Five different ways/measures to implement inclusive education in the school

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Introduction

Inclusive education is a relatively controversial topic for many parents and educators. The idea behind inclusive education is that students with special needs will be placed in the same classroom environment as other students their age who do not have special needs. It is basically bringing children from different backgrounds and different learning abilities together into a single classroom and then trying to teach them in a way that would be balanced. While feelings about inclusive education are still somewhat mixed, many studies show that children with special needs thrive in standard classroom environments for a variety of different reasons.

Other studies show that children with special needs actually learn more in regular classroom environments, provided they get the help and support they need in and out of the classroom when it comes to academic subjects. Groups that oppose inclusive education often maintain the position that children without special need will be forced to learn at a slower pace, but in practice, this is easily avoided by qualified teachers. In this assignment, I would attempt to proffer measures that would use as an admin and planning student in other to apply inclusive education in a normal classroom setting.On an interpersonal level, inclusive education allows children to develop friendships with their peers and feel less social tension about their disabilities. Some people believe that children who are placed in standard classroom environments generally have higher self-esteem than children who are isolated to different classrooms simply because they have special needs.

MEASURES/WAYS TO IMPLEMENT INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN A SCHOOL.

1.     Encouraging cooperation among both categories of students:

This one has to do with creating groups, teams etc comprising of  both children with special needs and those who have normal needs, this group would encompass various activities where both parties would contribute equally and effectively to the accomplishment of tasks given to them, they could be involved in painting together, reading together, debate groups, demonstration groups, role playing etc and these activities would be equitably shared among both categories of students, now by so doing, students would learn to be some sort of interdependent when the need arises, instead of one group working on their own, and the other doing the same, responsibilities could be shared equally and this would go a long way in teaching both categories of students that with cooperation, many things can be achieved and after repetition of such activities, the students would learn to see each other as equals and it would go a long way in boosting healthy competition in the classroom.

2.     Restructuring the classroom/learning environment:

This has to do with re arranging the normal classroom setting in order to facilitate the learners exploration and self direction. In order to encourage inclusive education, I would try to set the students sitting arrangement in such a way that the students with special needs and those without special needs  are mixed, not having the students with special needs at one side of the class and the others on the other side, rather the class would be arranged in a way that these students get to see each other closely, this strategy would encourage students to interact with each other over shared learning activity and everyone would be involved. Also the introduction of paintings or some sorts of arts in the classroom that encompass lessons that have been taught in the past would help both categories of students to recall things easier, especially those with special needs.

3.     Teaching from simple to complex, with much practice and repetition:

In order to foster proper inclusive education, topic would be taught from less complicated to complex using a step by step approach, for example 1+1 and 2+2 today before going into 3*3 and 10*10 tomorrow, also the repetition of what has been taught in previous classes as well as the continual practise which would be encouraged in the classroom would help all students to recall easier. This method would help to carry the whole class along, because both slow learners and fast learners would benefit from this strategy and it would create some sort of balance in the class.

4.     Trying to understand the needs of all students and trying to adapt to them:

In every class, students are bound to have individual differences, that means they can’t have the same  intellectual capacity, some tend to be slow readers while others are fast, some tend to be fast learners while others are slow, some tend to be more exposed because of their background while others may not have such privileges, now due to this their level of performance, tends to differ, now as a teacher, it is my responsibility to encourage each student, no matter their differences for example if there are slow readers in the, the teacher shouldn’t neglect them but rather shorter passages could be given to slow readers, teaching aids, demonstration, dramatization and role playing would be introduced in the classroom to meet the needs of all students, instead of assigning lesser duties to students with slower learning abilities, the task of learning would be shared and everybody would be carried along.

5.     Positive reinforcement and focussing achievements:

if a teacher truly wants a child to succeed, the teacher has to believe in that child first, to do this as a teacher, one must remove negative expectations against any child , for example, because a student is a slow learner, doesn’t mean the student is a total empty head and cannot learn anything, with proper methods, the students can pick one or two things up, so as a teacher, I may choose to introduce positive reinforcements such as praise, rewards small gifts, such reinforcements could be given to students for at least giving a positive attempt towards learning, instead of always shouting and insulting students for not doing things, I would try to create a kind of learning environment which isn’t too hostile , but still strikes a balance between rewards and punishments. So that both those with special needs and those without special needs would know the difference.

Conclusion

To ensure success for students with disabilities in general education classrooms, teachers must plan collaboratively, create structured classrooms with clear rules and expectations, and teach content in meaningful and memorable ways.

References

Bender, W. N. (2002). Differentiating instruction for students with learning disabilities: Best practices for general and special educators. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

CAST. Summary of universal design for learning concepts. Retrieved September 20, 2004, from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.cfm?i=7

Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan.

Lenz, B. K., Deshler, D. D., & Kissam, B. R. (2004). Teaching content to all: Evidence-based inclusive practices in middle and secondary schools. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Putnam, J. W. (1998). The process of cooperative learning. In J. W. Putnam (Ed.), Cooperative learning and strategies for inclusion: Celebrating diversity in the classroom (pp. 17-47). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Walther-Thomas, C., Korinek, L., McLaughlin, V. L., & Williams, B. (2000). Collaboration for inclusive education: Developing successful programs. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.