Inclusion of Primary School Students with a Wide Range of Abilities in the Australian Education - Essay Example

Student Name: Instructor’s Name: Course: Institution: Date Inclusive education Introduction Over the years, there has been a significant change from special education to inclusive education (IE) around in the world over both in developing and developed countries. However, inclusive education still remains one of the most important yet controversial issue currently concerning teaching children with special educational needs (SEN). As a strategy, the philosophy of inclusion concerns the social and moral obligation to educate all students. Despite this intent, evidence abound indicating that discrimination and exclusive practices still persist at various levels of education especially for children with special needs wishing to be integrated in the conventional education sector (Ashman and Elkins 2009) This paper aims at giving an interpretation regarding education and inclusion of рrimаry sсhооl students with a wide range of аbilitiеs in the Australian context. The paper starts by a reflection on Inclusion of ALL students with a range of diverse educational needs and requirements. It then considers discussion on the various Australian legislation and policy guidelines with respective to teacher core responsibilities. This is then followed by discussion on major Challenges, issues and opportunities for both teachers and students. Finally, the General strategies or approaches in support of inclusion are discussed. Inclusion of ALL students with a range of diverse educational needs and requirements Inclusion generally relates to the principle of mobilizing learners, families, teachers, parents and other stakeholders in establishing learning institutions based on the mutual acceptance, sense of belonging and the feeling of a community (Salend, 2001). It is also based on values aimed at enhancing participation or engagement of all students in education through minimizing various forms of not only exclusionary but also discriminatory practices (Booth, 2005). It is based on the premise that all children can learn, and that every child and all learners have a basic right to learn with different support given in relation to category of disability or difficulty experienced. However, the definition and practice of IE vary from one place to another and between and within different cultures and educational systems (Dyson, 2001). Inclusive education can be understood as comprising a wide range of educational practices and include both the physical accessibility and the right of learners in education. Australian legislation and policy that guides teacher responsibilities and obligations Although there are not legislative or policy guideline in Australian which is directly or specifically for teachers in inclusion programs and special needs, the country is quite committed to seeing to it that all students receive appropriate education as their legal right. One of the legislation which promote social justice for all students is the national education policies do exhort social justice and equity for all students is the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) which protect all students and other citizens across various regions within Australia. It also acts as a guideline to teachers as it makes any form of discrimination a breach of the law especially under Section 22 of the Act, where it is illegal for an educational personnel or institution to discriminate against any person based on his or her disabilities (Duke, 2009). Another piece of legislation is the Education Act 1998, under which the board of Teacher Registration in Australia is mandated with the responsibility of providing an education for all inclusive of all, while also striving towards addressing challenges facing children with special needs. Challenges, issues and opportunities for teachers and students Following the renewed interest in the need to promote inclusion and teaching of children with special needs , there has been an emergent of some sort of hierarchical system where teachers are required to meet pedagogical needs of all of the students within their classes, including students with disabilities and complex learning and behavioral needs, and are charged with the responsibility to modify as well as differentiate curriculum (Forlin, 2006), however there is often lack or limited specialist support. Teachers may also suffer from psychological stress as they are often in constant fear of failure in conducting inclusion in the classrooms since they are mandated to care of all the students in the class room setting. This may eventually interfere with their competency and the quality of teaching (Forest & Perpoint, 2004). It is also worth noting that although an inclusive approach to teaching students with divers needs is seen as most suitable as it encourages practices essential to special education, including the identification of students with special needs followed by preparation of Individual teaching plans, this tendency can result in the labeling of the said students/pupils which eventually can lead to stigmatization of children with special needs. There is also a further risk in that if they are not identified, then they may not get the needed support. All this lead to what Norwich (in Terzi, 2010, p.91) refers as the “dilemma of difference”. Regular students in particular may be disadvantages with put together in the same classroom with student of special needs especially from frequent vocalization of result of the disabilities of these students. The regular students learning may also be disrupted as a result of the different learning tools for special needs children (Berg, 2004). Teachers are disadvantaged from the limitation of the current training programs which often operate under a dual system thus encouraging the separation between regular and special education teacher trainees. According to Carroll, Forlin and Jobling (2003), this kind of orientation tends to limit possibilities of integrating teaching materials and or experience of the trans-disciplinary nature of education as carried out in the contemporary classrooms. The other issue/challenge relates to ambiguity on both the theoretical framework and the meaning of inclusion. According to Bourke (2010) many teachers are confused by the “epistemic jungle of theoretical models” about learning. She further adds that teachers are usually not certain of what inclusion exactly means with many of the teachers relying on their individual assumptions on special need about actually means with many holding personal assumptions about including students from a ‘special needs’ deficit model of disability (p.9). Yet another issue concern the limitations associate with the existing legislation at least in the context of Australia. As already observed from the preceding section, there is no direct legislation for student with special needs in Australia. Again, there is no statutory guideline for schools with respect to what schools are need to follow in relation to special education need (Hornby, 2012). This pose a great challenge both to teachers and students alike as many schools often self governing and what they offer is always inadequate. The lack of clear guideline in inclusive education for children with SEN leaves schools to develop practices based on their own interpretation leading a wide variation in the type and quality of the procedures and practices employed by schools hence a challenge to both teachers and students with special needs (Hornby, 2012). Despite the challenges and issues, the inclusive approach to all students with special needs is associated with several benefits and opportunities. For instance, moving in the direction of inclusive approach to marginalized learners or student in the mainstream education sector is not a response to the legal obligation but also an opportunity towards improving the general quality of education systems not in Australia but the entire world (Simonnet & Modrick, 2010). It is also of mutual benefits of students as it enhances both their confidence and self-esteem while providing the pupils with an opportunity to not only interact with other children but also learn from them(Salend, 2001) . In addition, when students with special needs and put together with other regular students in a learning environment as opposed to the traditional education system where they were segregated, there is often an enriched and learning for students with the special needs. In particular, they can benefit from more engaged or active instructional times and tend to have a greater possibility for academic achievement (Polat and Kisanji, 2009). Inclusive is beneficial to teachers in that it broadens and strengthens an understanding of the diversity inherent in our communities. It also encourages teacher’s creativity in coming up with suitable techniques of instructions for delivering information for all students. There is also encouragement of team work as teachers both of regular programs and special education come together in the inclusion system. They can also develop collaborating problems solving skills as different minds are brought together (Berg, 2004). General strategies to support inclusion With the inclusive approach in today’s classroom setting, there is need for appropriate teaching strategies as students are of diverse abilities and needs. One of the strategies is the Differentiated instruction. According to Gartin et al (2002), differentiated instruction relates to “the planning of curriculum and instruction using approaches aimed at addressing the strengths, needs, weakness and abilities of learners” (p.12). This method is quite effective in tackling emerging issues in relation to diversity of students (Jackson, McAfee & Cockram, 1999). Other approaches involve the use of instructional tools and teaching aides. Conclusion This paper has tried to demonstrate and attest to the need for the modern education system where students of diverse needs are brought together in a classroom setting. Although, there are various issue and challenges, this approach has many benefits in the long run especially if implemented appropriately. References Ashman, A. and Elkins, J. (2009). Students with Diverse Abilities EDP250 Pearson Vitalsource eBook. Pearson Custom Books, Australia. Berg, S.L (2004). The advantages and disadvantages of the including student with disabilities into education classroom, master’s thesis, the graduate school of university of Wisconsin-Stout Bourke, Patricia E. (2010) Inclusive education reform in Queensland: Implications for policy and practice, the International Journal of Inclusive Education. 14(2), pp. 183-193. Carroll, A., Forlin, C., and Jobling, A. (2003).The Impact of Teacher Training in Special Education on the Attitudes of Australian Preservice General Educators towards People with Disabilities, Teacher Education Quarterly, 65-76 Duke, Jennifer (2009) Inclusive Education Statement - policy analysis. (Unpublished) QUT Digital Repository: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/ Dyson, A. (2001). Special needs in the twenty-first century: where we’ve been and where we’re going. British Journal of Special Education, 28(1), 24-29 Forest, M., and Perpoint, J. (2004). Inclusion! The bigger picture. Retrieved March, 29, 2013 from the World Wide Web: http://www.inclusion.com.artbiggerpicture.html. Gartin, B.C. Murdock, N.L., Imbeau, M., and Perner, D.E. (2002). How to use differentiated instruction with students with developmental disabilities in the general education classroom. Arlington, VA: Council for Exceptional Children. Hornby, G (2012). Inclusive Education for Children with Special Educational Needs: A Critique of Policy and Practice in New Zealand, Journal of International and Comparative Education, Volume 1, Issue 1:52-60 Jackson, R., McAfee, J., & Cockran, J. (1999). Disability Discrimination in Education [Discussion Paper].Retrieved 29/06/2013, from the World Wide Web: http://members.ozemail.com.au/%7Eddasp/DDAStandards2doc3.htm Polat, F., and Kisanji, J. (2009) Inclusive Education: A Step towards Social Justice EdQual Working Paper No. 16 Salend, S.J. (2001). Creating inclusive classrooms: effective and reflective classrooms (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. Simonnet, G. D., and Modrick, S.E (2010). Advancing inclusive education and 21st century learning skills through the arts, The University of Melbourne Refereed E-Journal, Vole 1. Issue 5. April 2010 Terzi, L. (Ed.) (2010). Special educational needs: A new look. London: Continuum. Read More