Cooperative learning should be considered the natural progression of the American education system. Traditional education techniques place students in a competitive atmosphere. Cooperative learning requires students to work together to achieve success. A democratic method for a democratic society. Cooperative learning does not allow for a single winner, instead through group efforts, each student’s strengths help the collective achieve success. This paper will address the history of cooperative learning, along with its social, academic, and teacher benefits. Most importantly, it will highlight the positive effects of cooperative learning techniques upon students of all abilities.
Cooperative Learning and its Benefits to Students of all Abilities
The age of inclusion classrooms resulted in students of varied academic abilities in a single classroom. The general education teacher’s goal was to educate larger numbers of students, including those with mild disabilities, in the general education environment. to increase the overall academic achievement of the school. Over time, the objective of inclusive programming has grown-from simply increasing academic achievement, to also increasing social competence and fostering positive relationships between children with special needs and their differently abled peers (Malmgren,1998). Traditional methods of whole classroom instruction are applicable in some areas of the inclusive classroom, but in others, are a disservice to certain
Cooperative learning is “now the most recognized instructional models in education worldwide”(Metzler 228). Cooperative learning is basically having students learn with, by and for each other which is the major theme of Cooperative Learning. In this model, Student Team Learning (STL) states how there are three main concepts to focus on. The three are: team rewards, individual accountability, and equal opportunities.
Students with special needs need deserve the same education general education students are presented with. The philosophy of “ Disability Inclusion” concentrates on creating a safe, loving, and effective learning environment for students who suffer from physical, learning, and behavioral disabilities. When a student with disabilities is placed in the same environment as a non-disabled student, the results show wonderful improvement. When we are able to discover the strength of the student we are able to see just how much the student can improve in an inclusion classroom. Disability Inclusion not only sets a new beginning for an equal education of special education students, but it allows for more interaction with the child, and a more hands-on assessment.
Inclusive classrooms are general education classroom in which students with and without disabilities learn together. It is essentially the opposite of an isolated special education classroom, where students with disabilities learn only with other students with disabilities. Inclusion represents the philosophy that students with disabilities should be integrated into regular education classrooms whether they can meet traditional curricular standards or not. This philosophy brings diverse students, families, educators, and community members together to create schools and other social institutions based on acceptance, belonging, and community.” The inclusive classroom model is a result of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act. Both pieces of legislation set out to provide a general education classroom in which all students are able to learn. This paper will examine the pros and cons of the inclusive classroom model.
Many people have debated the effects of inclusion on the disabled students, as well as the non-disabled students. A number of studies over the years have reported the various benefits of inclusive education and the ongoing literature documenting successful inclusion practices is significant and growing. Advocates claim many benefits for the special education student. Special education students benefit academically and from daily interaction with general education students. A more diverse curriculum is likely to be offered in a general educational setting. In an inclusionary setting, special education students learn social skills and independence. They observe that all students have strengths and
In this scholarly article, one teacher’s opinion on the use of inclusion is given. She talked about how inclusion isn’t always best for every student in all situations. She talked about many of her classroom experiences over the last 20 years and has seen many students fail and thrive in the inclusive environment. The author of this article talked about the benefits of inclusion and how it helps students socially and makes them feel included, but inclusion isn’t always best for student with more severe disabilities. She also pointed out that she taught inclusion at the highest levels was more difficult to do classes being broken down into subjects. The article made many good points about always doing what is best for all students and having
There are several strategies that are available to provide support for educating inclusion students with general education students. However, students with learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms should include co-teaching, differentiated instruction, and peer-mediated instruction and interventions. This Theory suggests the practice of inclusion is congruent with social justice, but evidence suggests mixed results regarding academic achievement. The Least Restricted Environment (LRE) mandate that inclusion have both adequate support among various interests groups including: parents, school professionals, researchers, and advocates (2012, p. 2).
Inclusion in classrooms can further benefit the communication skills and sense of community among students with and without disabilities. “Children that learn together, learn to live together” (Bronson, 1999). For students with special needs, inclusive classrooms provide them with a sense of self-belonging. The classrooms provide diverse environments with which the students will evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). For students without disabilities, they learn to develop appreciation of the diversity. The classrooms provide many opportunities for the students to experience diversity and realize that everyone has different abilities that are unique and acceptable. From this realization, the students will learn to be respectful for others with different characteristics (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion in classrooms is beneficial to all students’ individual and community growth.
Over the years, there has been a continuous debate over how effective inclusion classes really are for students in school. The whole idea of inclusion classes is to place students in the kind of environment where they can work with other peers who do not need special education and in a sense, not be secluded to just one classroom setting. There are those who feel that students who are in inclusion classes perform better academically and then there are those who feel that inclusion is not beneficial to those who need special education. This debate has left many people wondering, “Is inclusion really best for all students?”
I chose to focus on the classroom demographic of the represented special needs in the classroom. Every student in the classroom has an IEP and many different disabilities are represented. Since every student has individual needs, modifications, accommodations, and goals, a cooperative learning instructional strategy is very beneficial in the classroom. Students with similar goals work together in groups on activities to meet their IEP goals. For example, students whose IEPs contain organizational goals, work together on a weekly bag check checklist to ensure they are staying organized and working to meet their goal. By using a cooperative learning style students are able to help and encourage one another in meeting their goals. Since all students
When inclusion started one concern were leaving classroom teachers without the resources, training, and other supports necessary to teach students with disabilities in their classrooms. Another concern is that the teach is to direct excessive attention to the inclusion student, thereby decreasing the amount of time and energy directed toward the rest of the class. Finally, the worry of each child receiving adequate accommodations with their disabilities in a regular
Many children have had learning disabilities for many years. Each year more and more of these children are being helped. Schools are working to improve their special education programs and to have all kinds of students work together in the same classroom. The practice of inclusion was started because educators felt that special needs students would achieve more in traditional classrooms with non-learning disabled students than they would in special education classes. However, research findings suggest that there really is no difference in academic achievement levels for special needs students when they are placed in regular classrooms.
Inclusive teaching is a term that expresses a commitment to teaching children with physical, mental, and learning disabilities in the classroom they would attend otherwise (to the greatest extent possible). In inclusive schools, support services are brought to the students as opposed to them leaving class to receive the help they require. This paper is going to focus on the inclusion of students with mental disabilities who are usually separated in special education classrooms. For parents and educators alike, the topic of inclusive teaching is a hotly contested one. The arguments boil down into three categories: the effect on general education students, the effect on special education students, and the effect on teachers.
In the Education discipline, there has been a long debate for many years over the topic of inclusion. Inclusive education is defined as students with disabilities, being supported in age appropriate general education classrooms, at their home school, and receiving specialized instruction as needed per the student’s IEP (Individualized Education Program) within the general education class curriculum and activities. Inclusion is there to help student with special needs in attending school regularly with their friends and peers while being accommodated as needed, per their IEP, to help achieve the student’s academic goals and be successful. The topic of inclusion has been researched for many years. Inclusion will continue to be researched, so that faculty and teachers at elementary schools can continue to better themselves in inclusion practices for students with special need, and also to continue to progress towards full inclusion of these students with special needs in a general education classroom. Since there is a lot in the news about inclusion in schools across the U.S., for this essay, I began my search about inclusion in the Education discipline by finding scholarly articles on the subject, along with other online news sources concerning this subject in my area of study. By doing so, I hope to have a better understanding of inclusion than I have already attained, so that I am better able to create possible ideas for topics to write future essays throughout this
Over the course of structuring the education system to include students with disabilities, there has being an ongoing research topic of inclusion. Inclusion, in this area, means the full inclusion of students with special needs in the general education classroom . The research and the debates about the issue of whether or not there should be full inclusion of Special Education students in all general education classrooms in all public schools throughout the United States rages on. The number of students with special needs that are included in regular education classrooms in public schools has swollen, and the educational philosophy and movement have grown and have been adopted and practice, as well. The questions remains, Is this new teaching style very effective and beneficial to the academic success of students with special needs as well as other students? How does the inclusion of special needs students in regular class setting effect the teaching strategies of regular education teachers and their regular education students?
My vision of collaborative learning is a learning strategy that affords the students enormous opportunities and advantages not available through traditional learning processes. I believe that students in a collaborative team tend to attain