The Question Of Inclusive Education

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Allen Moredock

PSYC2200 – Educational Psychology

u04a1 Inclusion in Education Position Paper

Capella University

December 2012

My Position

The question of inclusive education is both complex and contentious. There are many informed opinions and solutions from researchers, politicians, and teachers surrounding debates on inclusion. When considering whether a special needs student has been successfully included, several determining factors need to be considered:

Did the student make progress on their individualized outcomes or goals?

Did the student acquire the knowledge and skills desired for all children?

Was the student happy and comfortable within the group setting?

Were the children’s parents or guardians pleased with the student’s progress?

After reading the required articles for this assignment and doing independent research, I believe the predominance of evidence supports Full Inclusion. I support the idea of Full Inclusion for all students, with very rare exceptions.

Supporting Evidence

I support Full Inclusion for several reasons, and not just because of the benefits to the students with special needs. "Young children with significant disabilities are not often served in inclusive community placements (U.S. Office of Special Education Programs, 2002); however, they can be successfully included" (Alice, Traub, Hutter-Pishgahi, & Shelton, 2004). Research has shown that young children with disabilities can make "at least as much developmental progress in inclusive programs as they do in non-inclusive programs" (Odom, Schwartz, & ECRH Investigators, 2002). These studies, along with many others point, towards a positive answer for the first question listed above and show that students with special needs can and do make progress on their individualized outcomes or goals.

Some may argue that the inclusion of special needs students in a classroom with other students without hindrances to learning with have a negative effect. I beg to differ and feel that variety of backgrounds has been proven to make a positive contribution to school life. The needs of students with physical, mental, and learning impairments should be considering as important and valuable as those without impairments.

Inclusive education "contributes to a positive classroom culture, acknowledges differences, promotes acceptance, and provides opportunities for real-life problem solving" (Giangreco, 2007). Researchers at Jacksonville State University were able to report, "positive social outcomes for inclusion are not limited to the students with disabilities. These outcomes can significantly affect typical students within the general education classroom as well" (Brisendine, Lentjes, Morgan, Purdy, Wagnon, Woods, Beard & Notar, 2008). Their research seems to show that "students bond and become companions within inclusive settings which can result in positive long-term attitudinal differences in acceptance".

Inclusive education stimulates every student to participate in classroom activities. Encouragement from a student’s peers can be extremely beneficial. Students with special needs will find themselves included in the same activities as their peers rather than being ostracized and excluded. Inclusive education provides peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills, and it "provides greater access to general curriculum"(Karger, 2012).

Parental Attitudes and Opinions

Many variables play a role in parents’ attitudes towards inclusion. Parents must be able to have

confidence in the ability of the schools to understand the needs of, and effectively educate their children. The main benefits of inclusion recognized by many parents are the potential social and affective outcomes for their children and the positive effects of inclusion on classmates who are likely to become more accepting and sensitive to individual differences.

An increasing amount of research in the past twenty years suggests that parental involvement leads to a positive learning experience and greater success in school (Newmann & Wehlage, 1995). Research also seems to indicate that parents who are actively involved with their child’s education are generally more satisfied with the inclusion setting (Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler, 1997).

An Opposing Viewpoint and Rebuttal

There will always be opposition to the full inclusion to the full inclusion of special needs students, and one opposing argument presented is the possible disruption of the overall learning experience for other students. Some special needs students, for many different reasons, have behavioral issues that may hinder a teacher’s efforts. Many new teachers and those without experience teaching special needs students lack the skills and knowledge needed to manage these challenging behaviors effectively. Studies seem to indicate that teachers who teach only students with special needs tend to have lower expectations of their students, both in their ability to learn and behaviorally. Having greater access to general curriculum should result in increased collaboration by the school staff, and will usually lead to greater opportunities for interactions and higher expectations.

In Essential Elements of Discipline, C.M. Charles states, "Our schools are in the grip of a serious problem that is wreaking havoc on teaching and learning. That problem is student misbehavior" (Charles , 2002). It is essential that teachers be trained in the skills and strategies to support behavior management in the classroom as well as the ability to differentiate instruction for students with special needs, but behavioral issues cannot and should not be exclusively attributed to inclusion students.

Conclusion

Though there will always be strongly held opinions on both sides of the debate over inclusion of special needs students in the classroom, I firmly believe that the potential positive results far outnumber the rare negatives. Numerous studies have shown that special needs students benefit academically, socially, and emotionally when given the opportunity to be included in the everyday classroom. Studies have also shown that teacher skills are improved by having special needs students included with other students, which in turn benefits all students.

With evidence pointing towards many positives and few negatives, it stands to reason that everyone involved will ultimately benefit from the full inclusion of special needs students.