Inclusive Education and Approach - Report Example

Inclusive Education Name: Course: Instructor: Date: Inclusive Education Inclusive education is a system where learners with disabilities are taught. The inclusive system ussually combines normal students to spend time with disabled learners. However, the practices of implementing this kind of system vary. Including special students in the academic mainstream is not only done in Australia, but it is a phenomenon that exist many countries. Agreements that have been made at international level have recognized the rights of learners with special needs to receive education in mainstream institutions and Australian laws respects those rights. This is just one way that the western communities are appreciating diversity among their citizens. In Australia, two acts were enacted in 1992 and in 2005 and they are playing a major role of influencing schools to offer education to disabled learners just like other normal students. The first part of this article will focus on the meaning of inclusive education and the different approaches of the same. The second part will explore on reasons why disabled learners experience unequal outcomes when participating in the education process. Some of these reasons include family financial power, ethnicity among others. The final part will explore the impacts of government policies on teaching practice and how understanding of inclusive learning is important to teaching practice. Although inclusive education is a big challenge to teachers, it is a big benefit to disabled learners. Inclusive Education and Approach Teachers and schools are important for providing accommodation, a good learning environment, learning and teaching facilities and assessment that would ensure special needs learners to attain what the curriculum has to offer (Ashman & Elkins, 2005). The inclusive system explains all the efforts that a learning institution and the community put in making learners and parents feel comfortable. Moreover, the inclusive system holds that, if a learner is not in a position to participate in academic activities because of poverty, disability, or behaviour, then the right approach is not to create special systems for the person or group, but to practice mainstream ideas, practices and structures that can accommodate all learners. The inclusive method incorporates transition in thinking about how society and schools can work together to help all learners attain a meaningful outcome. For learners that have personal needs that are closely related to their disability, the inclusive method demands a unique method of thinking concerning the disability. It simply means that a learner who would have been taught in a different setting has equivalent rights to access education together with others in learning places of their choice (Mitchell, 2007). Furthermore, the inclusive approach demands a learning facility where vision and leadership emphasizes the benefits of relationships. The culture of inclusive schools is influenced by the ability of staff to accommodate learners and work closely with education experts and parents. In such a setting, teamwork sets in, collaboration among teachers, and dynamic planning of for learners occurs as they continue with their education. The inclusive method starts with every teacher understanding the significance of including learners and other key players, of perceiving every learner as an individual, of refuting labels given to people, of copying what good practitioners do and best method, and focusing on personal performance as instructors. The inclusive method explores a number of strategies that boosts the involvement of learners with special needs. For any inclusive method to work effectively, teachers must be willing to work with other key players and to develop creative methods of working as a team to help learners with special needs to cope with mainstream practice. Reasons for Unequal Outcomes in Academics Several reasons explain why disabled learners experience unusual outcome when taking part in education and training. In the view of the above, this article will focus on a group that is not yet included in the formal government designations, the early school leavers who are disabled. The reasons why some disabled learners would opt to quit learning early have been closely associated with gender, structure of the family, race, ethnic lines, and place of residence among other things (Power-deFur & Orelove, 2007). To explore this unusual outcome, this article will highlight the differences related to the afore-mentioned factors and the processes that produce each of them. In every process, a discussion will follow on why some issues influence the relationship between specific groups of teenagers and the possibility of completing education. For instance, a student’s self-esteem tends to reduce when the learners from poor families, increasing the chances of disengaging from school and avoiding school to secure employment. One of the factors that cause a difference in academic outcome is the background of the family. Studies conducted in nations like Australia and the United States indicate that the circumstance of a family has a tremendous effect on academic achievement (Mitchell, 2007). Families really matter whether a disabled learner is going to complete education or not. Studies show that those from poor families are likely to leave school early. In the same vein, children from a single parent are also likely to drop out of school. Furthermore, those living with jobless parents are likely to drop out of school at the age of 12. Conversely studies showed that children whose parents are relatively financially stable are likely to complete their education (Liamputtong & Douglas, 2005). Learners from poor families always tend to perform poorly in school. In the United States, studies revealed that learners from poor families keep on moving from one school to another and in the end, their academic performance decreases. A study in Australia proved that learners with incomplete attendance are in most cases from poor families than those from well-to-do families (Liamputtong & Douglas, 2005). Incomplete attendance and poverty are closely associated for a number of reasons. Older siblings in poor families are forced to assist parents to take care of other children whenever a parent is sick. Research also proved that the structure of a family can lead to a disabled learner dropping out of school. In other words, learners who live with a single parent are likely to leave school as oppose to those from families with two parents. Research confirmed that, when two parents separate, there are low chances of dropping out unless there is financial hardship (Sharp & Earle, 2000). Human capital theory is supported by the education of a parent and their financial power (Hick et al, 2009). Human capital theory deduces that, parents take time to weigh their options concerning the amount of resources and time they are going to invest in their children depending on their cognitive abilities, and their children’s love for education among other things. If a parent has resources, they will be in a position to offer them to enhance the education of their children including access to good schools and increased effort of learning at home. Ethnicity is another factor that determines the academic outcome of a disabled learner. For instance, teenagers from other language settings apart from English are likely to continue with their education at the age of 12 than those from an English-speaking setting. This fact can be proved using the available statistics. Teenagers of Asian origin are likely to complete school, according to research, done by Sharp and Earle (2000). Disabled learners whose parents were born in southern Europe has a higher chance of leaving school at the age of 12 compared to those whose parents have roots in Australia. Disabled learners from other backgrounds apart from English are known for being successful in education. This trend has closely been associated with aspiration for academics. A study in the United States showed that some ethnic groups normally perform better than Americans of Caucasian origin at the age of 12 (Foreman, 2005). For instance, it was revealed that disabled learners from Asian origin perform well in school than other ethnic people because of some cultural beliefs (Konur, 2006). They hold the belief that effort and not ability leads to success and that one ruins success by not attaining a good academic background. In the United States, a big challenge in education is on how to solve the persistent differences that exists among the ethnic groups. The situation has even been worsened by the learner’s achievement as depicted by scores and grades. A lot of attention has been channelled towards understanding why the number of dropouts has escalated. Two approaches can be used to explain diversities in the rates of dropouts in terms of race and ethnicity. One of the approaches is that, diversities in the rate of school leavers and other elements that measure academic achievement can be described well by the diversities in resources and by capital network, which dictates these factors impact achievement for various groups of learners. The education for minorities in the United States is worse compared to that of the whites, who are the majority (Foreman, 2005). For this reason, children from poor backgrounds are likely to attend schools with inadequate resources and poor environments for learning. The rate of dropping from school between the whites and the minorities can decrease if both groups are put in the same learning environments. The next approach revolves around resources and it argues that they might not be sufficient to describe differences of academic achievement among races and ethnic groupings. Experts commented that it is illogical why certain minorities with poor background succeed and yet others fail. For that reason, they deduced that cultural factors such as behaviours, values, and attitudes can be used to explain why some minorities are successful in academics than others. Government Policies on Teaching Practice Government policies and legislative and regulatory frameworks may have an impact on the teaching practice in inclusive education. For instance, the government, which does not recognize that learners with disabilities should be allocated more funds compared to other schools, can cause a number of funding issues. Some learners might not get anything and therefore demand a lot of extra time and energy on them (Daniels & Garner, 2000). When the policies of the government hinder the supply of enough work-force and the provision of the right curriculum, teaching practice can be a very hectic time. Teaching students with disabilities is in itself not simple. For that reason, the act of the Australian government to pass legislation that emphasizes the need to have learners with disabilities together with normal student affects teachers on teaching practice in a number of ways. For instance, the teacher has to be very careful while teaching to avoid leaving the special students behind. They have to create enough time for the special learners in order to help them catch up with what they did not understand. Importance of Inclusive Education to Teachers The inclusive education is vital for teachers who are on teaching practice to understand. Although teaching students with disabilities can pose a big challenge, it is just one out of the many challenges that they are likely to face in the curriculum, performance of the learners, and the expectations to meet the needs of every learner. While on teaching practice, a teacher is expected to remain optimistic in being able to respond to the diversity and a good number are doing this successfully. While on teaching practice, a teacher knows that funding is a problem, and they can therefore strive to utilize facilities available to compensate for the deficit. Funding has remained a worrying issue for many instructors, because the criteria of funding do not include special education learners. While being aware of what the inclusive education entails, teachers also get to learn methods that apply to teaching special learners. While on teaching practice, using interactive approaches can be very helpful in inclusive education. Learners have to combine theory with a lot of practice in order to understand the concept. In the teaching practice, a teacher can also use innovative methods while giving instructions (Fuller & Bradley, 2004). In order to address the diversity of learners, several teaching methods of accommodating disabled learners in the system have been identified, particularly in giving students more time. For instance, while on teaching practice, it is not advisable to use the internet or other methods that involve online methods for learners with disabilities. Giving learners enough time is an efficient method than teaching learners online. In other words, online teaching does not help disabled learners very much because not all of them have the computer skills. The teacher can also opt to use handouts with notes of what they have taught. Similarly, use of diagrams and maps can be of great help. Teachers can also decide to present the information on a poster. In addition, other resources such as DVDs, invited speakers with disabilities and printed articles can help teachers a lot during teaching practice. Understanding inclusive education can help teachers to develop the suitable methods of assessing special students while on teaching practice. Methods of assessment that can be used in inclusive education during teaching practice includes the use of multiple choices questions in assessment (Loreman et al. 2005). Learners are supposed to be provided with options of responding in a written and verbal presentation. Teachers on teaching practice can also decide to take their time discussing with individual students the requirements of assessment. Conclusion Inclusive education gives disabled learners the opportunity to learn together with normal learners. In Australia, the government is in full support of inclusive education and it provides funding towards the same. The government has also enacted acts that fully support inclusive education (Armstrong, 2009). The family and ethnicity are some of the factors that explain why disabled learners experience unusual outcome when taking part in education and training. A family can determine whether a learner is going to finish education or not. The government can affect the teaching practice by interfering with the curriculum and through its criterion of funding inclusive education. It is important for teachers on teaching practice to familiarize themselves with inclusive education to be aware of what they are going to encounter in the field later on. References: Armstrong, A. (2009). Inclusive Education: International Policy & Practice Chicago: SAGE Publications Ltd Ashman, A., & Elkins, J. (2005). Educating children with diverse abilities (2nd Ed). Frenchs, Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia Daniels, H., Garner, P. (2000). Inclusive education: supporting inclusion in education systems. New York: Routledge Foreman, P. (2005). Disability and inclusion: Concepts and Principles Southbank, UK: Thomson. Fuller, M., Bradley, A. (2004). Incorporating disabled students within an inclusive higher education environment. Disability and society, 19(5), 455-468 Hick, P., Kershner, R., Farrell. P. (2009). Psychology for inclusive education: new directions in theory and practice. New York: Taylor & Francis Konur, O. (2006). Teaching disabled students in higher education. . Frenchs, Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia Liamputtong, P., & Douglas, E. (2005). Qualititative research methods (2nd ed). Melbourne, UK: Oxford University Press. Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., Harvey, D. (2005). Inclusive education: a practical guide to supporting diversity in the classroom. New York: Routledge Mitchell, D. (2007). What really works in special and inclusive education: using evidence-based teaching strategies? New York: Taylor & Francis Power-deFur, L., Orelove, F. (2007). Inclusive education: practical implementation of the least restrictive environment. Colorado: Jones & Bartlett Learning Sharp, K. & Earle, S. (2000). Assessment, disability and the problem of compensation. Assessment and compensation, 25 (2), 191-199 Critical Reflection This assignment comes with a number of helpful lessons to a teacher. As a teacher, I have learnt that inclusive education instills understanding and patience in children that they later reflect on the society and on their parents. I have learnt that the only way to teach the normal students on how to respect their special students counterparts is by combining them in the same learning environment. Although it is a big burden to a teacher, it is very significance to all learners. The best way to help special learners is attending each one of them at individual level and not as a group. I have also learnt that sense of humor, aid from team directors, and being flexible are very helpful in inclusive education. In addition, I have realized that a learner with disability can have a little effect on learning. Although learners can be suffering from same disability, it might be unique in its own way. In the same breadth, knowing that a learner has a disability is not a guarantee for a teacher to know the needs of that learner. In the research of this assignment, I prefer to use interview rather than observation to get information concerning learners with disabilities. This is because learners cannot provide one with information that will help to explain why a teacher is using interactive approach while teaching, and not other basic teaching methods. In most cases, I relied on teachers to understand the different needs of learners with disabilities. However, I realized that for one to know the background of the learner, parents might very reliable unlike teachers who do not spend most of the time with them. For that reason, I will focus on parents to provide background information and on teachers to understand the needs of various disabled learners. In this assignment, the impact of the government on the teaching practice is the weakest part. First, there is no evidence that links the government with the teaching practice. Apart from being associated with issues of curriculum and funding of inclusive education, other effects are not substantial and are likely to be brought by the school management. The strongest part of this assignment falls under the reasons why some students drop out of school. This part has been supported with reliable and tangible evidence. For instance, studies indicate that learners from poor families are likely to drop out of school to look for employment. Read More