school placement (Gabel & Danforth, 2008, p.42). An approach to inclusion that The United States maintains is that the educational settings are based on each child’s individual case.
III. Interpretation The United States, New Zealand, and Italy all acknowledge and have moved forward with and inclusive education approach. It is a worldwide reaction to the belief that all children have the right to be educated. For instance, New Zealand’s education system has undergone a series of transformations over the past 20 years, which has included modifications to how schools and their students are funded and managed, and the responsibilities various government departments have for ensuring all children receive the best possible education in a variety of environments (Powell, 2012, p. 1). Also, Italy has implemented an inclusive approach by implementing laws that guarantee disabled students the education they deserve. For instance, Circulare 227 passed in 1975 which acknowledge that the
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All three countries acknowledge the need for inclusion and have laws and regulations in place in order to ensure that disabled students receive an equal education. In Italy, in 1977, Italian National Law 517 outlined specific guidelines for including students with disabilities in general education classrooms (Gabel & Danforth, 2008, p. 42). In the United States, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 stipulated that eligibility for services and placement would be made on the basis of the clinical evaluation of the disabled student (Powell, 2012, p. 42). In New Zealand, children in compulsory education in New Zealand have their rights to inclusion protected by the Education Act (1989), which gives children the right to be educated in their neighborhood school, and this right is further protected under the Human Rights Act (1993) (Powell, 2012, p.
These children were now being seen as a group in which society had obligations to provide “normalisation” (Bowe, 2007, p.45) and would lead to a revolutionary law being introduced in America. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed in 1975, of which Australia became a signatory. (AIHW, 2004). This Act mandated “that all school-age children with disabilities must receive a free appropriate public education” (Bowe, 2007, p. 101) “in the least restrictive environment” (Bowe, 2007, p. 5). For the first time in a century, Australia no longer segregated these children into an isolated “special facility” (Allen & Cowdery, 2012, p. 8). State governments established special education units within mainstream schools (AIHW, 2004). This is referred to as Integrated education and is described by Talay-Ongan & Cooke (2005), as an environment “where children with similar disabilities in special classes share the normal school environment, and utilise some classes (e.g., art or physical education) or the playground that all children enjoy.” In 1992, the Disability Discrimination Act was introduced in Australia which specifically covered the topic of Education and in 2005 a set of supplementary standards was passed which specifies the support schools are required to provide to students with a
Through the development of Inclusive Education it is possible that children grow up to be more accepting of differences, where once the notion of something “different” and “separate” could cause caution, fear and ridicule. There are multiple policies and processes present within our society supporting inclusivity and the right every child regardless of their special needs or difficult circumstances has to an education. The Salamanca Statement developed world wide in 1994 states every child’s right to an education. In support of this policy the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (1992) sets disability standards in our education system and the Melbourne Declaration (2008) further attempts to promote equity and excellence within our schools.
Inclusion is one of the very controversial topics concerning the education of students in today's society. It is the effort to put children with disabilities into the general education classes. The main purpose is to ensure that every child receives the best education possible by placing them in the best learning environment possible. Inclusion is a very beneficial idea, supported by law that promotes a well-rounded education while also teaching acceptance of others.
What is inclusion? Inclusion learning is the idea that regardless of a child’s disability they are considered access to a regular education setting that will provide the learning aides needed for that child to learn successfully. The debate of inclusion learning has been on the table for many years. According to the U.S. Department of Education's report to congress in the 2006 school year there were 701,949 children between the ages of three and five years old being served for special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)(17). The IDEA was introduced in 1997 as an amendment to the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This amendment was to “to ensure free and appropriate education for children of all learning and physical disabilities in the least restricted environment” (Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act Amendments of 1997). One of the purposes of the IDEA law was “...
The 2001 special educational needs and disability act (SENDA) along with the 2001 SEN code of practice was established to strengthen the right of children with SEN to be placed and educated in mainstream schools (Ramjhun, 2002, Spooner, 2002 and Waterfield and West, 2002). The code of practice extended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and aimed to eliminate unfair discrimination against student with SEN. The main principle of the SENDA and the code was that all students with SEN had full accesses to educational provisions and being able to have the same opportunities as non- disabled individuals (Waterfield and West, 2002). Wright et al (2006) stated the SENDA was beneficial in encouraging educational provisions to be proactive in removing barriers that may affect the learning and participation of students with SEN. Hodkinson and Vickerman (2010) argued that although the SENDA prompted further attention on SEN inclusion in practice its key intentions were rather vague and lacke...
This part of the law does explain that even though it is the goal of the school to try and include handicapped children in regular classrooms, it is not always possible if the nature of a ...
In order for inclusion to be beneficial the teacher must be aware of what the students needs are and accommodate to the needs. A benefit discussed is, students with disabilities are able to interact with normal students. This allows them to build their communication skills and prepares them for the interactions they will face when they are in the real world. It also allows the normal students to be aware that there are students with disabilities and will allow them to help make the society inclusive. Lawrence also believe that teachers will benefit from their inclusive classrooms, because it will develop their teaching skills, they will learn how to accommodate with their students with learning disabilities. It will also be beneficial for general education teachers because it provides an opportunity for general education teachers to collaborate with special education teachers and also parents to insure they are following the students IEP to promote the best learning opportunity for the
The true purpose of school is to prepare children for their future in becoming lifelong learners and global citizens. For children with special needs, special education services prepare and provide support for them in dealing with the challenges they face daily. Laws such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has enforced schools to provide education to all children and reinforces the purpose of the school, which is to provide children the Least Restrictive Environment to help them develop to their optimal potential. There are myriad of concerns regarding inclusion’s effect on typical developing students, yet a research done by Bui, Quirk, Almazan, and Valenti shows that “[p]resence of students with disabilities results in greater number of typical students making reading and math progress compared to non-inclusive general education classes” (p. 3). Therefore, inclusion not only benefits children with disabilities, but it also benefits typical developing student’s academic skills and allows them to learn acceptance and respect for students with disabilities.
Inclusion of all students in classrooms has been an ongoing issue for the past twenty-five years (Noll, 2013). The controversy is should special education students be placed in an inclusion setting or should they be placed in a special education classroom? If the answer is yes to all special education students being placed in inclusion, then how should the inclusion model look? Every students is to receive a free an appropriate education. According to the Individual Education Act (IDEA), all students should be placed in the Least Restrictive Learning Environment (Noll, 2013).
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...
According to the World Health Organisation (2011), there are more than 1 billion people with disabilities in the world, with this number rising. Many of these people will be excluded from the regular situations we, ‘the ordinary’, experience in everyday life. One of these experiences is our right to education. Article 42 of the Irish Constitution states that the state shall provide for free primary education until the age of 18, but is this the right to the right education? Why should being born with a disability, something which is completely out of your control, automatically limit your chances of success and cut you off from the rest of society due to being deemed ‘weaker’ by people who have probably never met you? With approximately 15% of the world’s population having disabilities, how come society is unable to fully accept people with disabilities? In order to break this notion, we must begin with inclusion.
Inclusion 'mainstreams' physically, mentally, and multiply disabled children into regular classrooms. In the fifties and sixties, disabled children were not allowed in regular classrooms. In 1975 Congress passed the Education of all Handicapped Students Act, now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA mandates that all children, regardless of disability, had the right to free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Different states have different variations of the law. Some allow special needs students to be in a regular education classroom all day and for every subject, and others allow special education students to be in a regular education classroom for some subjects and in a separate classroom for the rest. There are many different views on inclusive education. In this paper I will address some of the positive and negative views on inclusion and ways to prepare educators for inclusive education.
For over 25 years society’s attitudes towards people with disabilities have changed significantly. As a result, education for students with disabilities has made a prominent transformation. Particular social and historical events, both international and national, have played an integral part in influencing the development of inclusive education in Australia (Thomas and Loxley, 2007). Furthermore the history of society’s attitudes towards difference has had a major influence towards the formation of policies and legislation related to inclusivity, as well as impacted the way society accepts difference today. This critical reflection aims to identify the underlying values of inclusive education policies and legislation, and the influence they may have on society’s attitudes towards accepting difference. I will also reflect on my broadened understanding of what it means to be inclusive and how this has impacted my future implications for teaching.
The right to have access to education is a concern for people with disabilities. They were treated poorly and often desegregated from society. The response to the concerns of parents and educators over the exclusion of children with disabilities created the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The public law “guaranteed a free, appropriate public education to each child with a disability in every state and locality across the country”. In the 1970's children with disabilities entered schools and over the years, the number of students in special education has grown dramatically, from 4.3 million students in 1990 to 6.9 million students in 2003 (The Council of Chief State School Officers , 2007).
After a great deal of reading on the policies and legislation surrounding inclusive education in Australia today, it has become apparent that it is a very contentious issue. I can see true benefits to inclusive education policy and legislation not only for individual students but for wider society as we as teachers and a wider schooling community can show the world that difference is encouraged, accepted and valued. However, it has become clear that the language and labels used in policy and legislation and the implementation of rigid national testing influence the attitudes towards the way society accepts difference.