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Volume 8 Number 3
In this Issue:
Inclusive Classrooms: Reaction of Typical
Students
Without a doubt the United States has made great strides in welcoming
people with disabilities back into the community. One sign of this is the growing number
of children with disabilities attending regular classrooms in neighborhood schools with
their peers; what has come to be known as "inclusion."
However, while inclusion sounds good in theory, there is very little
documented evidence supporting the notion that all students benefit from educating
children with disabilities and typical students together. What kind of impact does
including children with disabilities have on typical students in regular classrooms? We
asked the experts: 250 elementary and middle school children completed a 13-question
survey.
We analyzed three key questions that focused on what typical children
liked, disliked, and learned from their classmates with severe disabilities. For purposes
of this article we categorized their responses for ease of review. (Percentages will not
always add up to 100 because some children gave more than one response or did not respond
at all.)
-what students liked-
- 60% a reciprocal relationship or activity
- 20% learned something new
- 13% felt good about helping the classmate
- 5% learned nothing
- 3% answers could not be categorized
-what students didn’t like-
- 48% too much noise (often said to interfere with doing class work)
- 31% didn’t dislike anything/liked everything
- 15% physical aspects or temper tantrums
-what students learned-
- 39% accept people as they are/all children can learn
- 35% a new awareness of self
- 13% new skills (such as sign language or re-direction)
- 10% answers that could not be categorized
- 3% learned nothing
Several tentative conclusions can be drawn from our study: many students
saw inclusion as a process where they learned about how to be patient, empathetic, and
responsible. Others were indifferent to the experience or troubled by some of it: the
noise, behaviors, or physical characteristics of some students.
However, indications that the students with disabilities were avoided,
made fun of, or feared did not appear in the responses. There was little sign that
students felt their academic performance had been compromised by the experience, although
some acknowledged the noise distracted them. Overall, students seemed to accept the idea
of all children attending school together.
As encouraging as these results are, they also raised more questions for
research: what are the best ways to structure relationships between typical and students
with disabilities? How deeply do the positive attitudes go? To what extent do they govern
behavior outside the classroom?
Our findings do square with the research that has been done so far. It
convinces us that inclusion is a process that should be pursued vigorously because it
confers positive benefits on everyone involved.
I know a person who is very special. Her name is Heather and
she’s my best friend. Heather is sixteen years old and she’s very pretty. She
has fair, baby-soft skin and glimmering green eyes which are framed by long eyelashes.
Heather has a big beautiful smile that lights up her face.
She has the most wonderful hair I have ever seen. It comes down to about
the middle of her back and it is rather thick. Its color is medium brown. I feel it’s
a shame that she always wears it tied back in a braid because it looks so pretty when
it’s down.
Heather has a great attitude towards life and other people. She is a
very happy girl and she’s very friendly. Heather loves to be with people and she can
make me laugh when I’m in a very bad mood.
On the inside Heather is just like the rest of us, yet on the outside
she’s different. She is severely handicapped and has spent her entire life in a
wheelchair. Heather can’t talk or move about as she pleases because of a disease
called Rett Syndrome.
Heather is very determined though. She is learning to use a support
walker with the help of others. She has managed to communicate a little with computers and
pictures. She turns her head to the left for "yes" and to the right for
"no". Heather has two bells on the tray of her wheelchair. One is for
"hi" and the other is for "bye".
Heather was the first (in this city) severely handicapped child to be
integrated into a regular classroom. This began in Salem, NH when she was in fifth grade.
Heather has proved this to be successful. She is now a ninth grade student at Salem High
and she’s doing well. Heather sits in the classroom and does work she is capable of.
Due to the fact that she can’t do this on her own, she has the help of an aide.
Heather is a great girl and I’m glad we’re friends.
Crystal P.
Age 15
Plain Talk: Teacher to Teacher
 Video: Plain
Talk: Teacher to Teacher
AGH Associates, Inc.
Item #1526 $70.00
Regular education teachers don't want to hear about inclusion from special
education people or administrators; they want to hear from their peers and colleagues who
have done it! This 28 minute video with facilitator's discussion guide provides the forum
for just that. Teachers from all grade levels discuss their original fears,
concerns, and triumphs in their efforts at inclusion with children who are the most
severely involved. This video is a great way to introduce your school system to
inclusion... or as the opening conversation to deal with the many legitimate issues
classroom teachers raise.
| In addition to the reactions of typical
children to inclusive classrooms, the thoughts and responses of regular classroom teachers
are paramount to successful inclusion experiences. The AGH video Plain
Talk: Teacher to Teacher records the experiences of those teachers working at the
forefront of inclusion. This ground-breaking video provides a forum for teachers to hear
colleagues discuss their initial fears, explore the benefits to all students, and
offer advice to those thinking about including children with disabilities in their
classrooms. The frankness of the teachers’ comments provides a catalyst for an open
discussion.
Several major themes emerge during the course of the video, which
parallel the changes and challenges inclusion brought to their schools:
Fear: The teachers begin by talking about how much they resisted
including children with disabilities into their classrooms. They characterize their
resistance in a number of ways – "I can’t teach them," "I’m
not trained" – but they admit that it all came down to fear of the unknown, a
fear caused by their lack of exposure to children with disabilities.
Parent Reaction: One of the concerns many teachers had, aside
from their own fears, was how parents would react to the presence of children with
disabilities in their child’s classroom. Many expected resistance and outright
hostility. But for the most part, the negative reactions never materialized, and they
often found the parents enthusiastic about what their children were learning.
Acceptance: When teachers realized that inclusion was going to
happen, that it wouldn’t go away, the teachers began to look for ways to accept these
children as "children", not as damaged goods. In each teacher’s story,
there comes a moment when the teacher makes a leap of faith and decides to take the risk. |
I was frightened. I was scared…it’s because of the "unknown."When you are first asked to teach a child who’s profoundly handicapped,
it’s a nightmare. You do not sleep…{you feel} it’s not fair for anyone to
ask you to do this.
I had a lot of very mixed feelings…I was confused as to how
much I was going to have to do on my own, not being trained in any kind of special
education.
I felt very, very worried and concerned because I felt so sorry for
the person.
I never had a parent come to me and say I don’t think my child
is going to benefit this year because you’re going to be so busy helping these
special children. It just never happened.
I had comments such as my child’s really benefited by it,
he’s really learned to be more compassionate, has learned to get along.
{In response to a parent}: Jason is learning to the best of his
ability the things he can learn, just like everybody else. Why not have children of all
abilities in the same room?
I was totally terrified – but {I said to myself} you’ve
given everything else a shot, you’ve got to do this too.
Getting to know Clynton changed me. He added another spectrum to
understanding kids. |
Downloaded at schoolhousedoor.com
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Fax 603-926-3689. |