Topic: Special education and inclusion: the opportunities and challenges choice

Special Education and Inclusion: Opportunities and Challenges
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Introduction
The education policy makers are more concerned with promoting justice and equality within the education sector. The old patterns of education promoted segregation of the students in terms of gender, culture, language, race, and disability (Landorf & Nevin, 2007). Such environments reduce the effectiveness of the learning environment and hampered the transfer of knowledge among diverse populations. Therefore, there was a need to create inclusive schools, where the student diversity is valued as an important element in knowledge transfer. This paper describes special and inclusive education in terms of opportunity, challenges, and the recommendations for improvements.
Overview of special education and inclusion
In simple terms, inclusive education takes place when both children with and without disabilities are subjected to the same learning environment (Peters, 2007). On the other hand, inclusive education involves offering special education for students with special interest in their own learning environment. Therefore, inclusive education entails valuing and supporting the full participation of students within the education system. Therefore, they educators of the inclusive education values upholding the rights of children and adults within the learning curriculum (Nance & Calabrese, 2009). The inclusive education approach offers an education environment that is free from discrimination.

In addition, it requires putting inclusive values into action with the aim of ensuring that the children participates and get the quality education within the learning system. Also, it enables the policy makers to realize the right to an equal and effective education that offers no form of discrimination to the students (Schechter & Feldman, 2010). Unlike the special education, inclusive education supports the societal advancement towards a more equitable, fair, and democratic society (Kirillova & Ibragimov, 2016). Also, it enables the students to learn to live together and realize their potential within their diversity.
According to Fengming (2016), the history of inclusion education policy can be traced to the United States of America. It is here that the educators first believed that students with disability should not put in the same learning environment with other students. Their argument was that inclusion is the best way for all the students to receive quality education. They also believed that segregating other students based on their disability would stigmatize them. The interest for inclusive education can be traced to the 1960s (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). During this time, a huge number of students were already segregated on other classes based on their disability. This initiated research interest from academicians who also provided a positive outlook on special education and inclusion. In 1975, the special and inclusive education got a big boost when the Disability Education Act (DEA) was passed and ratified by the legislature (Skritic, 2012). This legislation demanded that the students with disabilities have the right to be educated with their peers in the general classroom. However, a good number of educators misinterpreted the legislation to mean that only students with mild disability be included within the education system. Therefore, most educators included students who needed minimal support within their educational system. In the 1980s, a better interpretation was done to the DEA of 1975 and it stated that the students with moderate and severe disabilities need to be included into the regular classrooms. From this time, a good number of persons with disabilities have been included in the general classrooms. By the year 2000, close to one-half of the students with disability formed part of the general classroom (Yang & Rusli, 2012). Despite these developments, there have been several disparities in different places in defining and implementing the special and inclusive education policy.
In inclusive education, all the children learn together and the teachers make a commitment to welcome them all (Zhen, 2016). On the same note, the teachers and the school management work together to have everybody within the inclusive classes (Yang & Rusli, 2012). In addition, the children are encouraged to play and work together within the learning environment. This can only happen when the school encourages the culture of inclusivity and there is a maximum commitment from the people concerned. In this regard, they will be able to defend their practices against possible distractions within their environment. On the same note, such students will be willing to learn and seek answers with enough confidence of other children (Landorf & Nevin, 2007).
In inclusive schools, the teachers and the instructors are encouraged to make diversity part of the learning process (Schechter & Feldman, 2010). Therefore, they design their instructions to accommodate all the students within their schools. Such instructions enable the students from multiple levels to learn within the same environment with their peers. Also, the lessons are developed in a manner that challenges students at their levels. The teachers and the instructors are also encouraged to provide support and scaffolding to enable the students to push to their level of learning. Such strategies are accompanied by authentic teaching strategies that engage the students in learning through activities that relate to their status in life. The teachers of inclusive education also use multiple intelligence and learning styles so that the students can realize their full potential (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). In addition, such teachers involve the students in collaborative, pair, or group work to motivate them to explore their various strengths. The administrators are also encouraged to support and build structures in the classroom so that they students can know and understand one another and support them accordingly. Besides, there is the formation of the peer partners and peacemakers to enable the students to live peacefully among themselves and resolve the possible conflicts without much trouble (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). The students in such environment are also given choices and taught on how to take full responsibility for their choices.
One of the principles that guide inclusive education is that children deserve the same opportunities and should be treated equally (Zhen, 2016). Whether the disability is mild or severe, such children should be exposed to the same opportunities as their counterparts. The other principle of inclusive education is that children learn in different ways. Therefore, inclusion would provide them with opportunities to learn and participate in meaningful ways as they explore their potential. In this regard, the help needed by the disabled students can come from their teachers of their friends. The concept is to provide as much help as possible to the disabled persons. The law clearly stipulates that all children need to be educated with the rest of the population and given access to the general education curriculum (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010).
There are several opportunities that exist for the acceptance and the expansion of inclusive education. The special and inclusive education provide the children with the disability the opportunity to learn with their peers without any form of segregation and exclusion. In addition, special and inclusive education helps to develop a strong belief in human rights and social justice as stipulated in the constitution (Skritic, 2012). The constitution already supports the need for inclusive education. Basically, education is a human right and not a person should be denied a quality education based on gender, sex, race, or disability. Therefore, there are no legal hurdles that can interfere with the smooth running of the inclusive education program. The law recognizes that the separate education for the disabled is a dehumanizing and ineffective way of achieving the quality education. The international training and education policy appreciates the importance of early childhood education (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). Therefore, the handicapped and the gifted children should be accorded the maximum opportunity to learn with their peers within the education system. In view of this, the judiciary and other education administrators have the responsibility to respect and enforce education standards that are in line with the human rights. The students, irrespective of their status, should be allowed to learn with the rest to attain a quality education. Furthermore, the law allows the students with special needs and disability to be accorded special support to enable them pursue their education effectively. On the same note, the aspect of inclusive education has received support from international NGOs. In 1989, the UN Convention on human rights recommended that the children’s rights be respected, including their right to education (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). A few years later, the UNESCO also prohibited any form of discrimination, segregation, and exclusion within the education system. The UN Convention for persons with disability have also supported inclusive education (Fengming, 2016).
Key debates and controversies about special education and inclusion
There are several controversies linked to the development of inclusive education. Some opponents of inclusive education argue that it is not fair to put the students with disabilities under the same learning environment with other students (Kirillova & Ibragimov, 2016). On the same note, the other students may find it challenging and uncomfortable to study in an environment with disabled students. Generally, it is not easy to handle diverse students within the same classroom. Despite the perceived benefits of inclusive education, some researchers argue that it is not realistic for the disabled students to keep the learning pace with other students. Research has also established that students with disabilities are likely to lag behind in academic achievement when incorporated into the general education environment (Zhen, 2016). Other critics also point out that inclusive classes may put more focus on the students with the disability, to the disadvantage of the average and high achieving students. Such teachers will be more concerned with differentiating educational instructions and trying to accommodate the disabled students. According to Peters (2007), inclusive education comes with the risk of changing the focus of the teachers to the disabled students at the expense of other students.
The teachers and the students’ must overcome attitudinal and social barriers to make special and inclusive education a success (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). Specifically, some students and teachers have predetermined attitudes towards the students with disabilities. Their limited understanding of persons with disabilities will make it challenging to accept and involve such students within their normal learning classes. On the other hand, studies conducted in 2007 also found that students with the disability do not prefer to study within the general education classes (Peters, 2007). Therefore, most students with disabilities prefer to study within the special education platforms.
The another challenge of inclusive education is related to the potential output of the diverse group of students (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). Some policy makers are on the view that persons with disability should not be ranked on a similar output gauge with the other students. However, the principle of inclusive education demands that such persons be accorded and be subjected to the same treatment with other students (Schechter & Feldman, 2010). The another challenge is that preparing teachers for inclusive education is not an easy task. Generally, teachers who handle students in the inclusive classroom needs to undergo additional specialized training to acquaint themselves with the necessary knowledge to handle such students. Usually, this requires additional resources and often takes time. Education inclusion also takes calls for a re-development of infrastructure. The normal educational classrooms may not be that adequate for handling the students with disabilities. Therefore, the capacity building for inclusive education is a big challenge for the policy makers.
Currently, a good proportion of students with the disability is being educated in a separate setting with different schools and classes. The logistic and the formula of transferring these students to the normal classes still remains a big challenge to the education policy makers (Yang & Rusli, 2012). The another challenge comes with academic developments in the field of inclusive education. The readiness of the general classrooms to accommodate the students with disabilities has also been questioned by critics. They argue that the general classrooms are currently constituted cannot effectively handle the unique requirements of students with disabilities. Without the necessary equipment, the teachers may not be able to help all the diverse students achieve their potential.
Not all the education stakeholders have accepted the concept of inclusive education. Currently, are groups of parents and professional bodies that think that inclusive education is of no benefit to the disadvantage persons in the society (Chhabra, Srivastava, & Srivastava, 2010). The government finds it difficult to support the inclusive policies under such opposition from the interest groups. These interest groups need to be fully convinced beyond the reasonable doubt before they can support the policy of inclusive education. Failure to do this may result in several conflicts within the educational domain.
According to Nance & Calabrese (2009), the social aspects of inclusive education have also been put into question. Many young students are not mature enough to understand and accommodate the students with learning disabilities. This leads to the limited interaction that may also traumatize the disabled student. Acceptability of the students also depends on with their levels of disability (Skrtic, 2012). The student with severe disabilities may hardly be accepted by their peers in the general classrooms. Such can even be worse when the teachers do not take an extra initiative to prepare the students to accept their disabled peers.
The way forward for special education
There is a long history of segregation in learning and this can only be solved by inclusive education. However, much still needs to be done to make this type of education become a reality. Despite the existing challenges, lots of opportunities still exist in expanding the concept of inclusive education. Much can still be done to enhance inclusive education by taking advantage of the existing opportunities and dealing with the challenges.
The following are some of the recommendations that would help the achievement of inclusive education. First, the Legislature should strengthen the legal aspects of inclusive education to reduce the disparities evident at different places. The legislation should provide a proper framework with safeguards that can be useful in achieving an inclusive education. Secondly, more teacher training needs to be done to equip the teachers with the necessary skills to handle inclusive education. Proper training and education will enable the teachers to overcome most of the barriers witnesses in the domain of inclusive education. In relation to this, more research needs to be conducted on how to help the students achieve their full potential within the inclusive set up. In addition, proper training will enhance the negative attitude of some teachers towards handling students with the disability. The right attitude among the teachers will also help them to stir the correct attitude in their students. The another strategy to enhance the effectiveness of inclusive education is to provide necessary equipment to the general education classrooms. With the right tools and equipment, the teachers will be better placed to support the special care needed by the diverse group of students. Finally, well-trained support staff and teachers are needed to help the diverse students realize their full potential. All these attempts can make inclusive education effective in teaching diverse student population.
References
Chhabra, S., Srivastava, R., & Srivastava, I. (2010). Inclusive education in Botswana: The perceptions of school teachers. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 20(4), 219-228. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1044207309344690
Fengming, C. (2016). A GOOD EXAMPLE OF PARENT ADVOCACY FOR RIGHTS IN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN CHINA. Frontiers of Law in China, 11(2), 323-338. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3868/s050-005-016-0018-4
Kirillova, E. A., & Ibragimov, G. I. (2016). THE INCLUSIVE COMPETENCE OF FUTURE TEACHERS. Journal of Organizational Culture, Communication and Conflict, 20, 180-185.
Landorf, H., & Nevin, A. (2007). Inclusive global education: Implications for social justice. Journal of Educational Administration, 45(6), 711. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09578230710829892
Nance, E., & Calabrese, R. L. (2009). Special education teacher retention and attrition: The impact of increased legal requirements. The International Journal of Educational Management, 23(5), 431-440. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09513540910970520
Peters, S. J. (2007). “Education for all?”: A historical analysis of international inclusive education policy and individuals with disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 18(2), 98-108.
Schechter, C., & Feldman, N. (2010). Exploring organizational learning mechanisms in special education. Journal of Educational Administration, 48(4), 490-516. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/09578231011054734
Skrtic, T. M. (2012). Comparing special education: Origins to contemporary paradoxes. Contemporary Sociology, 41(5), 669-671.
Yang, C., & Rusli, E. (2012). Teacher training in using effective strategies for preschool children with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Journal of College Teaching & Learning (Online), 9(1), 53.
Zhen, N. (2016). RETHINKING INCLUSION: IS THERE A RIGHT TO INCLUSIVE EDUCATION? Frontiers of Law in China, 11(3), 486-514. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3868/s050-005-016-0029-8