The aspects of inclusion on the children with the special needs - Essay Example

Inclusive practice Children are the crux of the next generation and so inclusive practice keeps pace with the developments of each child in Australia. The present essay deals with the importance of inclusive practice and the teachers’ role in identifying and supporting children with diverse needs and their families within the early childhood centre with special reference to New Zealand. It also focuses the benefits and challenges associated with it. In New Zealand, children with different needs are brought into the ECC and it is the duty of teacher to bring these children into the mainstream of society. Thus, the teacher along with the parents has a pivotal role to play in this regard. After identifying a child with special needs, the teacher should clarify which type of training is most suited for. The essay critically analyses the various aspects of inclusion and seeks to offer some fresh insights for teachers, peers, parents and society who rear children with special needs. The term ‘inclusion’ has been driven into different layers; it is different from segregation, integration, and mainstreaming. In its general sense inclusion is “the philosophy and practice of providing learning opportunities for all children according to their needs” (Inclusive Practice: Study Guide, p.6). Inclusive practice takes into account all the children and the learning activities are arranged in satisfying the various needs of the children. For Lesley Lyons each child has the “fundamental right to be a part of a family, a community and a society that will enrich their lives and be enriched by the presence of theirs” regardless of their similarities and differences (Lyons, 2005, p.16). Similarly, National Association for the Education of Young Children considers inclusion as embodying “the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child and his or her family, regardless of ability, to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society (Early Childhood Inclusion, 2009, p. 2). The benefits and challenges of inclusive practice for all involved The Child: Inclusive practice places the children with different needs together and it is framed in accordance with their needs. Inclusion allows and facilitates the overall growth of a child. As the course is in accordance with the needs of the child, it is highly result oriented. Through inclusive practice the mostly benefited ones are the children themselves. They do not feel alienated from the society and further they can lead a normal life with others. Inclusion never separates a child who is differently-enabled and keeps him or her in a special school. Children with disabilities can make impediments in the common learning strategy of other children. He or she has to work with other children of different needs and so the amount of attention from the elders may be less. Here the child and his or her needs are to be given priority and learning has to be organised in accordance with his or her needs. Teacher: Teachers, in inclusive practice, are taking part in the moulding of a group of children who are considered as belittled in the society. In the country, children with different needs come under Early Childhood Centres and most parents approach the educators for the whereabouts of their children. Each student cannot be considered as similar to another and so teacher should give individual attention on physical and mental needs of them. The work of a teacher at the early childhood centres is thriving. In inclusive practice the combined efforts of both the teacher and the parents bring wonders in the learning outcome of the child with special needs. The teacher at ECC should make the parents realise that the child with special needs is a gift for them. The parents may seem to be dismay, but the intelligible intervention of the teacher can make them do something fruitful for their child. The teacher has the responsibility to make parents actively take part in child’s education and moreover to convince them that the child with diverse needs has many advantages too. An experienced teachers’ developmental knowledge may often help parents “to recognise that a child requires extra support.” (Inclusive Practice: Study Guide, p.34) If the teacher fails to realise the diverse needs of a child it will adversely affect his/her growth, so the work of teacher as educators are challenging in this practice. The parents of a child with a slight deficiency may not notice at the beginning level, but an expert teacher should find out a child with different needs at an early stage itself and make necessary arrangements. Here the teacher should build some kind of confidence among the parents. Family: In analysing the role of parents in inclusive practice it is seen that they are not below the level of a teacher. In a family each child is unique and needs are also different from one another. Each parent should know about their child, and it is stated as a mandatory from the parents “to collect information—information about your [their] child’s disability, about the services that are available, and about the specific things you [they] can do to help your [their] child develop to the fullest extent possible” (Brown, Goodman & Küpper, 2003, P. 8). Usually what happens is that the parents when realising their child’s deficiencies lose their heart and “the reality of being the parent of a child with diverse needs is not necessarily an easy road to travel” (Inclusive Practice: Study Guide p.30). They think their child as normal with other children and often try to forget or hide the deformities and may not realise the child’s special needs. The Educationist Purdue (2009), argues that in the New Zealand education system, even though the “legislation and early childhood policy has been developed to support equity, social justice and democratic participation for children with disabilities and their families”, some children with disabilities and their families still “experience exclusionary and discriminatory early childhood settings and struggle to access quality education” (Purdue, 2009). The Society: When children are born with special needs it is the concern of the society to rear that child. As though a good intention is there in the country, the practice shows that many were treated with discrimination and so the role of the society is crucial in inclusion practice. The learning strategy of the programme is planned absolutely for the child. It is sure that they too are a part of this society and it is the duty of the society to look after them. Now, in New Zealand “the early childhood sector is perfectly placed to demonstrate to families, communities and society at large that children with disability are children foremost and inclusion is about all of us and benefits all of us”( Lyons, 2005, p.19). The government policy, at present, gives much preference to inclusive education. Every child has the right to “quality education that meets their specific needs as learners”; therefore schools have a legal and ethical obligation to cater for all students, irrespective of age, gender, ethnicity and ability (Carroll-Lind & Rees, 2009, p.4). The present policy, “Success for All has a vision to create a fully inclusive education system of confident schools, confident children and confident parents” (Fact Sheet: Success for All – Every School, Every Child 2010).All these show the deep concern of the society over the inclusive practice in New Zealand. The peers: The peers of a child with different needs have much role in inclusion practice. As it focuses the cooperative and collaborative learning activities one to one relation is very much helpful for the total learning. As the schools are practicing inclusive programme for all students most probably they may stick on to the constructivist theories of Vygotsky as “social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development” (Social Development Theory (Vygotsky) 2008). As far as a child is concerned he or she gets social interaction in the classroom through interacting with the peers and so the peers have great responsibility and challenge in rearing each other. Curriculum and Inclusive Practice in New Zealand: In the curriculum Whariki for New Zealand’s children, special emphasis has been given to children with special needs: “An Individual Development Plan or Individual Education Plan (IDP or IEP) will be developed for any children who require resources alternative or additional to those usually provided within an early childhood education setting. Objectives for an IDP or IEP will be realistic, useful, and of value to the child and family” (Early Childhood Curriculum, 1996, p.11). The New Zealand government realises the importance of the inclusive practice and so the Government has “set a performance target that all schools will demonstrate inclusive practice by 2014.” (Fact Sheet: Success for All – Every School, Every Child 2010). Education System and Inclusive Practice: Earlier, in the New Zealand education system, the governmental policies on “disability was treated as problematic’ (Lyons, 2005, p.17). Such children were considered as a symbol of problem and so they were marginalized in the society. Such students were placed into separate places and learning activities were conducted exclusively for them. The places made for them were called special schools and these children were termed as mentally retarded (MR) physically challenged (PH), hearing impaired (HI), and so on. The terms by which they were called pushed them into a corner of the society and the labelling made them unwanted by all. Now these students are called as children with different needs and they are considered as a part of the society. They are not marginalized, but included in each and every activity and inclusive practice is being practiced in education system. New Zealand has an inclusive education system as mandated by the Education Act 1989 and “the curriculum is non-sexist, non-racist, and non-discriminatory; it ensures that student’ identities, languages, abilities, and talents are recognised and affirmed and that their learning needs are addressed” (Carroll-Lind & Rees, 2009, p.2). The government has taken up policies to enhance financial support for the children with special needs. Governmental policies make many support teams to turn their attention to the early childhood education programmes for the children with special needs. In the case of adapting to a conducive environment and curriculum for the children with different needs, New Zealand has achieved remarkable progress. In the curriculum the “Cognitive, social, cultural, physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of human development are integrally interwoven” (Holistic Development: Principles of learning and development in early childhood, 2009). The joint venture of parents and teacher along with a vibrant curriculum makes a child with different needs trained efficiently and successfully. Further the educators’ consultation with each other provides a better learning experience to the child. The training and learning activities they acquire from the ECC make students to cop up with their peers and very soon they will be paralleled with others in studies. When the students have many benefits the teachers gets many challenges in educating these children. The teacher shortens the difference of the children with special needs from the other children in the inclusive practice. Only an expertise teacher can find out the skill of handling these children and arrange the needs for them. It is remarked on the role of the teachers that, “Engaging parents and whānau in the ongoing assessment of children’s learning and sharing educational aims with parents could help improve the home learning environment and reinforce learning between home and the early childhood education service. This is a potentially powerful role for early childhood education services” (Establishing an ECE service 2010). Conclusions: In analysing the inclusive practices in New Zealand, it can be said that it is not a fully successful as this one is very difficult to be implemented. There can be many who are quite sceptical on the success of it. It is crucial that the teachers dealing with them should make utmost care to attain the overall growth of the children, thus making the programme a successful one. The ministry of Education in New Zealand is keen on the development of the children with different needs and the government expects inclusive schools to ‘foster confident children’ who “learn and succeed because of the training and commitment of their teachers” (Fact Sheet: Success for All – Every School, Every Child 2010). Children who are reared well in the earlier stage will surely succeed in their later life too, and the duty of the whole community to make these dreams come alive and make New Zealand a pride for the whole world. References Brown, C., Goodman, S & Küpper, L. (2003). The Unplanned Journey: When You Learn That Your Child Has a Disability. Parenting a Child with Special Needs. News Digest 20 (3rd Edition). Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.nichcy.org/InformationResources/Documents/NICHCY%20PUBS/nd20.pdf Carroll-Lind, J & Rees, K. (Sept. 28-30, 2009). School for All: Children’s Right to an Inclusive Education in New Zealand. Double Blind Peer Reviewed Proceedings of the Making Inclusive Education Happen: Ideas for Sustainable Change. Te Papa, Wellington. Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.imaginebetter.co.nz/downloads/IE_Conference/PR/29c_Carroll-LindPR.pdf Early Childhood Care and Education. (1995-2010). Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from UNESCO website: http://www.unesco.org/en/early-childhood/ Early Childhood Curriculum. (1996). Te Whàriki. Ministry of Education: Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.educate.ece.govt.nz/~/media/Educate/Files/Reference%20Downloads/whariki.pdf Early Childhood Inclusion. (April, 2009). DEC & NAEYC. Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/DEC_NAEYC_EC_updatedKS.pdf Establishing an ECE service. (2010). Ministry of Education: New Zealand. Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz/ManagementInformation/EstablishingAnECEService.aspx Fact Sheet: Success for All – Every School, Every Child. (October, 2010). Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/EducationPolicies/SpecialEducation/~/media/MinEdu/Files/TheMinistry/EducationInitiatives/FactSheetSuccessForAll.pdf Holistic Development: Principles of learning and development in early childhood. (2009). ECE: New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.educate.ece.govt.nz/learning/curriculumAndLearning/TeWhariki/PartC/PrinciplesOfLearningAndDevelopmentInEarlyChildhood/HolisticDevelopment.aspx?p=2 Inclusive Practice: Study Guide Level 7. Section One: What is Inclusion? Strand 3: Development and Learning studies. New Zealand Tertiary College. V. 10.1. Lyons, L. (2005). A place for everybody? Challenges in providing inclusive early childhood education for children with disability in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The first Years Nga Tau Tuatahi. .New Zealand journal of Infant and Toddler Education ,7(1), 16-20. Purdue, K. (2009). Barriers to and Facilitators of Inclusion for Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Education. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 10(2), Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from: http://www.wwwords.co.uk/ciec/content/pdfs/10/issue10_2.asp#3 Social Development Theory (Vygotsky). (2008). Retrieved 11 Nov. 10 from learning theories.com: http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html Read More