Inclusivity in Education - Coursework Example

Inclusivity in Education Introduction Inclusivity in education is a topic that advocates for the need to offer every pupil an equal opportunity accessing education. In any society, education provides individuals with a chance to improve their living standards and that of their families. As such, there is need to create an environment where there is no exclusion in terms of accessing education, people come from different backgrounds and endowed with different talents. Such talents can be nurtured by going to schools and acquiring knowledge to ensure individuals put their talents into good use. In this sense, inclusivity in education is important because in a learning environment, individuals possess different abilities and as such, those struggling need not to be neglected by the system, but given a chance to compete at the same level with those considered to be achievers in academics. On the other hand, disability should not be viewed as a deterrent to accessing education in a similar environment with other normal students. In essence, disability is not inability since individuals with disability can also perform at the same level to other normal students (Cole, 2006). Other than rhetoric regarding disability, exceptional students and the need for inclusivity in education, there are other factors that need to be considered when it comes to inclusion in education. Such factors include ethnic, religion, ethnicity, social status or class and sexuality or gender. These factors often have an influence on the rhetoric regarding inclusivity in education. For instance, religion often plays a role in determining the type of education provided in institutions of learning. To extent, religion might create exclusion in terms of considering the needs of the majority who belong to a particular religious affiliation and ignoring the minority who belong to other religious affiliations. On the other hand, ethnicity can also impact on the system of education in that it tends to create segregation of the minority. This involves an ignorance of the needs of the minority ethnic groups whose values and needs may be different from the majority, but because they are few, their views are often neglected. In this sense, education systems need to accommodate the values and views of both the majority and minority ethnic groups in providing equal opportunities in terms of accessing education (Cole, 2006). The other issues that should be considered when advocating for inclusivity in education is social class or status. This is because the status of individuals also has an influence in the kind of education that exists in the society. For instance, the privileged in society are able to access education while the disadvantaged cannot afford to access quality education. As such, policy targeting inclusivity in education needs to ensure that the disadvantaged in the society can also access quality education. Further, when it comes to gender, there is often division with regard to who should be given the change to progress in terms of accessing education. For instance, when it comes to getting an education in most societies, the girl child is often overlooked because of a continued practice of retrogressive tradition. In advocating for inclusivity in education, it is important to give both the male and the girl child an equal opportunity to access education. In essence, religion, ethnicity, social class and sexuality or gender, has a greater influence in the school setting when it comes to the disparities that are evident in the education sector. Inclusivity in education has been elusive because of the inequality and the divergent views that exist in the society regarding the systems that are developed and selective in terms of abilities, special needs and societal culture and traditional undertones (Cole, 2006). Disability in relation to the topic of inclusivity in education The structure of the education system is such that there is a tendency of denying students with special needs the opportunity to learn in the same environment with students considered to be non-disabled. As a result, special schools have been established to cater for students identified to have certain weakness compared to the non-disabled students. However, this creates a situation where there is segregation in terms of providing quality education in equal terms to all the students. For instance, students seen to be slow in learning often find themselves dragging behind in terms of their learning in the school sector. This is because the teachers have developed a mentality that such students need to be catered for in special school and not the normal learning school set up. However, this is not the case since students with various disabilities can also realize progress in a normal learning environment and not secluded in a special school where they cannot interact with other students regarded as non-disable. On the same note, an inclusive curriculum can be realized by training teachers on special education which is critical in assisting children or students who require special assistance to improve on their academic ability (Floud, Halsey & Martin, 1956). The authorities charged with policy implementation in the education sector need to come up with laws that ensure children with special needs can access appropriate education. This is important in terms of preparing those individual with disabilities to get an education, develop their career and realize the dream of living independently. Inclusivity in education is significant in that separating students with special needs from their other counterparts result in these students being denied appropriate education that is necessary to provide them with the necessary tool to survive in a competitive career world. Because of lack of inclusivity, most students or children with special needs are often denied the opportunity to access public education. On the other hand, where these students or children are allowed to access public schools they often lack the necessary support to cater for their special needs. While it is prudent to concur that children with special needs require extra attention, it is also necessary not to segregate these children from the rest. As such, schools need to come up with a system that is capable of integrating children with special needs in a normal learning environment. An inclusive approach to help children with special needs requires the support system from the school and home. The support system requires the efforts of the parents, educational providers and the students in helping children with disability achieve their goals in life (Floud, Halsey & Martin, 1956). Further, the environment in which children with disability learns should not be restrictive, these children should be part of the typical education set up that also include the non-disabled students or children. In addition, the effort from parents needs to be considered in helping children with disabilities to excel in a normal learning environment. This is because parents play a significant part in the life of their children. On the same note, parent’s motivation is vital in assisting children with special needs to develop interest of learning in a normal school set up. Further, since admitting children with disability to public schools require more resources in place to meet their needs, it is important for the relevant authorities to increase funding to the public schools (Thomas & Vaughan, 2004). Social class Inclusion in education should not be viewed only as a way of attending to children or students with special needs. Other factors also call for the need to embrace inclusivity in the education sector. This includes such factor as social status of individuals in the society. The education sector has often been hampered by the inequality that exists in terms of providing quality education. Such inequality exists because the gap between the poor and the rich, and such an impediment has led to segregation in that the education offered in schools is selective (Jonathan, Katy, Melanie & Kieron, 2010). The rich today have access to quality education where the disadvantaged are neglected in terms of accessing quality education. On the other hand, the teachers are attracted to better pay and often end up in private schools where the pay is high compared to the public schools. This leads to a situation where both children with disability and non-disabled are not able to realize their potential because of a substandard education in the public schools. Inclusivity in this sense is necessary to ensure that regardless of social status, every person can access quality education. In the contemporary society, there are high cost and low cost schools and this is meant to cater for parents who can afford high cost schools and those unable to afford the high cost schools. This has led to the establishment of public schools to enable the disadvantaged to access education at an affordable cost. However, the quality of education is often compromised as a result admitting many students thus; making it difficult for teachers to provide equal attention to all students. As a result, most students in public schools and especially those struggling are often ignored by teachers who are interested in students who can learn fast. The high cost schools on the other hand, also seem to have more resources for learning compared to the public schools. This allows students in private or high cost schools to access quality education and those struggling are given more attention by their teachers (Jonathan, Katy, Melanie & Kieron, 2010). The attention given to students in a high cost or private school is realizable because there is an appropriate teacher to student ratio. Students need to be provided with equal opportunity to access education regardless of their social status. This means that those responsible for implementing education policies should ensure that students learning in public schools access the necessary material to improve their education. In addition, policies should be implemented that curbs against segregation in education by considering social class. It is important for the education sector to embrace universal education where each child has an equal chance to access education regardless of their social status. This is important in terms of providing each child equal opportunity to improve their living standards in the future by acquiring knowledge through education. Social class across the society has played a role in creating the segregation evident in the education sector. For instance, there are courses that cannot be accessed by the disadvantaged in the society. As such, the persons responsible for policy implementation in the education sector should ensure all courses can be accessed by students regardless of social status (Jonathan, Katy, Melanie & Kieron, 2010). Ethnicity On another note, ethnicity also derails the efforts to provide equal opportunity for those pursuing education. This is because different ethnic groups have their own interest regarding education; however, education systems across the board often cater for the majority. This leaves the minority groups with problems in terms of adapting to the system preferred by the majority. As such, inclusivity plays a role in ensuring that the needs to the minority groups are taken care of and their children can access the necessary support system that ensure they get the same privileges in education that is accessed by the majority. The society is composed of different ethnic groups and this means that the education system needs to consider these groups to ensure inclusivity in education. It is a common occurrence for the minority groups to struggle in terms of adapting to the teaching instructions designed for the majority. This is the reason why most of the minority groups often drop out of school because of a lack of program that does not consider their needs. While the language used for instruction in school may be one, it is important to also introduce other teaching languages in schools to accommodate the minority who are still learning for example, English as a second language (Jonathan, Katy, Melanie & Kieron, 2010). Further, the education sector needs to consider the values and beliefs of the minority groups when developing education policies to cater for students from different ethnic groups. Students from the minority groups often experience difficulties catching up with classroom lessons. As such, the school instructions need to be designed in a way that provides the minority students with space or time to catch up with other students who are used to the instruction offered in school A lack of considering the needs of the minority groups in schools is a contributing factor for such children becoming under achievers in school (Jonathan, Katy, Melanie & Kieron, 2010). Religion Religion on its part also dictates that type of education that is offered in most schools; for instance, there are situations where religion determines the methods used to teach and the students enrolled in the schools. This in some cases, result in the segregation of students or children belonging to a different religious association or suppressing the views of teachers and students or children belong to other religious affiliations. Inclusivity in this respect is important in allowing schools managed by different religious group to accommodate divergent views of students and teachers belonging to other religious affiliation (David & Mike, 2001). The reality of inclusivity in education The idea of assisting children with special needs outside the classroom does not help such children to adapt to the normal learning environment. In this regard, a full inclusion is necessary to ensure that children with disability are educated in the same classroom with non-disabled children. This can be achieved in a learning environment that provides other support systems for children with special needs. While a full inclusion is seen to be unconventional and in particular, for children who require special attention, full inclusion ensure that children with special needs feel appreciated in the mainstream society. This is especially important for students that suffer from mild disabilities such as using wheel chairs. These are children who can realise the same goals as their non-disabled counterparts. The education sector needs to focus more in establishing structures to ensure that there is no segregation directed at children with special needs. This requires implementations of policies that will ensure that there is inclusivity in education. Inclusivity in education varies depending on location and the nature of disability; however, students suffering from mild disability are often allowed to attend general education classrooms (Hill & Cole, 2001). Conversely, while inclusion in education is necessary, it is important to note that a full inclusion requires relevant authorities to provide the necessary resources that are ideal to assist children with special needs in a normal education program. This involves providing adequate support for students or children with special needs, and integrating individualized learning into the normal school learning to enable students with disability to catch up fast. Further, supportive resources are also necessary to ensure that teachers improve in terms of professional development required to assist students with special needs. In essence, where sufficient funding is available for schools, this would allow for the development of different programs for students with special needs and ensuring that they access quality education. Other than the attention provided ensuring there are necessary resources to facilitate an inclusive education, it is also important to note that an inclusive education also looks at the interest of students struggling with their performance in school (Hill & Cole, 2001). In almost every institution of learning, there are students who often struggle with their learning and require more attention from their teachers and significant others. This is important in helping such children improve their learning ability. This is made possible by the education providers ensuring that struggling students are given more attention and in an environment where they are not discriminated because of their poor performances (Mike, 2006). In an inclusive environment, teachers should not separate the struggling students from the exceptional ones. Improving their performance require creating a classroom community where students can help each other improve their performance through for instance, constructive discussion regarding relevant topics in the classroom setting. This helps the struggling students to learn from others and broaden their knowledge (Jones, 2012). While there are divergent views on how to implement inclusion in the education sector, most of the structures in place often fails to work. First, accommodating students or children with special needs a normal learning environment with non-disable students is not an easy task. This is because, students with special needs require an extra attention and they might suffer setbacks in terms of trying to catch up with the learning process in such an environment. On the other hand, realising success with an inclusive education require experience on the part of the teachers on how to handle students with special needs. Most teachers are often trained to deal with the non-disable students and may lack the necessary skills and experience required to handle children with special needs. The relevant authorities in the education sector needs to provide training for teachers in the general education to allow them to attend appropriately to students with special needs (Pollard, 2008). On another note, parents also have a role to play in ensuring that the policy of inclusion works. However, the reality is that, parents of children with special needs are not sure if their children are properly accommodated in the general education environment and as such, they are not cooperative in permitting their children to learn in the same classroom with the non-disabled students or children. This provides more impetus in education systems setting up special schools that cater for the needs of the students or children with disability. However, the special attention provided for such students or children means that they lack the opportunity to access appropriate education that would make them marketable in the career field. In this regard, it is important for persons charged with the education sector to explain to parents the importance of inclusivity in education. As aforementioned, instead of segregating children with disability, their needs can be catered for with the availability of support systems and the necessary resources to facilitate learning of children with special needs in the general education program (Pollard, 2008). There is also the fear of discrimination by the non-disabled students who may be reluctant to acknowledge their classmates with special needs. This may arise from the feeling that children with special needs have access to a number of privileges in the general education program. However, this can be avoided where the teachers, parents and community to convince non-disabled students to accommodate and assist their counterparts with special needs. On the other hand of the spectrum, the lack of equality also impact negatively needs to embrace inclusion in the education sector. This is because the society is composed of families with different social status. As a result, the quality of education in different schools depends on the fee that students can pay. This has led to the existence of high cost schools that tend to be more attentive to the student’s needs and low cost schools where the administration tend to be less concerned with the affairs of the students. Religion and traditions also seems to interfere with the need for inclusion in the education sector as a result of divergent views with regard to inclusivity in education (Walkup, 2011). Discussions related to inclusivity in education Listening to discussions regarding inclusivity in education by students from different school backgrounds, contrast emerge with regard to how social class, ethnicity, gender, religion and disability shapes the learning environment. For instance, while listening to student L, there is a contrast in how social class has an influence in their school, and in contrast to school X. The views of student L is different compared to the tradition emphasised in a public school. For instance, student L who is in a private school posits that the school mostly admit students from affluent backgrounds because they can afford the fee. The attention provided to students in such private school or academy by instructors is more pronounced compared to public schools. This is possible because the teacher-student ratio is proportionate. On the contrary, public schools admit thousands of students and the attention that teachers give each student is minimal because of a disproportionate teacher-student ratio. With regard to ethnicity, student L who studies in a school dominated by white students is of the opinion that the percentage of students from the minority group is lower because of their choice of subject when joining high school. This means that more application are received for a certain cluster of subjects and this reduces their chances of joining the school. On the other hand, gender is also an issue that impact on inclusive education. However, it is also important to note that sexual orientation in the contemporary society also impacts on inclusive education. For instance, student L admits their school accommodate LGBTQ students by creating an environment where students accept different sexual orientations. On the contrary, accommodating students considered to be different in a public school is not easy. Many factors has to be considered such as the environment with a larger population and this may expose a student seen as different to discrimination or stereotype because of his or her sexual orientation. In considering religion as a factor impacting on inclusive education, student L admits of coming from a faith based school where, the education system is influenced by the religious denomination managing the school. This has an impact on accommodating students from different religious backgrounds and who subscribes to different beliefs or principles. While a public school accommodates students from different religious backgrounds, the dominant religion often has an influence on the education system. With regard to disability, student L brings into light how private schools have set up a system that can accommodate special students. This involves an integrated process in establishing a support system to help special students excel in the same environment with nondisabled students. Same opportunity might not be available in a public school due to lack of resources to support such an initiative. Conclusion Inclusivity in education is necessary because it ensures the students regarded as having a weakness that is as a result of a disability are given equal chance given to the normal students. As has been the case, the segregation of students with disability from the general education program has always impacted negatively on these special children’s ability to compete with their counterparts in the employment field. It is not often that all children with disability are incapable of fitting in the regular learning environment. Some of these children have mild disabilities and can adapt to the general education program if given the opportunity. Further, in terms of promoting inclusivity in education, the society in general needs to consider certain factors that include religion, ethnicity, social status and gender. This is important during policy implementation because it allows for accommodation of divergent views. References Cole, M. (Ed) 2006, Education, Equality and Human Rights: Issues of gender, ‘race’, sexuality, disability and social class, Routledge, Abindon, Oxfordshire. David, A.H., & Mike, C 2001, Schooling & Equality: Fact, Concept & Policy, Kogan Page Publishers, United Kingdom. Floud, J.E., Halsey, A.H., & Martin, F.M 1956, Social Class and Educational Opportunity, London Publishers, London. Hill, D. & Cole, M 2001, Schooling and Equality: Fact, concept and policy, Routledge, London. Jonathan, R., Katy, S., Melanie, N & Kieron, S 2010, Policy and Power in Inclusive Education, Routledge, London. Jones, O. 2012, Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class, Verso Books, London. Mike, C 2006, Education, Equality and Human Rights: Issues of Gender, Race, Sexuality, Disability and Social Class, Routledge, London. Pollard, A., 2008, Reflective Teaching 3rd edition, London: Continuum. Thomas, G & Vaughan, M 2004, Inclusive Education: Readings and Reflections, McGraw Hill, New York. Walkup, V 2011, Exploring Education Studies, Harlow: Longman. Read More