Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The Successes and Failures of Educational Diversity
Promoting inclusion in schools
Reguirements of inclusive education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The Successes and Failures of Educational Diversity
Before we tackle the question what does making excellence inclusive in education mean? We will define two key words Inclusive and Excellence. Defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, Inclusive is: covering or including everything: open to everyone: not limited to certain people: including the stated limits and everything in between. (Merriam-Webster, 2015) Inclusive also means the involvement of historically unrepresented groups. Making excellence inclusive means to strive towards higher academic excellence (higher GPA, honors, high leadership and achievement) through the involvement of diversity into the curriculmn, teaching practices, and environment of a school. (Clayton-Pedersen, A. R., O'Neill, N., & Musil, C. M. 2006). I personally …show more content…
Thus, I see it as a major way to bridge the achievement gaps that currently exists in our educational system today and marks a major step to erase some of the prevalent and debilitating stigmas, stereotypes, biases, or misconceptions about certain groups of learners that often permeate and hinder students.
In other words, making excellence inclusive in education cannot just be the goal for Blue Ribbon or high performing or high income suburban schools. Instead, it must be embraced and encouraged in all types of educational settings and with all types of students and their families in order to truly attain excellence for
…show more content…
These are the two greatest challenges we face when dealing with diversity. We fail to acknowledge that everyone is different, and that we all have different values, morales, and ways of doing things. After acknowledging must come embracing, we must learn to understand and respect others and their ways. This does not mean that we must agree with what everyone does and how they act, but we must learn to respect it. In short, we need to have a diverse approach to differentiate our curricula and ascertain where each student is in terms of strengths and weaknesses and then apply a diverse set of approaches to assist and empower each learner
While differentiating instruction and being able to design lessons geared towards the needs of diverse learners are currently highly prized skills for teachers, this has not always been the case. The history of education in the United States is a history of segregation. Even today, schools and curriculum are designed to meet the needs of a core group of students, which does not include students with disabilities (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose, & Jackson, 2002). In the past, learners who were different, out of the mainstream, or did not fit into the mold to which teachers taught (were not part of the core) learned how or lost out on learning. This is not to say that teachers of the past did not care about their students, about being effective teachers, or about student learning. However, as schools are mirrors reflecting mainstream societal norms (Chartock, 2010; Delpit, 2006)—and, given that our society has not always valued diversity in people, be it due to disability, class, culture, or race—teachers in the past have largely focused their efforts where they could earn the largest return on their investment: the average student .
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.
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)
Peters, S. (2002) Inclusive education in accelerated and professional development schools: a case- based study of two school reform efforts in the USA, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 6(4), 287–308.
The implementation of policy and legislation related to inclusive education, thus being a focus on the diversity and difference in our society (Ashman & Elkins, 2009), would have vast implications on the way society views that which is different to the accepted “norm”.
Education World: Inclusion: has it gone too far? (1997) Retrieved November 1, 2002, from http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr034.shtml
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.
Diversity in classrooms can open student’s minds to all the world has to offer. At times diversity and understanding of culture, deviant experiences and perspectives can be difficult to fulfill, but with appropriate strategies and resources, it can lead students gaining a high level of respect for those unlike them, preferably than a judgmental and prejudiced view.
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).
I believe it is important to first analyze the word diversity when examining the need for diversity within a classroom. According to Webster's New Pocket Dictionary, diversity means variety, a number of different kinds. I often discuss and read about diversity in terms of cultural backgrounds; the unification of histories and stories from people from all over the world. Although, I believe that in a higher-educational setting, diversity can also be discussed as the acceptance of the various minds within a classroom. I believe that it is important to recognize the thoughts and experiences of others in a learning environment. Collectively, students learn from teachers, teachers learn from students, and students learn from their peers. By allowing diversity within the classroom, a sense of community can develop. Diversity encourages an active, not passive, learning style. I believe that the culture of Columbia College Chicago is dependent on diversity. The motto “Create Change,” suggests students actively seek the change they want to see in the world. In order to obtain change a community developed out of diversity must be discovered.
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 does not only benefit the student, but the parents, teachers, school and the community. It is about understanding additional needs rather than ignoring them and allowing the student every chance that students without difficulties/disabilities have available to them
The concepts included in providing a more diverse, multicultural education are requiring teachers to review their own issues and prejudices while expanding their knowledge of the many cultures that make up the classroom. These efforts help the educator recognize the various individual and cultural differences of each student, as well as gain an understanding on how these differences impact the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon individual and cultural difference research and why diverse students struggle to succeed in school. Furthermore, I will share some instructional approaches I could implement in the classroom to accommodate diverse students. Finally, I will discuss the responsibility of educators in addressing the issue of how our o...
The philosophy of inclusive education has “brought about teams of general education and special education teachers working collaboratively or cooperatively to combine their professional knowledge, perspectives, and skills” (Ripley, 1997). Many approaches have been developed and researched over the years to determine best practices for inclusive education in public schools, which include mainstreaming and specialized schools. The challenge for educators and school systems is deciding which approach and strategies meets the individual needs all students in classrooms.