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MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND

TECHNOLOGY

EPS 402 Inclusive Education

Purpose

To introduce students to key issues in inclusive education with emphasis to

diversity needs in the regular classroom, working with the community for positive
change in development of children with disabilities

Objectives
Explain terms and key concepts of inclusive education
Explain the principles and benefits of inclusive Education

Explain the philosophical aspects OF Inclusive Education and teacher

development process

Identify inclusive cultures in the community

Identify ways of fulfilling diversity needs in the regular classroom (curriculum

adaptation adaptation/differentiation)
Identify ways of maintaining quality and equity education
Describe ways of working with committee and institutions to fulfil inclusive
education
Explain the innovation strategies for positive change in development of children
with disability
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Definition of terms and clarification of concepts used in inclusive

education

There are various terms and concepts used in inclusive education. They include:

inclusion,
inclusive education,
inclusive setting
learners diversity,
resource room,
integration/mainstreaming,
itinerant or peripatetic services.

Let us now examine each of these terms and concepts briefly.

Inclusion

This is a philosophy that focuses on the process of adjusting the home, school and the
larger society to accommodate persons with special needs including disabilities. All
individuals regardless of their differences are accorded the opportunity to interact, play,
learn, work and experience the feeling of belonging. They are also allowed to develop in
accordance with their potentials and abilities.
The full and equal participation of each individual is assured in an inclusive society in
which differences are respected and valued. Discrimination and bias against those who
are considered different is eliminated through appropriate practices and policies.
Inclusion therefore calls for persons with special needs to be fully involved in all aspects
of life
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These include:

education,
employment,
access to consumer services such as electricity and clean water supply,
recreational and social activities,
community and domestic activities,
decision making process,
access to information.

Inclusion is about the following:

 welcoming diversity,
 benefiting all learners with special needs and disabilities,
 children in school who may feel excluded,
 providing equal access to education for all children,
 continuous search to finding better ways of responding to diversity,
 identification and removal of barriers, stimulating creativity and problem solving
by all. This requires the presence, participation and achievement of all learners.
 learners who risk marginalization, exclusion and/or underachievement,
 reforming schools and ensuring that every child receives quality and appropriate
education within these schools,
 improving learning environments and providing opportunities for all learners to
become successful in their learning experiences.
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Inclusion should start from the beginning of life rather

than having the individual segregated first and then later
brought back into the mainstream of society.

Inclusive Setting

This is a situation where all learners including those with special needs and disabilities
participate in all activities in a community. These learners’ are recognized and their
needs addressed as much as possible.

Inclusive Education

This is the philosophy of ensuring that schools, centres of learning and educational
systems are open to all children. This enables the learners to be included in all aspects of
school-life. It also means identifying, reducing or removing barriers within and around
the school that may hinder learning. For this to happen, teachers, schools and systems
need to modify the physical and social environment so that they can fully accommodate
the diversity of learning needs that learners may experience.

An inclusive school includes learners with various diversities

and differentiates educational experiences to cater for the
various diversities.

According to UNESCO (2001), inclusive education takes the Education for All
agenda forward. This is done by finding ways of enabling schools to serve all
children in their communities as part of an inclusive education system.

Inclusive education is concerned with all learners with a focus on those who have
traditionally been excluded from educational opportunities.
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List the Learners with special needs who have been excluded in
educational provisions that are targeted by inclusive education.

Learners’ Diversity

This term refers to the variations of abilities and differences found among any group of
learners in any given setting. These variations and differences give rise to different
learner characteristics.
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Resource room

This is a room in a regular or special school, which is equipped for enriching learning
for learners with special needs. It is usually run by a resource room teacher who is a
member of staff with appropriate experience or training in
also assigned to assist particular learners with special needs.
special needs education. She has a responsibility to advise and support other teachers
and learners to deal with special educational needs in the classroom.

Itinerant or peripatetic teacher

This is a teacher who is trained in special needs education and moves from school to school
where children with special needs are included. The role of this teacher is to advise the regular
teacher and give technical support where need arises. This teacher is
The teacher follows a programme, which is drawn up in consultation with the regular
teacher, parent, siblings and/or peers to meet individual learners’ needs.

Integration/Mainstreaming

The term refers to the participation of learners with special educational needs in regular
education without demanding changes in the curricular provision. Such
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children follow the school system as it is with some or no support. They are expected to
adapt to the regular school arrangements.

Different professionals sometimes use the terms ‘integration’ and ‘mainstreaming’

Interchangeably.

The term integration is mostly used in Europe and Kenya

while mainstreaming is commonly used in America.

This provision reflects the attempts to place learners with special needs in the
mainstream/regular education system. The focus remains on disability. There are three
main forms of integration. These are:

Functional integration
Locational/physical integration
Social integration

Functional integration

This is a form of integration where the child with special needs is placed in the regular
class. In some cases the learner is taken out to the resource room to be given modified
instructions by the resource teacher, itinerant or special teacher in the area of special
needs.

Locational/physical integration

In this form of integration the learner with special needs is placed in a special unit
located in the regular school. In this case, the learners in the unit have limited

interactions with those in the regular school. They are only able to mix with others
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when they are out of classroom for example during break time. This leaves the
integration physical or locational in nature. In Kenya, most of the special units
especially those for children with mental disabilities are purely physical.

Social integration

In this form of integration the learner with special needs is placed in a special unit for
learning purposes, but joins the peers in the regular classes for social activities like
physical education, games and other co curricular activities.

The advantages and disadvantages of integration

Advantages of integration
the learners with special needs enjoy interactions with peers.
it is less restrictive to the learners as they interact with others freely.
gives an opportunity for learners without special needs to support those with special
needs in various activities.

Disadvantages of integration:

a learner with special needs may be excluded from learning activities while being
locationally or socially included.
learners with special needs may be labelled and stigmatised. This may lower their
self-esteem and image.
the learners with special needs may be ignored by teachers who may feel
incompetent to assist them.

Objectives of Inclusive Education

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Learners with Special Needs and their peers need to develop constructive and
sustainable relationships. This is possible if mutual perceptions of shared experiences
are availed through provision of well planned collaborative learning experiences.

The new trends in Special Needs provision suggest that the regular classroom is the first
option of education for learners with special needs including those with disabilities.
However, the choice of placement will depend on severity of special needs including
disability.

Objectives of inclusive education include the following

:

 providing a comprehensive educational plan that modifies the curriculum to give

maximum opportunity to children with special needs in order for them to
become productive members of society.

 developing positive attitude in parents, teachers, peers and the

community at large towards children with special needs.

 providing equal opportunities to all children to share knowledge,

resources and experiences.

 suggesting approaches to accommodate all children in regular classes

regardless of their disabilities or abilities.

 developing and implementing a curriculum that is flexible and

accessible
to all children.

 reaching the unreached children and youth within regular education.

 facilitating inclusion of the learner in all aspects of life.

 identifying and minimising barriers to learning and development.

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Principles and Benefits of Inclusive Education

 calls for equal opportunities for all learners to experience normal

mainstream activities, while making deliberate and appropriate measures to
ensure quality education for all.

 calls for a child centred curriculum and the learner to attend the school that
he/she would naturally go to in his community if she/he had no special
needs.

 advocates for accessibility to the learning process and the curriculum by all
learners by differentiating the learning and assessment process according to
the learners needs.

 addresses the needs of all learners with visible or invisible learning

difficulties such as visual, hearing, physical, intellectual, communication,
behavioural and emotional, bereavements from HIV and AIDS, child abuse,
poverty, malnourishment, emotional effects of wars, divorce and family
separation and living on the street.

 recognizes and caters for individual differences in race, religion, abilities,

disabilities or circumstances. Differences are only seen as challenges.

 plans for positive learning opportunities with support to learners with

special needs as an integral part of the ordinary school.

 requires change of attitudes, behaviours, teaching methods, curricula and

environments to meet the needs of all learners, hence overcoming barriers to
learning and development.

 calls on pecial needs education service providers to work closely with others
within the community such as health and social workers emphasizing prevention
and intervention strategies to minimize the occurrence and the impact of
disabilities in the community.
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Benefits of Inclusive Education

In inclusive education, all learners learn and grow in the environment that they will
eventually live and work in. As participation of those who are “different” takes root, all
learners and teachers gain the virtues of being accommodating, accepting, patient and
co-operative. Other children gain some valuable virtues such as being considerate,
patient and humble as they support their peers with special needs. Some learners with
special needs are gifted with special abilities, which their peers can benefit from.

Teachers get to share ideas and knowledge with each other, parents and significant
others, thus making education a meaningful aspect of everyday life. They also develop
their skills and abilities when working as a team to address the challenges. This may
also boost their status in the community.

Inclusive education creates ‘A School For All’ where everybody benefits resulting to an
inclusive society. The self-esteem of the child with special needs in education is
improved. It is cost effective and gives equal opportunities to all children thus
promoting the rights of all to education.

The Association of Retarded Citizens (ARC), (Smith (1998) notes that inclusion brings
benefits to both students and teachers as follows:

Benefits to Students
students with disabilities have greater success in achieving Individualized
Educational Programme goals than those in traditional programmes.
students with special needs in education in general classes do better academically
and socially than counterparts in non-inclusive settings.
students with special needs gain self esteem, acceptance by class mates and
social skills.
the academic progress of non-disabled students is not slowed down by having
peers in the classroom.
benefits to regular learners include:
o reduced fear of human differences o
increased comfort and awareness o
growth in social cognition
o improvement in self concept
o development of personal principles o
warm and caring friendships.
parents confirmed improved outcomes for their children without
disabilities when children with disabilities were included in
the classroom.

Benefits to teachers
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 teachers learn a lot about disabilities from the learners and about treating each
other with respect or openness by watching the learners interact.
 they move from using paper and pencil to using more manipulative and
creative methods of teaching
 they use more collaborative problem solving approaches between learners.
 the class feels as a family hence all expected to participate in general
form of activities.
 teamwork is promoted between teacher and support teacher, speech/
occupational/physio therapists in order to reaching all children.

Inclusive culture in schools

This is characterized by:

 seeing differences among students and staff as resources.

 organizational features that support teaming among staff.
 a collaborative international style among staff and children
 leadership that is shared and distributed among formal leaders and staff.
 a willingness to struggle to sustain inclusive practices.
 an understanding of the socio – political nature of inclusion.
 the use of language and symbols to communicate ideals and spread
commitment across the school and into the community.
 an uncompromising commitment and belief in inclusive education.
 a shared belief among staff and learners in the value of every adult and child
as each brings a unique gift to their community.

arguments against and for inclusive education?

Some of the arguments against inclusive education include the following:

the teacher may end up with very big classes of learners with varying abilities
making teaching difficult.
If resources are not available and teachers not appropriately trained, it may fail.
if attitudes are not changed the child would still be seen as a problem.

Arguments for inclusive education include the following:

learners with disabilities achieve better school results in inclusive setting.
it provides opportunities to build social networks, mutual assistance, and
trustworthiness.

Components of Inclusive Education

The components necessary for successful implementation of inclusive Education

are:
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 School factors
 Support services and resources

 Collaboration and community involvement

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Section 1: The School Factors

I hope you now understand the principle goal of inclusive education and the part you
can play to help achieve it in your school. In this section you will learn about the various
school factors that are necessary for the achievement of inclusive education. These will
include the following:

classroom factors
student factors
teacher factors
curriculum

Let us now look at each of the factors:

Classroom factors

They include
assessment
keeping records
organising space
planning the learning experience
establishing classroom rules
interactive relationships
organizing play activities
preventing behaviour problems

Assessment

In assessment you will need to identify the learners who may be experiencing
difficulties. You should be able to recognise the barriers within the child and in the
environment that may hinder learning. This will enable you to plan for each learner
appropriately.
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barriers to learning and development are you likely

to come across among learners in your classroom? Name one
indicator for each barrier.

Barrier Indicator(s)

 visual difficulties – learner holding the book too close or

 hearing difficulties
 physical difficulties
 learning difficulties
 communication difficulties
 emotional and behaviour
difficulties
too near the face or missing parts
of words when reading.
– learner cocking the head on one
side or cupping the ear as he/she listens.
– posture and motor co-ordination
difficulties.
– learner experiencing difficulties
in specific subjects like reading,
writing and arithmetic.
– learner stammering or unable
to communicate with others.
– Learner withdrawn or aggressive.
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Volume 2
Section 1: Components of Inclusive Education
I hope you now understand the principle goal of inclusive education and your part in achieving it. In this section you
will learn the various factors that are necessary for the achievement of inclusive education. These include: the
classroom factor, the student factor, the teacher factor, the support service and equipment factor and the
collaboration and consultation factor.
The Classroom factors
These are various aspects that need to be considered for effective implementation of inclusive education in the
classroom. These aspects include: Planning the learning experience, Recording, Assessment. Organizing play
activities and Interactive relationships.
Planning the learning experience
When planning learning experiences you should be considerate of the individual learner’s needs. This can be done
by organizing the classroom to address the learner’s difficulty. For example moving the learner to sit near the
teacher or away from too much light, modifying the teaching style to involve more group activities where each
learner participates. Encourage learners to help each other than competing with each other.
Recording
You should be able to keep records of each learner. The records should include: family background, medical
information as well as individualized educational plans and progress records. It would be important if you made an
individual plan for the learner with SNE. This needs to be updated periodically and reviewed at the beginning of the
term.
Assessment
You should be able to identify a child who may be experiencing difficulties. You should be familiar with the barriers
within the child and in the environment that may hinder learning. It is vital that you understand the various signs and
symptoms of each particular problem for appropriate intervention.
What barriers to learning and development are you likely to come across among
learners in your classroom? Name one indicator for each barrier.

Barrier Indicator(S)
 Visual Problem Learners holding a book too close or too near the face or
missing parts of words.
 Hearing Problem Learner cocking the head on one side or cupping the ear
as he/she listens.
 Physical Problems Posture and motor co-ordination problem.
 Learning difficulties Learner experiencing difficulties in specific subjects like
reading, writing and arithmetic.
 Communication difficulties Learner stammering or unable to communicate with
others.
 Emotional and Behavior Learner withdrawn or aggressive difficulties.

As a teacher, you need to know the implications of each of these barriers to the learning process and what you can
do to assist the learner to overcome these barriers.
It is important to get an expert opinion on a learner’s are of need to avoid mislabeling. Consult colleagues and other
SNE teachers and refer difficult or suspected cases to the assessment center for further assessment procedures.
Organizing play activities
As the children grow, they need the freedom to explore and play. Play is very important for the child’s learning and
development.
As you watch learners playing, what skill areas can tour note to be developed
through play?
a. Mental
b. Social
c. Physical
d. Creativity
e. Curiosity
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f. Competence
g. Confidence

Play forms a basis for handling schoolwork and life issues. As a teacher encourages
use of play in learning activities.

Interactive Relationships
All children need a close, sensitive and loving relationship with those they spend time with. This is the basis for the
development of the child’s sense of security, confidence and the ability to cope with others and the world.
As the class teacher, you can create interactive relationships among the learners by:
 Encouraging learners who finish their work early to work with others experiencing learning difficulties as
per tutors and note-takers.
 Encouraging learners to mix and share tasks and responsibilities with each other.
 Working to develop positive attitudes among pupils, teachers and parents about learners with special needs
in education.
 Setting class activities to be completed by groups.
 Encouraging children to befriend peers with special needs and assist those with mobility problems during
break time and games time.

The Student Factor

It is important to note that every child is a unique individual. The teacher needs to recognize and address the
following aspects concerning each learner:
 The learner’s level of ability.
 Areas of special need

What does the term learners’ diversity mean?

It means learners in an exclusive setting have varying abilities in education. For example, some learners could be:
a. Slow and others fast.
b. Neat and otters careless.
c. Organized and others disorganized.
d. Forgetful and others remember.
e. Good at some activities and poor at others.
f. Friendly and others aggressive
g. Playful while others are withdrawn.

As a teacher, you need to be sensitive to each learner’s abilities when planning various learning activities. You can
do this by recognizing the various levels of achievement by learners and planning your teaching with their needs in
mind.
Areas of special need:
In the assessment section above, you saw some of the barriers to learning and development that you may come
across among the learners. Each of these barriers poses a unique need for the individual learner. For instance:
 Learners who experience difficulties in communicating in spoken language may need sign language and
written language.
 The learner with a visual problem may require instructions and learning experience that demand more
tactual and listening processes. Similarly, the learner with hearing problems will need to see the teachers
and peer’s as they speak actions more in the learning experiences.
 Those with physical problems may need more adaptive devices and a modified physical environment for
easy movement.
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 Learners with emotional and behavioral problems may require more counseling and positive reinforcement
in their learning experiences.

Teacher Factor
The classroom teacher is the most important person in the process of including a leaner with SNE in a regular
classroom. The teacher may make it possible for the learner to be accepted by the other learners by demonstrating
positive and supportive attitude to the learner. Conversely, being negative towards the learner with SNE may block
any chances for the learner to learn in the regular class.

How would you enhance the inclusion of learner with SNE in your class?

a) Making the learner feel welcome and an important member of the class.
b) Encouraging the other learners to support the one with SNE in classwork and outside class time.
c) Providing appropriate materials and learning experiences to the learner.
d) Talking to other teachers about the needs of the learner and discussing what you can do together to
minimize barriers to learning and development.
e) Working closely with the learner’s parents to assist in and out of school by planning and helping with
homework together.
f) Adjusting the classwork to meet the learner’s needs.
g) Giving the learner extra instruction time when necessary.
h) Planning group work and use of peer tutoring to help the learners with SNE participate in learning.
i) Addressing the special needs of each learner.
j) Acquiring the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable you to cater to every learner effectively.

Let us now look at the issues related to the teacher that may enhance inclusive education as follows:
 Teaching methods
 Differentiated curriculum
 Collaborative learning
 Communication

Teaching Methods
For the teacher to effectively assist the learner with SNE, she/he must use a variety of teaching approaches. These
should be appropriate to the learner’s ability and learning process.
These approaches include:
1. Peer tutoring
2. Group teaching
3. Individualized instruction
4. Team teaching

Peer Tutoring
This is the method of using children to assist those experiencing difficulties in a learning activity. Children learn
most from one another by doing things together and using their own experiences and language, which is
understandable to their peers. This approach recognizes learners including those with SNE
Group work
This is particularly effective if the members of the group are of mixed abilities. The task may be planned in such a
way that each member does a bit of the task so that all can contribute to the finished product. The learner with SNE
can get a simpler task, which is required in the whole task, Remember to reinforce the learners’ good work when
they succeed in carrying out a task.
Individualized Instruction
It is important for the teacher to understand that each learner is an individual with
unique needs, which must be addressed in the learning process.
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The teacher may initiate an individualized education program for the learner who is experiencing difficulties in
learning. This should be done in collaboration with others who are knowledgeable about the curriculum
requirements as well as the appropriate adaptations that are possible for the learners with SNE to access the
curriculum. The parents or care givers should be involved in drawing up the plan as they may identify aspects of the
curriculum that they feel are important for the child. They will be in a better position to assist the learner at home.

What can you do to plan individualized instructions to meet the need of a learner
experiencing learning difficulties or disability in you class?

1. Note what the learner can do and cannot do.

2. Establish how the difficulty or disability affects his or her involvement and progress in general curriculum.
3. Plan work for the learner by setting realistic goals considering learners’ abilities and challenges.
4. Note and provide for any special education and other related services and supplementary materials that the
learner needs including any modifications or support for school personnel working with the child to enable
him/her to participate fully in academic and other activities.
5. Establish if there is need for individual modifications in the administration of assessment of learner’s
achievement exams both in the national, district or zonal levels.

Team Teaching
This approach calls for you to “open the door” to your colleagues in teaching so that they can share their expertise to
assist learner’s experiencing difficulties in the school.

The current traditional teacher closes the door in the classroom as he/she teaches and
the learners are at the mercy of what and how/she chooses to deliver the learning
experiencing with no one else to improve or critique the approach.

We realize that a teacher’s job is not easy, particularly with a big class population of 50 children and over. Having
some earners with SNE will often mean more work. However, the learner’s different need may be met if you get
help and support from colleagues, parents and other professionals in the community such as social workers.
In teaching as team members, you may assist by:
 Planning together
 Teaching together
 Evaluating the results together
 Modifying the learning goals regularly together as illustrated below.

The differentiated Curriculum

Curriculum refers to the subject matter that is planned to be taught by the teachers and learnt by the learners at each
level of education. It provides guidelines on the content, sequence of activities, teaching methods, educational
resources, time schedules and evaluation procedures. The curriculum framework aims at reaching the average
learner.

Inclusive Education calls for the recognition that all pupils may not do the same work
in the same way at the same speed. This requires flexibility in terms of the content
and teaching approaches to meet each learners needs.

What then is a differentiated curriculum?

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This is an attempt to modify the regular curriculum to meet the individual needs of the learners. It involves:
 Manipulating the environmental factors.
 Adapting the teaching approach and time schedules.
 Modifying the content presentation.
 Adapting the exam questions and assessment procedures.
 Providing appropriate learning materials to meet learners.
 Including other relevant vital subjects for life long education required by some leaners with special needs in
education such as:
 Independent living skills
 Sign language
 Braille
 Orientation and mobility among others

This should be examinable alternatives to other subjects, which may not be compulsory. The educational policy
should however clearly allow the modifications by empowering the schools to make decisions concerning learners.
Collaborative Learning
The teacher is also instrumental in facilitating collaborative learning among the learners in the classroom.

What is collaborative learning?

This is another term for co-operative learning approach. It is based on the idea that children as well as adults can
learn from one another by doing activities together.
Those who have already learnt or experienced something may help those who have not during the learning process.
As noted in the earlier section on teaching methods, learners with and without SNE will all benefit from this
approach if their learning experiences are organized in such a way that they work together towards a shared
academic goal rather than competing against each other or working separately from their peers.
Some of the effective collaborative learning approaches include peer tutoring and group teaching that you learnt
earlier. Learners have a right to be involved in the development of provision to meet their needs. Such involvement
contributes to more successful learning. There is need therefore for active learner participation in the learning and
assessment process.
The Support Service and Equipment Factor
Learner with SNE requires basic support services if their learning will be effective in an inclusive setting. It is better
for the learner to be segregated in a special school or unit with appropriate facilities than to be dumped in a regular
classroom with no support.
The following are some of the important support services that should be made available to the learner with SNE in
the regular class:
 Resource room
 Itinerant services
 Educational resources

Resource room

What are the features of the resource room?

 It is a room in a regular or special school that is equipped with resources for enriching learning for learners
with special needs education.
 It should have specialized equipment and materials to stimulate and facilitate learning such as braillers, low
vision devices such as magnifiers, speech training and equipment.
 It is managed by a resource teacher who is trained in special needs education. The teacher advises and
assists the other teachers in planning and teaching the learners with special needs education either in the
regular classroom or in the resource room.
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A resource room may serve more than one school since it is expensive to set up. The
possibility of having many learners with SNE in a cluster of schools is low. The
current special schools can act as resource centers for the neighboring schools to
assist learners with SNE

Itinerant/Peripatetic teacher Service

Itinerant/peripatetic teacher was defined as a concept in the implementation of inclusive education. The services
offered by this teacher are referred to as itinerant teacher services.
Key roles of the itinerant teacher:
 Preparing materials and equipment for various learners.
 Checking attendance of the learners to be assisted.
 Liaising with the teachers of the different learners to teach subjects at different times.
 Withdrawing some learners from the classroom for specific technical subjects such as a braille, sign
language, orientation and mobility.
 Transcribing into braille work for the teacher to work with learners with visual impairment.
 Liaising with organizations that can assist learners with disabilities such as Kenya Society for the Blind,
The Kenya Society for Deaf children among others for supplies of specifies materials and equipment.
 Establishing a resource center to serve the schools in the region.
 Organizing in-service training and workshops for teachers.
 Offering guidance and counseling services to teachers and learners.
 Attending further training to enhance skills required.
 Discussing with the classroom teacher the difficulties and needs of learners with SNE.
 Assisting the teachers in adapting and modifying pats of the curriculum contents and in preparing
instructional materials.
 Giving advice and information on disabilities and SNE issues to teachers and parents.
 Networking with other community workers such as CBR officers and health personnel.
 Visiting families of children with SNE.
 Organizing course on SNE.

Educational Resources
These are both human and material resources that are necessary for the learner with SNE to learn effectively. They
may include provision of equipment and considerations such as:
 Braille equipment and materials for the blind learner and the teacher to give verbal explanations as she/he
works on the black board with sighted learners.
 Magnifying glasses and other optical devices to reinforce the reduced vision for the child with low vision.
You need to be sensitive to the learners seating and lighting needs. The use of real objects or models in the
learning activities for the children with learning needs is emphasized.
 Hearing aids for learner who are hard of hearing and positioning them where they will see the teacher’s
face to enhance lip reading.
 Wheelchairs, walkers and crutches made from local materials to help learners with mobility difficulties.
Encouraging the classmates, friends and siblings to assist the learner to and from school and during school
time.
 Offering guidance and counseling to learners with SNE.

Most of the educational resources for learners with SNE may be expensive to buy
and maintain. However, the teacher can use his/her innovation to improvise and use
available community resources including the local artisans and locally available
materials as much as possible.
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Collaboration and consultation factor

It is important to note that you cannot be expected to have all the skills required to meet educational needs of all
learners in the classroom. Individual teachers need support systems that provide collaborative assistance to enable
them to practice co-operative problem solving. Teamwork is the answer to effective inclusive education.
This can be done through:
 Parental involvement
 Community involvement
 Partnership and networking
 School management
 Interactive relationships.

Inclusive schools should encourage parental participant by:

 Engaging parents to be co-teachers of their children.
 Recognizing parent’s knowledge and influence in their children’s behaviors, lives and learning processes.
Remember the parents have a history, a present and a future with their child.
 Involving the parents to assist the child by reviewing given homework and acting as teacher aides.
 Encouraging parents to show interest in their children’s work and provide learning reinforcement
opportunities at home.
 Giving information to parents concerning causes, prevention and intervention measures of special needs as
well as available services and support groups.
 Involving parents in decision making about the services to be provided to the learner.
 Offering guidance and counseling services to the parents and family members on their roles in supporting
the learner to overcome difficulties.

Community Involvement
All stakeholders in the community in which the learner lives have a part to play in his/her learning and development.
What is community?

A community is a group of people living together and sharing available resources. The school as a community
should develop a positive and welcoming climate to the learner with SNE by:
 Sensitizing other learners to work with and support their peers with SNE in their classes as they are
members of the same community.
 Encouraging other teachers to be positive to work with the learner with SNE in the school as they are
rightful members of the community.
 Counselling the other workers and parents of learners without special needs to accept learners with SNE in
the school.
 Raising awareness of the needs of learners with special needs in the school and community through public
barazas religious or cultural forums.
 Mobilizing community resources to provide for the learners with SNE in the community.
 Social halls and other facilities to be making available for use by learners with SNE and other groups when
needed.
 Supporting learners with SNE in such ways as provision of materials and moral support.
 Removing physical barriers in the environment that may hinder mobility for the learner with NSE as they
attend school and other social functions.

How can you as a member of the community assist a learner with mobility
difficulties to access the local school?

 Asking the local artisan to make a crutch or walking stick for the learner.
 23

 Sensitizing the members of the community to remove barriers from the walking route such as ditches,
holes, logs or other obstructions.
 Encouraging the learner’s classmates and siblings to walk with the learner to and from school.

Partnership and Networking

A traditional saying states that “one finger cannot kill a house”. This is true of the task of educating learners with
SNE in an inclusive setting. An advisory and coordinating committee on inclusive education could serve an
important forum for the coordination and interdisciplinary activities necessary to support children with special needs
in education. This can be at all levels.

Ministerial levels County Sub - County School

The above proposal will bring about the more positive approach of partnership and networking which will improve
service provision to learners with SNE in the school and community. Positive development of learners with SNE
depends on the co-operation between all stakeholders.
At all levels, consultation between various sectors such as health, education, social
services and voluntary organizations should be encouraged in a two-way approach
i.e. top-bottom and bottom-up approaches. Exchange of information and plans will
reduce chances of duplication of services and the current competition among service
providers.

What are the relevant sectors that need to work with teachers to support learning
for learners with SNE.

 Health services
 Social services
 Youth groups
 Religious organizations
 Education
 Association of and for persons with disabilities.

Figure 1.5 below illustrates collaboration among key players to support learners with special needs in education.
 24

Fig 1.5 Collaboration of all to support learners with SNE

COLLABORATION
All stakeholders supporting the children to overcome their barriers to
learning:

Children

Classroom Community
Workers

Medical Parents Religious Institutional

Personnel Community Board Meeting

School Management
School personnel need a comprehensive and systematic staff development and time to be availed for collaboration.
This can be done by:
 Local administrators and school management playing major roles in making schools more responsive to
learners with SNE.
 School heads promoting positive attitudes throughout the school community.
 Valuing the knowledge of school staff, thus involving teachers and other staff as professionally developed
leaders with good ideas to solve learning problems among the learners.
 Providing students with aids and support services such as:

 Braillers, wheelchairs, hearing aids etc.

 Teacher aides in part-time or full time basis.
 Therapy/health services such as physiotherapy, speech therapy etc.
 Peer support.
 Use of computer-aided technology.
 Building planning teams.
 Scheduling time for teachers in working together.

It is important that neighboring schools practice collaboration to compare the

difficulties they may be facing and practices that are working. This is however may
not be easy given the competition that exists between schools.
 25

Discuss how you can solve other teacher’s difficulties in teaching learners with special needs in education at the
school level.
 Noting down the difficulties experienced by children with special needs in education.
 Brainstorming difficulties affecting colleagues in teaching learners with special needs in education.
 Laying down plans to assist the teacher in the difficult areas through team planning and evaluation.
 Modifying the strategies.
 Trying out what is working.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: ‘everyone has the right to education, which
shall be free and compulsory. All are entitled to all the rights without discrimination of any kind such as race, color,
sex, birth or any other status”. This forms an important basis for education for all children in the world regardless of
disability.
The Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (EFA)-1990
Another move for inclusion was during the world conference on Education for all in Jomtien, Thailand. The Jomtien
Conference recommended among other things that: all children have a right to education regardless of individual
differences, all children should take to school, Governments should provide each child the most suitable education

.
This did not have a worldwide impact, as stakeholders didn’t make deliberate attempts to implement
The
the Salamanca statement on inclusive Education (1994)
recommendations.
This statement was formulated by representatives of 92 world governments and 25 international organizations who

were delegates at the world conference on special needs education in Salamanca, Spain. This was a follow up of
the Jomtien Declaration (1990) discussed above. The major recommendations of the Salamanca statement addressed
the following:
 The right of every child to education that considers the child’s unique abilities and learning needs.
 The child with special needs must have access to regular education in a welcoming school in his/her
neighborhood. This will create an inclusive society thus improving efficiency and cost effectiveness in the
education system.
 all governments must give priority to policy, legal and budgetary provision to improving their education
system to include all children in regular education as must as possible .this be achieved by:
 Exchanging programs with other countries practicing inclusive education.
 Establishing decentralized and participatory mechanisms for planning education provisions for learners
with SNE.
 Encouraging community participation in education.
 Improving teacher education program to address SNE in the regular schools.
 The international community including the United Nations Agencies such as International Labor
Organization (ILO),World Health Organization(WHO, United Nations Education, Scientific & Cultural
Organization(UNESCO)and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) must endorse and support the
development of SNE in their educational support programs.
 Non-governmental organizations should be involved in the country’s programming and service delivery to
strengthen their collaboration with the official national bodies and to intensify their growing involment in
planning, implementation and evaluation of inclusive provision for special needs in education.
 UNESCO, as the United Nations agency for education to support teacher education programs to include
SNE .it should also develop skills, strengthen research, information and documentation on inclusive
practices and mobilize funds to develop inclusive schools and community programs. More details on this
recommendation are in the ‘Special Needs National and International Policies ‘Booklet for sale from the
Institute.

The Dakar Framework for Action (2000)

This World Conference on education for all was held in Dakar, Senegal to assess the progress since Jomtien
(1990).it concluded that there was little or slow progress in most countries especially in Africa towards achieving
the goals set ten years earlier.
 26

The following factors were suggested to be the reason for the lack of notable achievement of the EFA goals in
African countries.
1. Low quality education
2. Illiteracy among children and adults especially girls and those with disabilities.
3. Low completion rates.
4. Irrelevant and expensive curriculum
5. Low achievement (attainment) rates.
6. High cost education.
7. Limited resources for financing education.
8. Low community participation.

The Dakar framework for action emphasized the need for action by National Government
including Kenya to rededicate them towards attaining the EFA goals.

The following are the Dakar recommendations in enhancing education for all:
 Expanding and improving early childcare and education especially for the most vulnerable and
disadvantage children.
 Ensuring that by 2015, all children especially girls, children in difficult circumstances and those from
ethnic minority groups have access to complete, free, compulsory and quality primary education.
 Ensuring that learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate
learning and life skills programs.

 Improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellences for all so that recognized and
measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

Each country and organization is expected to use the above recommendations to develop their own specific program
plans in line with their priorities, objectives, legal and policy frameworks.

Kenya is a signatory to all the above international policies on special needs education.
Let us now see how the Kenya Government has worked towards providing education to all children including those
with special needs in education.
National policies for Inclusive Education
Since independence, the Kenya government has established many education commissions to look into sustainability
of the educational provision for all children.

What are some of the education commissions set up since independence?

Educational commissions include the following:
 The Kenya Educational Commission(1964)-ominde report
 The National Committee on E DUCATIONAL Objectives and policies (1976)-Gachathi report.
 The Presidential Working party on educational and manpower training for thru next decade and
beyond(1988)-Kamunge report
 Totally integrated Quality Education and training (1999)-Koech report.

Let us briefly look at the commissions and the policy issues that they emphasized on education for children
with special needs in education.
The Kenya Education Commission (1964)-The Ominde report.
The commission advocated for integration of children with special needs in regular schools. it also advocated for
teacher training to include a component of special education for regular teachers to enable the teachers to meet
the needs of learners with special needs in the regular classroom.
The National Committee on educational objectives and policies (1976) - Gachathi report
 27

The committee recommended the integration of children with special needs in the society by transferring learners
with SNE in special schools to regular schools and other centers as much as possible.
The Presidential Working Party on Education and Manpower Training for the next decade and beyond
(1988)-The Kamunge Report.
The working party recommended that the media and national programs be used more intensively to create public
awareness of the needs of people with Disabilities(PWDs).It also suggested intersect oral, collaboration at the
district level involving medical personnel and extension workers being trained to work with PWDs at the
community level. The committee emphasized the strengthening of the provision of education for leaners with
special needs in education in the regular classroom.
Totally Integrated Quality Education And Training(1999)-Koeach Report.
 The report emphasized the need for early intervention for children include those with disabilities and the
disadvantaged.
 Ways and means of improving accessibility, equity, relevance and quality with special attention to gender
sensitivity, the disabled and disadvantaged group.
 The content of education at various levels with special attention to early childhood, special and primary
education as well as tertiary, vocational and university education.

These policy statements may not have been specific about the inclusive education philosophy as it;
but they all recognized the right of children including those with special needs in education. The
Kamunge report’s emphasis on integration gave direction towards inclusion.

Education for All (EFA)-Kenya 2001

Education for ALL advocates for education to be free and available to all Kenyans by 2015.
Let us look at what Kenya has done towards achieving EFA goals.
The ministry of Education, Science and Technology has made commended able efforts to achieve the EFA goals
through the following activities: #
 Carried out an EFA workshop in Machakos then Kisumu in 1992.
 Carried out an EFA assessment in the country in 2000
 Analyzed the main subsectors of education in Kenya, their challenges strategies for the year 2000 and
beyond.
 Suggested the necessary steps that should be taken to transform our education system to meet the
education for ALL goals as recommended by the Dakar framework for Action(2000)
 The Ministry’s key objective to provide basic education for ALL in Kenya by 2015.
 Launched EFA document(2001)

Other notable milestone towards inclusive education includes:

 Children’s Bill –(2000)
 Disability Bill-(2002).

Section 2: Barriers to Inclusive Education and how they can be overcome.

This section looks at the various factors that may hinder the practice of inclusive education. From the discussion of
factors that enhance inclusive education in the previous section, most of our schools may not be able to effective
accommodate learners with various diversities of learning needs. This is because of many existing barriers in our
education system towards learners with special needs.
 28

Factors that may hinder the inclusion of children with special needs in regular schools

Negative attitudes of teachers and other

stakeholders

Inaccessible environments

Community and parents not

involved Education system as the
problem

Communication barrier
Lack of teaching aids between the teacher and
equipment and human the learner
resources

Rigid methods rigid

Teachers and schools not curriculum and rigid
supported by appropriate evaluation criteria
policies and legislation.

Classroom repetition and school

desertion Poor quality training of
teachers

The barriers include:

 Negative attitudes.
 Teacher expectations from learners
 Curriculum barriers.
 Rigid education approaches.
 Competition and selection of students(mean score)
 Classroom repetition and school desertion.
 Insufficient human and material resources.
 Evaluation and promotion criteria that hinder inclusion
 Inadequate clear policy and legislation for inclusive education.
 Lack of community involvement.

For inclusive education to take root, schools and systems must be reviewed to change them rather than
trying to change the learner.
 29

Negative attitudes towards persons with disabilities and other special needs
In many African Communities disabilities are explained to be results from God’s punishment for some wrongs done
to the ancestors or to some person’s problem. As such, the child experiencing any of these conditions is seen as a
curse or possessed by the spirits. Such superstitions have led many parents who give birth to children who deviate
from the ‘normal ‘to hide the child, hence deny him access to education.
Other negative attitudes by the community include stereotypic beliefs such as that a mother who gets baby with
albinism has been adulterous; if a pregnant woman looks at a crippled person she will get a crippled baby.

Negative attitudes usually arise from ignorance and fear of the unknown.

The effect as of these attitudes may be reflected on parents, educators, and policy makers etc as follows:

Parents
 Parents prioritizing taking their other children without special needs to school and only considering the one
with special needs if finances are still available.
 Low expectations from the learners with SNE by the parents leading to low self-esteem in learner.
 Some parents may tend to be overprotective towards the child with SNE ,thus preventing him/her from
taking part in daily life activities .this may hamper the child’s possibilities to develop his/her potentials.
 Some parents of learners without special needs may oppose having those with SNE in the same class
fearing that the education of their children will be adversely affected.

Educators
 Some teachers may object having learners with SNE in their class or school fearing that the child will lower
the mean score for their class or school. This is because of the exam oriented nature of our education
system, which is a major barrier to inclusive education.
 Many teachers think that working with a child with disability or other special needs calls for technical
training.
 Special needs education has been mystified by the belief that it is very special and only for special teachers
trained in special institution .such teachers are considered capable of working in a special school with a
special child using special equipment. This has led to even the school inspectors and other education
officers avoiding to carry out inspection in special education programs as they may not understand the
special world. Thus the regular teacher may refer the learner with SNE to the special school or unit, hence
denying the learner the chance to learn in the natural setting in the neighborhood.
 The teacher may have low expectations from the learner with SNE and may not give him/her challenging
work. This may make the learner give up trying, as his/her efforts are not appreciated.
 Some school administrators and policy makers in education feel that it is improper to ‘waste’ scarce
resources on learners with special needs while the ‘normal’ ones do not have enough, hence unsupportive
to any more inclusion of such learners in the mainstream school.
 The charity model to disability and special needs provision has also led the community and other
stakeholders to leave education of leaners with SNE as a responsibility of churches and voluntary
organizations. This makes the learners develop a sense of dependence and does not equip them with a
lifelong education to exist independently in the world after school.

Overcoming Barriers Related to Negative attitudes:

How can we as teachers overcome negative attitudes among stakeholders in education and in the
community
This towards
can be done by: learners with SNE?
 Creating awareness about the nature, causes, prevention and intervention of conditions that create special
needs.
 30

 Encouraging other learners to accept the learners as part of their lives as they are their relatives and
neighbors.
 Encouraging the learners with SNE to accept their situation.
 Promoting cultural activities such as drama, poems and songs to teach the community about the issues of
special needs education.
 Teaching parents to nurture their families before during and after pregnancy by maintaining balanced diet
and emotional wellbeing of their family members.
 Using the mass media to educate the public about special needs issues with an emphasis on the right of
every child to education and where to get it.
 Guiding and counseling of parents, other leaner’s, and teachers on how to deal with difficulties in the
education process resulting from special needs including disabilities.
 Promoting support for learners and teachers with the community and developing a common goal where co-
operation and collaboration is valued at all levels.

Curriculum barriers
An appropriate curriculum is vital for inclusive education to be meaningful for learners with SNE in an inclusive
setting. However, according to the Koech report (1999) the Kenyan School Curriculum is inappropriate in that there
is:
 Lack of clear policy guidelines and legal status on special needs education provisions.
 Inadequate educational facilities, equipment and services for children with disabilities(and other SNE)
 Inadequate trained personnel who use rigid teaching approaches which any only benefit the average learner.
 Almost no provision for education some groups of leaner’s such as the gifted and talented as well as those
living in difficult circumstances.
 Irrelevance and overloaded content and expensive curriculum.
 Rigid assessment procedures based on mean score competition, which does not consider learners with SNE.
 Failure of the curriculum to address the specific subjects that would cater for special needs of leaner’s for
life long education.
 Teacher’s inability to communicate in a media of instruction which the learner understands.

List down some of the subjects and their relevance which are particularly important to learners with
SNE.

Subjects relevant to learners with SNE include:

 Independent living skills for learners with visual, hearing mental and physical difficulties.
 Braille for those with visual problems.
 Orientation and mobility skills for independent travel for the visually and physically challenged.
 Sigh language for those with hearing problems.
 Physiotherapy for those with physical problems especially for learners with visual and physical
impairments.

The specific subjects to be taught to each learner will be dictated by the learner’s needs.

Overcoming curriculum Barrier to inclusive education

As suggested in the earlier section of the need for differentiated curriculum, the above barriers may be overcome by:
 Diversifying the curriculum to suit individual learners’ needs.
 Adapting examination questions to suit the individual learner’s needs.
 Using alternative ways of measuring the learner’s competence such as:
 Continuous assessment over the whole year through portfolio of best work done.
 Project work
 Direct work
 31

 Direct observation as the learners work.

 Functional assessment as learner demonstrates skills.
 Student’s self-assessment.
 Developing clear policy and legislation for inclusive education practices.
What is a policy?

A policy is a statement of commitment or official guidelines given by the government to undertake specific
programs directed at achieving some goals. It gives notice to the citizens that new, revised or accelerated programs
of action on particular issue are intended within a given time frame. Policies are also important at the local school,
church or home. A clear inclusive education policy is important to form a basis for making laws or legislation for the
practice to be in place in the country, school or classroom.

Think of 3 specific policies in your school or classroom that gives direction to the teachers and pupils.

Examples of school/classroom policies

 All school dues must be paid by the end of the first week of the term/year.
 Learners are expected to be in full uniform to all times.
 All parents should attend parents/teachers meetings.
 Free education
 Use of English language at all times.
 All learners must go to the same school.
 Admission age is 6 years etc.

For inclusive education to succeed, educational policies at all levels should stress that a child with special needs in
education should attend the neighborhood school with provision of appropriate support services and assistive
devices. The need for flexibility in the curriculum delivery and evaluation should be spelt out in an inclusive
education policy.
Policies may not be very effective unless they are backed by legislation. There is therefore need for stakeholders to
impress on the government to pass relevant laws. To support inclusive education in the country .leaner should be
involved in decision making on their learning at the school level as much as possible.

Parallel legislative measures should be adopted in the other sectors such as health, social welfare, vocational
training, employment and others in order to make the educational legislation and policies effective.

The relevant stakeholders who can initiate and press for policy and legal framework changes include:-learners,
parents, parents group, organizations of and for PWDs, teachers union, politicians and religious leaders, government
and non-governmental organizations.
Teachers of children with SNE can be very innovative in improving the learning environment for their learners. An
example from teachers in Britain shows how teachers can initiate inclusion. Some 250 special needs teachers invited
their colleagues from the mainstream schools in a meeting to discuss how their learners with SNE could access the
National Curriculum in the early 90’s.this led to monthly meetings, which recommended the need for a whole
curriculum that includes personnel and social education. They also pointed the need for reducing the curriculum to
make it fit the needs for the developing learner including those with SNE. Their government took up these
recommendations and was included in the curriculum review in the year 2000.
 32

Let us look at another aspect of the system that hinders inclusion of all learners in the education system.
Rigid educational approaches:
These can be seen in:
 Poor quality teacher training in which there is lack of long-term professional development. Inservice
training for teachers is rarely required or planned for teachers in regular schools.
 The teacher uses methods that aim at the middle range or average learners.
 The competition that is enhanced in the examinations and selection of learners for promotion to higher
levels by mean score does not consider learners with SNE.

These practices result in many dropouts and repeaters

Let us now look at some factors that cause the repetition and dropouts. They include: culture and school
desertion, political/economic factors, school-related factors, rigid educational approaches.
Let us now examine each of the above factors.
Culture and school desertion
 Cultures that view the needs of the male child above the girls.
 Girl’s education as an unnecessary/unacceptable cost.
 Harmful traditional practices and attitudes which inflict physical and psychological damage to the
children e.g. initiation rituals, early marriage.
 Family instability (separation/divorce) which deprives the children of the love and security of one or
both parents and fosters sexual abuse.
 Insecure environment in and outside school which may be physical, social or psychological conditions
which may bring low self-esteem.
 Long distances between the home and school leaving the children easy prey to sexual harassment and
abuse.

Political/economic factors:
 Failure to enforce available laws and regulations, which would otherwise protect children.
 The planning and management processes at central, district and community levels are not sufficiently
sensitive to the needs of children.
 Poverty constraints that limit choices available to parents even if they are concerned about their children’s
education.

School-related factors:
Inadequate school facilities especially
 Sanitation facilities.
 Adaptations in public and private buildings to allow for easy access and mobility of persons with
disabilities.
 Shortage of secure accommodation in day institutions and long-distance travel.

Rigid policies
 Resistance to change and release of power by policy makers and professionals at various levels including
the persons with special needs themselves and their parents. Parents may prefer to maintain the status quo
to enjoy the caring protective environment and facilities in special schools.
 Educational managers who told on the top-bottom approach while inclusion requires also bottom-up two
way approaches for full participation of all. This applies to the relationship of learners-teachers, teachers-
head teacher, head teachers- field officers, officers in the ministry of education and so on.

Overcoming Barriers Resulting from Rigid Educational Approaches

I hope you included the following:
 33

 Regular in-service teacher development at the school level through seminars, workshops, conferences,
lectures, symposia, leaflets, media appeals organized in a structured way.
 Promotion of collaborative learning and teaching approaches in all learning experiences. Networking with
other professionals especially the community and CBR workers.
 Differentiated and flexible curriculum implementation and evaluation procedures as discussed earlier. Each
learner’s progress is recognized and celebrated.
 Increased literacy among adults to improve access to accurate information and knowledge ,about
disabilities and SNE
 The media to play a major role in changing traditional attitudes, values or beliefs towards PWDs.
 Discussion groups in CBR settings on disabilities to share accurate information.
 Identification of children with SNE in regular schools.
 Unconditional commitment to equalizing education opportunities for children with SNE such as :
 Early identification of children with SNE and inclusion in early childhood education
programs.
 Enabling accessibility to social services for PWDs.
 Resources and funds to provide by the government and local authorities as well as community
members.
 Legislation to be put in place to back up inclusive education policies.
 Public education.

Insufficient human and material resources

It is important to emphasize that unless learners with special needs are provided with the appropriate resources, it
will not be possible for them to benefit in mainstream education.

Inclusive education does not mean less resource for SNE, but efficiency and equity in the use of available
resources among those with special needs in the school.

It has been noted that currently, most regular schools lack:

 Adequately trained teachers and other support staff with knowledge in SNE.
 Required assistive devices and equipment to support learning for those with special needs.
 Staff with guidance and counseling skills to support learners in difficult circumstances and their teachers.

Overcoming barriers to inclusive education caused by insufficient human and material resources.
 Support from the educational administration to finance the adaptation and modification of the learning
environment for learners with special needs to be accommodated in the class or school. The need for
updating class teachers’ teaching skills cannot be over-emphasized. This can be achieved through the many
activities suggested in the earlier section such as seminars and workshops.
 Another way to do this is by distance learning teachers training programs and short courses fortunately, the
Kenya government has initiated such a program for teachers and other personnel working with leaner’s
with special needs in education at the Kenya Institute of Education(KISE)
 The work of local and international voluntary organizations such as:
 Christoffel Bliden Mission(CBM)
 Kenya Society For The Blind(KSB)
 Kenya Union Of The Blind(KUB)
 United Disabled Persons of Kenya(UDPK)
 Sight Savers international, Kenya National Association For The Deaf (KNAD)
 Association For The Physically Disabled Of Kenya(APDK)
 Kenya Society For Deaf Children(KSDC)
 Kenya Society For The Mentally Handicapped(KSMH)

These originations and others should be recognized as they provide the much required assistive and corrective
devices for learners with SNE. However, networking between the agencies is vital for efficiency.
 The government providing more finances to supply and maintain the devices.
 34

Requirements for Inclusive Education

Inclusive education is an educational policy that requires the educational system to meet the needs of the child as
normally and inclusively as possible rather than the child with special needs being made to adapt to suit the needs of
the system.

In your own understanding of inclusive education now, what do you think requires to be done for
effective implementation?

Let us examine education reform as a basic requirement in enhancing implementation of inclusive policy.
Educational Reform
Separate systems of education that is special schools and regular need to be integrated to provide one system, which
is able to recognize and respond to the diverse needs of the learners’ population in one setting/inclusive school.
To quote the UN Rapporteur on Disabilities (UNESCO 1997). It is not our education systems that have a right
over certain types of children. It is the school of a country that must be adjusted to meet the needs of all
children”

What are the motives behind educational reforms?

In many countries including Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Palestine, Denamrk, United Kingdom and United Stated of
America, Educational reforms have been started so as to:
 Improve students’ outcomes for employment.
 Get more control over curriculum content and assessment
 Reduce educational costs to the government.
 Increase community input to education by more direct involvement.
 Involve the learners more in decision making about their learning experiences.

The pace and details of reforms vary from country to country as noted earlier in this module
However, the reforms have the following characteristics:
 Parents are given choices of schools for their children.
 Schools compete for learners with special needs in education and the resources provided.
 Services are privatized to outsource from the private sector to reduce public monopolies.
 Decision-making is decentralized through local and site based management on the ground. That is,
empowering the school and the class teacher to make some decisions concerning learning in the classroom.
 Curriculum content and assessment systems are flexible with teachers deciding what are the most important
knowledge, skills and competences that all students must acquire.
 Monitoring and evaluation is done using outcome indicators for quality control.
 Attempts are made to teach a common body of knowledge to the most diverse students within a school.
 Calls for public accountability by publicizing the children’s performance. High expectations lead to better
performance.

The current trends in the world call for a new role for special education facilities to open doors to
regular schools. The special human and material resources will benefit more learners with increased
co-operation and collaboration between the special and regular schools. The special schools should
prepare learners with special needs in education for education in an ordinary class in the neighboring
school. The special/unit may act as service centers.

I hope you will advocate for these reforms in your station of wok to enhance the development of inclusion practices
for our learners..
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