Indonesia & Scotland: Commitment to Inclusive Education Since 2009 - Essay Sample

Introduction

Indonesia and Scotland have supported inclusive education over the years. For example, since the year 2009, Indonesia has proved an excellent commitment regarding inclusive education. The government of Indonesia empowers the development of the education system through the Centre for Development and Empowerment of Teachers and Education Personnel of Kindergartens and Special Education (Ediyanto et al., 2017). The government trains teachers on individual needs and inclusive education. Indonesia managed to develop a new curriculum for students with multiple disabilities and visual impairment to address specific issues and education gaps, especially for people with special needs in the country.

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Scotland for example has indicated a lot of support for inclusive education. The inclusivity in education is rooted deep in the nation’s culture. Scottish education is based on the cultural belief that learning is one of the fundamental human rights and that every person requires support to reach their fullest potential (Education Scotland, 2018). The education system for Scotland is designed in a way that it incorporates all children, with or without disabilities. The Scottish Government 2017 Consultation on Presumption of Mainstreaming indicates unwavering supports on the students with special needs (Education Scotland, 2018). It declares full support to those within disabilities so that they can thrive just like other members of the community. The study of the Practice on Students with Multiple Exceptionalities in Indonesia and Scotland provides a clear picture of the relevance of inclusive education and why it should be practised across the world. The understanding of the gifted learners and multiple exceptionality theories describes this category of students and why they require special attention in learning institutions.

Gifted Learners and Multiple Exceptionality Theories

Gifted Learners

The study by Lewis Terman defines giftedness in children as those with an intelligence quotient of 140 or higher based on the Stanford-Binet Scale (Daniels, 2003). He argued that intelligence is wholly hereditary and fixed. However, other researchers noted that intelligence is multidimensional, which comprised of different intellectual abilities as well as functions. The multidimensional theory of intelligence emanated from the works of Lewis Terman’s critics (Daniels, 2003). The Structure of Intellect model changed all the perspectives of the giftedness concept. According to the model, intelligence has three dimensions. They include contents, operations and products (Daniels, 2003). There is currently an extensive research base that supports multiple service options for gifted students with mild, moderate, and severe learning disabilities (Reis, 2005).Such children are perceived as being “double at risk." The standard education system usually overlooks the potential of such students (Reis, 2005). The situation results in students failing to maximise full potential even though they are academically gifted and talented in other fields (Buica-Belciu andPopovici, 2014). The institutions and families must offer special treatment to gifted students by exploring their strengths and developing their weaknesses. The analysis of multiple exceptionality theories explains various approaches and models that have been used to explain characteristics, forms and nature of gifted students living with disabilities and how best they can be supported to utilise their potential to the maximum.

Analysis of Multiple Exceptionality Theories

According to Wasserman and Zambo,(2013), multiple or twice-exceptional learners are characterised with learning disabilities, plus unique talents or gifts. However, these students have severe weaknesses for other areas. Wasserman and Zambo(2013) argued that multiple or twice-exceptional cases have differing combinations. Some of them include gift outweigh challenges. These categories of students have high academic or intellectual quotient and learning disabilities. The other combination consists of a situation where gift and problems outweigh each other. These learners have top mental and leadership capability, but they suffer from sensory integration disorder. The last category explained by the Wasserman and Zambo,(2013) model includes a situation where challenges outweighs capabilities. The students contain high-performance abilities as well as creativity but they bipolar or ADHD. Therefore, the main characteristics of twice or multiple exceptional students are that they have extreme opposite behaviours.

Wasserman and Zambo (2013) argued that twice-exceptional learners easily get frustrated with others activity or even with themselves. Most of them remain unorganised, easily distracted and messy. Also though multiple exceptional learners have the first-rate of learning, they quickly get distracted. Some of the capabilities of multiple outstanding students include better oral communication skills, a higher level of thinking skills, thirst for knowledge and motivation. They are also persistent and creative, good in maths, problem solvers and a good sense of humour(Wasserman and Zambo, 2013).The study by Baum and Owen (2004) in collaboration with Bender and Wall (1994) and Baum and Olenchak (2002),as cited by Reis, (2005) asserted that twice or multiple exceptional students become creative and productive when teachers are assisting them to focus on gift and talents they have instead of disability.

Identification of multiple exceptional students is also critical for the teachers so that they can offer them the necessary support. However, research has indicated that few approaches exist for determining those students that are academically talented living with disabilities (Reis,2005).The identification approaches would be critical because they can help in supporting not only educational requirements but also their social and emotional growth.

Newman (2004), as cited by Josephson et al., (2018) explained three intervention programs that can capitalise the strengths of the gifted students living with disabilities. These interventions are referred to as service delivery models of school-based interventions. The first one is the intervention in the regular classroom. The teachers can offer this kind of assistance in classes. The teachers can guide, motivate and use maximum efforts in addressing the specific needs of the student. This way, the learner’s capability would be fully utilised. The second intervention model is partial-pull –out programs (Reis, 2005). The students are provided with a supportive environment; they get the opportunity to develop their areas of strength as well as interests. This way, the talents of such learners is captured and nurtured adequately. The third model involves self-contained programs. In this category, classes and learning environments are designed to incorporate the students with dual exceptionalities (Reis, 2005).

There is a need for creative alternatives to ensure effectiveness in interventions used for gifted students with learning disabilities. One of the possible alternative strategies is programming for students in both elementary and secondary schools (Reis, 2005). These programs should focus on strengthening the capabilities of the students. The second alternative strategy is to ensure classroom and institutional instructions are all designed in such a way that they can accommodate talents and abilities for students with disabilities (Reis, 2005). The needs of those learners are supposed to be written in the personalised form to ensure each student benefits equally from the opportunity. Some of the strategies suggested by the researchers include interest-based independent studies, special classes; acceleration in the academic strength fields for the gifted students. The third alternative is providing an opportunity for learning skills and content areas. The changes have to be incorporated with the regular classes as part of their pull-out program.

Various modifications have been done to the regular classes so that the disabled students can successfully accommodate. Some of the classroom changes include keyboarding and spell check, and the use of the book on tape (Reis, 2005). Out of schools, extracurricular options are also possible so that academically talented or gifted learners can express joyful moments in areas of personal interest. More so, research has indicated that academically gifted students living with disabilities require multiple counselling and personal support as well as development. These assistance programs include discussion groups guided by experts, counsellors or specialists in handling such students. According to the study by Levine (1998) cited by Reis, (2005), in case a student displays uneven abilities, he/she can easily suffer from these variations. Scotland is one of the countries that promote inclusive education to every citizen. The study the multiple exceptionality in the country is critical since it elaborates how the practice is implemented in the country.

Multiple Exceptionality Practice in Scotland

Scotland is one of the four countries making the United Kingdom. The traditions of Scotland view education as a universal state provision. The country perceives education as a means to create a robust meritocratic social system and democracy. Scotlan...