Assessment Task One: Inclusive Education

Jarrod Regan

1730324

Education is a paramount right for all individuals regardless of culture, race, ethnicity, sex,
relationship status or disability that a person may identify themselves as. For a teacher, the
process of discovering their students individual needs, tailers their education practise within
the classroom. The educational practise of Inclusive Education is the process of including
students from all diverse needs into mainstream teaching groups. Government policies such
as the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 or the Disability Standards of Education 2005 has
become a central document to the development of Inclusive Education within schools. This
policy has been shaped and moulded within the various states in Australia and has been used
to provide guidelines to the ethical and moral treatment of individuals with special needs such
as the Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and also shapes the development of professional
standards and course work content within schools. Finally, the teacher must also develop and
possess skills or personal traits that allow them to create an inclusive classroom which
include strong problem-solving skills and a positive attitude towards inclusive education.

Inclusive education has become the fundamental principle that teachers utilise in order to
provide equal education for all students. Inclusion means the full inclusion of children with
diverse abilities in all aspects of schooling (Deppeler, Harvey, & Loreman, 2005, p. 2) and
the process of including children with different abilities also includes students with individual
needs that effect the ability of students to learn. For inclusive education however, the goal is
for these students to have a deep level of inclusion throughout the school and as well as their
classrooms. This means that students must be catered for their individual needs within the
whole schooling system from the onset (Deppeler, Harvey, & Loreman, 2005, p. 2).
Through this system students should be catered for their individual needs from the moment
they enter into the school system, which emphasises the need for schools to develop
programs, support systems and teacher competence in order to cement the growth of
Inclusive Education in their school.

The teaching practise before the development of Inclusive education was primarily centred on
the idea of separation or creating specialised schools or classes to allow these students to
have their own space. The segregation of students based upon their distinct learning needs,

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such as a school for the blind or an autism support class, was the initial response by educators
for providing an education to these particular students. This form of support focused on
students being only permitted to a particular setting or area of the school or class, effectively
creating a separation between at needs students and the mainstream cohort of students, which
is now considered a form of micro-exclusion (Cologon, 2014, p. 11). This micro-
exclusion developed through a common misconception within the education system that
students that possessed diverse learning needs will be a disruption to the mainstream body of
students (Deppeler, Harvey, & Loreman, 2005, p. 11). Students who had been placed within
these programs often describe a feeling of being isolated or feeling as if their condition was
something to be ashamed of due to their evident separation from the normal students
(Cologon, 2014, p. 9). This perception eventually becomes the driving force for future
government legislations that enforces the support of diverse individuals within society as well
as creating the backbone to the development of Inclusive Education for all students within the
education system.

Inclusive Educational practices are structured through government policy which provides
laws that enforces equal opportunities for all people. In terms of supporting students with
various learning difficulties, government policies outline the requirements for teachers and
schools to support students with additional needs. The backbone of government policy that
supports inclusive teacher lies within the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). The
primary function of the DDA is to legislate a means of protecting individuals with disabilities
from being discriminated. Therefore under the law, it is an offence to treat people differently
because of a disability (Australian Government: Department of Education and Training,
2014). This means that individuals of all disabilities must be afforded an equal opportunity
for education, job opportunities, housing and gaining access to public areas for use
(Australian Government: Department of Education and Training, 2014). Due to this primary
function, the DDA has also been tailored to specifically reference the needs of students within
the confines of educational practices. The DDA outlines that all students must be able to gain
admission to schools, have access to all facets of the educational process and be free from
harassment due to their disability (Austrailan Human Rights Commision, 2012).
Additionally, teachers educational practice must provide reasonable adjustments for
students to feel included and integrated within the class setting (Foreman, 2015, p. 11). The
Discrimination Act 1992 acts as a focal point for the inclusion of at needs students within

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mainstream schools and has set standards that must be adhered to for the betterment of these
students.

These policies were further enhanced in two-thousand and five with the Disability Standards
for Education 2005 which was designed to be a supplement to the Disability Discrimination
Act 1992 (Petriwskyj, 2014, p. 75). This supplement to the policy allowed for the
development for educational practices that fostered respect and support for students with a
disability (Petriwskyj, 2014, p. 75), this provided means to solidify the practice of inclusive
education within schools and further enable students with additional needs to be included
within the mainstream system of the education. This also meant that schools must provide the
structure and means for students to gain access to the facilities of the schools such as wheel
chair access for students with mobility issues, writing support, reading support and be
provided with any resources which support the students learning needs (Anti-Discrimination
Board of New South Wales, 2015). The continued development of the inclusion of diverse
learning needs students within the Disability Standards of Education 2005 for Australian
legislation has pushed inclusive education practices to be employed by teachers and schools
within recent years.

The application of government policies is also evident within the curriculum and teaching
material that is utilised within the teaching profession. With government legislation outlining
the need for inclusive education, the department of education has also enforced these
principles within the teaching profession and has outlined the necessary steps a teacher must
take in order to comply with the DDA. The Australian Institute for Teaching and Strong
Leadership (AITSL), produced the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
(Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2014) which contains the
professional criteria a teacher must meet or present within the classroom and learning
materials in order to be considered a professional in the field. Within the Professional
Standards the first standard Know Students and How They Learn (Australian Institute for
Teaching and School Leadership, 2014) which contains a specific reference to the teacher
meeting the requirements of supporting students with diverse needs and disabilities in
standards 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the
full range of abilities and 1.6 Strategies to support full participation of students with
disability (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2014, p. 2). Additionally,
curriculum documentation such as the History K-10 Syllabus from the Board of Studies New

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South Wales (NSW Board of Studies, 2012). This document also refers to the educators need
to provide support for students of diverse needs and abilities within the curriculum unit as it
has been designed to accommodate teaching approaches that support the learning needs of
all students (NSW Board of Studies, 2012, p. 4). With the incorporation of anti-
discrimination legislation into the education system, the requirement for teachers to
incorporate Inclusive education practices in teachers methodologies is further apparent due
to the Department of Educations documentation, Professional Standards, and designing
curriculum content to be flexible enough to cater to all students needs within curriculum
documentation.

In classrooms that contain students with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), teachers can
utilises the teaching support documents in the curriculum and Professional Standards in order
to develop methodologies that allow students with ASD to be included in the mainstream
classroom. One such methodology that supports Inclusive Learning environments is the
Universal Design for Learning. Universal Design is a methodology that encapsulates the idea
that teachers should design classes that can be used in any class, regardless of the mixed
abilities or capabilities a student may possess. In effect a teacher that incorporates Universal
Design within their teaching methodology is able to ensure all students access to the general
education curriculum (Council for Exceptional Children, 2005, p. 2). Contained within
Universal Design is the concept of Differentiated Instruction (Council for Exceptional
Children, 2005, p. 24) which entails the adjustment of the pacing, structure, conceptual work
or classroom content in order to provide students with different needs a chance to
demonstrate their personal strengths and capabilities (Council for Exceptional Children,
2005, p. 24). In the case of ASD students, the Universal Design procedure would focus on the
capabilities of these students while also limiting the separation of these students from others.
One classroom matter that may be addressed is the fact that students with ASD are at risk of
social separation and removal from social situations (Humphrey & Symes, 2013, p. 33).
Some methods that teachers can utilise in Universal Design is the use of peer teaching
lessons where students teach each other the content of the lesson and develop their own
perspective or ideas (Browder, Dibiase, Jimenez, & Spooner, 2012, p. 308) which will drive
students to interact and socialise. This will not only allow these students to feel included with
their classmates but also improve on ASD students grasp on the content. Additionally,
allowing students to develop visual aids for their own learning can also be a great benefit for
ASD students. The design of visual aids in either group work or individual work will further

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the social interactions of these students and will also allow students with ASD to present their
knowledge or research in a fashion that aligns with their personal strengths (De La Paz, 2013,
p. 96). These teaching methods not only promote the application of Inclusive learning and
government legislation in the classroom, the process of Universal Design can also provide
ASD students with more confidence in their work and improve their desire to learn.

With the focus of Inclusive Education being on the ability for teachers to develop strong
working relationships with a range of students, research has shown that particular skills or
traits within the teacher are required in order to create a successful learning environment for
including the various needs of students. With the development of Universal Design for
Learning in teaching methodologies the ability for a teacher to be aware of student needs and
adapt their teaching material to meet these needs means that a teacher in the inclusive
classroom must be flexible for all circumstances and creative planning in order to provide for
students with ASD or other learning needs with effective learning materials (Lindsay, Proulx,
Scott, & Thomson, 2014, p. 111). Pairing with an ability to be flexible with teaching content
and learning materials, teachers must also be able to quickly identify a potential problem with
the class they are teaching in an immediate fashion or in prior preparation, therefore, the skill
of problem solving also becomes essential in the creation of an Inclusive Learning classroom
(Deppeler, Harvey, & Loreman, 2005, p. 4). Finally, a skill that a teacher must also possess is
a positive attitude to Inclusive Learning environments. Tim Loremans Seven Pillars of
Support for Inclusive Education outlines that the first pillar for Inclusive Education lies with
the teachers positive attitude towards its application in all levels of the education system
(Loreman, 2007, p. 25). This positive attitude will allow for teachers to apply flexibly to class
design and be more aware of the possible problems that may arise in the classroom for
students with various needs. This collection of skills and traits in the teacher directly lead to
the successful application of Inclusive Learning in the classroom.

The process of creating an Inclusive Education classroom has become central to the methods
of teaching in Australian classrooms. With Government legislations such as the Disability
Discrimination 1992 protecting and enforcing the equal opportunity of students of different
needs and abilities in the classroom in providing the best possible education they can receive.
With these policies embedded within Department of Education documentation, the necessity
of Inclusive Education is paramount for the betterment of teacher practice and for the school
community. Teachers can support students with differing needs such as Autistic Spectrum

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Disorders by applying Inclusive Learning methodologies such as Universal Design for
Learning within their classrooms but also possess the ability to be flexible, creative and have
a positive attitude towards the application of Inclusive Education within the education
system. With these policies, methodologies and teaching traits Inclusive Education is possible
and the betterment of teaching students from all ranges of ability will become apparent as
teachers better apply these methods within the classroom.

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 References
Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales. (2015, March). Disability discrimination
factsheet. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from Anti-Discrimination Board of New South
Wales: Disability Discrimination: antidiscrimination.justice.nsw.gov.au

Austrailan Human Rights Commision. (2012, August 20). D.D.A guide: Getting an
education. Retrieved from Austrailan Human Rights Commision:
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/dda-guide-getting-education

Australian Government: Department of Education and Training. (2014, June 30). Fact sheet
1: Disability discrimination act 1992. Retrieved March 21, 2017, from Department of
Education and Training: https://docs.education.gov.au/node/35941

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2014). Standards. Retrieved March
14, 2016, from Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:
http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list

Browder, D., Dibiase, W., Jimenez, B., & Spooner, F. (2012). Inclusive inquiry science
unsing peer-mediated embedded insruction for students with moderate intellectual
disability. Exceptional Children, 78(3), 301-317.

Cologon, K. (2014). Better together: Inclusive education in the early years. In K. Cologon
(Ed.), Inclusive Education in the Early Years: Right From the Start (pp. 3-26). South
Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Council for Exceptional Children. (2005). Universal design for learning: A guide for teachers
and education professionals. Arlington: The Council For Exceptional Children.

De La Paz, S. (2013). Teaching and learning in history: Effective and reform-based practices
for students with learning disabilitis. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal,
11(1), 89-105.

Deppeler, J., Harvey, D., & Loreman, T. (2005). Inclusive education: A practical guide to
supporting diversity in the classroom. Psychology Press.

Foreman, P. (2015). Social justice principle, the law, and research, as bases for inclusion: An
update. Melbourne: Department of Education Victoria.

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Humphrey, N., & Symes, W. (2013). Inclusive education for pupiles with autistic spectrum
disorders in secondary mainstream schools: Teacher attitudes, experience and
knowledge. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 17(1), 32-46.
doi:10.1080/13603116.2011.580462

Lindsay, S., Proulx, M., Scott, H., & Thomson, N. (2014). Exploring teacher's stratergies for
including children with autism spectrum disorder in mainstream classrooms.
International Journal of INclusive Education, 18(2), 101-122.
doi:10.1080/13603116.2012.758320

Loreman, T. (2007). Seven pillars of support for inclusive education: Moving from "why" to
"how?". International Journal of Whole Schooling, 3(2), 22-39.

NSW Board of Studies. (2012). History K-10 Syllabus. Sydney: Board of Studies NSW.

Petriwskyj, A. (2014). Legislation and policy in early years inclusion. In K. Cologon (Ed.),
Better Together: Inclusive Education in the Early Years Right From the Start (pp. 70-
88). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

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