Philosophy Of Inclusion In Education

The view that students with special needs should be taught in specialist environments is an extremely controversial topic in the society we live in today. According to the EPSEN Act (2004) a special education need is a;

“restriction in the capacity of the person to particiapte in and benefit from education on account of an enduring physical, senssory, mental health or learning disability, or any other condition which results in a person learning differently from a person without that condition”.

However a special education needs also caters for the needs of “exceptionally able” (Education Act 1998) or gifted children. The educational needs for these children has changed quiet dramatically over the past decade. Historically, it has been proven

Inclusion has been defined as “the integration of all learners including those with severe disabilities into mainstream classes” (McMahon 2014). The philosophy of inclusion integrates all children specifically those with learning difficulties and entitles them to the same educational opportunities as their peers. The principle of inclusion is based on “the broad agenda of human rights, clearly emphasising that segregation of any form is morally incorrect” (Wang 2009).

However, an observation made by the INTO (2003) into inclusion, stated that children with special needs will need additional support if they are to benefit from placement in a mainstream school. A similar finding also appeared within the Warnock Report, which stated “many pupils in special schools who could be educated satisfactorily in ordinary schools given requisite commitment and resources” (Cohen and Cohen 1986). Overall, these reports conclude that with the correct support services in place, students can be taught in non-specialist environments omitting the need for specialist

It was reported that student teachers would like more knowledge of different disabling conditions and strategies for meeting their needs and they favoured more experience with students that have special needs throughout the training phase. They also proposed a change of changing classroom layout to accommodate those with physical disabilities. Some argued that schools should abandon the streaming of classes and focus more on differentiation in the class.

In order to properly implement inclusion, changes need to be made to the curriculum. Individual Education Plans (IEPs) should be drawn up for those with special needs. An IEP is “a written document prepared for a named student” (McMahon 2014) which entails details on learning goals with appropriate teaching strategies, support and resources. IEPs allow for differentiated instruction so that all learning requirements can be met for each