Essay- Inclusive Education

Inclusive education is a term that has been in the educational and teaching practices
for decades in Australia. Inclusive education, the concept is based on the philosophy that
schools should provide the needs for all the children in their community, irrespective of their
ability, disability and other diversities (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014). The meaning of the
term has shifted from being exclusively about students with disabilities to delivering high
quality education to all students (Anderson & Boyle, 2015). The essay discusses the specific
legislation involved in the inclusion of students with disabilities within the main stream
classrooms and the changing views for inclusion over the years. It also examines the inclusion
in relation to Autism Spectrum Disorder and the different teaching skills as well as strategies
to support students with special needs.

The first forms of schooling for students with disabilities were organised by parents or
charity organisations and were not overseen by the government. It was in 1970s that the
Australian State governments took over the full responsibility for education of all students
without any discrimination for learners with disabilities (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014).
However, most of the schools had segregated special schooling system for students with
disabilities and most of them only catered for one kind of a disability.

However, later the era marked for a normalisation movement for mainstreaming and
integration and finally in 1994, the World Conference on Special Needs Education held at
Salamanca, Spain passed a Statement that supported inclusion as the standard form of
education for students with disability and was agreed by 90 countries (Foreman & Arthur-
Kelly, 2014). There were many acts passed around the globe, for example, the United States
(Education for All Handicapped Children Act; 1975; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
1990; 1997; Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004) and United
Kingdom (Education Act, 1981; 1993; Special Educational Needs and Disability Act, 2001; The
Warnock Report, 1978) (Boon, Wilson & Curwood, 2014). All these happened based on facts
that there has been widespread acceptance of right for all persons and research had failed to
show evidence for better social or academic outcomes from special schools Foreman &
Arthur-Kelly, 2014).

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 Consequently, inclusion has changed its meaning and acceptance among all western
countries. An essential difference was to shift the thought from are we able to provide the
needs of students with difficulties to how can it be made possible in a mainstream classroom.
The environment of students being in special schools changed to mainstream schooling and
schools are held responsible for providing the students with difficulties much more
adjustments so that learn along with their fellow students (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014).
This was a significant change and stays to be one of the challenging tasks for teachers and
schools.

The Australian Government had passed the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA),
which addressed different areas along with education. It was aimed to implement the
Australia’s international human rights obligations under the convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities along with obligations relating to non-discrimination under other
treaties, like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The DDA protects people
with disability against discrimination in many areas of public life, including: employment,
education, accommodation, getting or using services–such as banking and insurance services,
government services, professional services of doctors, lawyers etcetera, and accessing public
places. The DDA also protects people against harassment because of their disability, in
employment, education or in getting or using services (DET, 2015).

The Disability Standards for Education, which came into effect in 2005, provide a
framework to ensure that students with disability get equal access and participation in
education, as their fellow peers on the same basis (NSW DET, 2012a). The DDA makes it
unlawful to contravene a disability standard. These standards apply to all government and
non-government education providers, preschools, schools, vocational education and training
providers, higher education and adult and community education systems and the
organisations who develop and accredit curricula and courses (NSW DET, 2012a). The
guidelines enact that there should be necessary adjustments or accommodations done for
the students so that they the same experience and opportunities as others. These are termed
as ‘reasonable adjustments’. Parents, and where appropriate, students with disability, must
be consulted on the adjustments provided. An adjustment is reasonable if it meets the
interests of the parties involved (NSW DET, 2012a).

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 The statistics in 2009 estimated 292,600 children with disability attending Australian
schools. They are aged between 5-20 years and represented 8.3% (one in twelve
approximately) of the overall children attending schools. According to the 2012 statistics, 12%
(90,000) of the NSW school students have a disability. Among them 4.7% have a confirmed
disability against the Department’s criteria (intellectual, physical, hearing, vision, mental
health and autism); 7.3% have additional needs relating to difficulties in learning or behaviour
(dyslexia, reading or communication delay and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
(NSW DET, 2012b). As the statistics show, the numbers keep on increasing and there should
be genuine efforts for inclusive education. This requires teaching skills and strategies along
with research-based evidences and a supportive school culture.

The main strategies to support inclusive education can be summarised as developing

communication skills, understanding and supporting literacy competence, and understanding
and supporting numeracy competence. There will be specific needs for students with specific
difficulties, but in general, these strategies can be employed in any inclusive classroom
(Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014). Teachers who value the importance of communication in
their classrooms are found to have a positive effect on the students’ development (Mercer,
as cited in Foreman & Arthur- Kelly, 2014). Teachers can use various strategies aimed at
communication goals depending on the students’ issues. For example, if a student shows
minimal interaction, create group works and assign a role for student involving
communication/speaking.

Literacy incompetence can be caused by several underlying problems such as visual

impairment, dyslexia, auditory processing problems etcetera. Teaching process should be
made visible and explicit for effective outcomes. For numeracy competence, teachers should
read the problems, paraphrase for better understanding, set a scaffolded plan to solve it and
then work it with the students (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014). The complexity in scientific
lessons should be broken down for better understanding. Explicit and clear steps for
experiments or mathematical problems should be given to students. Teachers should work
together with students to set goals and ways to achieve it.

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 Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental condition. The major characteristics are
differences in behaviour, social interaction, communication, special interests and sensory
processing. It refers to a group of disabilities and is often called Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD). Variety of difficulties are experienced by these students; for example, social
relationships, communication, narrow range of interests and low threshold of stress (Friend
& Bursuck, 2012; Autism Spectrum Australia, 2017). The number of children with ASD in
Australia is rising and therefore, the number of them are increasing in the normal classrooms.
Hence there should be more accommodations made for these children which require the
teachers to develop specific teaching strategies, skills and differentiation to help them. Most
of the adjustments made can be helpful for other students with disabilities as well. For
example, demonstrations ad reading the steps will be beneficial for visually impaired and /
hearing impaired students.

There is no comprehensive set of strategies for helping students with ASD, a few are
discussed below which can make a significant difference in the classrooms. Responding
appropriately to their behaviour is the first one, as the unusual behaviours can interfere with
the learning of themselves and others (Friend & Bursuck, 2012). Fostering social interactions
according to their sensitive behaviour is another important aspect. Supporting a student with
ASD to develop linguistic or symbol-based communication involves an intensive one-on-one
program (applied behavioural analysis) (Foreman & Arthur-Kelly, 2014).

However, all these strategies can be tailored to accommodate different students with
differing difficulties in the classrooms. Differentiation is such a strategy that can be used to
accommodate a range of students within the classroom. Differentiation allows the students
to access the same curriculum or classroom materials with different entry and exit points,
that line with their capabilities and encourages them to set higher level goals in future.
Differentiation can help students, both struggling and advanced learners, to learn within their
current proficiency and emerge to the next level (Meng & Bell, 2015; MacDonald & Dana,
2016). Differentiation is a process through which students are given tasks that aligns with
their capabilities at the same time meet the learning outcomes. Similarly, assessment tasks
should also be tailored for the students depending on their capabilities. For example, students
with English language difficulties should be given other modes of expressing their content
knowledge, while they work on their literacy skills.

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 Developing a good practice for inclusive education include both a whole school
practice and in class support. The whole school level approach includes adjustments to
cultures, policies and practices, developing support systems and professionals. In class
support involve differentiation of curricula, the application of universal design, use of assistive
technologies and individual education plans. These two approaches are highly interrelated.
Quality teaching practices in the classroom require support and school-wide collaboration
and school leaders, in particular, have an important role to play in supporting and nurturing
quality teaching in school staff and the underpinning policies (Salisbury & McGregor, as cited
in ARACY, 2013). The attitude of the school leadership is a major driving force in inclusive
education. A research conducted among the NSW primary school principals showed that the
inclusive practices in the schools were highly influenced by their views on what inclusion was
(Graham & Spandagou, 2011)

The ARACY (2013) report also highlights the good in class practices as follows:

 Quality teaching- which focus on student achievement, cohesive learning,

responsiveness to learning processes, joint setting of goals, scaffolding and
differentiation etcetera.
 Inclusive pedagogy- providing explicit and multifaceted instruction
 Adaptive curricula- differentiating for special needs
 Alternative curricula- some educative departments can provide an alternative
curriculum
 Assistive and adaptive technologies
 Universal Design for Learning (UDL)- it is the deliberate creation of lessons and
outcomes tailored in a way that all students can participate in the same
curriculum
 Individual Planning- personalised learning environment

In conclusion, the changing view of inclusive education and the increasing demands of
accommodating more students with disabilities have created the elevating needs for teachers
to acquire skills and knowledge of inclusive education. The implementation of different
legislative requirements and good practice benchmarks increases the responsibilities and

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commitment of teachers to provide quality learning environments for all students,
irrespective of their disabilities or diversities. Teachers should now be equipped with specific
sets of skills and good pedagogical knowledge to improve classroom climate and empower
students. Teachers and schools collaborate with communities and care givers/parents to
develop individualised and generalised policies and plans for an inclusive classroom. Teachers
should be supported by a group of professionals and the school management to ensure our
students are provide with equal and equitable opportunities in education.

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REFERENCES

Anderson, J., & Boyle, C. (2015). Inclusive education in Australia: rhetoric, reality and the
road ahead. Support for Learning, 30(1), 4-22. doi: 10.1111/1467-9604.12074
Australian Government Department of Education and Training (DET). (2012a). Disability
Standards for Education 2005. Australian Government. Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/node/16354
Australian Government Department of Education and Training (DET). (2015). Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 Fact Sheet. Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/dse-fact-sheet-1-dda_0.pdf
Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY). (2013). Inclusive Education for
Students with Disability A review of the best evidence in relation to theory and
practice. Retrieved from https://www.aracy.org.au/publications-
resources/command/download_file/id/246/filename/Inclusive_education_for_stude
nts_with_disability_-
_A_review_of_the_best_evidence_in_relation_to_theory_and_practice.pdf
Autism Spectrum Australia. (2017). What is Autism. Retrieved from
https://www.autismspectrum.org.au/sites/default/files/Factsheet_What%20is%20a
utism_20170306_1.pdf
Boon, R., Wilson, R., & Curwood, J. (2014). Inclusive Education in Australia: An Introduction
to the Special Issue. Journal of International Special Needs Education, 17(2), 45-47.
doi: 10.9782/2159-4341-17.2.45
Foreman, P., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2014). Inclusion in action (4th ed.). Melbourne, Victoria:
Cengage Australia.
Graham, L., & Spandagou, I. (2011). From vision to reality: views of primary school principals
on inclusive education in New South Wales, Australia. Disability & Society, 26(2), 223-
237. doi: 10.1080/09687599.2011.544062
MacDonald, M., & Dana, Nancy Fichtman. (2016). The Role of Differentiation and
Standards-based Grading in the Science Learning of Struggling and Advanced
Learners in a Detracked High School Honors Biology Classroom, ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses.

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Maeng, J., & Bell, R. (2015). Differentiating science instruction: Secondary science teachers'
practices. International Journal Of Science Education, 37(13), 2065-2090. doi:
10.1080/09500693.2015.1064553
NSW Department of Education. (2012b). Every Student, Every School Learning and Support.
Retrieved from https://schoolsequella.det.nsw.edu.au/file/d98404c4-4d09-49d1-
bd87-ffea7e3fd1d8/1/ESES%20-%20Learning%20%26%20Support.pdf

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