Special Needs Inclusion Education Program - Essay Example

? Special Needs Inclusion Education Program Introduction Education programs for children with special needs in school areon the rise, as policy makers aim to provide education to all children including students with disabilities or special needs through an inclusion method. This paper shall study the inclusion method of educating children with disabilities in the classroom setting, and outline the merits and challenges presented. The inclusion set up indicates that children with and without disabilities are put into the same classroom, and included in all activities with the rest. Theoretical Background Inclusion provides children with special needs the opportunity to both interact and learn with the mainstream population who do not have disabilities. Inclusion is a trend, which made major progression in the late 80s and early 90s, which concluded that that general education is the best choice for all students (Weir, 1999). The role of inclusion for children with disabilities is rationalized by use of several learning theories. The first means of understanding the inclusion method is the use of the social learning theory as founded by Albert Bandura that states that a person’s cognitive and behaviours are shaped by their surroundings. Through inclusion, a child is put in a scenario whereby they can interact and observe their companions who do not have disabilities and in the process learn from one another. Through this, academic modelling takes place in the child’s mind and they can better cope up with the real world, as Banduras theory explains, cognitive behaviour takes place from the time the child goes to school and begins to interact with the others. Therefore, though the normal day-to-day activities together with the routine tasks being undertaken in class make the special needs children to develop better (Katz and Miranda, 2002). Since children interact with their environment and tend to follow their compatriots in games, social learning allows them to understand what is good and bad in each case. Consequently, these children shall feel welcome and hence develop social skills and develop faster (Weir, 1999). In some cases, inclusion can be an extremely overwhelming experience and can cause children with special needs to shut down instead of stimulating them since they are interacting with children without disabilities. This idea of inclusion is more viable than the use of seclusion or putting the children with disabilities in self-contained classrooms. A self-contained classroom setting proposes that children with disabilities are separated from the rest; according to Banduras social learning theory will not help the child develop cognitively and behaviourally. A self-contained classroom setting that groups children with disabilities from the rest makes them feel as social outcasts. This will have a negative cognitive development to the child, and he/she shall develop little or no social skill to interact and learn with the rest of the population (Turnbull, 2010). The other theory that supports the use of inclusion in the classroom setting is observational learning theory. As the name of the theory suggests, the child learns in the classroom mainly through observation methods. Since the children are included in the classroom setting with the rest of the children with no disabilities, they can observe them and learn. From this observation, they develop behaviour and learn from experience. As the theory suggests, most of the children with disabilities feel the need to adapt to their environment and function well. Through inclusion in the classroom, they see and hear what their peers are doing, and try to emulate it, and this is important as they develop communication and social skills fast enough to interact, and learn in the classroom setting (Weir, 1999). The use of self-contained classrooms in educating children with disabilities would also hinder the observational development of a child. Since the children are set up on their own, they lack the opportunity to observe what their peers are doing and undergoing. This shall mean that they depend upon their own mind, teacher and fellow children with disabilities to develop social skill and learn. In many cases, self-contained classes group children with similar type of disability, hence, they may suffer the same type of hardship. When they are released to the normal learning environments, they find it hard to adopt with their fellow children who do not have disabilities. The other theory that supports the inclusion method in educating special needs children is the guided learning theory, which supports the fact that as a child with disability is educated, they can be guided well by those who do not have disabilities and the teacher. The special need child shall be able to observe what other are doing in the classroom, and get the knowhow on how to carry out some tasks. Guided learning theory suggest that in a wholly included class, a child with disabilities gains more knowledge and can be practically guided by their educator and friends. Moreover, all-inclusive classrooms mean that the child relies only on their educators for guidance and cannot be helped by their peers who may suffer the same problem. Therefore, the child shall lack the ability to know how their counterparts behave and learn; hence including all the students together would create a hospitable society through learning from one another. Advantages of Inclusion Method The inclusion method presents several advantages to both the child and the educator, when it is effectively applied taking all the students requirements in a learning environment. One advantage of inclusion is that children with special needs are able to collaborate and work in groups with other students who do not have disabilities, as it allows students with special needs to step out of their comfort zone as well as provide them with the opportunity to extend their social network (Elkins, Kraayenord and Jobling, 2003). This is important because children with disabilities normally tend to disintegrate themselves from others socially becoming loners and keep to themselves, while in the process limit the time they spend with others. This limits their cognitive and behavioural development and they can become social outcasts, thus, with the inclusion process, they can generate the skill to actively participate in all the areas of development. In the classroom setting, the child is able to learn how to communicate with the others, making them gain the confidence on speech. The child also can interact with the peers in games and playing time in schools and in class, hence is able to express himself fully (Katz and Miranda, 2002). A further advantage presented by inclusion is the joint effort taken by the child, friends and teacher to achieve academically. Inclusion allows for the interaction of the child with the others and teacher on classroom matters (Turnbull, 2010). The child feels appreciated in the class and is also helped understand classwork and other education related activities. This in the end makes them have the desire to learn and get high scores in the class. Children with disabilities are presented with the chance to compete with children who do not have disabilities, also get the academic motivation required. Direct participation of the child in classroom activities also makes the child to generate internet in other activities around them. These activities include games and educational activities like reading and writing skills (Elzein, 2009). Inclusion also allows a teacher to be better prepared for the learning process, because in the lesson, it must include the children with disabilities. The teachers and curriculum developers develop a syllabus that includes the children with disabilities, and this helps the teacher understand the real nature of the children and their special needs in education (Campbell and Gilmore, 2003). This shall enable in the development of the course content, allow some time to the child with special needs to seek clarification and to understand the lesson. The teacher shall also appreciate the fact that each child has special needs and the need to make them feel welcome. In addition, classroom activities that are tailored by the teacher shall make sure that everyone participates and gains full understanding of the lesson (Harrington, 1997; Turnbull, 2010). Inclusion also allows the teacher to get specialized training on how to handle the classroom activities and handle the children with disabilities together with the rest. The teacher studies the general activities and requirement by these children and is able to accommodate them well in the classroom. The teachers also generate special attention to these children with disabilities and give them the adequate time to develop; in this way, they are able to monitor the activities and the progress of the child, and are able to assist them in the areas they feel they will have a hard time coping (Campbell and Gilmore, 2003). Inclusion method also makes the policy makers generate the required support system to schools to handle these children with disabilities. The required support systems include the teacher student ratio; which must be as low as possible to allow teachers teach effectively the students. The student teacher ratio shall allow a given teacher to give full attention and impart knowledge to children with disabilities (Narayan and Gevinda, 2006). Education policy makers and government ministry of education are able to make the necessary recommendation and legislation to allow for full inclusion of children with disabilities in schools. For instance, they should provide full physical facilities; from the classrooms, to materials needed in the classroom for the children to use. This shall make the education system of the schools more efficient and collaborative, making the whole education processes a success (Campbell and Gilmore, 2003; Narayan and Gevinda, 2006). Moreover, another advantage for inclusion in the school system is the active role played by all the stakeholders ensures that the children with disabilities receive the best education as the children without disabilities. This involves a positive attitude by the teachers in handling of these children, better interaction of the children with disabilities with their fellow friends and classmates. Administrative support is imperative in the schools as school boards understand the demands from the children with disabilities and seek ways to achieve it. Parents often leave the schools and teachers to educate the children, and teach them social behaviour. The inclusion process seeks direct participation of parents in the education process of the child, since they are expected to teach their children at home, and be directly involved in the co-curricular activities to make them adapt socially and behaviorally (Narayan and Gevinda, 2006). Challenges of Inclusion Method and Possible Mitigations Inclusion method has raised some challenges in the implementation process in the classroom setting. One major problem is that the children with disabilities may view themselves as having no proper skills, hence seclude themselves from classroom activities. The children with disabilities may become introverts and decide to learn with their fellow classmates with disabilities, making the whole process hard to manage by the teacher. The children may also feel that they are not bright enough to be in the same class as their classmates who do not suffer from disabilities; in addition, children with disabilities may be bright than the rest and as a result become subject to insults by the other children (Harrington, 1997; Elzein, 2009). This challenge can be averted by creating an all-inclusive environment in the classroom, and creating a host of activities that involve all the children. The children need to involve in group related activities with the others, which shall involve them mentally and physically. Physical education should be encouraged because through games and playing is when the mental barrier of differences can be eliminated (Katz and Miranda, 2002). Furthermore, another challenge for the inclusion process is the role played by the teachers in the process. In the inclusion process, some teachers imply that the process gives them extra work. The task of giving extra attention to the children with disabilities, and development of programs to fit the whole class is deemed as tiresome. Teachers are required to provide extra attention to the children with disabilities, and in their lesson plan they are required to teach at the right method to suit everyone (Harrington, 1997; Elzein, 2009). This challenge is solved by providing the teachers with specialized training, specialized teaching facilities and educating them on the importance of the whole inclusion process. Some institutions have hired specialized teachers to assist teachers to educate the children with disabilities. Even though the hiring of specialized teachers solves the problems, it also creates a duplication of tasks by the teachers. Several teachers may feel that the others undermine their efforts since they are doing the same task: of educating the children with disabilities (Elzein, 2009; Campbell and Gilmore, 2003). The other challenge arises from the children with no disabilities; who at times feel that the children with disabilities are slowing down the classroom process. Since children with disabilities require specialized attention in the classroom, their compatriots feel as if they are wasting time when they have to wait for the teacher to help the one with disabilities understand. They also feel that the special needs children are given more attention than them and this creates a hostile classroom environment. This problem can make the classroom be divided into groups, whereby; the children seclude themselves and begin teasing the ones with disabilities (Campbell and Gilmore, 2003). Teachers designing their content to suit all the children at once and to involve the whole class can avert this challenge. The teachers need to make the children without disabilities understand their friends, and involve them in assisting them to educate the children with disabilities. Conclusion In summary, through the inclusion method, several children with disabilities have developed the need skills to be successful members of society. Some children with disabilities have developed strong mental and behaviour capabilities to get higher academic grades as compared to their friends. The inclusion methods creates a feeling of oneness and togetherness to the children with disabilities, and through the learning theories outlined in the paper, make them productive members of society. References Campbell, J & Gilmore, L. (December, 2003). “Changing student teachers’ attitudes towards disability and inclusion.” Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 369-379 Elkins, J, Kraayenord, C.E & Jobling, A. (2003). “Parents’ attitudes to inclusion of their children with special needs.” Journal of research in special educational needs. Vol. 3; no. 2: 122-129. Elzein, H,L.(march, 2009). “Attitudes towards inclusion children with special needs in regular schools: a case study from parents’ perspective.” Educational Research and Review Vol.4 (4), pp.164-172. Harrington, S.A. (1997). “Full inclusion for students with learning disabilities: a review of literature.” School community journal. Vol 7; no. 1. Katz, J & Miranda, P. (2002). “Including students with developmental disabilities in general education classrooms: educational benefits.” International journal of special education. Vol. 17, no. 2. Lamport, M.A. phd. 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