Inclusion in Schools

Inclusion is the act of placing students with disabilities into the general education classroom. Students are given the tools, time, and resources necessary to actively participate in all aspects of the general education classroom. Inclusion is not just adding a student with disabilities into the classroom, but genuinely including them as valued members of the classroom. Inclusion is not an easy system to put into practice because it requires a great deal of teamwork and cooperation between teachers, administrators, and parents. Positive Inclusion programs closely supervise the social and academic progress to ensure the students are thriving. When inclusion is done correctly, the teacher finds a way to meet the student’s needs in a way that is natural and unobtrusive. The resources and supports in an inclusion classroom benefit all students, not just the students with disabilities.

I also believe that a key element of inclusion is maintaining a close relationship between me and the special education teachers and paraprofessionals that I will be working with. If it is at all possible to work together in one classroom, I believe that this will benefit all my students.

Inclusion can be defined as the act of being present at regular education classes with the support and services needed to successfully achieve educational goals. Inclusion in the scholastic environment benefits both the disabled student and the non-disabled student in obtaining better life skills. By including all students as much as possible in general or regular education classes all students can learn to work cooperatively, learn to work with different kinds of people, and learn how to help people in tasks. “As Stainback, Stainback, East, and Sapon-Shevin (1994) have noted, ‘...the goal of inclusion in schools is to create a world in which all people are knowledgeable about and supportive of all other

The continuing trend to greater inclusion is welcomed in principle by teachers. It is widely agreed by teachers that to exclude certain children from main stream social and academic education can not only be harmful to the future outcomes of those

Existing school systems - in terms of physical factors, curriculum aspects, teaching expectations and styles, leadership roles - will have to change.” (Barton, 1998, pg 85). This highlights that inclusion in education is the way in which mainstream schools should provide a service for all children catering for all of the varying different needs. Barton (1998) and Involve research (2012) shows that within a mainstream school

‘Inclusion is thus seen as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all children, through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing and eliminating exclusion within and from education. Advancing inclusion means promoting positive attitudes, creating stimulative discussion, and improving educational and social frameworks to cope with new requirements in education structures and governance. To support the whole learning experience involves cultivating procedures, contributions and environments to promote learning at the level of the learner in their environment. (UNESCO, 2009, p.

Orr (2009) conducted interviews with special education teachers and the attitudes they have seen in their schools since inclusion was implemented in their schools. Orr (2009) chose fifteen teachers, which included fourteen female and one male teacher who agreed to participate in the study so it was a purposive criterion sample. Twelve of the fifteen teachers taught in a suburban area, two in a rural area, and one in an urban area; but they varied in the age they taught and school. Seven of the fifteen teachers taught in a self-contained classroom while the remaining eight taught in a resource room, where they only saw a student for less than an hour or two a day. Another pattern that showed was that many teachers found that they did not receive any classes that focused on differentiation or inclusion while completing their undergraduate work (Orr 2009). These results are important when considering the implementation of inclusion because it may mean that there is a need to reteach teachers. It is important to consider professional development classes district-wide before implementing inclusion in the classroom.

The results were found to be that the reality of inclusion was based on the lives and experiences of the people practicing it daily. Their conclusion was that while governmental policy mandates schools implement programs a specific way, when there is ambiguities regarding practice and performance (Meyers, 2007).

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

Attitudes to inclusion play a pivotal role in the success of inclusion strategies in the classroom (Graham & Spandaguo, 2011; Morin, Rivard, Crocker, Boursier & Caron, 2013). Successful inclusion incorporates the student’s ecological context including peers, family, school staff and the broader community (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014). Since the 1990s attitudes towards inclusion have become more positive (Morin et al., 2013). Nevertheless, negativity towards inclusion continues among stakeholders. These negative attitudes may relate to which schools students attend, how prepared schools and teachers are and how to adapt the curriculum to their needs. The attitudes of various stakeholders may impact on the success of inclusion in the classroom. Therefore, stakeholder attitudes require understanding and consideration for possible intervention strategies. Through a synthesis of current research, three recommendations will be outlined to help various stakeholder views conform to existing inclusion policy.

Inclusion has been a major topic between educators and parents of special needs children for years. Many believe that it would a good idea to educate general education children in the same classroom along with special needs children, including those with multiple disabilities. And then there are many that believe special education and general education can actually can be accomplished in one classroom along with one general education teacher and one special education teacher working together , teaching the same curriculum to a full inclusive classroom. Having a classroom like this for children with special needs would be a huge a disadvantage for them because they could miss out on, one on- one- care, physical therapy,occupational therapy

Inclusions are teaching approach that focuses on including students with special education needs in the general or mainstream classrooms. Inclusion goes beyond placement in a general education class. Inclusions are aimed to have the child with special accommodations be able to participate in the classroom including lessons and extracurricular activities to meet age and grade level of other peers. The student with a disability might show more progress with other students as models or behavior other learning issues. Response to Intervention (RTI) model is based on three tier approach to help

Separate special education provides no guarantee of success for children who need special attention. Students with special needs may fail to conform to the expectations of school and society, (Carter, Lewis, & Wheeler 2017) Inclusion may present issues for teachers that do not possess the skills to make it work. Teachers must collaborate with a team of professional to plan and implement instruction for students in an inclusive environment. Students without disabilities could begin to see the students with disabilities as a distraction in the class depending on the needs of the student with disabilities.

Inclusion can be an excellent opportunity for many students with special needs when the classroom situation appropriately fits the needs of the students with special needs, the needs of the rest of the students in the classroom, and the teacher. It allows special needs children the ability to defy stigmas, a deficit of resources, and unrealistically low expectations. Social atmospheres enable both the special needs and non-special needs children necessary potential bonding opportunities for proper development.

A lot of people do not agree with inclusion in classrooms. They say, “the disabled student might be disruptive” or “the other students might get upset when the teacher has to slow down for the disabled student.” All students have their right to an education, whether it be inclusive or not. If a student is disruptive, the teacher should be able to handle it. Although people think inclusion has many disadvantages, there are far more advantages and benefits for all students, teachers, families and even for communities. Since everyone can benefit from inclusion,  we as society should make schools and communities inclusive.