I realized that I haven't defined this term yet. What am I even talking about? =)
There are many definitions of inclusion. Here is a definition from Wikipedia:
"Inclusion in education is an approach to educating students with special educational needs. Under the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students."
Merriam-Webster has four different definitions, two of which I think are relevant:
1) the act of including : the state of being included
and
2)the act or practice of including students with disabilities in regular school classes.
There are many synonyms for inclusion (mainstreaming, integration, normalization, least restrictive environment, deinstitutionalization, and regular education initiative). Some use these words interchangeably and some would argue that they all mean very different things.
The above definitions can be construed many different ways and we still argue today about what inclusion really means. What do you think inclusion means? How do you see it being used (or not) in your school?
Works Cited
Dictionary and Thesaurus - Meriam-Webster Online. Accessed 23 June 2011. www.meriam-webster.com
Wikipedia. Accessed 23 June 2011. www.wikipedia.org
I sometimes struggle in my classroom with kids coming and going all the time like a revolving door. Two years ago, when I had a large number of students receiving services, there was literally one 45 minute period in the whole school day when I had my whole class present. WOW. That's tricky. And I am constantly thinking, "How can I recreate that lesson they missed in reading workshop, plus the spelling mini-lesson and independent practice and the story I read aloud that connects to our science unit?" How disjointed does it make the day feel for those kids? I always feel compelled to make any missed work up with them, which is almost impossible! It is a challenge when you know they need services, sometimes out of the room, but you know they also need to be in their classroom with peers, doing what everyone else is doing. It has made me push to include o.t. in the room more often. I too wonder what we can do to be effectively using an inclusion model more often. I know it is hard for a speech/language therapist to work on articulation practice in a classroom; that might not feel comfortable for the student either. But I do wish we could find ways for SWD to have less "come and go" time.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think of inclusion as "integration." When a student is fully integrated into his or her school experience, (s)he doesn't experience a sense of being different or less than any other student.
ReplyDeleteAs I read through these various blog posts, I also realized that I think about inclusion in terms of staff and services. As a specialist (I am a librarian) I am not always directly involved in the delivery of curriculum content. When I (and other specialists) work closely with classroom teachers to come up with ways to support either a specific student or an entire class, however, I think everyone benefits.
Ideally, I think "inclusion" means all staff working closely together to support all students.
I think inclusion is being sure that all students are getting what they need and being a part of the whole. Too often, SWD are not seen as part of the regular class and it is not felt that their progress is the responsibility of the classroom teacher, only sp. ed..
ReplyDeleteWe are ALL responsible for every student and the only way to do that is to work collaboratively ~ teachers, principals, specialists~ to be sure we are keeping the needs of all students in mind. This needs to be part of the way we develop the schedule (school-wide and classroom), plan for lessons and units of study and intentionally work on building a school community that honors differences and acceptance. It is really about recognizing strengths and areas of need and figuring out ways to address both.
Beth- I totally understand your frustration! My classroom also sometimes feels like a revolving door. There is never enough time to go over everything that each student has missed because they're in special education during important lessons. My speech therapist does half her time in the classroom and half the time outside the classroom and the OT specialist does the same with my class. It's helpful because they're able to see what's going on in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteLaura- I'm glad you brought up the sense of feeling different, because I teach fourth grade and it is definitely the age where kids are really noticing who leaves the room, what level their peers are reading at, etc. Kids have labeled their peers and labeled themselves and it's often hard to get out of that mold.
Kari and Laura both brought up really important points. Staff MUST work collaboratively for inclusion to work. Special education teachers, ed techs and classroom teachers need to be in constant communication about what's happening in the classroom and how they can work as a team to help each and every student rise to his/her potential.