Inclusion of Students with Disabilities - Report Example

Inclusion of Students with Disabilities Name: Institution: Date: Introduction Inclusion encourages tolerance towards people with a variety of disabilities. Placing a diverse group of students together on a daily basis gives mainstream students the opportunity to observe that students with disabilities have strengths and weaknesses, good days and bad days, just as they do. The proponents of inclusion stress the significance of all children, their perceived value as members of a community, and their basic right to be included despite their individual differences. Aside from the basic concerns regarding special education and how inclusive practices become operationalized in schools, resistance still exists towards inclusion programs for particular disability groups. This essay will discuss the situation of inclusive classrooms, the problem of negative attitudes from teachers and mainstream students towards included students, propose teacher training with adequate resources and increased awareness as the possible solutions, and finally, review the implications and evaluation of these solutions. Situation In current educational systems, there has been a shift in beliefs that students with special educational needs, once placed in special schools, are now better educated in integrated classrooms called inclusive education. Children with disabilities need adequate specialized attention, care, and assistance from teachers, but most importantly, they also require positive attitudes from fellow students to help them overcome the problems often associated with having a disability. Students with special needs often face ridicule, judgment, feelings of inadequacy, and low self-efficacy or esteem. However, inclusive education is the integration of all students in the education system regardless of their abilities/disabilities, and it employs diverse teaching modes, processes and strategies (Bourke, Mentis, & Todd, 2011). This means inclusive classrooms often have several students with specials needs as well as mainstream students, who are all fully integrated together in the same classroom. It is the teacher’s duty to provide an environment that will be conducive for all students, and all learning, particularly those with special needs, in order to enable them to meet their academic and behavioural objectives, as well as help them to feel as equal participants in the learning community. However, attitudes and perceptions towards students with special needs remain the significant problems for inclusion programs. Problem Despite inclusion being an established concept in the educational systems of many countries, students with disabilities still face negative attitudes from teachers and their peers. Students with special needs often feel left out when their mainstream peers and teachers have a negative attitude towards inclusion. This negativity results in disabled students having a poor self-image and a lack of confidence, causing them to put little effort into their classwork. When students with special needs are not supported, they feel isolated and lonely. Negative attitudes and actions from people like staff and students can negatively affect the social relationships, behaviour, education and health of individuals with disabilities, as the attitudes and expectations of others influence their perceptions (Durlak et al., 2011). This means that if educators have low academic expectations for students with disabilities, the students may perform according to those expectations. Peers’ negative behaviours and attitudes may lead to bullying and long-lasting negative effects, such as absenteeism, academic challenges, loss of friends and loneliness. However, negative attitudes towards students with disabilities can be reduced if teachers and peers better understand the purpose of inclusion, which is to help students with disabilities have the same educational experiences as normal students. Solution A possible solution for inclusion is raising public awareness, which can help society, schools, teachers, and students encourage more positive outlooks towards students with disabilities. This can be done by providing classroom teachers with adequate resources, training, and other necessary support for inspiring changes in attitudes towards inclusion. Disabled children must receive suitable, specialised attention, and care. Both the federal and state governments work together with schools in providing adequate funding and resources for the success of inclusion programes. Additionally, school counsellors can be used for creating awareness about inclusion and the essence of integrating students with disabilities into regular classrooms (Florian & Linklater, 2010). The success of inclusive classrooms is dependent upon the cooperation and collaboration of numerous groups of people: governments, school administrators, Special Education Needs Coordinators, parents, teachers, and students. It becomes a community effort in and outside the classroom. Not only will this reduce the problems discusses, but there will also be additional benefits of raising awareness and teachers’ training to the disabled students. Implication There will be positive implication with regard to raising public awareness and proper training of teachers towards overcoming negativity and resistance. Some people resist a program out of ignorance but proper education and awareness they will help change their attitude and overcome resistance. Research indicates that individuals with more and proper training have positive attitudes towards inclusion as compared to those with limited training since they are well informed. A positive attitude towards students with special needs leads to a more positive attitude towards inclusion (Florian & Linklater, 2010). Students counseling is important in changing the attitude towards disabled students and inclusion in general. Proper programs that incorporate students with special needs plans integrate disabled students in the school curriculum without discrimination. Proper training can help the teachers overcome some of the myths and beliefs about inclusion. In-service training will help teachers understand their role in programs and assist them in developing learning programs (Savolainen et al., 2012). This means that more attention has to be given to students with disabilities; hence, special instructional techniques have to be used. Furthermore, behavioural support will assist in maintaining a positive learning environment for everyone, including students with special needs. Raising public awareness and provide training for teachers can be considered as possible solutions to resistance and negative attitude towards inclusion although they might have some weakness. Evaluation Overcoming teachers’ and students’ resistance and negative attitude towards inclusion cannot be entirely achieved through Proper planning, training, adequate funding and raising awareness. Certain beliefs and myths about inclusion are deeply embedded in the individual teacher’s mentality, and no amount of preparedness may be able to change them (Durlak et al., 2011). School counsellors may try to provide guidance in the inclusion implementation, but the program’s success depends on the support it receives from teachers. Some school principals even have negative attitudes towards inclusion, making it more difficult to influence teachers and students positively. Additionally, if teachers refuse or cannot implement the specific techniques needed during the lessons to help the students with disabilities learn, then they will continue to feel unequal to their peers as the fall further behind in achievement. This happens when teachers in mainstream classrooms fail to adopt strategies, such as technology, audio, and graphs that will help disabled students understand what they have been taught (Alquraini, 2011). Success of a program to raise awareness can only be successful when teachers are willing to change. This cannot be forced necessarily and will weaken the efforts of an inclusive classroom. Despite its flaws, the concept of proper planning, training, and raising awareness may still be the possible solution for changing attitudes towards special needs students and for helping society understand the requirements of children with special needs. Conclusion In conclusion, student and teacher perceptions towards students with disabilities can make them form negative attitudes towards inclusion. Teachers are expected to be the primary implementers of inclusion, and without their collaboration, inclusion is bound to fail. Negative attitudes and resistance from teachers and students remain a significant threat towards inclusion’s successful implementation. Proper planning, training, adequate resources and raising awareness can help change teachers’ negative attitudes and resistance towards inclusion. Teachers have to be involved in the initial stage of planning. School counsellors can be used to evaluate the school’s prevailing environment and devise suitable interventions. All school personnel must work towards eradicating negative attitudes towards, and the stigmatization of, students with special needs. Despite the various interventions used to deal with negative attitudes and resistance, inclusion in regular schools will always face challenges. References Alquraini, T. (2011). Special education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges, perspectives, future possibilities. International Journal of Special Education, 26(2), 149-159. Bourke, R., Mentis, M., & Todd, L. (2011). Visibly learning: Teachers’ assessment practices for students with high and very high needs. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(4), 405-419. doi:10.1080/13603110903038488 Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta‐analysis of school‐based universal interventions, Child Development, 82(1), 405-432. Florian, L., & Linklater, H. (2010). Preparing teachers for inclusive education: Using inclusive pedagogy to enhance teaching and learning for all. Cambridge Journal of Education, 40(4), 369-386. Savolainen, H., Engelbrecht, P., Nel, M., & Malinen, O. P. (2012). Understanding teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy in inclusive education: Implications for pre-service and in-service teacher education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 27(1), 51-68. Read More