Term Paper on "Pros and Cons of Inclusions"

Term Paper 6 pages (1663 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Special Education Inclusion -- Pros and Cons

The concept of special education inclusion refers to practice of including students with special educational needs within the regular curriculum and classes along with non-special-needs students. Initially, the practice inspired objections from educators and other stakeholders who expressed concerns that inclusion might be detrimental to special-needs students, non-special-needs students, and to the general effectiveness of educational programs in general. After several decades of experience with the issues, the consensus among educators is that including special-needs students within the regular curriculum as much as possible is beneficial to both special-needs students and non-special-needs students alike.

The Argument against Special Needs Inclusion (Cons)

There are two principle objections to the inclusion of special needs students within the regular school curriculum, both of which reflect intuitive assumptions rather than any empirical data or conclusions based on objective evidence. First, there is a concern that the special needs of special-needs students cannot be met by the regular curriculum. That view holds that regular curriculum teachers are not trained to deliver education to special-needs students. According to that view, including special-needs students within the regular curriculum comes at the expense of the best educational interests of special-needs students.

More specifically, special-needs students typically require educational materials and other resources, and instructional methods that are designed to provide them with the best possible opportunity to overcome their learning, developmental, or other barriers to optimal academic progress. Similarly, those opposed to the inclusion of special-needs students within the regular curriculum express concerns that special-needs students might be subjected to negative social experiences, such as bullying, ridicule, or other forms of abuse on the part of some of their non-special-needs classmates.

Second, those opposed to the inclusion of special-needs students within the regular curriculum worry that the obligation to cater to the needs of special-needs students will invariably come at the expense of the optimal educational progress of their non-special-needs classmates. That concern suggests that the time necessary on the part of instructors to help special-needs students will necessarily take away from the time they have available for their other students and will invariably result in slowing down the pace of the entire class while special-needs students catch up.

To a great degree, the opposition to inclusion strategies is based on the lack of awareness that inclusion does not necessarily mean that all special-needs students will simply be thrown into the regular curriculum to fend for themselves. Instead, the framework of most inclusion approaches is to rely heavily on learning needs assessments to determine how and to what extent every special-needs student is incorporated into the regular curriculum. In fact, that approach is precisely consistent with the federal law on the matter. Specifically, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that educational programs provide an educational environment that is the "least restrictive" for those students (Edwards, Wattenberg, Lineberry, 2009). Therefore, the degree to which any special-needs student is included depends substantially on the analysis of his or her educational (and other) needs and on the determination of what is in that student's best interests.

The Argument in Favor of Special Needs Inclusion (Pros)

Educators began collecting evidence as soon as special-needs inclusion was first adopted by American academic institutions. The evidence strongly suggests that there are no detrimental effects of including special-needs students within the regular curriculum. In fact, their inclusion seems to benefit both special-needs students and their non-special-needs classmates alike. In general, special-needs students benefit from the social elements of being part of the mainstream educational experience, while their non-special-needs classmates benefit at least two different ways: they benefit from the social experience of helping others and also from the degree to which learning is enhanced through the process of helping others to learn (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, Platt, Shaha, & Lewis, 2007; Suter & Giangreco, 2009).

The inclusion of special-needs students within the regular curriculum is actually supported by contemporary educational theorists on a conceptual level that defines education much more broadly than it has been defined traditionally (Mallory & New, 1994). For at least two decades, the modern view of education has been moving in the direction of shifting toward appreciating the socio-cultural context of learning and psychological development and away from the individualistic model of learning and developing.

In principle, that shift is only part of a much broader realization that learning encompasses much more than the narrow substantive fields of subject matter. Instead, it conceives of learning as a comprehensive process hat also includes numerous social and behavioral elements beyond the content of substantive lessons and textbooks (Mallory & New, 1994). Moreover, it regards the modern classroom as an interactive community of learners; it considers learning as a socially-mediated set of experiences; it defines the academic curriculum as a problem-based process of contextually-relevant ideas; and it emphasizes assessment in education as having relevance and meaning to every learner individually (Mallory & New, 1994). Naturally, the inclusion concept is much more consistent with that framework for understanding the learning environment than the traditional model of separate educational experiences for special-needs students.

Analysis

Empirical studies examining the effects of special-needs inclusion on the educational environment universally support the inclusion of special-needs students within the regular educational curriculum (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007; Mallory & New, 1994; Suter & Giangreco, 2009). From the perspective of the concern for the social welfare of the special-needs students, their inclusion in programming along with their regular-education peers provides valuable social benefits that substantially improve their enjoyment of school by reducing their isolation and social exclusion that are natural consequences of being treated differently and separated from their peers (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007). In addition to improving their social skills, social development, and their self-esteem, their inclusion in the regular education environment also improves their learning as measured by their objective test scores as well as by the anecdotal information provided by special-needs students, their families, and their teachers (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007; Suter & Giangreco, 2009).

More interestingly, the positive results of inclusion policies on special-needs students are also matched by the positive results on their regular-education classmates (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007). Just as in the case of the special-needs students, those benefits show up as improved social skills, tolerance for diversity, and even in their learning as measured by their objective test scores. When regular-education students have the opportunity to participate in special-needs inclusion classes, they become more supportive of the needs of others, less intolerant of diversity, and they report higher self-esteem, just as in the case of their special-needs classmates. In that regard, the opportunity of helping others in need contributes positively to their social development and communication skills and to their self-perceptions (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007; Suter & Giangreco, 2009).

Perhaps the most surprising finding of studies of inclusion programs is that regular-education students who have the experience of participating in special-needs inclusion programs also exhibit improved learning, as measured by their objective test scores (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007). Researchers attribute this result to the beneficial effect on learning provided by any opportunity to help others learn; it is an illustration of the age-old notion that the best way to find out what one does not understand and to learn is to teach others (Dupuis, Barclay, Holmes, et al., 2007).

The opposition to the inclusion concept fails to consider another important factor: namely, that the traditional model of separate education for special-needs students depends on the availability of specially-trained dedicated special educators to succeed (Suter & Giangreco, 2009). In most cases, special educators are assigned to special-needs students on a one-on-one basis that obviously places natural limitations on the availability of special-needs instruction in schools. Typically, special educators are in short supply and they struggle with… READ MORE

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