Blog Post #3: Bethany Quetot

Inclusion is when “students with disabilities are not segregated but dispersed into classrooms they would normally attend if they were not disabled. Children with disabilities are seen as full-fledged members of, not visitors/guest in, the general education classroom.” (Key Elements of Full Inclusion Models). I did not realize how great the debate surrounding inclusion was until I read all the information for Module 3. It was very eye-opening, and after looking at the information, I now realize that I was naive in thinking that inclusion was fairly simple and straightforward.

I would like to use two of the videos given by Dr. Dove as examples: “Including Samuel Preview” and “Are you Happy? The Story of Morgan Warren.” In the first video, the example of Alana Malfy stood out to me because she was an example of a student that the inclusion classroom was not necessarily the best option. Her teacher, Carol Ward, said that she did not feel trained enough to handle teaching her and the other students. Ms. Ward asked herself, “How can I reach Alana and the valedictorian at the same time?” The video showed Alana upset at one point, and in the hallway to calm down, and the teacher also shared that she had cried because of the stress of her inclusion classroom.  The classroom situation with Alana looked frustrating overall. However, the video that showed Morgan Warren, seemed to depict an inclusion situation that was resulting in a positive experience. Morgan had many friends that enjoyed her, and took care of her. Morgan could learn from her peers socially and be motivated to interact and build social skills. Students were kind to her in the video, and it showed Morgan participating the best that she could. There were a few times where you could see the possibly of Morgan being distracting to the other students; but, overall, everyone seemed happy, and it could be used as an example of an inclusion success story. The fact that Morgan had so many friends spoke volumes, and proved that all the students had learned from her too!

The list of pros and cons of inclusion is lengthy. The videos allowed me to see many pros and cons for inclusion in the classroom, along with the documents provided by Dr. Dove. One argument for inclusion would be that students are not isolated, and can learn from others socially and academically. According to the Inclusion Pros and Cons document shared by Dr. Dove, there is now plenty of evidence to show that students can be “educated appropriately without isolation from peers who do not have disabilities” (p.3). Students can feel like they are a part of the group, and not cut off from everyone else if schools follow the inclusion model. My husband said that in his old high school, the special education students were never seen because they had their own room that they stayed in all day, separated from all of the general education students. My husband did not even know their names. I do not think it is fair that they were secluded from everyone, and it probably made it hard for them to make new friends or interact with people who did not have any disabilities. Including students in the classroom, instead of isolating them, can be a argument supporting inclusion.

Two arguments against inclusion are that the “disabled children are not getting appropriate, specialized attention and care, and the regular students’ education is disrupted constantly” (Inclusion ProsCons, p.4).  A second argument would also be that the teachers are not trained well enough to handle the students with disabilities, so they will not know how to handle the different challenges that will come up in the classroom.

I bring up the teachers that do not feel well- trained, because I think that is one factor that fuels the inclusion debate. If the teachers feel inadequate, they are not going to want to support the full inclusion model. On the opposite side of the spectrum, I think that students with disabilities who do thrive in the inclusion model fuel the debate for inclusion. If the children with disabilities are thriving in an inclusion classroom, parents will support it. However, if the children have a bad experience, parents could fight against it. If students without disabilities are being disrupted, this can cause frustration for the general education parents. The possibilities for debate with inclusion seem to be endless!

               Overall, I think inclusion would most likely, and more often, be the best option for everyone for both school and extracurricular activities. If schools and extra-curricular activities have the proper supports in place, such as aides, I think inclusion can be successful. I keep thinking about the children at my church with disabilities as examples. If they were not included, not only would they miss out on experiences, but so would the people without disabilities. Everyone would miss out on valuable experiences if students with disabilities were excluded.