The importance and definition of inclusion education essay

There are many reasons for the success of teaching process. One of these is inclusion. Inclusion is one of the most widely studied topics in the teaching and learning process in the educational fields. A lot of researches have been done about its importance, its effect and the way it is applied. The Chinese proverb, (irc, 2006), says, “ Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” The classroom is built upon interaction, cooperation, group work, and participation. These can be done through inclusion. If there is exclusion, teaching process would not be successful. Inclusion is one of the elements which, if applied properly, school achieves success. Inclusion lexically means the act of including or the state of being included. Therefore, Hudson (2009) explained that successful teachers should include their students as well as making their students included. Inclusion is about equal opportunities for all pupils. Pupils should all be included regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment and background. It gives attention and concentration to all pupils.

In my opinion successful inclusion is a must inside the classroom. When pupils are included properly, they will equally have the same chance to achieve, learn and acquire new experiences inside their school. But exclusion means bias, failure and drawback. Pupils should be taught, assessed, evaluated and supported equally. But teachers should consider that some pupils need more support or provision to have an equal chance of success. Inclusion needs planning and teaching inclusively. Therefore, each unit gives supported tasks to reach inclusion inside classrooms. To achieve a high rate of inclusion, teachers should put no limit for pupils’ involvement. Broadly, inclusion not only means to include pupils inside their classrooms but it also means to include classrooms inside their schools. (Hudson 2009)

The inclusion of pupils with special difficulties:

Focusing on including pupils with special difficulties, there are many routes to achieve inclusion. Steele, J. (1998) p. 203 says that:

The inclusion of pupils with learning difficulties within their communities depends on many complex factors, with educational placement being only one of these. Concepts of integration and segregation are not poles on a linear continuum, but even if they are, the concepts of true inclusion would not appear anywhere on such a line.

The elements that affect inclusion, especially with special difficulties pupils, change with the passage of time as these changes happen in different aspects of community provision. As Steele (1998) explained that attitude is one of the major factors which can affect inclusion. Most pupils can’t get adapted easily to a slight change in their environment or placement. Variations of inclusion for these pupils can be apparently witnessed within the same school, when they get a new teacher, or within the community when something happen suddenly. Creating a link between their community and the school can help motivate and boost inclusion. Inclusive practice for special needs pupils can be supported through using community facilities. For example, athletics clubs, sports facilities, youth clubs. In my opinion the school should get strong links with the community to create inclusion which will help these pupils when they finish study and face community. Thus, these pupils can interact with the community easily and may prefer to run their own businesses by depending on themselves.

Inclusion starts from home:

Hudson (2009) asserts that the school/home/student remains a major triangle for the school to achieve success. He also indicates that parents become less involved in following up their students in schools when these students grow up. However, he asserts that inclusion should be even when pupils become adults or in high school. I agree with Hudson as parents and students should work together to help create a fit environment for the performance of the school. Two years ago, there was a school near mine which got bad results for years. When I asked some teachers, parents and people connected with the school, I knew that most parents there are rich and busy. They can find no time to follow up their children’s course. The result affected the whole school because the fit environment was not there. The upbringing of the kids help positively or negatively in supporting the concept of inclusion inside them as some parents don not share their kids’ ideas and some are apart from them.

In the booklet: pedagogy and practice: teaching and learning in secondary schools. Unit 4: lesson design for inclusion,(2004) the researcher explains that pupils in inclusive classrooms will have equal opportunities to make success. They will be taught according to their life experiences and needs. Their progress and achievement will be evaluated. Through support, any barriers they face will be overcome. I agree with that because inclusion needs support as some pupils might be shy or introvert. It also requires that chances of learning must be equal.

But I also think it needs great effort from the teacher himself. As classifying the class and understanding their behaviours and potentials is not an easy matter. Teachers may not have all data to know all the needs of the pupils. In addition to that, not any lesson is helpful to the teacher to include all the pupils. The researcher puts some solutions for these problem that might stand in the way of introducing inclusion. The researcher indicates that planning and teaching inclusively is badly needed. In my opinion this is very important. Because when the teacher prepares his/her lesson, they must prepare it inclusively to save time. Therefore, taking account of the varied experiences and needs of pupils is necessary to apply inclusion.

How to achieve inclusion of the gifted and the school:

There has been a lot of research into the effectiveness of inclusion for the gifted and talented. Though it seems that inclusion can be difficult to use with talented pupils, it can be very effective with this category. Smith (2006 p. 53) says:

It can work, and can work very well. Evidence to support this claim can be found in thousands of classrooms around the world. Not only can inclusion work well for the gifted and talented, it has to work well for this group…….

I agree with Smith but to apply inclusion with the gifted, it needs hard work. The talented are not easy to include them in a classroom as they appear to have high level of understanding. They can be included when the subject taught is not easy. In my school in Egypt, I teach A class which is for the talented. I include them in the teaching and learning process. They react, argue and co-operate each other.

On (articles. famouswhy 2008) there is a report about inclusive schools. It says that:

“ Effective schools are educationally inclusive schools. This shows, not only in their performance, but also in their ethos and their willingness to offer new opportunities to pupils who may have experienced previous difficulties.

An educationally inclusive school is one in which the teaching and learning, achievements, attitudes and well-being of every young person matter.

The most effective schools do not take educational inclusion for granted. They constantly monitor and evaluate the progress all pupils make.”

I agree with this report that effective schools are inclusive schools. Schools can not be educationally professional unless they include all students whatever their level, ages, environments and interests are. The most effective schools do not take educational inclusion for granted. On the contrary they experiment all possible criteria to achieve inclusion. They constantly record and evaluate the progress each pupil makes inside his/her school. They take care of and identify any pupils who may be missing out, stubborn to engage, or feeling apart from what the school aspire to provide. They take active practical steps – in the classroom and beyond – to meet pupils’ needs effectively and they enhance and strengthen tolerance and understanding in a varied society. Inclusion can be achieved even by changing strategies inside the school.

Strategies in the promotion of inclusion:

Booth and Ainscow (2002) put down three strategies in the promotion of inclusion concerning the early years: to create inclusive cultures, develop inclusive practice and produce inclusive policies. I think that creating inclusive cultures can be achieved by building community values. In the early years, every pupil should feel welcomed and should feel no difference from home. Parents and the whole community should be contacted so that they can play a role in the inclusion system. All should have expectation to reach. Staff of the school should work on that. Inclusion strategy is a supreme one, so child, parents, community and school staff cooperate to achieve it.

Pupils can be inclusive in their school through practical ways. Pupils should do a lot of activities inside their schools to feel they are a part and parcel of it. Pupils can feel included through the school police formed from pupils themselves through strong sports’ competitions, through school trips, through decorating their classrooms, through having private lockers inside their schools, through participating in the curriculum and exams timetables, through having meals at school and through holding competitions among schools.

The challenges that face achieving inclusion:

Peer (2001) talked about inclusion as the decrease of inequality while exclusion as the increase of inequality. He added that there are a lot of challenges for achieving inclusion in our schools as it’s difficult to reach equality by which every learner takes his right to have acceptable level of learning. What makes matters worse is that every pupil has different learning needs, abilities, interests and characteristics. To consider this wide range of needs the education system should be designed according these needs. In addition to that those pupils with special needs should find access to pedagogy and curriculum. The problem is that most public schools which have most pupils can not satisfy all pupils’ needs of inclusion.

In my school inclusion is impossible to achieve for many reasons. Firstly, most schools do not have enough space or facilities to include all pupils. The society is very diverse; therefore it is difficult to include different classes. Besides that, the big numbers of pupils inside the classrooms and the deficiency of education system. Furthermore, the high ratio of unemployment among graduates makes inclusion -inside the whole education system- very low. Teachers themselves are not fully included in the education system. They just do a job. They justify that by their low salaries and the high cost of living.

Conclusion:

To conclude, though inclusion in our classrooms is a must, it can not be applied easily. It is difficult to include adult students as they have many other things that occupy their minds; but with young pupils it can be applied easier. The big challenge is with special needs pupils. Because they are not able ones, they need special requirements in placement and methods. Good schools are the ones that can include not only pupils but also classrooms. There are different ways through which we can apply inclusions; school facilities and the link to outer community are the most obvious ones. Inclusion is an inner interact with the school. Shy and introvert pupils suffer a lot to reach inclusion. Teacher here play an important role. The gifted need a great deal of efforts from their tutor on applying inclusion. In few words, inclusion is one of the most important goals of the school to reach success.