Placement Options - Essay Example

The paper "The Role of Placement Options in Education of Children with Intellectual Disabilities" is an outstanding example of an essay on education. In recent years, the lives of many people associated with various forms of disabilities have changed considerably. In some advanced countries, the inclusion of disabled children in schools has changed. A large number of educators and parents are supporting the move to include students with mild and moderate disabilities to regular classrooms.

Inclusion refers to a practice where students having disabilities are permitted to go to the same schools just as their regular peers (Hall & McGarrol, 2012). Inclusive schools are endowed with the role of coordinating as well as unifying educational services and programs with the goal of ensuring that all students reach their academic goals, irrespective of their unique needs. Conversely, a resource room is not a new concept in the provision of special education. It is common among students having mild or moderate learning disabilities.

Presently, a longstanding requirement in education targets mixing teachers offering special and regular education to ensure that they create a learning environment that is appealing to students with disabilities (Hardimana, Guerin, & Fitzsimons, 2009).  The adoption of the inclusion concept in a learning environment is vital because it addresses the needs of excluded students, allowing them to participate in social and educational activities together with their peers. Thus, inclusion has a major influence on the lives of learners having mild or moderate learning disabilities.

When interacting with their regular peers, these students manage to develop greater skills, which allow them to work and live successfully with other members of the society (Hardimana, Guerin, & Fitzsimons, 2009). In addition, with inclusion, disabled students find opportunities for developing lasting relationships with their regular colleagues, boost academic achievements, and grow healthy socially when they participate in social events. They develop a positive attitude towards themselves when their peers interact with them.

They also realize positive benefits because they cooperate with their colleagues to realize their goals. This plays a key role in expanding their educational openings and boosts their learning outcomes (Hall & McGarrol, 2012). Learners with physical or intellectual challenges also portray emotional, social, and communicative disorders. By offering an inclusive environment where they can interact with other students, they are able to meet their physical, social, and intellectual needs (Szumski & Karwowski, 2012).

This creates a sense of belonging among them. Thus, to establish an effective learning environment, it is vital to foster cooperative learning to facilitate in full assimilation of students having special learning needs (Dessemontet & Chambrier, 2015). Cooperative learning facilitates in allowing students to develop effective learning methods. For instance, students manage to boost their self-confidence, emotional involvement and adjust psychologically in a classroom. Moreover, enforcing cooperative learning helps students to develop greater skills for collaborating with others as well as boost their heterogeneous interactions (Thorna, Pittmana, & Myers, 2009).

This makes it possible for students with learning disabilities to like their peers, boost their motivation to learn, and develop an appealing attitude towards their educators. Furthermore, with collaborative learning, teachers identify ways of managing the mode common mode of instruction, where the knowledge, abilities, and backgrounds of students vary considerably (Dessemontet & Chambrier, 2015). When considering the issue of inclusion, it is appropriate to understand that the physical state of a resource room may have a notable influence on the social and academic behavior of the student.

The room’s location, size, and appearance are vital elements to consider when considering introducing a resource room initiative. This is because these aspects have diverse influences on the performance of students in schools. A resource room should be similar in size compared to that of a normal classroom (Dessemontet & Chambrier, 2015). This size is justified based on the different learning equipment needed. Space needs to be adequate to that the teacher managed to undertake small lessons for groups, individuals, a quiet space, as well as a section where they can store their materials (Szumski & Karwowski, 2012).

For the resource room to be appealing to students, it needs to be cheerful, bright and well organized. This kind of appearance would communicate a message to the learners that the teachers are concerned about their welfare. Although some learning institutions have adequate resources to cater for the needs of their students, some do not (Thorna, Pittmana, & Myers, 2009). However, it does not cost much to maintain a classroom to address the needs of children with mild or moderate disabilities.

Thus, it is vital to ensure that educators and support staff embark on initiatives aimed at creating an attractive learning environment, which would be appropriate for learning. They can also provide the learners with opportunities to decorate the rooms to make the process exciting among students (Dessemontet & Chambrier, 2015). Based on the benefits affiliated with including students with special education, some disparities are emerging between special teachers and regular teachers. Although they have found a means of joining efforts to address individual needs, it is not an easy task to merge regulate students with learners having minor or moderate disabilities.

Various barriers emerge, inhibiting the inclusion process (Hardimana, Guerin, & Fitzsimons, 2009). For instance, some of the students portraying the disabilities portray traits, such as resistance to change, the disparity between the training between special and regular teachers, knowledge deficiency, and questions pertaining to who should take responsibility as to who should improve govern the failure or success of students. Hence, although the adoption of inclusion and resource rooms is an appealing process, it is crucial to address the prevailing challenges to ensure that the entire process emerges inclusion process is successful.