INCLUSIVE CLASSROOMS
Researchers have shown that mainstreamed autistic students excel when compared to their isolated peers. The children’s language abilities and social skills increase. Also, mainstreamed autistic students have access to more qualified teachers. Classrooms should be more inclusive for the benefit of everyone.
Children with disabilities positively affect other children and should therefore be included and embraced. Schools should support researched-backed inclusion policies that keep disabled students alongside their typically-developing peers. Researchers found that children with disabilities get a big boost in their language scores over the course of a year when they can interact with other children who have good language skills. After one year of preschool, children with disabilities had growing language skills comparable to children without disabilities when surrounded by highly skilled peers in their classroom (Grabmeier, 1). The biggest
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Teachers are somewhat more likely to have advanced degrees. However, because of personnel shortages nationwide, about 10% of special education personnel are not certified for the position they hold. Teachers in general classrooms are more likely to use a wider variety of teaching strategies to be effective. The most effective interventions for students with disabilities, whether in special education or general education settings, have employed intensive and reasonably individualized instruction, combined with careful, frequent monitoring of student progress. Average class size is larger (24 elementary, 21 high school) than in special education (15). When the classrooms size is bigger although there is less one on one instruction the students get better social skills. Also with the different teaching strategies brought into the classroom there wouldn't need to be as much one on one
It will be important to create an inclusive teaching and Learning Environment so my learners will have the opportunity to be involved and included in the process.I will need to make sure that I treat all my learners equally and fairly without directly excluding any of my learners.I must take into consideration that I won't be teaching my subject ( Painting & Decorating ) to a group of learners who are all the same, but to group of individuals with different abilities and needs which I must recognise.
We all learn in diverse ways, inclined by the combination of our past educational experiences, study practices and personal approach to particular tasks. This can be designated as our learning style, defined as ‘particular ways of gathering, processing and storing information and experiences’ (Cuthbert, P.F., 2005).
Creating an inclusive learning environment is an extremely important aspect of modern education, which, according to Gravells (2008: p18), ensures that “[…] all learners are entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. Everyone is an individual, with different experiences, abilities and needs.” She also offers a brief explanation of inclusivity (2008: p18), which is “[…] involving all learners in relevant activities rather than excluding them for any reason directly or indirectly.” Inclusion has also been defined by John Tomlinson (1996: p26) as “the greatest degree of match or fit between individual learning requirements and provision”. In the other words, inclusive learning environment nurtures individual potential of all learners,
Assignment 302 - Understanding and using inclusive teaching and learning approaches in education and training
An inclusive environment is a condition where everyone has an opportunity to fully participate. In education, this means everyone has the same opportunity, there should be no borders such as ethnicity, gender or disability. All students should feel valued, be able to mix and participate with all members of the group be in a safe and positive environment.
Students use basic skills every day from looking at the clock to tell the time to handling money when paying and making change. Students who have jobs need to
In order to allow children to grow, learn and develop to their utmost potential, educators need to be attentive, inclusive, flexible and understanding. Attentive to the differences of each child and the variances they bring with them to the classroom, in order to best understand a child’s individuality. In being inclusive of all children, regardless of their circumstance, gender, history or attitude; the educator can make a conscious effort towards equality for all children. Having flexibility, to allow for prompt changes to pedagogy; as children are continually changing, growing and adjusting to their environments, therefore their learning path may also need to change, the educator needs to be able to introduce alternatives where required.
This piece of work will firstly analyse the characteristics which influence the learning of a group of learners, review legislative requirements relating to inclusive practice and consider their implications. Then furthermore, it will describe what I consider to be the most significant barriers to learning for the adult learners that I teach, and include a discussion of what myself and Nacro have done to overcome these barriers. Lastly, this piece of work will describe the systems that Nacro have in place to monitor the effectiveness of inclusive practice within the centre and discuss how it can be monitored and evaluated to improve our own skills in inclusive practice. There are five key factors that influence the students
At the level of school systems, aspects which appear to be common to inclusive school practice for pupils with ASD are ethos, leadership and environment. An important starting point is a shared commitment across all staff towards the inclusion of pupils with ASD (Humphrey and Symes 2013). This can be facilitated through staff training which incorporates whole staff awareness (Ravet 2011) and targeted training according to need (Glashan, Mackay, and Grieve 2004), both of which have been found to reduce teacher stress and increase strategy use (Probst and Leppert 2008).
According to medical professionals, specifically pediatricians, molecular biologists, and general surgeons, autistic children need to be successfully integrated in mainstream classrooms. According to A Report of the Surgeon General about integrating autistic children into mainstream classrooms “Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behavior” (Malamed). Clearly, applied behavior methods have effectively reduced behavioral issues through mainstream classes, also improving the social skills of autistic children. According to Richard Axel, molecular biologist at Columbia University, in a lecture about perception, he revealed that different individuals with different mental capacities have different perceptions and social abilities (Axel). When you combine with this from the report from the general surgeon, it is evident that an autistic child’s previous social disability as a result from their differing mental capacity will be improved when they are given the opportunity to improve in a mainstream classroom, rather than brutally suffering in a separate learning environment. Like surgeons and molecular biologists, pediatricians also observe that integrating autistic children and neurotypical will produce
In some general classrooms, teachers tend to give more time and attention to children with disabilities, leaving general education students who may be struggling with little to no help. Socialization is another whole ballpark, inclusion could lead to children developing negative attitudes about peers with disabilities, especially if they feel they are receiving more attention from the teacher and other students in the classroom. Teachers of general education classes may have a fear of teaching students with disabilities. They feel they do not know them well enough and that they will make a mistake. This can then in return allow the teacher to push the student with a disability away and not give them the best education piece they can. These teachers feel like they should not have to change their classroom for a student that is coming to them. It also shows that these teachers are not trained properly in special education.
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.
The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's
A paragraph from Desiderata says, “You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.” The paragraph is in consonance with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 1994 Salamanca Statement which calls for the accommodation of all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, emotional state in an ordinary school. The Framework for Action stipulates that children with special educational needs, namely: the gifted, the mentally retarded, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, the orthopedically handicapped, the learning disabled, the speech defectives, the children with behavior problems, the autistic children and those with health
Inclusion benefits some areas such as the social skills of students with disabilities. The students benefit from interacting with other students rather than being in a classroom that only has a few students. Just because a child has special needs does not mean they should be kept in a separate room. They are humans who deserve to be treated the same way the other students get treated. Many parents feel that their child may get made fun of by the