Pros And Cons Of Inclusive Classroom

I would like to thank you all for attending this meeting to discuss a prevalent issue in our school system today. We will be discussing the inclusive classroom model and the pros and cons which have been discovered through practice and research. The inclusive classroom model or inclusion is not a new concept but the phrase “progressive inclusion” was termed in 1988 (Thompkins & Deloney, 1995).

Definition

In the same article entitled, Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, the term inclusion is defined as the physical placement of students with disabilities in classrooms with their peers without disabilities (1995). Through research and practice, there have been pros and cons discussed for this subject in special and general education.

Pros

Diversity

Teachers in inclusion classrooms are being placed in situations without adequate resources or training to benefit all students in the classroom (Thompkins & Deloney, 1995). Also, according to Willis (2007), if students are not provided the support and skills they needed in elementary school and then placed in inclusion classrooms in high school, they may not be sufficiently prepared for the difficulties that they may

The students with disabilities need extra support as do the other students in the classroom. Sapon-Shevin (2008) mentions ten ways to promote a positive inclusive classroom, which points out using “teachable moments” to talk about diversity among students. As long as the student in the inclusion classroom is not taking away from the education of others or disrupting class beyond reason, they should be able to be in an inclusion classroom with all other students to participate in learning. After teachers have been trained to teach all students in a diverse environment and provide for their needs, they will be able to keep students in the classroom learning. Our focus must be student success and