pros and cons

tlt wrote:
>
> What are some of the pros you as a teacher has on INCLUSION
> in the CLASSROOM?

Opened a can of worms here! I think a national conference speaker I heard a year ago says it best “inclusion education is not special education, it is inclusion education and they need to hire inclusion teachers but not special education trained teachers”. Inclusion is a facade. It provides no remediation, no direct instruction, and students are often placed in there so the parents think their child doesn’t have a learning problem. When they fail or are academically unsuccessful by parental standards then we are suppose to wave a magic wand and make the learning problems disappear. Remediation only happens through direct instruction at the childs instructional level. Putting a third grade reading level sped student in a 10th grade classroom produces a third grade reader who can’t read the text. Duh, what a concept!

I agree with Samantha in that many times that is exactly the case. At my school we are still working on the idea and it is definitely a work in progress, in other words, it has its problems. I do see great possibilities, though, if folks would get on the same page.

First, let me say that we are not 100% inclusive and we are a very small rural school. We have resource classrooms that are supposed to address deficits through remediation and specific instruction. Most are reading and writing but we have a math and life skills section also. How we are making our programming more inclusive is to put a special educators in science, social studies, and math classes to provide direct support in the regular classroom. Prior to this, kids with reading levels 4-5 years behind their grade level would take instruction on these subjects in the resource room. That certainly had its problems, too. The problem lies, at this point, in that much of the special education time in the resource room is not spent remediating but supporting the regular classroom’s requirements because the instructional activities are inappropriate for the skill levels (reading and writing) of the special ed students. Instead of meeting the students where they are we are still insisting that they meet the expectations of the classroom teacher regardless of how unrealistic those expectations may be. Compared to how it was, the way we are doing it now is better. Better but not what I’d call good, either.

I believe, however, that if we as a community of educators, parents, students, and politicians could embrace the idea that learning is a process that is ongoing and individualistic and honorable (where ever a person is on the continuum) then all students could be served in a classroom. I know, extremely idealistic, but I urge you to check out Kathie Nunley’s articles on differentiated instruction and her book, Layered Curriculum. I’m not wholy endorsing this because I’ve not seen it practiced or have yet to uncover any empirical evidence that it works, but it sure does sound good. Real Good. Basically, through a wide variety of learning activities that are student centered and choice driven, the classroom is structured so that everyone—the most disabled to the most gifted—has the opportunity to access the topic/subject capitalizing on their learning preferences and building upon their current knowledge/skill base.

> Opened a can of worms here! I think a national conference
> speaker I heard a year ago says it best “inclusion education
> is not special education, it is inclusion education and they
> need to hire inclusion teachers but not special education
> trained teachers”. Inclusion is a facade. It provides no
> remediation, no direct instruction, and students are often
> placed in there so the parents think their child doesn’t have
> a learning problem.

ok, help me here! if we understand that special education is a service not a placement, and an inclusive setting is a placement used for those who receive special education services, why would it make any sense that this service (special education) can be provided by someone other than a special education teacher?! what exactly would an “inclusion teacher” be - and what would her degree be in? reg ed or special ed?

inclusion, if done right, can provide a multitude of services in the typica classroom. it should provide direct instruction if needed - and i’ve seen it work well. i’ve also seen it not work well. what parents choose to think about their children is a separate issue…

maybe i am misunderstanding what the speaker meant?

SPED students who are in general education classes and have a strong work ethic, parent involvement, fairly slight academic problems, and a committment to learn do ok. Students who do not have these necessary items do not do well. Everyone needs to realize that As and Bs for a LD student in a general education class is very lofty. My biggest headaches are with students in inclusion classes who shouldn’t be there but parents refuse to allow resource settings. These kids hate school - what a surprise!

samantha - do you have any thoughts on what the speaker you referred to earlier meant? i’m not understanding that!

I had the opposite experience. My child hated sped because he said, “They give me too much help. I can do it.” The school still had a problem with my taking him out of sped. He did much better with the higher expectations.

You do realize that with the right interventions you can remediate deficits. I mean really getting rid of specific areas of deficit.

It takes first recognizing it can be done, then understanding specific areas of deficit and effective therapies to treat them.
Of course these kids can attain A’s without the dumbed down curriculum prevalent in some sped districts. It takes a flexible teacher.

Inclusion was intended to provide educational experiences for both the regular ed and special ed student that prepare all for life in the community. Students from different ability levels and backgrounds, learning and doing at their own level is what develops the opportunities for them to function in life. I think the misconception is that if you are included, you must be doing what everyone else is. There is no reason that you can’t have classrooms within classrooms. More work initially, but once you have it set up, it takes minimal work to reuse or recycle. If you want special ed kids to be productive members of society, who know how to interact with others, whether in sheltered workshops or in the community with a job coach, they can’t be stuck in a segregated classroom.

Amen - your post has brought a breath of fresh air…