Inclusive Education Essay

Inclusive Education refers to educational institutions and systems that accommodate all children to develop their cognitive and intellectual skills. The diversity of the children poses a challenge for the system as the main goal of the program is to ensure all children learn and partake in the educational experience of the program. The teachers, school and the system itself has be transformed to accommodate the varied educational needs of the children in the program. This means that the system should not disregard each child’s own character in the process of learning. For this to be possible, the system should determine the different barriers and factors that affect the learning processes of the individuals. Inclusive education breaks the different barriers to include children who are then excluded from the mainstream school systems groups. Though placing the excluded children in the mainstream educational system does not guarantee results of inclusiveness, the system must greatly lay its key principles and practices to be effective. Inclusive education is guided by principles which are determined to meet the goals of the program to include all children in the mainstream educational system. The right of a child to inherent education on the basis of equality and opportunity is given in the Constitution as a basic right of the child. The parameters that all children are included in the mainstream educational system means that no child shall be discriminated upon on all aspects, such as race, sex, religion, disability and others. There is also the realization that all children can learn and benefit from education and the educational institutions must adapt to the needs of the children in their different learning process mechanisms. The right of the children to be different from one another no matter whatever views or opinions they may have should also be given utmost attention by educators. And educators, as persons responsible for honing their intellectual and cognitive skills are addressed with a wide and flexible options. The inclusive schools must be aware that the concept of inclusive education is not a process and can not have immediate results. Key players of the program, like the children, parents and the community must have an active participation in the process. The system must determine the diversity of the children, and how to address them by lessening the barriers. The system must always be in the pursuit to provide accessible curriculum for the children, program and training for the teachers, and continuously gather information and support not only to the children but also to the children. . Benefits of the Inclusive Education Researches show the benefits of inclusive education. Teachers are different in their own ways. They have different teaching practices and methods that suits both able and disabled children. The program of including disabled children into the mainstream educational system poses a challenge to educators as though their needs are different; the educator must be able to teach them in the same way they teach the children without disabilities. All the children greatly benefits from the diversity because the socialization process is unique and conducive for the children’s’ communication and interaction skills. The children will learn different things from one another, even build friendship from the experience. Involving the disabled with the non-disabled peers allows the children to realize that there are no significant differences between them. This will greatly help the children face the reality of living in the real world. The disabled students will then be able to realize that their worth are appreciated and not looked upon in the classroom. This will help their confidence and trust in themselves. The educators must also enforce positive modeling in the classroom for the children to accept their differences for them to get along more. In a three day Disability Knowledge and Research conference in Bangladesh in May 2005, the Executive Director for Center for Services and Information on Disability was quoted saying that â€Å"Inclusive education is about children. They must be at the center of our discussions and represented in our research. † (Trott 2005. ) (www. disabilitykar. net) This strengthened the motivation of over 60 participants from Asia, America and European nations of the conference to promote the inclusive education program. This aims to convene all advocates of Inclusive Education in to reaching the goal of integrating the mainstream educational system with the excluded children. Some studies had been made to determine the effectiveness of the program and how the educational system needs to adopt this system. In 1995, a National Study of Inclusive Education report of NCERI in school districts in 9 states in the US shows how the inclusive education program will greatly benefit the children throughout the country. The research reported positive changes in the students, increased independence among themselves and self-esteem. Their academic skills also improved along with the children’s communication skills. In 1997, researchers Lipsky and Gartner conclude that the data they have gathered had shown the positive trend of improvement from different aspects such as the children’s academic skills, social skills and their behavior. (2004 . ) (http://www. projectchoices. org/faqBenefits. aspx) The report strengthens the advocacy of the Inclusive Education program to be implemented in the country. Another research done in the year 1994-1995 by Staub and Peck(2004 . ) (http://www. projectchoices. org/faqBenefits. aspx) discovered the common concerns of the program for the children and the education system. These are: the academic performance of the nondisabled children, the time and attention given by the teacher, and the disabled students learning undesirable behavior from students with disabilities. The report will help in determining the boundaries of the inclusive education program and will allow the formulation of solutions for the problems mentioned. It should be noted that the program must be able to focus on both the disabled and nondisabled students learning processes. The educators must also find a balance in which they can attend to the needs of the children, though differently, this must be addressed to the teachers. The third concern deals with how the differences between the children are able to influence one another. The children learn things from their peers, and it is of great concern for the program to limit the bad influences from the children. The earlier research focus on the how the program will affect the children. The results have found no supporting conclusions for Staub and Peck’s research determining the three main concerns of the program. The researchers did another study in which they were able to determine the benefits of inclusive education. The program reduces the fear of differences between human, in particular children, because of increased comfort and awareness of one another. There has also been growth in social cognition as the differences in each person were made aware. The self-concept, or what is perceived as to be the true concept of a persons’ self, has improved. The program also develops personal principles and friendship among the children amidst of their differences. (2004 . ) (http://www. projectchoices. org/faqBenefits. aspx)