Disabled Children in Inclusive Education - Literature review Example

Inclusive Education 1. Introduction A flexible education system is vital particularly for people who are marginalized and excluded in mainstream education system. Inclusive education is generally known as a flexible mode of education where children regardless of their physical appearance or disability, social status, intelligence, language, and emotional conditions are accommodated and treated as individuals who have the right to learn. The following sections discusses the target groups for inclusive education, the learning needs of children with disabilities, the role of schools and teachers, the learning outcomes required, teaching practices designed for inclusive education, and the need to incorporate inclusive education in existing and future teaching practices. 2. Disabled Children in Inclusive Education – 5th Grade More often than not, physical and social barriers prevent disabled children from being included as they are powerless to pursue what they want and be involved in the wider community. Unlike normal children in mainstream school, disabled children are unable to enjoy their leisure time and go to school whenever they want (Rieser 2008, p.56). It is only then when inclusive education emerged that children with disabilities were given much attention and the practice of providing disabled children with education within the general education classroom becomes a standard activity. There are number of documented accounts testifying to the effectiveness of inclusive education but there are also a number of failures due to incorrect implementation. For instance, some educators who tried to implement inclusive education fail because they lack clear values to guide their practice. Inclusive education is based on a philosophy that a unified system of education will work and all students regardless of their diversity will be served, thus any attempt to adopt such type of education without commitment and unconditional acceptance of all children will fail. Moreover, inclusive education is based on the premise that what a child can do is more important than what they cannot do thus educators who still nurturing traditional belief about education will never succeed (Power-deFur & Orelove 1997, p.3). Inclusive education for disabled children entails changes in special education. First, changes in the initial perspectives about educating children with disabilities should be made. Second, a theoretical shift from positions that are based entirely on the medical definition of disability to positions looking at the limitations of education practices and school context rather than children having some deficiencies (Terzi, 2010, p.64). According to Brown et al., (1996), before inclusive education can progress, the concept of disability must be change as it traditionally ignores the possibility of an educational system to fail. More importantly, before inclusive education can progress, there should a shift in teaching approaches from prescriptive to interactive teaching, from transmission to constructivist approach, and balance between competition and cooperation (p.32). There should be greater emphasis on skills, dispositions, experiences, and attitudes among teachers and school administrators. General and special educators should now learn to cooperate with each other in educating children with disabilities in one classroom (Smith 2010, p.16). Moreover, inclusive education is more about educating all children regardless of socio-economic background, cultural origin, and disability thus it should be looked at as a challenge for teachers to improve their professional skills rather than a burden in teaching. Similarly, it is calling the community to make conscious decision and decide between exclusion and equality (Dash, 2006, p.29). Since inclusion is more than just physical presence in mainstream education system, inclusive education should have the following elements to progress. Aside from welcoming children with disabilities in the general education classes, they should be accepted as individuals entitle to appropriate support regardless of disability label or severity. They should be educated in the same way their peers are educated and share the same level of educational experiences (Rose 2010, p.248). 3. Cognitive and Social Constructivism Educators practicing cognitive constructivism believed in the sequential development of the internal schema as an important part of individual’s psychological development. In contrast, educators practicing social constructivism are more interested on the impact of the meaning given to interactions with the socio-cultural context of families, classrooms, schools, and the community. Piaget, Sequin, and Itard in Florian (2007), for instance were constructivist who believed that children labelled ‘uneducable’ have the capacity to learn. This learning occurs whenever this type of children interacts with other people and objects (p.272). Conceptualizing curriculum and instruction from a constructivist view entails fostering the idea that all people can learn, learning is an ongoing process, and interaction of various students with differing abilities results to conceptual growth rather than confusion (Villa & Thousand, 2005, p.99). While Piaget emphasized the importance of being exposed to the views of others, Vygotsky emphasizes the impact of teachers in terms of socio-cultural influences (Beck & Kosnik 2006, p.102). The debate over special education reveals some interesting facts about several obstacles to inclusive education. For instance, the term ‘disabled’ according to Farrell (2010) is already an assumption that there is a separation between one group of children from another which continuously devaluating and stigmatizing children with disabilities (p.34). For this reason, teachers in inclusive education should adopt the constructivist view of education where learning is not matter of defect but learning from others. According to Forlin & Lian (2008), being with people with disabilities is an important part of preparation to learning since getting directly involved will help them see the person first and not the disability (p.70). Similarly, curricular and instructional approaches promoting active social construction of knowledge, experiential and inquiry-based can motivate students that have been traditionally excluded from mainstream education (Guzzetti, 2002, p.16). 4. Required Learning Outcomes According to Daniels & Garner (2000), for students with disabilities to achieve equal outcome, they must be provided with a curriculum that focuses on skills they need to function independently at home, school, and community. For instance, one-to-one instruction is optimal for skills development particularly managing personal needs (p.31). Teaching strategies in mainstream education system are expected to deliver positive learning outcomes but the learning outcome for children with disabilities may be slightly different particularly those that are intellectually deficient. However, at the minimum, general learning outcome of the proposed teaching practice in this study are: General intelligence Competency in reading Basic mathematical skills Verbal knowledge Positive and constructive behaviour Motivated and eager to perform school tasks Self-esteem and sense of membership in the class Since the selected children with disabilities are in 5th grade in a science subject that requires applied and practical approach (Power-deFure & Orelove 1997, p.78), the following learning outcome may be expected. Ability to identify inventions and their originators Demonstrate research skills and able to present a short report on specific scientific phenomenon Compare and contrast past and modern inventions Predict, speculate, or theorize future invention or discovery Participate in the design and construction of models Able to communicate and cooperate with others during the development of a certain science project. The above took into account that students’ learning outcomes that consider what the student already know and what he needs is essential and should direct curriculum development in the future. 5. The Required Teaching Practices As stated in the UNESCO’s international conference on education 48th session in 2008, practice of inclusive education include fostering high quality equitable learning opportunities for all and recreation of teacher’s professional roles taking into account the ethical and societal mission involve. Teacher understanding, approach and responses to students’ differences must be addressed with training and professional development. These include revisions and adjustments in teaching styles taking into account the cultural and social implications involved in inclusive education. Teachers should be co-designers and co-developers of inclusive education policies rather than being mere implementers of curriculum change (p.13). Teaching in inclusive education requires distinct learning strategies particularly for those students with high needs. Shaddock et al. (2007) recommends building a learner’s profile so it will be easy to identity who need what and when (p.8). The following practices may be adopted from Mitchell (2007), to meet the needs of a particular student. For visually impaired students, the teacher must be aware that they are often reliant on their tactile and auditory senses to learn. For this reason, they will require special techniques such as Braille (a method widely used by blind people) and orientation and mobility training. For students who are deaf, the teacher may have to apply total communication, FM listening systems and help them maintain their hearing aids. For students with language and speech disabilities, the teacher may apply specialized speech or language therapy to help them avoid errors such as substitution, distortions, and omissions. For students with intellectual disabilities, it may be necessary for the teacher to break down larger task into small and more manageable steps that they easily understand and perform. They may also need help in some areas such as self-care and others. Those with physical disabilities may be given assistance on their movement and positioning similar to services being provided by occupational therapist and assistance with toileting. Students with autistic spectrum disorder may need a little more adjustment on their educational needs since they normally have several impairments in social interaction, communication, and imagination. Along with the above specialized practices, other innovative practices designed to improve teacher performance and realized children’s full potential may be applied. Peer tutoring according to Dash (2006), has been a favoured practice in inclusive setting because of its potential advantage (p.50). However, peer tutoring is only effective when there is interpersonal and communicative relationships between peers thus establishment of this requirement is necessary before the teacher proceed. Once established, peer tutoring can be performed using three basic procedures (Dash 2006, p.46). The show-do procedure Test-teach-test procedure Paired teaching procedure In peer tutoring, the show-do activity is usually a simple routine involving demonstration of the task and asking the tutee to complete the same task. It is very easy to understand and all tutors will find it convenient. However, this activity must be conducted with care knowing that some of the students are with disabilities. The tutor must ensure that the show-do-activity is taken in small steps and the demonstration is clear to all. The tutor must also ensure that students practice each task immediately after every demonstration. The test-teach-test procedure on the other hand is a three step process. The first step is to test if the tutee can perform task. If he fails, the tutor will then find the particular aspect of the task that is difficult and causing the tutee to fail. The next step is the instructional phase similar to the show-do-procedure. The third step is testing the tutee’s mastery of the task. If he fails, then the instructional step will be repeated. The paired teaching procedure is simple and only requires the tutor and the tutee to take turns in completing a certain activity. In oral reading exercise for instance, the tutor will read the first passage and the tutee the second and so on until the task is completed. In summary, the tutor need only to perform four acts – monitoring, reinforcing, modelling, and explaining. The tutor plays the most important role in peer tutoring specifically on the instructional process while the teacher is responsible for tutor selection, orientation, tutor and tutee matching, directing, organizing, coordinating, and evaluating the outcome of the peer tutoring program. In line with peer tutoring, the teacher practicing inclusive education may find it beneficial to follow the guidelines below: Before selecting a tutee, conduct a careful diagnosis of the tutee’s weakness in the subject area. Then, inform the tutor what to expect, the level of mastery required for the particular tutee, and the duration of the tutoring exercise. The teacher must match the tutor and the tutee. For instance, if the tutee is weak on a particular subject area then select a tutor that already mastered that subject area. Develop instructional packages, worksheets, charts, and other materials that are useful for the tutor. Whenever there is need, arrange a small training programme for tutors so they acquire additional tutoring skills, better ways of proving feedback, knowledge on proper questioning, student management, and anything that could help the tutors effectively handle their tutee. Constantly encourage the tutor and tutee to persist and complete the task. Do not hesitate to change the tutor when conflict between tutor and tutee arise such as personal animosity or tutee’s dissatisfaction in tutoring. More importantly, let the tutor received some reward for good performance and provide tutee with some incentives whenever the tutoring programme is completed successfully. 6. Incorporating Inclusive Education in Current and Future Teaching Practices Incorporating inclusive teaching strategy in the current teaching practices is easy for as long as the concerned teacher is aware of the responsibilities and commitment required in inclusive education. As mentioned earlier, inclusive education is not just a matter of having children with disabilities physically present in the general education classroom but involve additional responsibility and a shift from traditional to innovative teaching practices. The Peer Tutoring strategy may be adopted along with specific practices intended for students with specific disabilities. Since inclusive education is social equality, it might stay as a mode education for a long time. Future teaching practices therefore must be in line with inclusive education principle and more innovative. 7. Conclusion With proper planning and careful implementation, inclusive education can succeed. As presented, inclusive education can educate children with disabilities while maintaining the quality education for normal students in mainstream education. Achieving equal outcome is very important in inclusive education thus the curriculum should focus more on skills beneficial for both mainstream and included students. In order for inclusive education to progress, there should be changes in the way teacher and school administrators view disability. Similarly, they should shift from traditional to innovative teaching practices and commit themselves to the principles of inclusive education. 8. Reference List Beck C. & Kosnik C., 2006, Innovations in teacher education: a social constructivist approach, SUNY Press, United States Brown R., Baine D., & Neufeldt A., 1996, Beyond basic care: Special Education and Community Rehabilitation in low income countries, Captus Press, Canada Daniels H. & Garner P., 2000, Inclusive Education: Supporting Inclusion in Education Systems, Routledge, United Kingdom Dash N., 2006, Inclusive Education for Children with Special Needs, Atlantic Publishers, United States Farrell M., 2010, Debating Special Education, Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom Florian L., 2007, The SAGE Handbook of Special Education, SAGE, United Kingdom Forlin C. & Lian M., 2008, Reform, Inclusion, and teacher education: towards a new era of special education in the Asia-Pacific region, Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom Guzzetti B., 2002, Literacy in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Theory and Practice, ABC-CLIO, United States Mitchell D., 2007, What really works in special and inclusive education: Using evidence-based teaching strategies, Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom Power-deFur L. & Orelove F., 1997, Inclusive Education: Practical implementation of the least restrictive environment, Jones & Bartlett Learning, United States Rose R., 2010, Confronting Obstacles to Inclusion: International Responses to Developing Inclusive Education, Taylor & Francis, United Kingdom Shaddock A., Giorcelli L., & Smith S., 2007, Students with disabilities in mainstream education: A resource for teachers, Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Australia Smith P., 2010, Whatever happened to inclusion?: The place of students with intellectual disabilities in education, Peter Lang, United States Terzi L., 2010, Justice and Equality in Education: A Capability Perspective on Disability and Special Educational Needs, Continuum International Publishing Group, United States UNESCO, 2008, Inclusive Education: The Way of the Future, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations, Geneva Villa R. & Thousand J., 2005, Creating an Inclusive School, ASCD, United States Critical Reflection Primarily, this assignment changed my view of disabled children and the educational system that prevent them from learning in same classroom with other fortunate children. The assignment widened my understanding of equality in education and the role we should all play in educating children with disabilities. As a teacher, the assignment changed the way I perceived my role as an educator and enhanced my understanding of issues surrounding inclusive education. Undertaking this type of assignment is never easy since it involves a lot research and analysis. However, with systematic approach and persistence, I was able to gather and present the information in an organized manner. Most of the information used in this assignment was from the Internet but if given an opportunity to do another assignment, an actual qualitative survey may be conducted to enhance the quality and amount of data. The weakest part of this assignment in my personal analysis is the learning outcome section. This is because the enumerated learning outcomes are exclusive to one academic subject and does not reflect the learning outcome of children with disabilities. Moreover, although there were generalizations of the learning outcome expected in a unified classroom, there is no information detailing the importance of each outcome to learners. However, the rest of the assignment is strong enough to stand on its own particularly the “Required Teaching Practices” section detailing the two innovative teaching strategies in inclusive education. The strength f this section is its completeness and ability to guide an inclusive educator in each phase of inclusive teaching. Read More