A great place for social integration to start is in a classroom.
Children are with their peers, experiencing situations, and doing it
independently for the most part. Students with disabilities are in a least
restrictive environment and are included in the general classroom. Both student
with disabilities are students without disabilities are benefiting from this.
I have not been a teacher in a classroom to experience this
personally, but I have been an intern in a preschool classroom. There was a
child with a disability and it was great to watch her interact with the other
students on the playground. We as teachers guided the children in the same
direction to play in the same area and they started talking and did the rest on
their own. They were able to just play together and not worry about whether one
of them had or didn’t have a disability. Getting the students together in
different situations, either during recess, or during lessons on a mat in a
classroom, or extracurricular activities, will bring a greater acceptance for
children with disabilities in our schools, communities and society.
Not only getting them in situation during school or after
school, but having parents acknowledge about these situations is important too.
In Education For All: Critical Issues in the Education of Children and Youth
with Disabilities, Jiminez and Graf states that “…parents and professionals
have a shared responsibility not to get stuck in what does not work. We must
build on what works together.” (p. 66). As an intern at a preschool, I learned
that this is extremely important. The parents and the professionals need to
understand and communicate to each other the different situations that happen
in class and what is working, or not working so these things are repeated or
not repeated again. If a student with disabilities is talking to another
student about wanting to have a play date at home or somewhere another time,
the teacher needs to relay this message to the parents so that it happens. They
are able to work together to build on acceptance of play dates and other fun
activities in the society for the children together.
Megan I applaud you and teachers for guiding the children at your preschool to play together. As many of our classmates posts have said, early integration can definitely be a help to increasing social interaction of students with ELN. In regards to your comment about social inclusion outside the classroom, in my daughter’s integrated preschool they had a ‘loose’ policy, just like a private preschool, for inclusion for birthday parties. As we all can imagine, when a preschool child has a birthday party it’s a huge deal and everyone in the class knows about it (students and parents). Imagine how a preschool child feels when all their classmates are talking about going to or being at a birthday party they weren’t invited to. As a parent this can be heartbreaking. Just like in a non-inclusion preschool, our preschool had a letter of information go out in the beginning of the year. The letter included general information about the preschool, which included a section of the importance of inclusion of all students at birthday parties. Now, while this could not be mandated, it did really set the tone for inclusion. I have to say it really worked. I can’t say why it worked, but it did. I like your statement about doing things that work and discontinuing things that do work. I feel it is so important for us, as school educators and health professionals, to be leaders in inclusion. We can really set the tone and expectation for children and families for inclusion.
ReplyDeleteMegan, I was so pleased and excited to read about your experiences working in a preschool educational setting as an intern. I also worked in classroom settings and needed to clarify to teachers and professionals within the school that I was there for behavior modification intervention techniques and not to be seen as the student's teacher to educate my client that I was placed with. Open communication should always be consistently viewed so that boundary lines would not be crossed. Collaboration begins with the parents and student and should always continue into any type of educational setting that the student with ELN begins.
ReplyDeleteWorking with preschool aged children is so rewarding because children of that age are looking for praise from authority figures and thrive to meet and engage with as many children their own age as they can.
It was extremely admirable on your part to encourage collaboration among the typical and atypical students to engage with each other and not to be afraid if someone is different. Children as young as preschool are almost seen like empty slates and are looking for the admiration and guidance of the adult authority figures to guide and offer insights. Preschool children learn the best through play and fostering positive interaction between students both with disabilities and no disabilities is a valuable lesson that they will carry on once they reach the more structured routines of elementary school.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteThe guidance that was shown to the children will always be remembered by both the typical and atypical children. If these children are shown about friendship and acceptance at an early age, they will most likely continue on that path later in life. Children want to be accepted and by the way that your preschool handled this was awesome!