Inclusion
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Special education is a form of education that is mainly focused on children with special needs; it is geared towards addressing individual needs and differences of students. Special education involves systematically monitoring, individual planning and arrangement of teaching procedures, accessible settings, use of adapted materials and equipment and other modes of interventions that are intended to enable students with special needs to gain a higher level of success and self sufficiency in the community and at school than they would if they were to attend the general classroom education. Special education is administered to students who have physical disabilities, difficulties in learning, developmental disorders, behavioral and emotional disorders and communication challenges. Such students benefit from education by use of different teaching approaches and educational services, use of technology and having access to a resource room. Students who are gifted intellectually too can benefit from use of different educational programs and special teaching techniques. However, special education tends to concentrate on the students who have a reduced learning capability and therefore such students are handled in a different manner.
In the United States, citivans were the pioneers of providing special education by training teachers in this field in 1952. However, it was not until 1975 that children with special needs were allowed to enroll in public schools. This was as a result of the passage of the education for all handicapped children act, these enabled students with special needs to access appropriate education.
This research paper seeks to study the inclusion of special education students in a regular class, how teachers can implement inclusion, the resources needed for inclusion and to provide one with a basis on how to evaluate regular education teachers support for special needs. The paper also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of inclusion of special education students in regular education classes.
Inclusion of special education students in regular education classes.
Inclusion is an approach in which regular students spend all or most of their time with students that have special needs. The implementation of this approach differs between schools; most of the schools apply it for students with moderate and mild special needs.
Schools that practice inclusion do not distinguish between special and general education, such schools are structured in such a way that all students are accommodated and learn together. Inclusive learning can be differentiated from past ideas like mainstreaming and integration, such ideas tended to focus mainly on special education needs and disability and proposed that students should made ready or changed by mainstreaming in order to be accommodated in the general system. However, inclusion is focused on the duty of the school, that is to accept the child and the childs right to participate. The practice of inclusion rubbishes the use of special classrooms and schools to divide students with disabilities from those without. Hence inclusion stresses on respect for the educational, social and civil rights of students with disabilities.
The aim of inclusive education is to capitalize on the involvement of all students in schools of ones choice, formulate an education system that is relevant and meaningful for all, especially for students who are susceptible to exclusion, and to restructure and rethink cultures, curricula practices and policies in schools and to provide a favorable environment where the diverse needs of students are met whatever their nature or origin.
Inclusive education is therefore a procedure of eradicating barriers and facilitating excluded groups and all students to participate and learn efficiently within the normal school settings.
This can be achieved upon the realization that all students can be taught and benefit from education, individual differences of students are not a problem but rather a source of diversity and richness, schools should acclimatize to the requirements of learners rather than the students acclimatizing to the requirements of the school, and that the variety of students needs and pace of development can be tackled through a flexible and wide range of means. (Allen, 2003)
Classification of inclusion:
Inclusion can be classified into two main sub types; the regular or partial inclusion and full inclusion.
Regular/ partial inclusion:
In this approach, special needs students are accommodated into regular classes for virtually all or more than half of the day. With this arrangement such students with special needs receive special instructions or any additional help only when a need arises. Such instructions or help is provided outside the regular classroom and especially if such instructions might disrupt the rest of the students or if a special equipment is required. A resource room is reserved purposely for instructional sessions, language or speech therapy, physical or occupational therapy, and social work.
Full inclusion
This refers to the complete incorporation of special needs students into the general classroom. Such a student is given special instructions in identical general classroom with all other students. It is commonly practiced on special needs students whose requirements are easily met in such a classroom. For instance, allowing more time for a disabled student to complete an assignment.
Schools with such an arrangement normally combine classes and there are no separate classes for special education. However, there have been arguments against full inclusion; it is seen as controversial and inapplicable. Such arguments propose that full inclusion is not likely to enable students achieve individual goals of education.
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