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diversity within a classroom
tips on creating an inclusive learning environment
diversity within a classroom
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Inclusion in the Classroom Inclusion in classrooms is defined as combining students with disabilities and students without disabilities together in an educational environment. It provides all students with a better sense of belonging. They will enable friendships and evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion benefits students without disabilities by developing a sense of helping others and respecting other diverse people. By this, the students will build up an appreciation that everyone has unique yet wonderful abilities and personalities (Bronson, 1999). This will enhance their communication skills later in life. Inclusive classrooms provide students with disabilities a better education on the same level as their peers. Since all students would be in the same educational environment, they would follow the same curriculum and not separate ones based on their disability. The main element to a successful inclusive classroom, is the teachers effort to plan the curriculum to fit all students needs. Teachers must make sure that they are making the material challenging enough for students without special needs and understandable to students with special needs. Inclusive classrooms are beneficial to students with and without special needs. All children have many characteristics that make them unique, yet they have a lot in common. All children have specialized needs at some point in their life. “When children have diverse needs, whether temporary or permanent, there is a danger of considering only how different those needs make them; educators may lose sight of how much they resemble other children. When that happens, the educator may forget these children have the same basic ... ... middle of paper ... ... http://www.uni.edu/coe/inclusion/philosophy/benefits.html Deiner, P. L. (1999). Resources for Educating Children with Diverse Abilities: Birth through Eight (3rd ed.). Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Company. Jorgensen, C. M. (1997 July). Curriculum and Its Impact on Inclusion and the Achievement of Students with Disabilities. Retrieved October 8, 2002 from http://www.asri.edu/CFSP/brochure/curricib.htm Klein, M. D., Cook, R. E., & Richardson-Gibbs, A. M. (2001). Strategies for Including Children with Special Needs in Early Childhood Settings. Albany, NY: Delmar. Mazurek, K. & Winzer, M.A. (Eds.). (1994). Comparative Studies in Special Education. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Souweine, J., Crimmins, S., & Mazel, C. (1990). Mainstreaming ideas for teaching young children. US: Judith Souweine and Sheila Crimmins.
As a student who has a learning disability, the idea of inclusion in the classroom is very important to me. My learning disability may not be noticeable to everyone but there were still times in school that I needed my teachers to make accommodations ...
Bryant, D. P., Smith, D. D., & Bryant, B. R. (2008). Teaching Students with Special Needs in
According to Stout (2001) the concept of inclusion can be differentiated into mainstreaming, inclusion and full inclusion each describing the amount of time special education students become part of a normal education classes. “Inclusion is a term which expresses the commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent possible, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attend” (definitions section, para. 2). This commitment is based on the belief that special needs students would profit from the regular classroom environment (Noll, 2014, p. 225). According to Stout (2001) research based evidence supports this belief as “Recent meta-analyses confirm a small to moderate beneficial effect of inclusion education on the academic and social outcome of special needs students” (Research section, para. 3). There are many who also believe that inclusion is good for the overall class as it can teach empathy, and “teaches us to think about we rather than I” (Sapon-Shevin, 2008, p227). There are others however, who feel that “Contrary to some egalitarians, a good society honors those who through intelligent good will, artistic talent, athletic prowess, or plain honest hard work make our lives better” (Carpenter, 2008, p.235) and therefore believe that it is ok to think of “I” and not we.
Various advocates have made changes towards Special Education over the past hundred years. These changes have made substantial improvements in Special Education, but could also be seen as challenges. As a preschool teacher in an inclusive classroom, I have personally seen the improvements and setbacks these changes have made for my students with disabilities and their families. In this essay, I will be discussing specifically the changes made in Early Childhood Special Education. There are three changes that I will discuss; changes made to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Least Restrictive Environments (LRE) in an early childhood setting, and Early Intervention Programs (EIP).
What do we do with children with disabilities in the public school? Do we include them in the general education class with the “regular” learning population or do we separate them to learn in a special environment more suited to their needs? The problem is many people have argued what is most effective, full inclusion where students with all ranges of disabilities are included in regular education classes for the entire day, or partial inclusion where children spend part of their day in a regular education setting and the rest of the day in a special education or resource class for the opportunity to work in a smaller group setting on specific needs. The need for care for children with identified disabilities both physical and learning continues to grow and the controversy continues.
If one looks at the word “Inclusion”, its definition states that the word means being a part of something or the feeling of being part of a whole. By looking at this term, one gets a sense about what inclusion education is all about (Karten p. 2). Inclusion education is the mainstreaming of Special Education students into a regular classroom (Harchik). A school that involves inclusive education makes a commitment to educate each and every student to their highest potential by whatever means necessary (Stout). Their goal is for all children, disabled or not, to be able to attend a typical classroom.
Inclusion, in the educational system, is the integration of learners with disabilities into general education classes (Voltz et al., 2001). This concept may sound simple, however the reality is much harder to achieve. Inclusion primarily focuses on how to put students with special needs into a general education class, instead of focusing on how to change the general and special education system to better support all students. This is a necessary shift in the way educators, administrators, parents, and communities view the structure of inclusion, which is necessary for its underlying purpose to be realized.
Inclusion is where children classified as Intellectually Disabled (ID) are put into a regular classroom instead of a special education classroom. Previously called mental retardation, ID, as defined by the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY), is a term used to describe a child with certain limitations in mental functioning, and in skills such as communication, personal care, or social skills. (2011) These limitations will cause a child to develop more slowly than a typical child. These children are able to learn, but do so at a reduced rate. They usually take longer to grasp certain concepts, while other concepts may never be learned. This research will discuss inclusion practices in VISD elementary schools and if inclusion is really the right environment for ID children.
Lerner, J W., Lowenthal, B, & Egan, R W. (2003). Preschool children with special needs (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Publishing.
Those who support an inclusion model for all students take the stand that students with disabilities should be placed in and inclusion setting with the idea that all special education students will benefit from an inclusion setting with their general education peers. An inclusion setting will provide academic growth and social growth. The placement of special education students in a general education classroom would also benefit students to respect and accept those students who are different. Students should be placed in an inclusion setting whenever possible (Noll, 2013).
The idea of inclusion within a classroom tends to breed controversy from many people. Currently there is no clear consensus on a definition of inclusion (Heward, 2006). There are many different views on how students with disabilities should be handled. Those views ranged from students being fully included, partially included, or not included at all in mainstream schooling. Different descriptions of inclusion tend to reflect the person's own opinions towards it. People who feel students should not be included in the classroom focus on the negative characteristics of inclusion, such as the challenges of developing plans for students as well as the hard work it requires to incorporate those plans. However, studies show that full inclusion has many benefits to the students, for both students with disabilities as well as students without them. Inclusion has shown to improve the student's social skills, encourage communication, inspire laws and regulations, and improve the overall schooling experience (Gargiulo, 2012). Although it will take longer then some would like or have the patience for, full inclusion can be done in the classroom, with its benefits outweighing the hard work that it requires.
There are millions of children that are passing through the United States school system every day, not all children possess the same traits, and not all children can learn at the same rate, and do not perform at the same ability. The fact that all children learn differently and some have difficulties learning in general classrooms, special education was put into place to try and take care of these issues. Special education programs were put into place to help all students with disabilities. These children range from general disabilities to more complex and severe disabilities. There has been a revolution occurring in the past several years with education systems, and special education. There have now been several laws that have been passed that mandate changes in special education and the treatment that children, and parents receive, it also changes how the children are being taught, and how the teachers are to also change and conform to this idea called inclusion. Inclusion in the school system simply is stating that children who have learning disabilities, and more severe disabilities are to be included in the general education environment for as long as possible daily. There has been several different names other than inclusion that have been used, but in present times and since the 1990’s inclusion has been the most common term used. “The change in terminology was pushed in part by the philosophy that inclusion would mean more than only physical placement of children with disabilities in the same classroom, but rather it conveyed that children with disabilities would become a part of larger social, community, and societal systems” (Odom, Buysse, & Soukakou, 2011, para. 3). There has not been just one major law that was passed...
Glazzard J, Hughes A, Netherwood A, Neve A, Stoke J. (2010). Teaching Primary Special Educational Needs. British library: Learning Matters. p7.
In first being able to define inclusive education, it is necessary to understand the diversity of the student population. Disability comes in my varying forms and can be physical, sensory, intellectual, mental health and emotional, developmental, and non-visible (e.g. asthma). If disability was the only agent to consider in the diversity scenario things would be easier for teachers but there are a number of other classifications of students to consider: Gifted or talented; English as a second language (ESL); Indigenous students; and many other classifications which fall under the societal/family/personal heading (Ashman & Elkin, 2012).
Konza, D. (2008). Inclusion of students with disabilities in new times: responding to the challenge.