”, suffered from schizophrenia and felt that attending regular schools made her mental health worse. Her mother felt she thrived in an environment that was both therapeutic and academic. This would be impossible to offer in the general education classroom because most students would not benefit and do not need therapy during the school day. The last problem I see is time. There are so many demands on teachers and it is very hard to meet the already diverse needs of the students. How will the administration ensure that teachers will not be overloaded by taking on students with disabilities?
All of the problems I have mentioned can be alleviated. There needs to be more money
available from the federal government to cover the added expenses to educate students with disabilities. The students with disabilities should
have the correct devices to communicate, hear, and see just as the students without
disabilities. There should be aides,
therapists, and trained teachers readily available in all schools. With inclusion taking place in schools
starting in kindergarten, society will start to change and be more accepting
and understanding of these students so that when they reach middle school and
high school when many of the social complications take place, they will have
already known these students for many years and there would not be as many
challenges as we see today. In Chapter 4
of our text Education for All, the author says, “The more that schools implement
inclusive practices, the more quickly society will change – just like racial segregation. If you integrate the schools, you integrate society,
and that’s how a generation grows up making change.” How powerful and true is that? Don’t you feel like Samuel's classmates will grow
up having a better understanding of people who have disabilities? That is how change will continue and will
benefit all of society.
I feel that inclusion would have been much more successful if a more systematic approach would have taken place, such as start in the preschools and primary grades. This way children would not know any other way. They would learn from the start that each classmate is valuable and can contribute in their own way. Also by starting in the primary grades, the funding would have been directed to the training and adequate staffing of each classroom and support personnel. By focusing on the younger children, within 13 years an entire system would be practicing inclusion. I think we as educators need to look at more inclusion failure stories in order to gain a more accurate idea of what is actually going on.
ReplyDeleteI think in that video with the principal, he understands what it takes and had confidence in his staff and resources. If I remember correctly it was the teacher who wanted more than just one grade level of inclusion, he wanted it for all grades in the building. He wants his teachers to be diverse, prepare for the future and the unfamiliarity. It can be tough at times but in order to provide the best education possible you must be willing to do something different.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Dianne's comment. I do believe that inclusion needs to start early and it should be done as a whole system. Children learn to be more tolerant and understanding of inclusion if they are seeing it from the beginning of their education. I am a total advocate for starting this at an early age and continuing throughout their school years. When they don't know anything different, all students are respected for who they are as an individual. I have never considered the funding component for training, but that is a great point as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you comment that there needs to be more money available to provide the training to gen ed teachers, the problem is, where would the money come from? My first thought, there is a great need for welfare reform. This would free up a lot of wasted money! I'm guessing that 90% of the time, I am behind someone in line at Walmart paying for groceries with their Access (welfare) card. The most I've ever seen on one transaction was $500 and some dollar transaction at one time. This is where reform needs to take place, They load up the groceries into the family Escalade or whatever, leaching off the system, money that could otherwise be used for something better such as education. This, however, will never change. Our wonderful leaders in Washington D.C. would never take money from the voters and give it to something more important and deserving.
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