Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Racial segregation within the school system essay
Racial segregation within the school system essay
For and against inclusion in education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Racial segregation within the school system essay
Advantages of Inclusion for Disabled Children
There are many advantages for children with disabilities, to be placed in a regular classroom setting. First of all, children are spared the effects of being separate and segregated. Sometimes, segregated education can provide negative effects, such as labeling (Wolery, M. and Wilbers, J., 1994). Labeling of a disabled child can be held over their head throughout their education. Also, being separated can make other children have negative attitudes towards them due to them being separated so drastically. Another advantage of inclusion is the disabled child has a competent model to follow. This way the disabled child can learn new adaptive skills. They get the opportunity to learn how to use their existing skills through imitation. Also, they are provided with opportunities to learn more realistic life experiences that prepare them to live in the community. Most importantly, they get the opportunity to develop friendships with typically developing peers (Wolery, M. and Wilbers, J., 1994). Mona Hajjar Halaby, an educator at Park Day School in Oakland states, "The thing that students struggle with most is how to make a friend. How to keep a friend. How to stand up to a friend and how to be a good ally." With Inclusion, disabled children get the opportunity to learn how to do those four things. These are some of the positive effects of inclusion for a disabled child, but in the end it is really up to the disabled child to make the best of his/her schooling, regardless of the circumstances.
From the book “Collective Perspectives on Issues Affecting Learning Disabilities,” it shows that in inclusion the disabled child has many responsibilities. How well the students d...
... middle of paper ...
...n how to approach other children in a positive manner. He has been a problem for other students and has negatively affected the learning environment.”
Mrs. Waldron is a teacher at PineHearst Elementary School and feels that the practice of inclu sion can be extremely stressful on teachers and not beneficial to students.
Conclusion
As one can see, society is pushing for Inclusion in conventional classroom settings.
There are many advantages and disadvantages to Inclusion. Really, you have to take each case on an individual basis and see what is best for the disabled child and the non-disabled child in the classroom. Also, one has to take into account if the teacher is prepared to have a disabled child in the classroom. It can be extremely challenging. Many people have different opinions on Inclusion. The question is what are you…pro or con inclusion?
She is able to receive assistance from a speech- pathologist for her language twice a week because of free appropriate public education (FAPE). A recommended practice that is trending now is to place students in their least restricted environment, where they can learn the most. In order for her to still receive her assistance and be in her least restricted environment, she is placed in a growing trend of inclusion classrooms. This trend is influencing special education and education in general because it is the view that everyone needs to be able to accept the student with a disability equally as anyone else. Although, the book discuss different views of inclusion in the classroom, inclusion classes are considered to be possible and necessary for twenty-first- century education that we are facing now. This is why Elizabeth spends the majority of her school day in a general education classroom instead of spending all her time in a special education classroom. It is also important to note that Elizabeth’s teachers have to collaborate together to support her because educators are now being expected to use evidence- based practices that work in the classroom. The practices that are used for Elizabeth are recommended practices in the special education and schools. It was shown that the practices being used for Elizabeth are effective because the teacher stated that she saw improvements in both her social and academic growth. The different aspects of Elizabeth’s program provides examples of the different aspects of special education including the programs or services that are available, what trends are happening
The movement for inclusion in education has advanced since the years of special schools for children with disabilities. Although there have been significant changes to the laws protecting the rights of children with disabilities there remains an underlying debate as to whether these children should be in main stream classes. Most states and territories in Australia practice inclusive education, however this remains a contentious topic with differing attitudes. It is evident whilst many challenges remain, schools should implement and deliver quality programs that reflect best practice policies. Positive teacher attitudes, promoting diversity, modelling inclusion in the classroom and developing a sense of community by working in partnerships
I have experienced firsthand some of the positives and negatives. One of the most important aspects of inclusion is the social development gained by students with disabilities. One of the negatives is the danger of a student with a disability not being able to differentiate when they are in real danger of getting hurt. Often students with disabilities appear to be normal among the other students and not given the latitude of having a disability that may impede there judgement. As a special education teacher, I have learned standing in the doorway to prevent a child from leaving the classroom constitutes seclusion. I had to testify in a civil case in 2016 were a child with a disability tried to leave the classroom and the substitute teacher stood in the doorway and tried to prevent her from leaving. Preventing the incident could have transpired if there had been proactive measures taken rather reactive measures. It has become necessary to provide all personal involved within the school system the education needed to support inclusion and children with disabilities. I am a true believer in Least Restrictive Environment. Throughout my teaching career, I have watched a student with an IQ of 51 participate in co-taught or mainstream classes. Now, this particular student’s social skills were better than most people I know. In his freshman year, the doctor diagnosed him with cancer and given one year to live. He never stopped smiling. He pulled through and is currently finishing a program at the Vo-tech, where he maintained his grades and attendance with very few accommodations. He is happy, healthy, and I can see him ending up making more money a year than most people I know. I do understand not all cases will be like this one. However, I am sure that if the parents of this particular student had not stood their ground and refused to allow their child be
Schools in today’s society are rapidly changing and growing striving to implement the best practices in their schools. Nonetheless, before a school can implement a program in their school, they need reliable evidence that the new program will work. A new program that schools are aiming to implement is inclusion in the classroom because of the benefits inclusion could bring. The implementation of inclusion is strongly connected by people’s attitudes whether they are positive or negative. However, while inclusion is being widely implemented, there is comparatively little data on its effectiveness. It may be that inclusion benefits some areas such as reading and social skills, more than it does others.
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.
By not including these students with disabilities, it is like we are not allowing them to have the same fun experiences other students their ages are doing. In an example David M. Perry mentioned, “Last month the teacher put on Readers Theater (in which kids acted out books) and told us [the parent] in an email that “Nico [their son with disability] would get to participate as an audience member.”” How is this fair for Nico? What if he wanted to act out books with his classmates? This isn’t fair and students with disabilities shouldn’t be excluded like this; it is like we are putting them under discrimination. What some people in the society don’t know is how it truly affects the student with the disability who is being excluded. According to Tom Ledcke, who teaches in special education, “…my students could feel that they were ‘outsiders’.” Outsiders are of someone who does not belong in either a group or society. In this case these students with disabilities feel isolated or alone from everyone, so they feel like they don’t belong. People today are still arguing if we are indeed doing are best to include these students in inside and outside activities. So the question is are
Teachers generally felt the success of inclusion of the disabled student into the classroom depended largely on the ability of the school to provide specialized services and supports to meet the individual student’s unique needs. Unfortunately this didn’t always materialize; many lacked training and thus felt overwhelmed, “sometimes the rest of the class is put at risk while this child is attended to.” (Nicholson, 2012, p.26) According to Nicholson ccurriculum adaptations to meet the needs of the disabled students as well as the general student population; was acknowledged but time allocation and modifications some found extremely challenging. (Nicholson, 2012, p.26) Teachers commonly supported the idea of inclusion, but whether the schools were prepared and supports and resources were in place was of primary concern. Encouragingly, overall teachers identified many benefits of inclusion in the classroom. “He allows me to expand my knowledge and understanding of his issues, concerns, behavior, and needs which I can apply to my whole class to allow for flexibility and range of activity levels.” (Nicholson, 2012, p.26) Teachers felt students gained valuable life experiences learning to ac...
The inclusion of children with learning disabilities into normal classrooms has proved to exhibit both positive and negative effects on children with and without disabilities.
Malala Yousafzai (n.d.), the youngest person to be nominated for a Noble Peace Prize and education activist stated that:
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 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.
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.
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.
Inclusion has become increasingly important in education in recent years, with the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act being passed in 2004 to ensure equality in our system. In summary, inclusion is the idea of there being no child...
To begin with, full inclusion in the education system for people with disabilities should be the first of many steps that are needed to correct the social injustices that people with disabilities currently face. Students with disabilities are far too frequently isolated and separated in the education system (Johnson). They are often provided a diluted, inferior education and denied meaningful opportunities to learn. There are many education rights for children with disabilities to p...