Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

5 INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Inclusion as is known today has its origins in special education. The

development of special education field has involved a series of stages, during
which education systems have explored different ways of responding to children
with disabilities, and to students who experience difficulties in learning. In some
What do I cases, special education has been provided as a supplement to general education,
need to
in other cases it has been entirely separate field. In recent years, the
learn?
appropriateness of separate systems of education has been challenged, both from
a human rights perspective and from the point of view of effectiveness in dealing
with children with special needs.

In this module, the learners will be introduced to the concept of inclusive

education and effective instructional strategies in inclusive education. At the end
of the lesson, the learners are expected to:

 define inclusion and inclusive education;

 identify strategies for maximizing academic engagements;
 familiarize with issues related to inclusive education;
 appreciate efforts needed for inclusion.

Defining Inclusion and Inclusive Education

Mainstreaming was the first movement devoted to placement of students

with disabilities within the general education classroom. Educators used the term
What do I mainstreaming to refer to the placement of students with disabilities – after part-
need to time – into general class settings. It suggests an attitude that students with
know? disabilities really belong to Special Education and that they only visit general
classroom. It confers a sort of “dual citizenry” on students (Gee, 2002)

More recently, the term inclusion has been used to describe the education
of students with disabilities (SWD) in general education settings. It generally takes
to mean that SWDs are served primarily in the general education classroom, under
the responsibility of the general education teacher. When necessary and justifiable,
SWDs may also receive some other instruction in other setting, such as resource
room. Additional support can also be provided within the general education
classroom, by paraprofessionals or special education teachers.

According to Halvorsen and Neary, inclusive education means that students

with disabilities are supported members of chronologically age-appropriate
general education classes receiving the specialized instruction delineated by their
Individualized Educational Programs (IEPs) within the context of the core
curriculum and general class activities. SWDs topic move between general and
special education settings and have been traditionally excluded from general

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Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

academic classes, if they were unable to achieve near grade level without
significant support (Gee, 2002).

Inclusive education is distinguished from mainstreaming in that students are

members of the general education classes and do not belong to any other
separate, specialized environment based on the characteristics of their disability
(Gee, 2002 in Halvorsen and Neary, 2009).

Special Education is now more than ever, affecting general education

classroom teachers as well as teachers certified to address specific disabilities.

What then is the Demand of this Situation?

To be an effective inclusive classroom teacher, one must first be an effective

teacher. One must employ the skills that enable one to expect and receive the very
best of learning and achievement from the students.

Westwood (2003) in his research found the following characteristics of

effective teachers.

One must employ the skills that enable one to expect and receive the very
best in learning and achievement from the students.

 Have a well-managed classroom.

 Provide students with the maximum opportunity to learn.
 Maintain an academic focus.
 Have high expectations of what students can achieve.
 Adopt a style that is business-like and work-oriented.
 Show enthusiasm.
 Use strategies to keep students on task, motivated and productive.
 Present new material in a step by step manner.
 Employ direct and explicit instructional procedures.
 Use clear instructions and explanations.
 Demonstrate appropriate task-approach strategies.
 Monitor closely what students are doing.
 Adjust instructions to individual needs, re-teach when necessary.
 Use a variety of resources.
 Spend a significant amount of time in interactive, whole class teaching.
 Use assistive technology – video viewing.
 Do scaffolded instruction.
 Do collaborative teaching.

As part of planning effective instruction, the teacher needs to become

familiar with the different types of learning. These are the following;

 Discrimination learning involves determining how one stimulus is either

the same of different from another stimulus. In learning the alphabet,
numbers, colors, shapes, mathematical concepts and plants, for example,
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Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

learning to distinguish among stimuli may be difficult for students with

disabilities. Repeated practice emphasizes comprehension of the
distinctions promotes learning.

 Factual learning is an aspect of school learning and includes vocabulary

words and their definitions, names of people and places, dates and causes
of historical events and sight words… Because many students with
disabilities have difficulties with memory, learning factual information can
be problematic for them.

 Rule learning includes social behavior rules, and mathematics rules. Rules
are pervasive in school as well as in society in general. Many students with
disabilities and other special needs have difficulties learning these rules.

 Procedural learning involves the sequential execution of multiple steps and

is found frequently in school tasks. Some examples are reading
comprehension, Math algorithms, organizational and study strategies. It
requires that students recognize, describe, demonstrate and apply the
steps of the procedure.

 Conceptual learning occurs when concepts can be applied to a new

instance. Concepts can range from simple to complex. Students with
disabilities experience difficulties learning new concepts. This kind of
learning can be enhanced by examples, provision of non-instances and
statement of and application of rules.

 Problem solving and critical thinking types of learning refer to

determining solutions when no specific strategy for solving the problem is
known and involves using active reasoning to acquire novel concepts, ideas
or solutions respectively.

The inclusive approach of including teaching children with special needs in

regular classrooms challenges teachers, schools, and districts to re-examine
traditional beliefs and practices. New strategies must be developed to address the
unique challenges of inclusive education and ensure the success of both special
and general education students. Among the approaches to effective teaching
explored by Dr. William Glasser are Choice Theory and Quality Schools concepts.
His non-coercive instructional techniques were developed in Special Education and
are successfully used in inclusive classrooms.

Organizing our Instruction

Many practitioners and researchers have outlined important considerations

to guide us as we prepare our instructional plans. First, there is a need to balance
formal, context-based teaching with less formal and less structured time with peers
(Snell, 1993). This has been supported by Gee (2002), who pointed out the
importance of activity-based instruction and of teaching in context. Inclusive

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Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

classrooms can provide these opportunities especially when teachers use effective
strategies that are focused on meeting the varying needs of students.

Furthermore, it should be known that regardless of who is learning or what

the skills is, four common stages of learning need to be considered. These are, 1)
acquisition which involves acquiring the new skills and learning the motor,
cognitive or communicative sub-skills needed; 2) maintenance which consists of
practicing the new skill. Though not perfect but with more independence; 3)
fluency where the quality, speed, accuracy and the ability to perform the skill are
developed with increasing perfection accompanied by confidence; and 4)
generalization where the skill becomes a part of the people’s competence and is
demonstrated across stings, people and activities. Wollery, et.al. 1992 in Halvorsen
and Nearly, 2009).

To address these types specific types and levels of learning, Mastropieri and
Scruggs (2004) suggested the following instructional strategies.

Different Types of Learning

Types of Learning Instructional Strategies
Present examples and non-examples: use models, prompts,
and feedback, instruction on the relevant dimensions,
Discrimination mnemonics. (e.g., This is purple. This not purple. Is this
purple? This is the letter ‘b’. Notice that the bubble at the
bottom faces toward the right.)
Repetition, rehearsal, practice using drill procedures. (e.g.,
Factual
Dorado means fish. What does dorado mean?
Practice using the rules, repetitions, making up meaningful
“sayings” using the rules, drill and practice with the rules,
Rule modeling applications of the rules. (e.g., Remember, I
before e except after c is the rule to use to check your
spelling.
Model use of procedures, cue cards with steps of
procedures written out as reminders, drill and practice,
practice with applications using the procedures, mnemonics
Procedure involving acronyms, feedback on recall of steps and
accurate use of steps. (e.g., First we get out materials.
Second, we write our names on the papers. And third, we
complete the task.
Use procedures for teaching rules and discriminations,
examples and non-examples, model, prompt, feedback, use
“if-then” scenarios to demonstrate instances and non-
Concept instances of concepts, use coaching questioning
procedures, application activities, use elaborations to
enhance meaningfulness. (e.g., if an insect has 6 legs and 3
body parts, then, is this [show picture] an insect?.
Use modeling, coaching, prompting, demonstrate examples
of successful problem solving, show how to activate prior
Problem Solving knowledge and use that to solve problems. (e.g., Why do
anteaters have long front claws? I don’t know, but what else
do I know about anteaters? What do they eat? Where do

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Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

they live? Now do I know why they might have long front
claws?

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Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

Activity 1. Answer the following briefly but substantively.

1. What is inclusive education?

2. What is the importance of inclusion in education?
3. Choose three (3) types of learning. Discuss each type of learning and give
What do I specific instructional strategy to each.
need to do?
4. Give two (2) issues related to inclusive education and discuss each.

Activity 2. Construct a concept map showing the skills of effective teachers in

inclusive classrooms.

Look for a research about this topic. Highlight the research problem/s and the
findings of the study. (Please use separate sheet/s of paper for this activity)

Title of Research ____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________
What does Author/s ____________________________________________________________________________
research say
about this?
Research Problem __________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

Findings ____________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

Reflect on this questions. (Please use separate sheet/s of paper for this activity)

1. What are your thoughts about inclusive education?

What 2. As a future teacher, how will you implement inclusive education in your
insights and
classroom?
learning
have I
gained in
this topic?

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Modules in Special Topics in Education Alejandro L. Giray, Jr.

REFERENCES

Department of Education. (2003). Education and Inclusion in the United States. ED Pubs,
Education Publication Center, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.

Where can I Department for Education and Skills. (2001b). Inclusive Schooling: Children with Special
get Educational Needs. London: DfES
additional
information Farrel, M. (2005). Key Issues in Special Education: Raising Standards of Pupils’ Attainment
? and Achievement. 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY: Routledge Taylor
& Francis Group.

Halvorsen, A. & Neary, T. (2009). Building inclusive schools. Tools and strategies for success.
New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Heward, L. (2006). Introduction to Special Education. New York: McMillan Co.

Mastropieri, M. & Scruggs, T. (2004). The inclusive classroom: Strategies for effective
instruction. 2nd Edition. USA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Rocal, E. (2011). Inclusive Education: A Lecture delivered in a Seminar-Workshop for

Special Education Teachers and Advocates at Merry Sunshine Montessori, Cauayan City,
Isabela, Philippines.

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