An Era of Inclusion

I’m a firm believer that all teachers have the necessary skills to teach students with special needs but it takes training and specialized support to be successful. Inclusion has given me new insight on the challenges that general education teachers may feel in regards to classroom inclusion. Being a special education teacher throughout my entire teaching career, I am used to the normal challenges that may arise in educating students with disabilities. Although, I find it more rewarding to teach children with special needs I have to understand that not all teachers may feel the same way.  In an effort to overcome the challenges that I face in my school, I am dedicated to offering support to the general education teachers whose classrooms are changing to now include some of the students that I teach.

It amazes me how so many general education teachers are resistant to the inclusion process. The issue is and will always be behavior and how disruptive those children are to the learning environment. The special education department teachers “push in” with the children to provide assistance to the general education teachers in the classroom but it is still a challenge to get the general education teachers to work with these students and be supportive. I believe that as a teacher, an educator should be supportive of all types of students, whether they have disabilities or not, and should maintain a positive attitude towards teaching in the classroom.

The article I reviewed is titled “Special education in an era of inclusion: The end of special education or a new beginning?” The author discusses the change of a once separate system of education being integrated into one education system to service all students.  There is a growing recognition that traditional models of special needs education, based on forms of provision that are ‘different from’ or ‘additional to’ that which is provided for others of similar age, are unjust because they lead to segregation and perpetuate discrimination (Florian, 2010). The myriad problems of special education are well documented and include such wide ranging issues as identification and classification, differential treatment based on social class, over-representation of ethnic minorities, institutional bias and the structure of schooling (Florian, 2010).  I find much of this to be true; over the years I have noticed that there are many students that are mis-classified as being students with disabilities but the extent of the problem may be more of a behavioral issue rather than a true disability.  I have also noticed that the abundance of special education classrooms is mostly comprised of ethnic minorities.

I found that the possible dilemma with classroom inclusion is that by doing away with the separate system for students with special needs, it may cause more harm than good. There is good historical evidence that without special treatment (e.g. anti-discrimination legislation, provision of specialist support), students with disabilities, are denied equal opportunity for full and meaningful inclusion in the activities that typify everyday life, because impairment, by definition, is something that limits functioning, unless it is mediated in some way (Florian, 2010). Thus we are faced with the dilemma of difference where special intervention is both a remedy for and a perpetuation of the stigma of difference (Florian, 201). Since the 1990s many countries, have been working toward improving access to mainstream education for students with disabilities and others identified as having with special educational needs but progress has been slow and uneven.

I co-teach with several general education teachers; I am present in the classrooms that include my students to be a source of support and knowledge if issues arise. I make an effort to meet with the general education teachers on a weekly basis to discuss their thoughts or issues with the students and I will continue to do so to show my support and understanding throughout the inclusion process.

Strategies used by teachers of students with special educational needs are not different to the strategies used by classroom teachers (and vice versa), although the application may be different. Therefore, the argument that classroom teachers do not have the necessary skills to teach students who have been identified as having special educational needs, a frequently cited reason for excluding students with special educational needs from mainstream classrooms can, and should be challenged (Florian, 2010). 

Florian, L. (2010). Special education in an era of inclusion: The end of special education  or a new beginning?. Psychology of Education Review, 34(2), 22-29. Retrieved April 3, 2011 from EBSCOhost.