Interview Project on Inclusion

Why don’t you go to a local school that has inclusion and request to sit in on the classes. Ask the teacher(s) how they feel about inclusion.

You will learn much more by finding out the answers to your questions through observations and personal experience than asking questions over the internet.

Good luck.

1- I believe inclusion should be a collaborative process between educators and students alike.
2- Hmm. This is difficult. You do not want to compromise the academic aspect of the classroom by including everyone, because not everyone is ready for that environment. The expectations should and are higher for students in an inclusive setting because they are combined with the general population. Students need to be a certain level of reading and writing in order to succeed in an regular classroom, this level may be lower for inclusion, but it cannot be so low that it jeopardizes the level of challenge for the other students.
3- Pros: co-teaching! It is fun, not as exhausting, and enables you to know your students better because your aren’t as busy all the time during instruction.
Cons: you must have common planning time with your co-teacher. This is not always possible with scheduling needs in the school. Another con, many general education teachers do not like and resent having another teacher in their space and do not understand the needs of and their responsibility to service their students.
4- I do believe it works when their is collaboration between co-teachers. Everyone in the room wins. I teach history as a special ed teacher. my co-teacher and i role-play differing perspectives. you can’t do this alone! The kids learn how to think for themselves, how interpretation shapes history, and we learn from each other!
5- It is the future whether general ed teachers like it or not. Legislation will make it so.
6- Well, I would say it is critical that the learning environment feel open and free to the students. It needs to be a place where all are free to express themselves, the students must feel nurtured. Cooperative strategies are also important — buddy reading, pairing, cooperative grouping strategies should all be used. And most importantly, one must be familiar with the multiple intelligences theory. You have a big task in front of you in inclusion — reaching every single student. We use music, art, literature, textbooks, timelines, graphic organizers, portfolios, debates, maps, drawing, etc. We mix it up in order to give everyone an opportunity to shine.
7- I would just like to see more collaboration and cooperation between general and special educators.
8- See above.

Hope this helps.

Alexis,
I appreciate you taking the time and I definitely feel everything you said. once again thank you!

Why don’t you go to a local school that has inclusion and request to sit in on the classes. Ask the teacher(s) how they feel about inclusion.

You will learn much more by finding out the answers to your questions through observations and personal experience than asking questions over the internet.

Good luck.

1- I believe inclusion should be a collaborative process between educators and students alike.
2- Hmm. This is difficult. You do not want to compromise the academic aspect of the classroom by including everyone, because not everyone is ready for that environment. The expectations should and are higher for students in an inclusive setting because they are combined with the general population. Students need to be a certain level of reading and writing in order to succeed in an regular classroom, this level may be lower for inclusion, but it cannot be so low that it jeopardizes the level of challenge for the other students.
3- Pros: co-teaching! It is fun, not as exhausting, and enables you to know your students better because your aren’t as busy all the time during instruction.
Cons: you must have common planning time with your co-teacher. This is not always possible with scheduling needs in the school. Another con, many general education teachers do not like and resent having another teacher in their space and do not understand the needs of and their responsibility to service their students.
4- I do believe it works when their is collaboration between co-teachers. Everyone in the room wins. I teach history as a special ed teacher. my co-teacher and i role-play differing perspectives. you can’t do this alone! The kids learn how to think for themselves, how interpretation shapes history, and we learn from each other!
5- It is the future whether general ed teachers like it or not. Legislation will make it so.
6- Well, I would say it is critical that the learning environment feel open and free to the students. It needs to be a place where all are free to express themselves, the students must feel nurtured. Cooperative strategies are also important — buddy reading, pairing, cooperative grouping strategies should all be used. And most importantly, one must be familiar with the multiple intelligences theory. You have a big task in front of you in inclusion — reaching every single student. We use music, art, literature, textbooks, timelines, graphic organizers, portfolios, debates, maps, drawing, etc. We mix it up in order to give everyone an opportunity to shine.
7- I would just like to see more collaboration and cooperation between general and special educators.
8- See above.

Hope this helps.

Alexis,
I appreciate you taking the time and I definitely feel everything you said. once again thank you!