khara burgess special education and inclusion
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Khara Burgess
Special education and inclusion: the opportunities and challenges
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Overview of special education and inclusion with a particular focus on Italy
With cooperative involvement from national and international agencies, the
movement of inclusion has come a long way over the last century. Often
referred to as the antithesis to segregation, it has been prioritised in
government policies due to individual rights becoming critical in the global
trend towards social inclusivity. While this has involved general education
systems, it has become particularly important for the education of those with
special needs or special education, as it involves the practice of educating
children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, alongside children without
disabilities, so they can interact in the same settings. Although these settings
may be in a special or regular classroom, this has not always been an option for
exceptional children who, prior to the beginning of the eighteenth century,
were isolated from the mainstream.
By the mid-eighteenth century, due to combined efforts from the Church, socio-
political and philosophical theorists, organisations were established to care for
people with disabilities in Britain, the United States and Australia. Meanwhile,
the growing need for a work force in factories stimulated these governments to
increase universal education, even though the ultimate goal was for
industrialisation. After WW2, progress in medical technology meant that better
therapy for handicapping conditions and more efficient diagnosis and
intervention procedures were developed. Furthermore, the new fields of
psychology and sociology gave educators insight into exceptional people,
especially their need for social interaction, and effective ways of ascertaining
educational progress within intervention programs. While attention to people
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with disabilities had increased, they were still segregated physically and
academically with alternate (and inferior) educational programs in hospitals or
separate schools.
A landmark event in the USA during the 1950s and 60s was the civil rights
movement, particularly the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka case
(1954), which questioned the racial separation of students and eventually led the
US Supreme Court to declare that all children need equal access to education,
including those with disabilities. In Britain, academic segregation was
investigated in The Warnock Report (1978), which drew attention to the lack of
educational programs for intellectually impaired children in long-stay hospitals,
forming the basis of the 1981 Education Act. Although Australia began
establishing special education in regular schools in the 1970s, the majority of
institutionalised children in health departments were still receiving no
education.
On the contrary, the local context of Italy has been supporting inclusion in
mainstream education as far back as the latter part of the 1960s. Part of a wider
movement to challenge any kind of exclusion and gain equal opportunities,
many fields like education, employment, health and welfare were reformed with
the passing of a number of laws. In education, the official recognition of
inclusion took place in 1971, with a more dramatic turning point in 1977 with
the enforcement of Law 517, which saw the official closing of special schools
that instructed compulsory education. With such a radical change of inclusion
taking place across all aspects of Italian society, families became increasingly
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aware of their childrens rights and have been continuously championing for the
best solutions, in order to help create a mainstream school environment that
positively supports inclusivity amongst students. Globally, parents have always
been the prime advocacy for the rehabilitation of children with disabilities so
they can reach their potential and become accepted members of society, and as
inclusion has developed, they have become increasingly more involved in the
process and decision-making related to education.
The terminology used to define the disabled has changed as a result of
advocates who have seen the importance of placing emphasis on the person first
as opposed to their disabilities. Even then, the term students with disabilities
has more recently been replaced with more inclusive, appropriate terms such as
children with exceptional needs (widely used in America) and children with
special needs (widely used in Australia). These shift the focus from the
disability to the educational needs of the individual, whether these are
behavioural problems, physical disabilities or sensory impairments, or being
gifted and talented. For Hunt and Marshall (2002), the distinct characteristic of
special education is that the design of the educational program is tailored to the
individuals unique needs.
With the aim of addressing the particular needs of people with disabilities at
various stages of their life, a comprehensive legislation (Law 104) was passed in
Italy in 1992. Regarding inclusive education, it stipulated that the right to
education is not to be impeded by any kind of difficulties, that disabled children
have the right to attend all mainstream classes of schools and universities, and
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that they have the right to the provision of tools to fully develop their capacity
and potential, through methods such as functional diagnosis or a personalised
educational plan (Sidoli, 2008). This legislation was echoed in the USA in 1994
with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA),
which enforced principles of a non-prejudiced evaluation and the right to a free,
suitable and individualized program of public education, within the most
inclusive environment possible. Similarly, The Salamanca Framework for
Action at the UNESCO conference in 1994 in Spain backed the global creation
of inclusive education in ordinary schools that provide for differing needs.
Clearly, legislation has made a significant impact on education as a whole, and
as Yell suggests (as cited in Heward, 2008), it is a dynamic process wherein the
education of children with special needs is constantly open to change. Vianello
(2002) believes that the overall triumph of Italian legislation and its model of
inclusion has impacted and challenged the presence of segregated educational
facilities in Europe and internationally.
Key debates and controversies about special education and inclusion
To begin with, some educators contend that labelling an individual with a
disability is a form of stigmatisation that only challenges their integration into
the mainstream. Since it brings attention to the disability, it can lower self-
confidence or cause teachers to have lower expectations of the student, which
can negatively impact the students overall performance (Heward, 2008).
However, others contend that classifying is essential for individuals to obtain
special education and social services. Ianes (2006) gives an example of this in
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Italy, where children are only given access to special education, inclusive rights
and individualized support if they are officially recognized and classified by the
school system as having learning difficulties. In Kauffmans view (as cited in
Heward, 2008, p. 12), no other interventions are possible without labels.
This would seem to be the case in terms of conducting research or gaining
resources, support and influencing legislation.
Secondly, the development of inclusion has meant that an increasing number of
regular classroom teachers have had to teach children with special needs, which
is problematic as many lack specific training in special education. Despite this,
sufficient training is not being provided in many existing teacher education
programs. In Italy, the amount of special education teachers has increased but so
have the number of students with disabilities. Many of the regular teachers do
not have specific training and similarly in the USA, general teachers complain
that they receive minimal training or help when students with disabilities are
placed in their class.
Another controversy relates to the children without special needs in an inclusive
classroom. Some parents and educators believe that having students with
disabilities weakens the overall educational level of the class but research has
proved that this is not true. Cole, Waldron and Majd (2004) found that 334
students without disabilities in inclusive classrooms actually made advances in
maths compared to another group of 272 students in a regular classroom. It
could be said that the quality of instruction is the key to success, and that
children actually learn more in inclusive classrooms because they learn about
tolerance and diversity.
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Finally, even though IDEA has increased exposure to the global rights of
children with disabilities, its unclearly established concept of free appropriate
education in the least restrictive environment (LRE) has been contentious.
Some parents and educators believe that placing a child outside the general
classroom is restrictive, while the majority considers permanent inclusion
restrictive if it cannot wholly meet the needs of the child (Heward, 2009). The
UK government is striving to have inclusive education as well as special and
selective schools but critics like Booth (2000) argue that this compromises
inclusion.
The way forward for special education
An early intervention and inclusion at preschool programs should become the
priority of education. Quality instruction at these early years would aid
transition into primary school, by socially and academically preparing children
for mainstream settings. Furthermore, if general inclusive education is to be
successful, it needs well-prepared teachers who believe in the moral value of the
policy. This can be fostered through training workshops for educators and
relevant community members that emphasise the ways in which it can benefit
all children due to the overall improvement of teaching methods.
In Italy, many teachers agree that even children without disabilities need an
individualized approach through unconventional methods and styles to cater for
their diverse learning strengths and weaknesses. Therefore ongoing in-serve
training and professional support programs should be provided which
demonstrate the best didactic methods and instruments to teach all pupils
efficiently in an inclusive setting. Alongside this, pre-service training of
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teachers at college and university should consist of a compulsory subject in
special education. This type of training has been undertaken in countries such as
the USA and Australia, which have a successful history with inclusive
education.
Given the general trend towards inclusion in general education classrooms, and
underequipped general educators, it is imperative that they work together with
support teachers so as to increase the students chances of success in the
education system. As Sidoli (2008) mentions, this is not always the case in Italy,
because often the support teacher is regarded as sole responsibility for the child
with disabilities. The divisions that exist need to be eradicated by engaging an
interdisciplinary team of other helping professionals, whether in education or in
the medical field.
Even more important for enhancing the effectiveness of inclusive education, is
an ongoing cooperation with families. As decision makers, research allies,
support and assistance, families need to be regarded as equal partners with
professionals. Considerable research has shown that educational programs are
more successful when parents and families are fully involved in the process
(Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Garza, Levine, as cited in Heward, 2008).
Fundamentally, the need for accountability makes it important to build a large
support system, between health care, education and the families of those
involved in the process of inclusion.
Since inclusion relates to respecting diversity, the classroom should be a place
of co-operative learning. It is the responsibility of the school to encourage
students and teachers to support each other through methods such as peer
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tutoring, a buddy system, cooperative learning and co-teaching. This needs to
extend to all areas, by encouraging those with disabilities to participate in any
means possible with school and extracurricular activities. Concepts of tolerance,
equality and diversity should become part of the general curriculum so as to
help students appreciate their differences.
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References
Books
Booth, T. (2000) Inclusion in Education, Education for All 2000 Assessment,
International Consultative forum on Education,Executive summaries, Education
for All, Paris, UNESCO, pp43-50
Heward, W.L. (2008)Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special
Education (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall
Hunt, N., & Marshall, K. (2002).Exceptional children and youth (3rd ed.). New
York: Houghton Mifflin.
Wagner, M., Newman, L., Cameto, R., Garza, N., & Levine, P. (2005) After
high school: A first look at the post-school experiences of youth with
disabilities. A report from the National Longitudianl Transition Study-2 (NLTS-
2). Menlo Park, CA: SRI
Yell, M.L. (2006). The law and special education (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall
Journal
Cole,C. M.,Waldron, N.,& Majd, M.(2004).Academic Progress of Students
Across Inclusive and Traditional Settings.Mental Retardation, 42(2), 136-144
Culham, A., (2003) Deconstructing normalisation: clearing the way for
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inclusion. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability. 28, 1, 6578
Ianes, D. (2006), The Italian model for the inclusion and integration of students
with special needs: some issues, Transylvanian journal of psychology, Special
issue # 2, supplement # 1, p. 120
Kauffmann, J. M. (1999). How we prevent the prevention of emotional or
behavioural disorders.Exceptional Children, 65, 448 468.
Vianello, R & Guiliana, T., Integrating Children with Disabilities in Italy,
Children in Europe, No. 2, March 2002.
Websites
Sidoli, R. (2008).Inclusive Policy in Italy. Retrieved 17 November, 2012 from
http://centridiateneo.unicatt.it/cesi_Inclusive_policy_in_Italy_inglese.pdf
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