FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Module I
Definition, Goals, and Scope of Special and Inclusive Education

Objectives: At the end of the unit, pre-service teachers will be able to:
a. demonstrate an in-depth understanding of concepts related to inclusive and special education
that promote supportive environments to diverse learners
b. demonstrate knowledge of the definition and terminologies used in special and inclusive
education programs for diverse learners; and
c. compare and contrast legal bases for Inclusive Education in the Philippines with that of
International standards.

Time Frame: 3 weeks (3 hours face to face session and 6 hours online discussion and activities,
using LMS through the Blended Learning Approach.

Lecture: Class Discussion

Special and Inclusive Education in the Philippines
1. Definition
1.1 Special Education
1.2 Special Education in the Philippines
2. Code of Ethics and Standards for Professional Practice for Special Educators
4. Who is Special Education for
Inclusive Education
1. Definition
2. Principles for the Inclusion of Children with special needs in Schools
3. Continuum of Inclusive Education
Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act (IDEA)
Terminologies used in SPED
Quizzes or Tests
Comparative Analysis: K to 12 Inclusion Program and IDEA

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AUTHORED BY: PABLITO P. GANTAN JR., LPT, Ed.D.
 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Week 1:
A. Special and Inclusive Education in the Philippines


Class discussion
What do students know about special education?

Who is special education for?

Who teaches special education?

How many students who need special education are there in schools?

What will students learn from this topic?

• Students will explore the term special education
• Students will describe Special Education and its implementation in the Philippines
Definition
What is special education?
Special Education is the design of teaching and learning strategies for individuals with disabilities or learning
difficulties. It is also about attitude, because teachers need a positive attitude to be effective special educators
(that means teachers need a positive attitude to be good teachers). Special education is also about
understanding the different needs that students have, including the different types of disability and learning
difficulties. Put simply, whenever a teacher makes any kind of adaptation to their usual program so that they
can assist a student with a special need, that teacher is implementing special education. Effective teachers
are those who have the right attitude thus, they help their students to be successful. Teachers must have the
following principles in assisting students with or without special needs:

All my students will learn when I find the right way to teach them.

Effective teachers do not blame their students for not learning and they do not exclude students who don’t learn
well. They analyze all the factors involved specially the delivery of instruction their instruction and try to alter it
so that it works better. This kind of positive attitude is an essential part of special education and is the path to
success for all students and their teachers.

It is an individually planned, systematically implemented, and carefully evaluated instruction to help exceptional
children achieve the greatest possible personal self-sufficiency and success in present and future environments.

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 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

It is a specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with disabilities. This instruction include
classroom instruction, home instruction, instruction in physical education, vocation education, and instruction in
the hospitals and institutions. It is the additional service, over and above the regular school program, that is
provided for an exceptional child to assist in the development of his potentialities and/or in the amelioration of
his disabilities.

It aims to ameliorate the deficit by medicine, training, or whatever means are feasible, and then compensate for
the residual deficit by strengthening other abilities and providing specially adapted materials. When practiced
most effectively and ethically, special education is also characterized using research-based teaching methods,
the application of which is guided by direct and frequent measures of student performance.

The special education movement supports the proposition that children and with disabilities need to be
integrated or included in normal or regular educational services programs to the extent that is reasonable. Some
exceptional children are taught certain skills to compensate or reduce the handicapping effects of a disability.
The child’s individual needs dictate the curriculum. The individualized programming that is the core of special
education must provide the settings that best meet each student’s special needs.

TEACHING is what Special Education is all about.


Class discussion

Consider the following questions:

What do I need to know about special education?

What is in special education that I am most worried about?

What is the most important thing for me to learn in special education? What
practical activity would be valuable for me in learning about special
education?
The answers can be submitted through LMS, e-mail or FB Messenger

What is special education in the Philippines?

According to Barbara, N.D of the 2017, Asia Pacific Journal of Contemporary Education and Communication
Technology /APJCECT: Filipinos have deep regard for education. Education occupies a central place in

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 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Philippine political, economic social and cultural life. It has always been strongly viewed as a pillar of national
development and a primary avenue for social and economic mobility. A clear evidence of the value placed on
education is the proportion of the national government budget going to the sector. The Department of Education
(DepEd), the country’s biggest bureaucracy is given the highest budget allocation among government agencies
each year as required by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The 1987 Constitution likewise guarantees the right
to education of every Filipino. It provided that, “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to
quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to make education accessible to all.” The offering
of various curricular programs in Philippine educational system is one of the many responses by the government
to address specific needs of learners in the country. These specific curricular programs being offered in basic
education are anchored on the premise that individual learners have different learning needs and interests that
can be addressed, improved, or enhanced, thereby maximizing the potential of these learners. However, the
successful implementations of such programs depend on among many factors which include the objectives of
SPED, teachers, administrators, instructional materials, equipment, facilities, ancillary personnel, and parents.
The fundamental purposes of special education are the same as those of regular education: the optimal
development of the student as a skillful, free, and purposeful person, able to plan and manage his or her own
life and to reach his or her highest potential as an individual and as a member of society. Indeed, special
education developed as a highly specialized area of education to provide children with exceptionalities with the
same opportunities as other children for a meaningful, purposeful, and fulfilling life. Perhaps, the most important
concept that has been developed in special education as the result of experiences with children with
exceptionalities is that of the fundamental individualism of every child. The aspiration of special educators is to
see every child as a unique composite of potentials, abilities, and learning needs for whom an educational
program must be designed to meet his or her needs.
From its beginnings, special education had championed the cause of children with learning problems. It is as the
advocates of such children and of the concept of individualization that special education can come to play a
major creative role in the mainstream of education. The special competencies of special educators are more
than a collection of techniques and skills. They comprise a body of knowledge, methods, and philosophical tenets
that are the hallmark of the profession. As professionals, special educators are dedicated to the optimal
education of children with exceptionalities and they reject the misconception of schooling that is nothing but
custodial care. The focus of all education should be the unique learning needs of the individual child as a total
functioning organism. All educators should recognize and accept that special and regular education shares the
same fundamental goals.
Special education expands the capacity of schools to respond to the educational needs of all students. As
advocates of the right of all children to an appropriate education, special educators affirm their professionalism.
The focus of special education programs is to facilitate access to an appropriate education, regardless of the

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AUTHORED BY: PABLITO P. GANTAN JR., LPT, Ed.D.
 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

disability, to help the student achieve academic and life success. Special education programs facilitate academic
progress by providing the least restrictive environment and tailoring instruction and assessment to the individual.
A written plan, called an Individual Education Program or IEP is drawn up to outline special accommodations
and modifications within the educational environment for each special education student. This plan's focus is
structuring the elements that drive the educational process -- instruction and assessment -- so that the individual
can benefit from the educational environment. Without this specialize educational plan, the student's disability
might stymie educational efforts. Special education students are routinely included in the general education
environment, a strategy referred to as inclusion. The inclusion environment not only facilitates academic
progress, but also acts to socialize special education students. This socialization is vital to their personal growth
and learning social skills that will be useful in the workforce. Some special education programs are geared toward
teaching life skills, such as dressing, personal hygiene, safety, handling money and day to day decision making.
Students in these programs are also educated on workplace expectations and often engage in programs that
provide workplace training. For example, the local food chain joint may employ one or more of these students
during a period of the school day so that they can get some on-the-job experience. These special programs are
essential if these students are to eventually enjoy any degree of self-sufficiency. Special education programs
also teach behavior that is appropriate and acceptable by society. Some students with disabilities may exhibit
behaviors that are objectionable, offensive or disruptive to social and classroom situations. Special education
allows for some tolerance of these behaviors within the instructional environment, as teachers work to educate
the student academically and behaviorally. Students who are overly aggressive or exhibit behaviors that are
socially inappropriate benefit from special education programs.

From the same journal it states that: Special education (also known as special needs education, aided education,
vocational education, and limb care authority education) is the practice of educating students with special
educational needs in a way that addresses their individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves
the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment
and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help learners with special needs
achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and their community, than may be
available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education. Common special needs include
learning disabilities, communication disorders, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, and
developmental disabilities. Students with these kinds of special needs are likely to benefit from additional
educational services such as different approaches to teaching, the use of technology, a specifically adapted
teaching area, or a resource room. Intellectual giftedness is a difference in learning and can also benefit from
specialized teaching techniques or different educational programs, but the term "special education" is generally
used to specifically indicate instruction of students with disabilities. Gifted education is handled separately.

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AUTHORED BY: PABLITO P. GANTAN JR., LPT, Ed.D.
 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Whereas special education is designed specifically for students with special needs, remedial education can be
designed for any students, with or without special needs; the defining trait is simply that they have reached a
point of under preparedness, regardless of why. Like people of high intelligence can be underprepared if their
education was disrupted of any incidents. In most developed countries, educators modify teaching methods and
environments so that the maximum number of students is served in general education environments. Therefore,
special education in developed countries is often regarded as a service rather than a place. When the School
for the Deaf and Blind in the Philippines was established in 1907, this was the birth of Special Education (or
SPED) in the Philippines. Then, in 1976, the Philippine Association for the Deaf (PAD) spearheaded the Hearing
Conservation Week which was born through the Presidential Proclamation 1587, duly signed by then President
Ferdinand E. Marcos. Activities for the Hearing Conservation Week were used to be taken care of by a sole
committee but, during the early 80’s, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and other schools for the deaf
were invited. It was also during this time that the celebration of the Hearing Conservation Week, initially the third
week of October, be celebrated the third week of November. In 1991, this time initiated by the Philippine School
for the Deaf (PSD) and the Philippine Institute for the Deaf (PID), then President Corazon C. Aquino signed
Presidential Proclamation 829 declaring November 10-16 as Deaf Awareness Week (DAW). As stated in the
proclamation it is in recognition of the deaf as a vital segment of society which can be transformed into a
significant force in the efforts for national development and the need to focus public awareness on deafness, its
prevention and rehabilitation.

Learning activity

Discuss responses to the following questions:

What are your own traditional beliefs about people with special needs?

What are the community’s consensus traditional beliefs about people with
special needs?
Do you think we should hang on to traditional beliefs or views?

How relevant are these traditional beliefs in relation to modern views about
special education?

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AUTHORED BY: PABLITO P. GANTAN JR., LPT, Ed.D.
 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

List of References:

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Petty

Behan, Dawn. (2015). Taking sides: clashing views in special education.

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Services, PNG.

Convention on the Rights of the Child UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for persons with
Disabilities 1993

Christensen, C. A., (1992). Social justice and the construction of disability in schools Australian Association of
Special Education Newsletter, 3, 6-8. Cited in Dempsey, I. Principles and policies for integration and inclusion,
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Dakar Framework for Action 2000 Millenium Development Goal2. Universal primary Education by 2015

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 FOUNDATION OF SPECIAL AND INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

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The Guilford Press.(D)

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AUTHORED BY: PABLITO P. GANTAN JR., LPT, Ed.D.