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Grace Wheeler

UWRT 1102

Leah Huizar

3-28-2017

Inclusion Education in Our School Systems

Over the past decades that special education has been evolving, different techniques and

curriculums have been created and implemented, improved and discarded. One of these

curriculums is inclusive education. According to Garry Homby, from the British Journal of

Special Education, inclusive education is the most controversial issue currently regarding the

education of children with special education needs and disabilities. Although there are some

downsides to inclusion education, it is important for students with disabilities to experience

inclusion because they provides interaction with other students who do not have disabilities.

Inclusion also gives children room to grow and helps them feel more accepted by their

classmates at school. Special education and inclusion education both involve students with

disabilities, but provide alternate views and values when it comes to educating children with

special needs. There are many benefits to inclusion education for the children with disabilities as

well as those who do not and it has already begun to spread around the world. Inclusion

education celebrates disabilities and works with students to improve their social and academic

skills.

Growing up with a brother with special needs, I automatically felt a connection with

other people with disabilities. Unfortunately, this is not the case with everyone. I have seen

numerous people stare at us, whisper about us, and get so uncomfortable around my brother and I

that they leave so they arent around us any longer. I used to get angry and think these people
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were rude and judging. However, over the years I have learned that people being uncomfortable

sometimes isnt their fault. There is a large portion of people who have had the opportunity to

interact with people with disabilities like I have. Because of this, they feel uncomfortable and

uncertain of how to speak or interact with them. Inclusion education provides daily interaction

between children who do have disabilities with those who do not. It can also provide a form of

leadership for students. Some students will be able to step up and help struggling students with

their work. Inclusion education will allow students to grow and mature. If students with and

without disabilities grow up together, working together, partnered in different situations, and

taught how to love and accept each other, hopefully the gap of stigmatisms against those with

disabilities will begin to close.

Inclusion education is based on IDEAs principle of the least restrictive environment.

According to IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, schools are to ensure that

students are involved with and learning from other students in the school setting who do not have

a disability. A child is only to be placed in a restrictive, or special education environment, when

disabilities are severe and the child does not succeed in a general education classroom with

supplementary aids. In Turnbulls Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Todays Schools, they

talk about four key characteristics of inclusion. These include home-school placement, the

principle of natural proportions, restructuring and learning, and age- and grade-appropriate

placements. In Turnbull, it shows a chart of the percentage of students involved in an inclusive

classroom. 61% of students spend between 80 and 100% of their time in a regular classroom,

20% spend 40 to 79% of their time in a regular classroom, 14% spend 0-39% of their time in a

regular classroom, and 5% is in the special education setting for the entire school day (Turnbull).
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Inclusion education provides many opportunities for children with disabilities that we will

continue to explore throughout this inquiry.

There are many differences between special education and inclusive education. Special

education is characterized by individual assessment and planning, specialized, intensive, goal-

directed, and research-based instruction, as well as collaborative partnerships and student

performance evaluations. On the other hand, inclusive education is characterized by a philosophy

of acceptance and belonging, student, family, educator, and community collaboration, celebration

of diversity, valuing high-quality school, educating learners with their peers in mainstream

classrooms, and in their local community. As you can see, there are many differences between

these curriculums and they have caused confusion over the years with educators and parents

(Homby). It is important that students, parents, and educators are aware of what kind of

education the students are receiving.

There are many goals that inclusive education hopes to help children with disabilities

achieve. Surprisingly, education is not the main goal for students (Homby 2015). In Hombys

article, he says that the primary goal is to create independence, a sense of well-being, and

participation in the community. SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) focuses on the

broader goals of education like a students life, vocational, and social skills. They want to

educate students to be productive in their communities, to be happy, to feel accepted, and to have

the skills they need to meet the demands of being an adult (Homby 2015). With that being said,

what is the curricula for the students in inclusive education? SEND says that students should

have access to the same curriculum as those without disabilities, but that does not mean that

these students cannot have accommodations to their individual curriculum. If a student is

frustrated with their curriculum, it can create emotional and behavioral difficulties and cause
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disruptiveness in class. It is important for students to be in an environment where they will be the

most productive and succeed. Sometimes, this means they do not follow the designed curriculum

all the mainstream population follows (Homby 2015). Students with disabilities are involved in

mainstream classrooms for much larger reasons than their education. It provides many

opportunities for children with or disabilities like daily interaction with students without

disabilities, equality for students, and gives room for children to grow.

Inclusion education doesnt just benefit the student with disabilities. It also encourages

other students to grow and step into possible leadership positions. One thing that students benefit

from is the positive understanding of these students with disabilities. As mentioned earlier, there

is a large portion of the population with a negative opinion of those with disabilities. If students

are raised in a classroom together all their lives, this will close part of the huge gap between both

children. The diversity between students will encourage growth and acceptance for all of these

children as well. A welcoming environment will be achieved for the children with disabilities

making them feel like a part of their class instead of being separated from the entire school.

Another goal of inclusive education is to teach students with disabilities the skills to

survive in the real world. When students work side by side with those without disabilities, it

creates a real world experience for them (Cook). Graduating from high school and learning to be

an adult in the real world is difficult enough for those of us without disabilities, imagine the

difficulties that those with disabilities face. In fact, here is a large portion of students with

disabilities that will not even graduate high school. If this were to happen, they would not have

job skills, a degree, or any way to support themselves. If students are included in education

classes, they will have role models of how to act and behave in social situations. They will learn

communication skills and different ways to work through difficulties (Daniel). Allowing students
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to see how other students work will increase their work ethic and create more success for

everyone.

Another huge benefit to having students in class together are the relationships that will be

formed (Ebersold). One of my favorite things is to watch how students without disabilities care

for and love my brother. They do anything they can to protect him and make him feel accepted.

Imagine the relationships that would be formed when having students work side by side in class.

Creating opportunities for friendship makes the classroom happier and will help students succeed

academically and socially. These relationships formed will teach students how to accept diversity

and the differences that we have.

Education for children with disabilities is a very important topic for everyone related to

someone with disabilities and should be for those that are not. Through special education, my

brother has learned job skills, how to recycle, and so many academic skills. Although he is not

high functioning enough to be in an inclusion classroom, I still see all of the benefits of his

education. One point made by S. Eberhold in his article is that shouldnt have to adapt to society

in order to be accepted. While this is true, inclusion education allows students to be different and

celebrates those differences. All children have a hard time fitting in, even if they dont have a

disability. Creating relationships, increasing the functioning of students, teaching job and social

skills, creating a culture of respect among students, and teaching students about people and their

differences is something we should be implementing in schools. My hope as inclusion education

advances is to see a culture of diversity and acceptance between all students, the teachers, and

families.
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Works Cited

Cook, Jessica. Advantages & disadvantages of inclusive education. Classroom. 2001. Web. 25
Feb. 2017. http://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-disadvantages-inclusive-education-
8367657.html

Daniel, Larry G., and Debra A. King. Impact of Inclusion Education on

Academic Achievement, Student Behavior and Self-Esteem, and
Parental Attitudes. The Journal of Educational Research 91.2 (1997)

http://www.tandfonline.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/002206797
0959752 4?needAccess=true

Ebersold, S. Inclusion and Mainstream Education: An Equal Cooperation System. European

Journal of Special Needs Education 18.1 (2003)
http://www.tandfonline.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/088562503200004233
9?needAccess=true

Hornby, Garry. Inclusive Special Education: Development of a New Theory for the Education
of Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. British Journal of Special
Education, vol. 42, no. 3, 2015, pp. 235-256.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.librarylink.uncc.edu/

Turnbull, Ann P. "Chapter 2." Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools. 8th ed.
Boston: Pearson, 2016. 42-45.