Pre-Service Inclusion Research Paper

According to the latest figures available from Data Accountability Center, U.S. Department of Education, 2,415,564 students were identified as having a Specific Learning Disability in the Fall of 2010 (“Full Inclusion”). With the severity of the number of individuals with disabilities in the school system, the controversy of the best way to support them arises. One of the solutions of this controversy is the issue of full inclusion. Those opposed to the idea of full inclusion fear that the approach may impede on the children without disabilities and put a strain on the students with disabilities. The major stakeholders against full inclusion also fear that the process will negatively affect the teachers, as well as, the atmosphere of the classrooms. Many of these parties and individuals are not fully against inclusion all together, but do not support the idea of full inclusion.

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

In the following study researchers compared two instructional approaches; co-teaching inclusion and solo-taught special education for students with learning disabilities in regard to their overall academic achievement. Participants of the study included twelve inclusive/co-teaching classrooms, which were compared to thirteen special education classrooms. In the co-teaching contexts the emphasis was centered on the inclusion of students with learning disabilities into a general education classroom. Co-teachers were free to choose the instructional method they would embark. Special education teachers solely instructed students with learning disabilities in small group classrooms.

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.

Teachers need to receive training specific to inclusion for the model to be successful. Students without disabilities can learn from students with disabilities. However, if teachers do not know how to provide those opportunities or create an learning environment where this type of learning is

The teacher can encourage this inclusion by teaching the students, parents, and other community members about negative stereotypical attitudes about students with disabilities by avoiding negative words, such as “disabled”, or “crippled”, or “handicapped” and to promote positive ideas about disabilities into class work, the student’s play time and other activities. To further ensure that the classroom is promoting equality for the child with the disability, the teacher should incorporate an inclusive curriculum mindset, by adapting the lessons, learning materials and classroom to suit the needs of all the different types of learners including the child with the disability within the classroom.

Several research studies have shown that teacher attitudes toward inclusion have a direct impact on the success of the inclusion program. Full inclusion is often put into place in schools due to previous due process hearings and is often a one size fits all model. Classroom teachers are rarely involved in the discussions and planning for inclusion. School administrators often believe that full inclusion may reduce their personnel budget by eliminating pull out programs for students with disabilities. This article compares teacher perceptions to previous studies towards full inclusion, particularly students who have emotional/behavior disorders (EBD). Teachers often display resistance to change, especially when they do not have input in the

Malak (2013) used a level 4 survey design study. The population used a case control population of 100 pre-service teachers. This correlation study used a survey which measured attitude, belief and opinions identified by the teachers using a Likert Scale. The overall general attitude of special education student teachers revealed positive toward inclusion education. The Pearson Chi-Square (x2) statistic were used to explore dependent variable revealed in the survey, whether or not the respondents having contact with students with disability affected their attitudes (Malak, 2013). There was a significant difference found between the two groups based on the independent variable close contact. The p value p = 0.035 was less than 0.05 which indicated

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.

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.

In my opinion the education departments are not doing enough to encourage schools and explain to the teachers the benefits of inclusion to both the children with disabilities and the rest of the students (Ashman & Elkins, 2009). Children are our future and it is important that through inclusion they learn to understand that differences make us who we are. I think it also further teachers the message to booth the children and the rest of the community that of social justice which says just because your different doesn’t mean you don’t deserve fair treatment (Ashman & Elkins, 2009).

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.

In order to get a true understanding of teaching in an inclusion classroom, I was able to observe a fourth grade classroom at Village School in West Windsor, New Jersey. The general education teacher was Ms. Welsh and the special education teacher was Ms. Wilush. Ms. Welsh has been teaching for many years, while Ms. Wilush has only been teaching for two years. Each teacher brings with them different strategies, that together make a wonderful classroom dynamic. The students make up an average size fourth grade classroom of a little more than twenty, but there are three students who receive additional instruction from Ms. Wilush in a resource room throughout the day. During my observation, I was able to sit in on writing lessons and science lessons. There was a wide variety of students in the class with all different strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. Watching and learning from both teachers through observation and interview was an extremely valuable experience.

Over the past twenty years, there has been a strong movement within schools around the United States to integrate students with disabilities in to general education classrooms. Schools have been making more efforts to increase educational opportunities for students with disabilities, and while there are many benefits to inclusion, there are also many challenges. Inclusion of special education students in a regular education classroom continues to be the center of debate amongst administrators and teachers. Everyone has their own ideas and attitudes towards inclusion, and research studies have revealed that there are many things that contribute to those positive or negative attitudes.

According to Anderson and Phillips, teachers also play the role of mediators providing guidance for the children in the classroom. “They implement curricula, establish relationships with their students, manage peer relationships, foster social-emotional and regulatory skills, and establish and maintain classroom norms” (Anderson, & Phillips, 2017, 1064). Research on within-school sorting points to a positive matching phenomenon in which teachers who have more years of teaching experience and better qualifications are more likely to teach in classrooms with higher average student academic ability and SES, compared to their less-credentialed counterparts (Abry, Bryce, Swanson, Bradley, Fabes, & Corwyn, 2017, 507). Studies also show the more teachers engage with the students the more the student is engaged in classroom. Inclusion allows the classroom setting to be better equipped in providing the students with disabilities the one on one instruction to help them succeed. “For example, frequency of teachers’ academic interactions are related to higher levels of student engagement, and students with disabilities exhibit higher levels of engagement during one-to-one and small group instruction compared to whole group instruction” (Dykstra, & Watson, 2015, 2393). Teachers play a vital role in the success of inclusion and students with disabilities.