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Inclusive Education in Finland: A thwarted development | Saloviita | Zeitschr... - 0 views

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finnish special ed inclusive issues dissertationZ

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  • Finland differs in the amount of segregated education from its Nordic neighbours Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, where the proportion of segregated education is very low.
  • statistics collected by the European Agency of Special Education (2003), Finnish numbers are more comparable with the situation in Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium.
  • A simple explanation for the large percentage of segregated education is the models of financing. In Finland local authorities receive extra money for each student removed into special education. It has been shown that this kind of financing explains best the international differences in the number of students in special education (Meijer, J.W., 1999).
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  • second reason is linked with teacher professionalism. If a teacher can have a difficult student from her class removed, she can secure for herself a less stressful future in her work.
  • Finnish teachers have got a strong union, and it has taken a very negative stance towards educational integration (OAJ, 1989). Teachers, like all other professional groups, have step by step achieved more power in the affairs of local municipalities at the cost of local political process (Heuru, 2000). This has given teachers more influence in guiding schools in the directions they want schools to go.
  • third reason for the large proportion of segregated education lies in the Finnish set of values. In Finland, the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society occurred internationally quite late, during the late forties. The industrial phase remained brief, and the new post-industrial society began to emerge during the late sixties. This means that the traditional values of agricultural and industrial societies still prevail in Finland to a greater extent than in many other countries. These traditional values stress overall conformity and tend to reject people who are considered socially deviant. The Finnish traditional set of values also manifests itself in the internationally high proportions of past sterilization of people with disabilities, high proportion of disabled people in institutions, or in the exceptionally high frequency of fetal screening (Emerson, et. al., 1996; Meskus, 2003).
  • Traditional Finnish sets of values combined with strong teacher professionalism together explain the high legitimacy of segregated special education in Finnish society
  • increasing numbers of students in special education are interpreted by representatives of the government as a healthy answer to increasing pathological conditions of children.
  • nternational discussion on inclusion (UN, 1993; Unesco, 1994) was first met in Finland by silence, which continued for several years (e.g. Blom, et al., 1996).
  • At the political level, inclusion is not raised as a goal to be sought
  • it is understood as a state that has already been achieved, because all that is possible has already been done.
  • The main focus of special education policy is localized in the neoliberal philosophy of “early intervention”, where problems are found in the pathological conditions of individual children (Plan for Education and Research 2007-2011 by the Ministry of Education). This focus is evident also in the Special Education Strategy report of the Special Education Committee of the Ministry of Education (2007). Furthermore, none of the political parties have raised the issue of inclusive education, outside of the small left wing party, The Left Alliance.
  • Since the rehabilitation committee of 1966, the official documents of the National Board of Education have repeatedly stated that integration is a primary choice which, however, is not always possible to achieve. What is “possible” depends on the abilities of the person himself, and these limits are decided by teachers.
  • A popular scapegoat for the lack of integration is found in deficits in teacher education (Special Education Committee, 2007). According to this explanation integration is not possible because teachers have not acquired the necessary skills in their education. Antagonists of this explanation underline that current teacher education is fully adequate in this respect and gives readiness for all teachers to include students with disabilities.
  • The academic world of special education has traditionally taken a conservative stance towards inclusion
  • Very recently there has been observable some change in the discussion
  • First, some large disability organizations, e.g. the Parents’ Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities, The National Council on Disability, and the Finnish Association on People with Physical Disabilities have presented critical statements, not heard previously, on current policy which favours increased placement of students in special classes. These organizations have begun to refer to international goal statements on inclusive education, like the Salamanca statement.
  • Second, the academic field of special education has begun to experience some polarization in the question of inclusion, and more positive sounds are being heard in favour of inclusion. This argument is observed, for example, in a recent addition on special education of the Finnish educational journal “Kasvatus” (2/2009). Additionally, a current textbook written by leading special education professors (2009) refers to inclusive education in a cautiously positive tone of voice, even if traditional special education is in no way criticized. It also gives space to the presentation of the international inclusion movement and international statements.
  • More radical changes could be expected from a different direction. The preparation of new legislation concerning the state funding of local municipalities is currently taking place
  • If the change happens it, in all probability, will mean a free fall in the number of special class placements. Inclusive development may thus become materialized as an unintended consequence of a bureaucratic funding reform
  • Finland is a black sheep in the international movement on inclusive education.
  • The legitimacy of separate special education is strong and unquestioned. Since the mainstream in most other countries is towards inclusive education, the situation of Finnish school authorities is not always comfortable.
  • There is a continuous threat of a legitimacy crisis in special education. Until now the threat has been successfully handled first through the means of ignoring the international discussions, statements and policies, and lately by changing the meaning of the concept of inclusion. Instead of inclusion meaning desegregation it is increasingly defined by educational authorities to mean some kind of good teaching in general (Halinen & Järvinen, 2008; Special Education Committee, 2007).
  • In opposition to inclusion, the official policy promotes early intervention as a main area of development in special education.
  • There are no visible interest groups questioning this ongoing development.
  • The high legitimacy and constant growth of segregated special education can be understood as a consequence of the individual funding model, teacher professionalism and the Finnish value system originating from the late modernisation of overall society.
  • The idea of integration, or the principle of the primacy of mainstream class placement in the education of students with special needs, was first expressed in Finland in the report of the Rehabilitation Committee in 1966
  • the late sixties were, in many ways, an exceptional point in time. In the parliamentary election of 1966 the left wing parties achieved a majority in the parliament. This political change coincided with a turning point in Finnish society as a whole.
  • The process of modernization and urbanization had led to the point where the economic structure of the country was shifting that of an industrial to a post-industrial phase.
  • The shift was manifested in the numbers of people working in the service sector, which superseded the numbers of those working in industry. The concomitant cultural change was expressed in the upheaval of societal values seen in many “cultural wars” of the time.
  • The construction of a welfare society meant the widening of public services. A widening professional sector sought new customer groups as clients. One of these groups was people with intellectual and mental disabilities who, until that time, were mainly treated in institutions
  • ideas of “rehabilitation” launched during the fifties by the International Labour Organization (ILO) now found breeding ground in Finnish society. The change in ideology was revolutionary, and was also noticed by the contemporaries. For example, the Rehabilitation Committee characterized the ideological change as expressing “a new conception of civil rights and human value” (Rehabilitation committee, 1966, 9).
  • The structure of special education at this time contained two types of special classes: auxiliary classes for students with learning difficulties and other separate classes for students with emotional and behavioural problems. Additionally, there were a few state schools mainly for students with sensory disabilities. The number of students in special classes remained under two percent.
  • During the educational reform which took place from 1972-1977 the previous dual educational system was superseded by a unified and obligatory nine year comprehensive school, called “peruskoulu”, for all children
  • School began at the age of seven and continued until an age 16
  • School began at the age of seven and continued until an age 16. After completion of comprehensive school the voluntary school path continued either in vocational education or in a three year upper secondary high school.
  • Special education achieved great attention in this reform. The special education division was founded in the National Board of Education and two committee reports were published on the organisation of special education in Finland.
  • The forms of traditional special education were secured but, additionally, the principle of integration was launched. On one side the new concept expressed positive content of the occurring paradigm shift from institutional care to rehabilitation. On the other side it very early expressed its ideological nature as a concept that helped to legitimate the exclusion of disabled people. Integration was considered conditional and depended on the “readiness” of the person.
  • A new profession of special education teachers, professionals without a grade level class responsibility, was established.
  • In this so called “part-time special education” students received individual or group-based support without formal enrolment into special student status. This led to a conflict with the professional union of teachers, OAJ, which declared a lock-out for those positions in the schools which offered them. As a compromise it was at last agreed that the new profession was not allowed to influence reductions in the number of relocations into special classes (Kivirauma, 1989).
  • The number of special class students in the seventies had increased to about two percent of the overall student population in comprehensive schools (Statistics Finland, 1981).
  • From 1983 onwards, a new law concerning comprehensive schools changed the field of special education
  • The two older forms of special education classes, the auxiliary school (Hilfschule) for students with learning difficulties and the “observation classes” for students with emotional and behavioural problems were now superseded by a system which could be characterised as principally a non-categorical system of special education. Local municipalities were now allowed to categorize their special education classes as they wanted, though most of the older terms still survived.
  • There was not, however, a true change from categorical to non-categorical special education.
  • First, strong categorical features came from state funding, which portioned out state support on an individual basis in accordance with the level of disability.
  • Second, local municipalities began to develop new, more medical, special education categories.
  • Third, the special teacher education programs continued to use categorical labels such as “special teacher for the maladjusted”, “adapted education” or “training school education”. Training school education referred to students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities which were now at last entitled to enter comprehensive school.
  • During the eighties the proportion of special class students in comprehensive schools grew approximately from two to three percent (Statistics Finland, 1989).
  • One consequence of the liberation from special class categories was the sudden emergence of new types of special needs categories.
  • For example, the proportion of students with dysphasia increased from 10% to 20% in just six years.
  •   Disability category 2002 2008 N % N %
  • Autism and Asperger syndrome 679 2.0 1408 3.0
  • An important characteristic of these new popular categories was their medical nature. New diagnoses such as “dysphasia”, “autism”, and “ADHD” attained popularity at the expense of older categories such as mental retardation
  • A common feature of the new popular diagnoses was their obscurity. Instead of a clear-cut collection of symptoms they resembled more vague metaphors.
  • This medical turn can be seen as the late fruit of the rehabilitation paradigm which was adopted twenty years earlier.
  • The new categorizations were more merciful as compared to the older ones because children were no longer seen as “bad” or “stupid” but as “sick” and in need of rehabilitation (Conrad & Schneider, 1980/1992). This change in perception from “badness” to “sickness” also helped to give new legitimacy to special education.
  • proportion of comprehensive school students transferred into special classes now grew up to four percent (Table 2). Students with severe and profound intellectual disabilities were now also accepted into comprehensive school in 1997 as the final small disability group thus far marginalized to the outside.
  • The last ten years have witnessed a rapid growth of segregated special education in Finland
  • Year   Total   SEN total % SEN total % Full time in mainstream class % Full time or part-time in special education class
  • 2008 561 061 47 257 8.4 2.3 6.1
  • 1998 591 679 21 826 3.7 0.3 3.4
  • Now the proportion of students in special schools and special classes has increased to over six percent, maybe the highest percentage reported anywhere in the world at the present time.
  • Other supports, such as the increasing use of part-time special education have not been effective in reducing this development
  • During the school term of 2006-2007 of the students in comprehensive schools, 22.2% received part-time special education (Statistics Finland, 2009)
  • the number of integrated students has also grown. This was due to a change in funding legislation in 1998, which also guaranteed additional state support for those special education students not removed into special classes.
  • The relative proportion of students in special schools was 2.0% in 1998 and 1.4% in 2007
  • The slight fall in special school placements seems to be mainly technical: many special schools have been administratively united to mainstream schools. The number of special schools has dropped to about 160. Most of them probably were schools for students with mild disabilities (former auxiliary schools).
  • Large towns slightly more often use special class placements than rural schools
  • While in 2005 a total of 5.6% of students were moved in special classes in the country as a whole, the average proportion in larger towns was at a higher percentage, 6 - 9%
  • Large towns also relied more on separate special schools (Memo, 2006)
  • In contrast, in sparsely inhabited areas, such as Lapland, special class placements have remained rarer than elsewhere.
  • The least number of placements are in the Swedish speaking part of Finland. This may indicate a cultural influence from Sweden where special class placements are much rarer than in Finland
  • The significant distances in the countryside of Finland explain why integration is more common in rural areas.
izz aty

Inclusive Education In Malaysia Education Essay - 0 views

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malaysia malaysian education inclusive education education

shared by izz aty on 26 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • Inclusive education in Malaysia originated from the ‘special education’ agenda as defined in the Education Act 1996 (1998) and its approach is referred to this tradition.
  • These mandates are intended to promote equal rights and access to education for persons with disabilities. The ‘educability’ criterion assumes that there are children who are uneducable within the public school system and thus these children are catered to within community-based rehabilitation (CBR) settings (MOE, 2006). CBR programmes are government-initiated, centre-based programmes at the community level aimed to provide education that emphasises therapy and rehabilitation to children with learning disabilities (Kuno, 2007). CBR programmes are quite detached from the mainstream school system. However, in practice, the division between both provisions is less definite, and students who should benefit from them become victims of bureaucratic procedures (Adnan & Hafiz, 2001).
  • Malaysia embarked on the first stage when the first school for the blind was opened in 1929, followed by a school for the deaf very much later in 1954
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  • These schools were initiated under the programs of the Ministry of Social Welfare with the help of religious missionaries. Malaysia entered its second stage when professional preparation programs for special education were formally established by the Ministry of Education in 1961. Lacking its own expertise and technology, Malaysia entered its third stage when it began importing knowledge and expertise by sending its education professionals abroad for research degrees and in-service attachments in special needs education in the 1980s and 1990s, and attempting to customize what was learned to its national conditions. Malaysia’s participation in international workshops and activities of the UN and UNESCO and subsequent reforms as reflected in the Education Act (1998) describes the active development of policy and changes in practices during this period. In 1993, the first preservice teacher preparation leading to a Bachelor of Education degree program in special needs education was initiated in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The program was developed alongside a collaborative project in curriculum development with three universities in the United Kingdom, namely, the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge (Jelas, 1996; 1999).
  • The terms ‘special needs’ introduced in the Education Act 1996 (1998) are defined as follows: “Pupils with special needs’ means pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities” And ‘inclusive education’ is introduced as part of the continuum of services available for children with special needs: “Special education programme” means – A programme which is provided in special schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment; An integrated programme in general schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities; and An inclusive education programme for pupils with special needs and who are able to attend normal classes together with normal pupils” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 341)
  • However, the eligibility for special education placement is based on the ‘educability’ of children as assessed by a team of professionals. This is documented in the Act, which states: “(1) For government and government-aided schools, pupils with special needs who are educable are eligible to attend the special education programme except for the following pupils: physically handicapped pupils with the mental ability to learn like normal pupils; and pupils with multiple disabilities or with profound physical handicap or severe mental retardation. A pupil with special needs is educable if he is able to manage himself without help and is confirmed by a panel consisting of a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD, as capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 342) The eligibility dilemma
  • While the current public policy for children with special educational needs, particularly those categories of children classified as experiencing ‘learning disabilities’ have access to regular schools as stated in the Act, the ‘educability’ criteria contradicts the goals of providing equal education opportunities as stipulated in the United Nation’s Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), The Salamanca Statement (1994) and the Biwako Millenium Framework for Action (UNESCAP, 2002).
  • Foreign experts are initially relied upon to provide the knowledge and to encourage its development prior to the emergence of a profession within a country. The first professionals to provide services are usually trained abroad. The second stage followed this first stage, in which colleges and universities established programs and departments to teach the discipline and prepare the professionals. The second stage leads to the third stage, in which colleges and universities import developed from abroad to achieve standards that characterised the discipline in more developed nations. During this stage, the concepts, theories and models of implementation found in the more developed countries are taught, applied and tested; some of which may transfer more successfully than others.
  • Before special programmes were available, students with special needs were described by their characteristics and by the instructional challenges they presented to teachers. When the education system began to respond to the needs of each emerging group of special needs students, services were established and eligibility criteria determined. From that point on, a child was identified (for school and placement purposes) as having or experiencing a ‘special educational need’ and if he or she is “able to manage him or herself without help” (Education Act 1996, 1998), the child will be eligible for a given programme or service. This process was repeated as each new group of special needs students emerged – for example, children with visual and hearing impairments in the 1960s, children with mild intellectual in the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and children with dyslexia.
  • in the Education Act 1996 (1998) that the perspectives of professionals (“a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD” p. 342) have the most power in determining the way children are categorised and whether these children are “capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998)
  • policy makers and professionals continue to see special schools and classes as well as categories as having an important place in provisions. Responses at the Ministerial level revealed an emphasis on diversity and acceptance of human characteristics as problematic and that learning difficulties are technical problems that require specialised discipline knowledge that cannot be dealt with in the “normal classes with normal children” (Education Act 1996, 1998 p. 341).
  • The National Report on the development of education states: Inclusion in Malaysia subscribed to the concept of placing SEN students into mainstream classes to be educated alongside their peers, either with or without additional support, and within the present school system. This concept of IE (inclusive education) might not be in line with the ideal concept based on “acceptance, belonging and about providing school settings in which all disadvantaged children can be valued equally and be provided with equal educational opportunities … (MOE, 2004, p. 28),
  • Even though inclusive education was implemented at the policy level more than 10 years ago and school participation has rapidly increased quantitatively, Malaysia is far from reaching its goal of providing “a responsive education path for every child and youth with SEN” (MOE, 2004)
  • The emphasis on the ability “to cope with mainstream learning” seemed consistent with the integration models that came about in the 1980s. Integration models mainly focused on placing students with mild disabilities, identified and “diagnosed” as having special needs in mainstream schools. In such models, students must adapt to the norms, expectations, styles, routines and practices of the education system instead of the education system adapting to the learner (UNESCO, 2008). The integrated programme is the dominant format for delivering services to special needs students in Malaysia, then and now.
  • Once placed, few special education students returned to the regular education class on full-time basis. Although the special classroom and special schools continued as options, integrated programmes (placement in regular classrooms) for students with visual and hearing impairments are available with support from the resource teacher
  • Historically, the disenchantment of many special educators and the concern of the efficacy of the prevailing approach (Ainscow, 1994; Meyen & Skrtic, 1995; Sorrells, Rieth & Sindelar, 2004; Stainback & Stainback, 1992) raised questions about how best to assure a quality and equitable education for students with disabilities and spawned the push for a more inclusive approach to special education programming. While these reforms were mandated in the United Nations Declarations and UNESCO’s Framework of Actions on special needs education of which Malaysia’s policy on inclusive education subscribes to, the focus on diagnosis, prescription, and intervention continued to be central to determining eligibility and making placement decisions. Thus, although special education practices had changed, the grounding assumptions of human pathology and organisational rationality (Biklen, 2000; Oliver, 1996; Skrtic, 1991) have not been critically examined. In this context, special education is used to maintain and legitimise exclusion of students with disabilities within a school culture and system characterised by competition and selection (Skrtic, 1995; Corbett, 1999; Slee, 2001; Kearney & Kane, 2006).
  • While the philosophical basis of including SEN students into mainstream schools is accepted as a policy, the continued legitimization of paradigms that exclude SEN students is also acknowledged by rationalising between the “ideal” and the “not-so-ideal” concept of inclusive education. This ambivalence is reinforced by the following statements: Prior to inclusion, especially in the early part of their formal education, SEN students are equipped with relevant basic skills and knowledge to enable them to cope with mainstream learning. Only those who are diagnosed capable to cope with mainstream learning would be included fully or partially. (MOE, 2004, p. 29)
  • In principle, Malaysia is committed to providing education for all with the implementation of compulsory education in 2003 as evident by a high participation rate of 98.49 per cent (MOE, 2004). This statement of intent towards compulsory education for all which was an amendment of the Education Act 1996, however, did not include children with disabilities
  • The radical perspective that leads to a reconceptualisation of special educational needs have been well documented for the past twenty years (Barton, 1988; Lipsky & Gartner, 1989; Ainscow, 1991; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1994; Clark et. al., 1998; Donoghue, 2003) and critiques argued and showed evidence how the education system creates rather than remediate disabilities (Skrtic, 1991; Corbett, 1999; Vlachou, 2004; Carrington & Robinson, 2006). The new perspective on special educational needs is based on the view that the way forward must be to reform schools in ways that will make them respond positively to pupil diversity, seeing individual differences as something to be nurtured. But, as cautioned by Ainscow (1994): This kind of approach is only possible in schools where there exist a respect for individuality and a culture of collaboration that encourages and supports problem-solving. Such cultures are likely to facilitate the learning of all pupils and, alongside them, the professional learning of all teachers. Ultimately, therefore, this line of argument makes the case that increasing equity is the key to improvements in schooling for all. (Ainscow, 1994, p12)
  • Education in Malaysia is driven largely by an examination–oriented system characterised by curriculum rigidity and rote learning rather than critical and independent thinking. Like schools in Singapore and Hong Kong (Poon-McBrayer, 2004), school leadership are in great pressure to compete for the best examination results in terms of the percentages of passes and the number of A’s acquired by students in public school examinations
  • The culture of elitism compels parents to prepare their children to be accepted into high ranking or fully residential schools which usually achieve high scores in examination results.
  • Although the ‘intertwining of the standards and inclusion agenda’ can lead to positive consequences (Ainscow et al, 2006), the emphasis on the preparation and drill for the public examinations therefore, left little or no time for teachers to accommodate individual learning needs of students in general. Media reports on schools’ and students’ performance intensify competition and further marginalise SEN students, who, to a large extent are not expected to compete. Competing priorities make it more difficult for schools to fully include children with SEN.
  • Continued advancement of special needs education in Malaysia will require bifocal perspectives. One focus has an international perspective and requires Malaysians’ awareness of the international body of literature and trends in practice that enables them to take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained by those in other countries. Malaysia may also profit especially from knowledge provided by its Asian neighbours namely Japan, India and China, or other countries that seems to be struggling with many of the same issues.
  • effective special needs education services require awareness of social and educational traditions, social philosophies that manifest in schooling and school culture and ways of resolving conflict that may be unique to one country and the impact these qualities have on general and special needs education services (Peters, 2003).
izz aty

Sunardi et al. 2011. The Implementation of Inclusive Education for Students with Specia... - 0 views

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indonesia indonesian education inclusive education

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  • izz aty on 19 Nov 14
     
    Abstract Over the last decade, inclusion has become a world trend in special education. In response to that trend, the Indonesian government has adopted a progressive policy to implement inclusive education. The aim of this research is to describe the implementation process by focusing on the institutional management, student admission/identification/assessment, curriculum, instruction, evaluation, and external supports. The sample consisted of 186 schools with a total student body of 24,412, 12 percent of which (3,419) were students with special needs. In those schools, there were also 34 gifted students (0.1 percent). Of all the students with special education needs (SEN) students, 56 percent were males and 44 percent were females. The results showed, in terms of institutional management, that the majority of inclusive schools had developed strategic plans (for inclusion), legally appointed coordinators, involved related and relevant parties, and conducted regular coordination meetings. However, there were still many schools that had not restructured their school organizations. In terms of student admission/identification/assessment, 54 percent of schools set a quota for SEN students. Only 19 percent applied a selection process in student admission, half of which used different procedures for SEN candidates. Approximately 50 percent of inclusive schools had modified their curriculum, including a variety of standards. In terms of instruction, 68 percent of inclusive schools reported that they modified their instructional process. Only a few schools, however, provided special equipment for students with visual impairment, physical impairment, speech and hearing problems, and autism and gifted and talented students. In a student evaluation, more than 50 percent reported that test items, administration, time allocations, and students' reports were modified. For the national exam, this number decreased dramatically. Finally, external supports in the for
izz aty

10 questions on inclusive quality education | Education | United Nations Educational, S... - 0 views

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UNESCO UN inclusive education education

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  • what do we know about the excluded?
  • Poverty and marginalization are major causes of exclusion.
  • Disabled children suffer from blatant educational exclusion – they account for one third of all out-of-school children
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  • Households in rural or remote communities and children in urban slums have less access to education
  • How does inclusive education promote successful learning?
  • What are the principles of inclusion?
  • Inclusion is rooted in the right to education as enshrined in Article 26 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A number of treaties and normative instruments have since reaffirmed this right
  • UNESCO’s 1960 Convention against Discrimination in Education stipulates that States have the obligation to expand educational opportunities for all who remain deprived of primary education.
  • The 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights reaffirms the right to education for all and highlights the principle of free compulsory education.
  • the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified human rights treaty, spells out the right of children not to be discriminated against. It also expresses commitments about the aims of education, recognizing that the learner is at the centre of the learning experience. This affects content and pedagogy, and - more broadly - how schools are managed
  • The notion of inclusion is still often associated with children who have special needs.
  • Is inclusive quality education affordable?
  • It is inefficient to have school systems where children are not learning because of poor quality. Schools with high repetition rates often fail to work in preventive ways. The expenditure incurred by schools when students repeat a grade would be better used to provide additional support to those who encounter difficulties. Several cost-effective measures to promote inclusive quality education have been developed in countries with scarce resources. These include training-of-trainer models for professional development, linking students in pre-service teacher training with schools and converting special needs schools into resource centres that provide expertise and support to clusters of regular schools.  
izz aty

Inclusion (education) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Inclusion_(education)

inclusion inclusion issues dissertationZ

shared by izz aty on 30 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • "Inclusive practice" is not always inclusive but is a form of integration. For example, students with special needs are educated in regular classes for nearly all of the day, or at least for more than half of the day.[5] Whenever possible, the students receive any additional help or special instruction in the general classroom, and the student is treated like a full member of the class. However, most specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom, particularly if these services require special equipment or might be disruptive to the rest of the class (such as speech therapy), and students are pulled out of the regular classroom for these services.
  • In Denmark, 99% of students with learning disabilities like 'dyslexia' are placed in general education classrooms.[16] In the United States, three out of five students with learning disabilities spend the majority of their time in the general education classroom
  • Although once hailed as a way to increase achievement while decreasing costs, full inclusion does not save money, reduce students' needs, or improve academic outcomes; in most cases, it merely moves the special education professionals out of their own classrooms and into a corner of the general classroom. To avoid harm to the academic education of students with disabilities, a full panoply of services and resources is required
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  • Adequate supports and services for the student Well-designed individualized education programs Professional development for all teachers involved, general and special educators alike Time for teachers to plan, meet, create, and evaluate the students together Reduced class size based on the severity of the student needs Professional skill development in the areas of cooperative learning, peer tutoring, adaptive curriculum Collaboration between parents or guardians, teachers or para educators, specialists, administration, and outside agencies. Sufficient funding so that schools will be able to develop programs for students based on student need instead of the availability of funding
  • In principle, several factors can determine the success of inclusive classrooms: Family-school partnerships Collaboration between general and special educators Well-constructed plans that identify specific accommodations, modifications, and goals for each student Coordinated planning and communication between "general" and "special needs" staff Integrated service delivery Ongoing training and staff development
izz aty

The first decade of the 21st century: A Backlash for Inclusion in Norwegian S... - 0 views

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norway scandinavian education nordic education inclusive education inclusion issues nordic special ed

shared by izz aty on 16 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • izz aty on 16 Nov 14
     
    " In Norway inclusive education formally is in place. But formal rights may conceal a different reality. Students are hardly ever excluded from education, but quite a few risk exposure to exclusionary mechanisms within the common education. After briefly presenting the Norwegian context, threats to inclusion are discussed, particularly within special education. A case story introduces the account."
izz aty

School of Education at Johns Hopkins University-Inclusion of Students with Autism Spect... - 0 views

education.jhu.edu/...0Autism%20Spectrum%20Disorders

inclusion for autism dissertationZ inclusion issues

shared by izz aty on 30 Sep 14 - No Cached
  • if the regular classroom teacher is not fully equipped to provide accommodations for a student with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), then why discuss the need for inclusion? Why not continue the previous trend of sending all of those students to the "resource room" to be educated by the special education teacher? What can be gained in a larger setting?
  • Individuals with an ASD are often recognized first by their ineptness in social interactions with others. They often say things that are inappropriate or they may speak only rarely if at all. In play, they may remain off in a corner inspecting rocks while their peers are carrying on a game of tag. If the student remains in the special educational setting with fewer interactions with mainstream classmates, he will undoubtedly experience little or no growth socially. The child may grow into an adult who has difficulty in the work environment because he has still not learned effective communication skills. The regular educational setting will, of course, only be as effective as the adults who are caring for the child, but with intentional teaching of social skills in this setting, more positive growth is likely.
    • izz aty
      izz aty on 30 Sep 14
       
      WHY INCLUSION FOR AUTISM
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  • Teaching individuals with ASD how to form relationships and understand the feelings of others is likely more important than academic learning when considering the future potential of an individual. Because this is the greatest area of weakness, schools carry an important responsibility to work this into the curriculum whether the student with ASD is in the regular educational setting or the special education classroom. Schools do not always recognize this responsibility. Many professionals do not believe enough attention is being given to the social and emotional needs of children with ASD in the school setting (Bryson, Rogers, & Fombonne, 2003).
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Kesälahti, E. & Väyrynen, S. (2013) Learning from Our Neighbours: Inclusive E... - 0 views

www.ulapland.fi/loader.aspx

swedish education swedish special ed sweden finnish special ed finnish education finland denmark danish education norway norwegian special ed norwegian edu russia russian education education

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    Kesälahti, E. & Väyrynen, S. (2013) Learning from Our Neighbours: Inclusive Education in the Making. A School for All - Development of Inclusive Education. Benchmarking report. Rovaniemi: University of Lapland. Printing Centre.
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UNESCO 2009 MALAYSIA: National Report on the provision of inclusive quality primary and... - 0 views

www.ibe.unesco.org/...malaysia_inclusion_09.pdf

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    MALAYSIA   National Report on the provision of inclusive quality primary and secondary education Sub‐regional Workshop on "Building inclusive education system to respond to the diverse needs of disabled children" Jakarta, Indonesia, 3 - 5 November 2009 
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Tanenbaum | The 7 principles for inclusive education (pdf) - 0 views

tanenbaum.org/...ED-Seven-Principles.pdf

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    The well-researched and accessible pedagogy, Seven Principles for Inclusive Education, is the underpinning for all of Tanenbaum's curricula and teacher training programs (training in the Seven Principles is a core piece of all our teacher training programs). The Seven Principles can be applied to any classroom or lesson plan to increase equity and decrease exclusion. 1. Teaching All Students Educators should take several different approaches to teaching the same material so that information becomes more interesting and tangible to a greater number of students. 2. Exploring Multiple Identities Students who are proud of themselves and excited by the world around them will be more compassionate and understanding people; the same is true for educators. 3. Preventing Prejudice Educators should take a proactive approach to debunking preconceived stereotypes and preventing them from escalating into prejudices and negative biases. 4. Promoting Social Justice Students are good judges of what is fair, especially when they are affirmatively challenged to consider issues of social justice. Educators should talk to them about issues of social justice and injustice in terms of fair versus unfair, respectful versus disrespectful. 5. Choosing Appropriate Materials Inclusive classrooms use books and materials that reflect accurate images of diverse peoples and challenge stereotypes. 6. Teaching and Learning About Cultures and Religions Educators should create curiosity and expand students' horizons by teaching about others in a positive manner. Students should have the opportunity to learn from their peers as well as other cultures. 7. Adapting and Integrating Lessons Appropriately Educators should be flexible when using and adapting lessons in our curricula, as well as in prescribed curricula in general. Many of the most teachable moments are unplanned and unscripted.
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Göransson, K., Nilholm, C. & Karlsson, K., 2011. Inclusive education in Swede... - 0 views

ble.ioe.ac.uk/...HAR12EDU_LIBDIGI1415.pdf

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    Göransson, K., Nilholm, C. & Karlsson, K., 2011. Inclusive education in Sweden? A critical analysis. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(5), pp.541-555. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603110903165141 [Accessed September 29, 2014].
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Introduction - Issues ...about Change, Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, Volume 4, Number 3 - 0 views

www.sedl.org/...issues43.html

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  • Philosophical, educational, and legal arguments for and against greater inclusion are also presented
  • discussion of implications for educational practitioners and district policy makers
  • Reynolds (1988) uses the term "progressive inclusion" to describe the evolution of services to those with various disabilities. He and others (Winzer, 1993; Stainback, Stainback, & Bunch, 1989b) point out that as the United States emerged as a nation, no educational services were available to people with disabilities
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Arnesen & Lundahl 2006 Still Social and Democratic? Inclusive Education Policies in the... - 0 views

www.tandfonline.com/...00313830600743316

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  • In this article, education policy is analysed from a welfare state perspective
  • analyse the significance attributed to social‐inclusive aspects of education in contemporary education policies of the Nordic countries, and the extent to which education is regarded as an element in welfare policies
  • Four aspects are addressed: (1) access to education and measures to prevent social exclusion of young people, (2) comprehensiveness of education in terms of public/private, integration/segregation of e.g. minority children and children with special needs, (3) emphasis on democratic values and participation, (4) the importance of community and equality versus a focus on the individual.
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  • it is still justified to speak of the five Nordic countries as a rather distinct group. However, social‐inclusive policies have also clearly been reformulated and delimited, related to a strengthening of the economic‐utilitarian functions of education and a weakening of central education governance
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UNESCO 2007 FINLAND | Regional Preparatory Workshop on Inclusive Education (pdf) - 0 views

www.ibe.unesco.org/...finland_inclusion_07.pdf

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    FINLAND Regional Preparatory Workshop on Inclusive Education Eastern and South Eastern Europe Sinaia, Romania, 14 - 16 June 2007  
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Inclusion of preschool children with autism in Sweden: attitudes and perceived efficacy... - 0 views

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/...abstract

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  • This pilot study examined the relations among preschool teachers' attitudes towards the inclusion of children with autism and perceived self-efficacy, as well as demographic characteristics such as teachers' work experience and educational background. The cohort consisted of 21 participants who had degrees in preschool education and worked with children with autism in general preschool/kindergarten settings in central Sweden.
  • In general, findings revealed that preschool teachers held positive attitudes towards children with autism,
  • teachers showed neutral attitudes towards the inclusion of children with autism into general preschool classrooms
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  • this was significantly related to the number of credits in special education taken during pre-service education
  • No relations were found between teachers' perceived self-efficacy and attitudes towards inclusion, although a relationship was found between participation in in-service training and efficacy to make decisions.
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Forlin et al 2013 Inclusive education for students with disability: A review of the bes... - 0 views

www.aracy.org.au/...ion_to_theory_and_practice.pdf

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    Forlin, C., Chambers, D., Loreman, T., Deppler, J., & Sharma, U. 2013. Inclusive education for students with disability: A review of the best evidence in relation to theory and practice. Report by Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, pp. 1-67.
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Inclusive education - a focus on Malaysia - 0 views

www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm

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    DEPUTY Education Minister I, Datuk Mary Yap Kain Ching highlighted Malaysia's delivery of education services to children with disabilities, at the IDPP Multi-stakeholder Roundtable on Inclusive Education Policy. She said though the Education Ministry's Special Education Department holds the primary responsibility to provide education for children with disabilities in Malaysia, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) in the Prime Minister's Department is tasked to oversee the implementation and to assess its progress in relation to the policies on education of this category of children.
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BBC News - How blind Victorians campaigned for inclusive education - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...blogs-ouch-29327232

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  • Over the past 30 years there has been a greater effort, backed up by law, to integrate disabled children into mainstream education. But in the Victorian era they often attended educational institutions supported through philanthropic fundraising.
  • To encourage donations, schools emphasised the "miseries" of sensory deprivation.
  • Unhappy about these negative representations of disabled people, an un-named "intellectual blind man" of the era said: "I assure you it is not blindness, but its consequences, which we feel most painfully, and those consequences are often laid on us most heavily by the people who are loudest in their expressions of pity."
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  • The names of these early activists are all but forgotten today. However, their views on the importance of including, rather than segregating, blind and deaf children, and their powerful advocacy that they should be heard and given appropriate rights, make their views seem strikingly modern.
  • "Special education" emerged in Britain and Europe during the second half of the 18th Century. Thomas Braidwood established a school for deaf pupils in Edinburgh in 1764, which moved to Hackney in London in 1783 due to increased demand for places.
  • first school for blind pupils opened in Liverpool in 1791
  • London's School for the Indigent Blind, founded at St George's Fields Southwark in 1799, was by the 1860s educating 160 boys and girls in reading, writing and "useful" trades, intended to provide for their future employment.
  • 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, the state subsidised school fees for some pupils so that attendance did not push families into poverty - education was neither free nor compulsory until later in the century
  • Charitable schools were founded primarily as residential institutions intended to provide protection, board, lodging and education to their pupils. Yet the practice of shutting away "blind, deaf and dumb" children in so-called "exile schools" was opposed by an increasingly vocal group of activists in the mid 19th Century.
  • institutions "immured" their pupils, treating them like prisoners. They were degrading and they perpetuated "pauperism"
  • The campaigners noted that inclusion promised to benefit all society, not just the deaf and blind themselves.
  • Organisations such as the Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind, founded by Elizabeth Gilbert in 1854, established workshops for blind handicraftsmen so that workers received better prices for their products than for those produced in institutions.
  • Whilst the association encouraged basket making, some campaigners claimed that these traditional trades were symbolic of a system that failed to recognise people's potential or range of talents.
  • Biography of the Blind, written in 1820 by James Wilson, a self-taught blind man who wrote the book "with a view of rescuing my fellow sufferers from the neglect and obscurity in which many of them are involved."
  • Charities were not always appreciated. Activists claimed that too much of the money donated to the dedicated charities went on buildings and non-disabled staff, rather than on the welfare of the blind pupils themselves. Many of them imposed social and moral restrictions on who could apply for assistance. Some campaigners argued that it would be better if the donated money was paid directly to blind people themselves, to enable them to live in their own homes and support their families.
  • The education of blind and deaf children in specialist institutions remained the norm until recent years. Far greater effort now goes into integrating disabled children into mainstream schools, and has been backed up by new laws. But integration is not the same as inclusion, and even in 2014 campaigners are still arguing that there is further to go before disabled children are fully included in schools. They say there needs to be greater recognition that they have a right to an education and should be given support in ordinary classes, not in special units.
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