Implementing Inclusive Education Practices
Implementing Inclusive Education Practices
Introduction
Previously, you learned about the history, context, and foundations of special needs and
inclusive education. By understanding the role that disability frameworks play, we can now
move on to finding out how to implement inclusive practices in the classroom. This chapter
shall provide insights and practical tips on cultivating inclusive habits and implementing such
practices in the classroom effectively. It is entirely based on the Booth and Ainscow (2002)
framework to help schools determine their next steps in shifting to a more inclusive setting.
1. Diversity is the new "normal."
To be truly inclusive, educators must always check for the presence, participation, and
achievement of their learners.
Competencies
Additional needs, and the ability to create safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive
learning environments for students with additional needs.
A UNIFYING FRAMEWORK
In 2002, Booth and Ainscow came up with an Index for Inclusion, which aims to direct
educational institutions toward developing their own next steps and action plans if they want
to restructure into becoming more inclusive. "It takes on the social model of disability as its
starting point, builds on good practice, and then organizes the index work around a cycle of
activities which guide schools through stages of preparation, investigation, development, and
review" (UNESCO 2005:30). A three-dimensional framework was created (see Figure 3.1).
Evolving inclusive practicesinclusive practices
Producing
Figure 3.1. Three dimensions of the Index (Booth and Ainscow 2002:7).
Booth and Ainscow (2002) explained that these three dimensions-creating inclusive
cultures, evolving inclusive practices, and producing inclusive policies—are interconnected
and "chosen to direct thinking about school change" (2002:7). Considered the backbone of
the framework is the laying down and establishing of an inclusive culture. Without this at the
foundation, it will be quite difficult to get people to shift policies and practices. A non-
supportive culture would most likely result in resistance from the school's direct stakeholders.
They explain that these three dimensions also branch out into sections to further guide
schools into implementing more direct steps toward this paradigm shift.
(Source: The Dimensions and Sections in the Index of Inclusion. Adapted from Booth &
Ainscow, 2002:8)
I. CREATING INCLUSIVE CULTURES
In educational reform, stakeholders are those who are "invested in the welfare and
success of a school and its students" (www.edglossary.org). In other words, these are the
teachers, administrators, school staff, officials and other workers, the parents and their
families, the community, and the government. They may also be collective entities like local
businesses, advocacy groups the media, sociocultural institutions, and other organizations
that may be directly or indirectly involved in education. Stakeholders are important because
they play a major role in "connecting what is being taught in a school to its surrounding
community" (www.edglossary.org),
In 2017, UNESCO reported that there has been significant global improvement in
accessing education, specifically in the primary level for the last 15 years. However, its 2016
Global Education Monitoring Report reveals: that there are still an estimated 263 million
children and youth aged 6 to 17 all around the world who are still not in school at this time.
The report also confirmed the continuous plight of women against gender discrimination,
among others. With increasing globalization and international migration, the problem
pertaining to inclusive education and how it affects PWDs could not be more real.
Build key people. The government recognizes the need for teacher training, both in the
special needs education and general education levels. It also pushes for the use of evidence-
based teaching frameworks, provision of student assistance, and access to instructional
materials. Most importantly, calls are made for continuing research and forming of policies
to be initiated by agencies such as the Department of Education so as to further refine the
inclusive process and have it tailored to fit to the needs of children with additional needs.
This is an important factor that every nation has to constantly revisit as the needs of students
across continents, though similar, would have nuances depending on where they reside.
Educational frameworks cannot just be lifted and “copy-pasted” with the expectation that
what worked for one country will work for another. UNESCO (2005) states that clarity of
purpose, realistic goals, motivation, support, resources, and an evaluation of policies and
practices all contribute to a successful shift toward inclusion.
Identify and eradicate barriers. UNESCO’s Guide for Inclusion (2005) advocates for the
identification and removal of obstacles that have to do with transforming prevailing
attitudes and values on a systemic level. The Philippine government seems to be in
consonance with this aspect in the light of its existing legislative policies that ground the
undeniable importance of inclusion. It is also continuously reorganizing structures in
education and implementing programs that highlight the need for primary stakeholders like
the school, the parents, and other policy makers, to acquire more understanding and
capacity-building to manage an inclusive environment.
Physical barriers - the lack of building, facility, transportation, or road accessibility are
types of physical barriers that can literally affect one's mobility.
Curriculum - a rigid "one size fits all" type of curriculum that does not allow room for
individual differences can significantly stunt one's learning and opportunity for growth.
Lack of teacher training and low teacher efficacy- whether training in teaching strategies,
using curriculum frameworks, or behavior and classroom management, lack of training as
well as low confidence in one's own skills can directly affect how inclusive practices are
implemented.
Poor language and communication - language barriers may also directly have
implications on how well inclusive practices are implemented.
● Lack of funding - enough funding can allow for training more teachers as well as coming
up with more appropriate programs, instructional materials, or facilities: lack of funds
can be limiting and debilitating to schools.
Lack of policies - policies have the ability to unify beliefs and mobilize resources;
unfortunately, lack of it can become a convenient justification for inaction.
Too much focus on performance-based standards - schools have also reportedly refused
inclusion because of fear that the presence of learners with additional needs will pull
down their rankings in standardized tests.
Part of what needs to occur when creating cultures is to also determine distinctions
among frameworks and practices. Most important in this scenario is to understand how
different special education, mainstreaming, and inclusive education are from each other. In
the previous chapter, we discussed how special education is often regarded as segregated and
exclusive. It has to be noted, however, that this perception is entirely due to its nature of
addressing cases in a highly individualized way. This is not to mean that special education is
an environment that violates human rights. Because special education assesses, instructs, and
evaluates students individually and intentionally, this type of educational setting is beneficial
to those with very unique needs as well.
Mainstreaming shares more similarities with inclusion than with special education.
Both look at integrating the child with additional needs into a general education setting.
There are, however, nuances between the two as well (see Table 3.1).
Mostly strengths-
based but is
Assessment and sometimes is also Both norm-
Evaluation standard-based referenced and
Norm-referenced strength-based
Involve other sectors of society. Current training and awareness campaigns seem to
limit the movement of inclusion to a mere home-school relationship. At most, these are
extended to the departments for social welfare and health. However, for an inclusive
set-up to truly be successful, active involvement of the entire community must be
ensured. For instance, those in the business, commercial, security, and religious sectors
must also be given representation in trainings. These campaigns must be wide enough
in scope as to cover supermarkets, restaurants, malls, public and government agencies
not directly associated with social welfare or health, transportation, land, airline and
maritime companies, the media, and even the research teams of our policy makers. At
the same time, they must be specific enough to reach the local churches, the subdivision
playgrounds, and the village stores. In recent years, students in the tertiary level from
various programs have been showing growing interest in the PWD community. For
instance, students belonging to architectural and interior design programs have been
working on theses and capstone projects where their main clients have additional needs.
The idea is for everyone—regardless of their training or exposure—to become more
sensitive and aware of the PWD population. The more aware a community is, the more
it will be able to help.
Collaborate. Whether creating an academic program specific to a child with
additional needs or creating a new legislative bill for the PWD community,
collaboration is crucial. Each member of the inclusive education team would have
their own strengths and weaknesses, and these have to be used wisely to benefit the
child with additional needs, Del Corro-Tiangco (2014) states that general education
teachers are trained in the general curriculum but would not know how to teach and
manage children with additional needs; while a special needs education teacher
would be equipped to handle atypical behaviors but would not know much about the
general education curriculum. True collaboration would guarantee an inclusive
program that would cover as many areas as possible.
Recognize the shift in roles of the teachers. With the shift to inclusive education,
the role of special education (SPED) teachers suddenly seems to be reduced to only
"as needed." As a result, the SPED teacher's role no longer becomes that of an
implementer but that of a consultative nature instead. It also becomes the
responsibility of the general education teacher to know what to do when faced with a
learner with additional needs in his or her classroom. The SPED teachers' role-their
trainings, their insights, and their skills as a supposed prime mover in the inclusive
education framework-must neither be diminished nor disregarded. Instead, these
must be used to ensure a good inclusive program is provided to children with
additional needs. Conversely. general education teachers must go through skills
training and capacity building workshops to ensure that they are supporting all types
of learners in their classrooms appropriately
Booth and Ainscow (2002) recommend that schools reflect on their current policies
and practices to check their readiness for an inclusive set-up. They also devised a
questionnaire that would help administrators, faculty and other stakeholders comprehensively
gather baseline data. A move that would greatly help in informing policy would be to
examine different aspects of the school and the delivery of its services. Specifically, schools
may look at the following:
Student admissions
Learner accommodations
In architecture, universal designs refer to structures that were made in such a way that
they can be used by customers or clients with a wide range of needs (Dukes & Lamar-Dukes
2009 as cited in Salend 2011). Such designs ensure accessibility for all. For example, an
architect designs a commercial complex where ramps, elevators, escalators, handrails, wide
doorways and sidewalks, and signs embossed in Braille abound. It is a very user-friendly
building, Obviously, the designer imagined that some customers might walk into the complex
in wheelchairs or white canes. The architect does not know if or when it's going to happen,
but he anticipated it and incorporated it into his design anyway.
In UDL, teachers are supposed to present information and materials in many different
ways, taking into consideration that some students may have not fully absorbed the lesson the
first time it was presented. The concept of multiple means of representation is meant to
ensure that all students are able to access and understand learning material. After this,
teachers allow students to express what they learned in various ways, and finally, the teacher
uses different techniques to reinforce learning at the students’ optional levels. The principles
of UDL, which sometimes overlap, are presented below with examples (see Table 3.2).
Promote
collaborative
activities such as
fish bowl
discussions or think-
pair-share
Establish strong
home school
partnerships
Classroom check-ins
and check-outs
Principle 9: Inclusive Inclusive practices are designed Make students aware
Environment to foster acceptance and a sense of and comfortable
of belongingness for all. with diversity
Emphasize social
roles in the
classroom: (e.g., that
we students are there
to teach each other
and learn from each
other.)
Allow bonding
activities
Do team-building
exercises regularly
and integrate lessons
in such activities
2. Differentiated Instruction
All learners are unique and have varying interests, talents, strength as well as needs.
Hence, it is essential that teaching and learning experience reflect this diversity. To ensure
engaged, successful, and flourishing learners, teaching and learning experiences need to be
designed in a way that provide opportunities for students to learn and demonstrate their
understanding in varied ways. Thus, Differentiating Instruction (D1) helps ensure that
learners are engaged in respectful tasks and provide diverse means of learning that reflect
their strengths and address their needs simultaneously.
As teachers, you must know your curriculum. You are suggested to revisit or identify
which are non-negotiable and negotiable learning objectives and tasks. You are also expected
to know your students' interests, readiness level (based on diagnostic data), and learning
styles/profile (strengths and needs). You may create a class profile to provide an overview of
the class's characteristics and needs. Next, you have to identify and plan what and how to
differentiate your material. The goal is to start small and take simple steps toward
differentiating instruction. Table 3.3 provides a guide on how to effectively differentiate in
the classroom.
Answer interest)
•Small-group Topic)
instruction
•Jigsaw (expert
groups)
•Cooperative
learning activities
•Cubing
•Learning contracts
How Is the Classroom Managed During Differentiated Learning? Structure the classroom by
establishing routines during differentiated learning activities.
1. Explain to the students the reason for differentiation. Make sure this is understood by all.
2. Use "anchor activities" which students can automatically work on when completing
assigned tasks to maintain a productive work environment and maximize instructional
time. Examples of anchor activities are reading chosen book (e.g., for book report),
journal writing based on a prompt, skill practice (spelling, math), use of manipulative
objects, etc.
a. Facilitator
b. Recorder
c. Summarizer/Timekeeper
d. Presenter
e. Errand monitor
c. Have a plan for when to ask for help (role of the errand monitor)
References:
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participation in schools. Bristol: Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education
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Friend, M. & Bursuck, W.D. (2009). Including Students With Special Needs: A Practical
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Gentry, R., Sallie, A. P., & Sanders, C. A. (2013). “Differentiated instructional strategies to
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