My Philosophy of Inclusion in Special Education - Essay Sample

Introduction

While reflecting on the information acquired in the past instructions, I realized the essentiality of applying my experiences in the individual education classroom context. This application would be essential in determining my philosophy regarding special education classrooms. I believe that all children require education in their lives and it would be improper to alienate some of them, based on their physical or other disabilities. They all deserve to get an education, not considering the context or form in which it is administered. Education can be offered either in the public-school curriculum or life skills and communication only, as long as knowledge is imparted into the children. Nevertheless, I support an outline of the degree of severity of the given disability according to each child, because my perception of inclusion is somehow specific in the special education context as per my previous experiences learned in class as well as real-life experiences. The inclusion of all disabled children in the public school does not fit in my philosophy of inclusion in special education. This paper seeks to clearly elaborate some of the major issues of my philosophy of inclusion, and the rationale on which it is based.

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My perceptions do not support the idea of severely disabled children belonging to the public education system. I do not support the concept of extremely disabled children, who are challenged by the basics of life, belonging to the public schools. This infers to the children who generally have a little or totally lack awareness of their environment, are unable to make reasonable responses when impelled, or need nursing care, for instance, feeding, diapering, frequent toileting as well as those who have chronic medical conditions such as multiple seizures several times a day. With the cases as mentioned above, I do not believe that the public education system qualifies for such situations, such as the inclusion of nurses. It could also pose a health hazard to the other students as illnesses can spread quickly without an appropriate care capacity, qualified personnel or the required supplies (Engelbrecht, Nel & Tlale,2015). This does not mean that I perceive that these children are incapable of learning or experiencing some type of breakthrough in countering their disability. Instead, I believe that public schools are not well qualified and lack the necessary equipment to handle the extremity of the special person's conditions.

Therefore, I believe there should be the inclusion the children with disabilities in the typical education context if only there are adequate modifications and accommodations. Also, I agree with the IDEA's least limited context provision since when the child is best interested in being removed from the typical education class; they require an appropriate classroom setting that will enable their specific learning capacity (Douglas, Chapin & Nolan, 2016). In my opinion, the special classroom setting should incorporate the students who have moderate disabilities which require them to have general life skills education, to be included in their curriculum. Also, these students should be free from inclusion in most cases.

Special education instructors have top-notch quality measures and strategies that will be helpful to the children as they need to be able to learn the basic things such as counting money, telling the time, catching the bus as well basic sanitation skills. Other instructors will integrate the children into the individualized curriculum lessons into the teaching day including, spelling, basic mathematics, writing, and reading. Also, the general education teachers should be able to tell whether the inclusion is leading to the general level of academic objectives and progress, to determine whether the whole class will be compromised. This would be applicable where the IDEA and the NCLB help in deciding whether the students with disabilities will be provided with a challenging education, with higher expectations in the general education setting (Danforth, 2016).

The school administration plays a crucial role in determining the general welfare of the students who are disabled. Through documentation, the school management could support the teacher's decision to help the students with disabilities (Fakolade, Adeniyi & Tella, 2017). They could allocate them with the necessary resources by relocating them to a special classroom if they are seen to be taking the teachers attention from the rest of the class. Despite integrating differentiation as a model of instruction to reach the entire academic levels an objective of each student, the needs of the disabled students should also be highly considered (Vlachou, Karadimou, S., & Koutsogeorgou, 2016). The environment could be restrictive to the child hence indication a need for removal of the disabled child from such a setting. I would not support the idea of parents arguing with the teacher of keeping the disabled child in the classroom at the expense of others. This is especially when there is a chance that the same child would be highly educated by another highly skilled instructor in another special school setting environment. The United States adopted The No Child Left Behind act to increase the degree of quality in our education system as well as to make education accessible to all children regardless of their sex, ethnicity, economic status and learning ability (McGuinn, 2016). However, from my standpoint, the Act should be renamed since it depicts guilts since it shows that unless we force all the children towards having a particular kind of education, we are all leaving them behind. Also, the government rules and regulations should not act as a limiting factor in the teaching and learning context.

Also, I believe that all the students that have disabilities are capable of learning if they are given a conducive learning environment. This will be applicable if there will be no disruptions and there should be the inclusion of all the requirements and moderations that will increase their learning capacity. These mechanisms include differentiation, Response to intervention as well as the integration of a variety of tools as modifications in their learning mannerisms. These students could be physically disabled, blind or deaf but they still could participate in the general learning context, without using an aide to help them. In the typical leaning context, I believe that Response to Intervention (RTI) will be a highly viable tool for noting those who need extra care, and additional time or some type of accommodation so that their learning can be enhanced, and that they may be at per with the standard curriculum. It would be very essential to establish the assessments and goals to assist the students to catch up with their counterparts. Also, this method helps to dispose the attitudes and stereotypes towards those who require extra instructions. It will promote the degree of requirements that should be well-accounted for by the learning institutions. Moreover, Response to Intervention will as well enable schools to assess the students who qualify for special education services.

Most instructors anticipate that the caregivers encourage as well as continue to enhance their children's education at home. From my experience of working with children from average to extreme disability, I have noticed that the parents highly contribute to the learning ability of the children as well as their rate of progress. Some students co-operate with the life skill teachings while others dismiss the skills taught and are downright negligent. In my opinion, if these neglectful students receive specific services at the expense of the state's money, then the parent should be periodically examined to determine their level of participation. Generally, I want to be the kind of instructors who are diverse and able to incorporate a variety of teaching methods and the modes of challenging the learners to be their best according to their varied learning ability and styles. Also, the standard curriculum should set objectives that will be suitable for ensuring the achievement of the goals of all children.

Generally, I want to help the children to discover their strengths and weaknesses to help them find the right tactics in building their strengths and correcting their deficiencies. Part of my objective is to help children who have disabilities to overcome their specific limitation and focus on their abilities. I want them to feel the sense of sociality in the general environment and the classrooms. They should be able to feel secure regardless of whether they are in a resource classroom, general classroom or in the special education classroom. I will integrate a variety of teaching modes and adaptations, for instance, differentiation and retention to Intervention while making unique modifications.

References

Danforth, S. (2016). Social justice and technocracy: Tracing the narratives of inclusive education in the USA. Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education, 37(4), 582-599.

Douglas, S. N., Chapin, S. E., & Nolan, J. F. (2016). Special education teachers' experiences supporting and supervising paraeducators: Implications for special and general education settings. Teacher Education and Special Education, 39(1), 60-74.

Engelbrecht, P., Nel, M. & Tlale, D. (2015). Enacting understanding of inclusion in complex contexts: classroom practices of South African teachers. South African Journal of Education, 35(3).

Fakolade, O. A., Adeniyi, S. O., & Tella, A. (2017). The attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of special needs children in the general education classroom: the case of teachers in some selected schools in Nigeria. International Electronic Journal of elementary education, 1(3), 155-169.

Vlachou, A., Karadimou, S., & Koutsogeorgou, E. (2016). Exploring the views and beliefs of parents of typically developing children about inclusion and inclusive education. Educational Research, 58(4), 384-399.

McGuinn, P. (2016). From no child left behind to every student succeeds act: Federalism and the education legacy of the Obama administration. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 46(3), 392-415.