Teachers must work effectively with parents to support the children within their class. ‘Young children achieve more and are happier when early years educators work together with parents’ (Whalley, 1997, p.ix). Practitioners and parents and carers working together, will help boost children’s self esteem. Parents have expert knowledge of their child, therefore, communicating well with their childs teacher will help to ensure that the child’s needs are met (Myles, 1997, p.63 in Whalley). Parents can be very beneficial, when working with teachers, to explain childrens behaviours. (Knowles and Lander p.236) For efficient assessment in the classroom parents, teachers and pupils all need to work together (EADSNE, 2012, p.7). On placement the support of parents was recognizable. Attending a parents evening, it was clear that the children’s parents who were interested in their children’s learning, were those of children making greater progress. Those parents that did not show interest or attend were those of the children achieving lower than their expected levels. The parents encouraged and supported their reading and writing skills in the home.
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Inclusive education is an approach for all learners, not only those with additional needs (EADSNE, 2012, p.12). Every child’s needs in the class must be met. In 1991 students with disabilities were required by law to go back into mainstream schools, trying to make them socially included. Research undertaken by Thomas and Loxley has shown ‘a depressing reading for those who are committed to the idea of inclusion, for it implies that every few people at the chalk-face seem to be won over by arguments being put for it’ (Thomas and Loxley, 2001, p.106). In particular teachers are not in favour of ...
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...lways be offered through mainstream education. Through supporting children that have needs and personalizing there learning in turn practitioners are benefitting all children. It is important to note that teacher do not feel that they have the skills to teach all children and are not always in favour of inclusion. In particular I have looked at children with diversity and emotional and social difficulties. Then there are many strategies that can be used to overcome their barriers to learning. With these put in place it is to ensure inclusive practice. This has influenced my pedagogy because I know that any extra support with benefit all and there is no separate knowledge base. I want to make sure all children are include so that no one is left behind or excluded. I know that giving all children the same is not benefitting them, but I need to every childs needs.
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
Sands, D., Kozleski, E., & French, N. (2000). Inclusive education for the 21st century: A new
Educators can have strong feelings on the subject because having special needs students in a regular classroom can have a large impact on the classroom community. Those who believe in inclusive classrooms realize that, to be successful, it requires allot of classroom management and differentiated instruction, but feel the benefits are worth the work involved. Those who do not believe in inclusion feel that it leads to “l...
Peterson, J. Michael and Hittie, Marie Michael. Inclusive Teaching : Creating Effective Schools for All Learners. Pearson Publishing. (2003)
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.
It is an educator’s job to embrace and acknowledge the rich diversity all the children collectively bring to the classroom, while understanding that the children do not need to be treated the same because they are not the same as each other, but be respected and accepted for their differences. Inclusion is an essential; plank in the broad platform of social justice and raising achievement is a goal which all educators much hold for their pupils, It is important that early year professionals are aware of all different ways in which society constructs (Neaum 2010) this involves taking account children’s social cultural and linguistic diversity and including learning style, family circumstances, location in curriculum decision making process so all children are recognised and valued (Nutbrown and Clough 2006)
Inclusive education is a general setting which a child with disability or special child was put together with normal student that accompanied by a normal teacher. It aims to nurture the special child in terms of social communication and educational aspects. According to Forlin (2010) a comprehensive model of training grasps a social model of disability that encompasses the privileges of all children to be educated together and is upheld both morally and ethically..
Every child has the right to receive an education in a welcoming and inclusive environment where they are given the opportunity to grow emotionally, physically, socially, and intellectually regardless of their differences. I believe education is the foundation a child needs to grow and learn, and inclusion is a key ingredient in the makeup of the learning environment. Without the implementation of inclusion, students are deprived of the opportunity to learn acceptance, respect, and growth from their interaction with a variety of people with differing skills and perspectives.
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 is not a new idea, but has been rapidly gaining momentum within many disciplines internationally. Inclusive education is a term often associated with special education, and children with additional needs. However, inclusive education is about ensuring that educational settings allow for meaningful participation by all learners. Each child has their own unique identity, ways of doing things, strengths and weaknesses. Ministry of Education [MoE] (1998) states that teachers “should recognise that as all students are individuals, their learning may call for different approaches, different resourcing, and different goals” (p. 39, emphasis added).
Inclusion is the main issue within the inclusive learning environment, if a child doesn’t feel included within their environment then their learning will be effected by this. The Oxford English Dictionary defines inclusion as “the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure” (Oxford English Dictionary 2011: Inclusion) This means that every child should feel involved and included, no matter of there different learning abilities or levels. This can mean children who have special educational needs, such as dyslexia, physical disability or metal disability. Inclusion should provide opportunities for all children, no matter of their age, race, gender, disability, religion, ability or their background, to be involved within their learning environment. Each child should feel like they belong and feel like they are...
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.
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).
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...
In this paper I am going to critically discuss how parental involvement in children's education does make a positive difference to pupils' achievement. I will be using research in differing trustworthy media such as literature, journals and government documents to strengthen my discussion.