SPED BLOG
POST #3)
Inclusion/A Contemporary
Challenge. What Is Your Perspective?
By: Nicole Yozwiak
Inclusion
has been one of the key focuses on special education over the past few years
because of all the research that has been looking at the pros and cons of how
it is affecting the teachers, students, and families. First I am going to define what inclusion
mean and how it is related to the special education students. Then I will discuss
some of the pros and cons that are involved that are contributing to the debate
on inclusion and finally I will discuss some of my experience and what I have
seen within the schools.
How
children are learning within the school systems have changed over the years in
many different ways. When looking at
what inclusion is, according to our book, Educational
for All: Critical Issues in the Education of Children and Youth with
Disabilities, it's the education of students with disabilities with their non-disabled peers, has its origins in the movement to include individuals with
disabilities in the mainstream of society. It also states that it was based on
the principle of normalization and its goal was to make life for those with
disabilities as culturally normative as possible. Overall, I believe that its intentions are well
formed, but the way the schools carry it out and depending on the individuals
it could be implemented in a positive or negative way.
There
are many pros and cons that have been fueling this debate on whether inclusion
is a positive or negative influence on the students. According to the article Inclusion Pros and Cons, "students with disabilities in
inclusive environments improve in social interactions, language development,
appropriate behavior, and self-esteem."
These are just some of the aspects that show a positive reinforcement
for the individuals with disabilities. Not
only does an inclusive environment benefit the students with disabilities, but
it can also benefit the non-disabled students.
Some of the aspects that this can be seen in include allowing the
children to interact with their disabled peers, students will also have the
opportunity to develop a positive attitude towards the individuals with
disabilities, and they will be given the opportunity to tolerate, understand,
and develop friendships with individuals that are different than them. This is all beneficial because if you teach
children at an early age to develop an understanding and to keep an open mind,
I believe that individuals with disabilities will be given more opportunities
in their lifetime.
Even
though there are many benefits to inclusion, there is also some negative
aspects and views. Some of the concerns are
teachers feel that the students with disabilities will not have the resources
that are needed in order to accommodate for their learning types and the
regular classrooms will not have all of the technology that the students needs
to enhance their full potential. Also,
many teachers feel like they do not have the proper training and it will
promote difficulty developing the higher academic standards and to improve the
academic achievement of all students in the school system.
When
viewing the video, Including Samuel, it showed many of the positive and negative
aspect of inclusion. When watching the
video, the teachers seemed to have mixed views.
One of the teachers said that they would not imagine any other way other
than inclusion for children with disabilities. Individuals also view having the
students with disabilities being instigated within the classrooms does have
some benefits. Having them within the
classrooms allow them to social and even have other students learn from
them. Samuel along has taught
individuals not to prejudge others by the way they talk, or whether they can
talk or not. He has also taught them
patients and not to make any assumptions.
On the other hand, some of the teachers do not feel as if they have the
proper training and they do not know how they can teach students with
disabilities in the regular education classrooms.
When
going into the schools, I have seen many examples of how the schools are trying
to introduce inclusion inside and outside of the classrooms. When going to school at Canfield, there were
some examples of inclusion throughout the grade levels. When I helped out a third
grade classroom, I felt like not only did the teacher enjoy having the students
with disabilities in her room, but also the students. I think that all of the students viewed it as
a learning experience and they all took something away from having the
opportunity to include all students in the classroom. I believe that this was successful, because
the teacher was willing to work with the students and provide every student
with their level of understanding of the material.
After having read your post, the comments concerning the Canfield teacher reminded me of several great teachers I've had the opportunity to observe over the years. Inclusion can be a great experience for everyone if facilitated correctly. Several years ago, I attended my daughters 4th grade open house in Austintown. I was shocked when the teacher introduced a co-teacher. He went on to explain that the co-teacher was actually special education certified and would be in the room to help out anyone who needed help. This turned out to be a great help to all students in the room, both disabled and non-disabled.
ReplyDeleteI love how you mentioned that general education teachers feel as though they are not adequately trained to include students with disabilities into their classrooms. It seems that every general education teacher that I've talked to has said that they have very little experience in accommodating these children. I feel that it is essential for there to be more exposure to special education for these general education teachers to fully understand what it takes to help these children learn, whether it be through professional development or full collaboration with special education teachers. I think there needs to be motivation to learn about what needs to be done for students who are to be included in a general education classroom.
ReplyDeleteNicole and Dianne the key to the successes of the inclusion classrooms you both refereed to have the collaboration of well trained, quality educators and schools that care about all of the students especially meeting the needs of ELN students. If only every school district had those same services and training, many of the downfalls of inclusion could be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteNicole,
ReplyDeleteI feel you hit the nail on the head regarding how teachers view inclusion as it relates to their training. In many cases, teachers who have been around for a while don't feel that they have been trained properly. In some cases, inclusion "training" starts and ends with a periodic seminar given during an in-service. I have seen that frustration among teachers at my school as well. I consider myself lucky that I came to the profession later than most - I've only been teaching full-time for the last six years, after roughly 20 years in private employment, so I was able to receive more recent instruction. I have also had experience working with students with disabilities when I taught for a test prep company - mostly students with "mild disabilities" who received time accommodations to take the SAT and other standardized tests - but some of whom had more severe issues, including those with cognitive disabilities. I learned early on to enlist the help of caregivers and parents.
Like I said, I've been lucky. Not all of my peers have had the opportunities that I've had, and I think they should. We need to prioritize meaningful training and - dare I say it? - standardize these policies across the state, and even the nation.