Assignment 1 - SPECIAL EDUCATION AND

INCLUSION: THE OPPORTUNITIES AND

CHALLENGES

Special education settings have been changing in Australia over the last few decades

towards a more inclusive learning environment. Inclusion stems from the belief that

education is a basic human right and this philosophy has been the focus of worldwide

reforms. Leading the way was the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human rights

(1948), then the United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child (1989), the UNESCO

Salamanca statement in 1994 and The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(2006). Within Australia, the philosophies of inclusion have shaped legislation such as the

Disability Standards for Education 2005 and policy such as the Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. Experts cite studies that detail improved outcomes for both students

with and without special needs which have led to improved teaching methods; however,

inclusion is not without its challenges within the classroom. Challenges include teachers’

self-efficacy surrounding inclusion, their attitudes, lack of support and resources. Another

challenge outside of teachers’ and schools’ control is government national testing, which is

linked to school funding, that exhibits exclusionary practices. These challenges need to be

met with teaching strategies such as differentiation, support for teachers, pre-service teacher

education and ongoing professional development. Additionally, further research into

accommodations in assessment and universal design for assessment is required to provide

inclusive assessment practices.

Special Education is the practice of individualising education to meet the learning and

developmental needs of students who can not be accommodated for in a mainstream class

without support. There are several characteristics of special education which include

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individual plans directed by goals, specialised teaching strategies and materials, and intensive

detailed instruction (Heward, 2014). Special education may also incorporate the support from

professionals such as speech and occupational therapists. Special education is often

associated with programs catering for students with special needs, but special education need

not be in a segregated environment. Educating students with special needs can take place in a

variety of classrooms including general educational settings or mainstream classrooms; this is

referred to as an inclusive education setting (Gargiulo, 2012).

The idea that education should be available for all people has been on the global

agenda now for nearly sixty years resulting in legislation and other measures in Australia to

provide an inclusive education for all students. The United Nations Universal Declaration of

Human rights (1948) is a turning point in history where countries agreed upon a thorough

statement of non-negotiable human rights including the right to an education (Australian

Human Rights Commission, n.d.). This declaration could be considered a stepping stone

towards United Nations Convention on the rights of the Child (1989) and the UNESCO

Salamanca statement in 1994. The Convention on the rights of the Child (1989) was ratified

by Australia in 1990 and specifically states that governments need to ensure education is

available and compulsory for all children regardless of their cultural background, gender,

family background or ability (Early Childhood Australia Inc, 2016). The Salamanca

Statement recognised the importance of an education for students with special needs within a

regular school environment. It maintained that mainstream schools should provide an

education and make accommodations for students regardless of their “physical, intellectual,

social, emotional, linguistic or other conditions” (UNESCO, 1994). The Convention on the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), initiated by the United Nations incorporates the

principles of the Salamanca statement and was ratified by Australia in 2008 (Conway, 2014;

Cologan, 2013). Legislation and policy within Australia such as the Disability Discrimination

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Act 1992, Disability Standards for Education 2005, the Australian Professional Standards for

Teachers are a reflection of the Australian Government to uphold the commitment to provide

students with special needs an inclusive education.

Inclusion should not be confused with integration; there are clearly defined principles

and evidence of inclusion philosophies can be found in the Disability Standards for

Education 2005. Cologan (2013) states that inclusion is “a child’s full participation in all

aspects of the educational setting” (p. 13). Jarvis (2013) highlights that many schools include

words such as inclusive in their mission statements, and many teachers can provide a

definition of inclusion; however, these definitions and statements are meaningless unless

practices of inclusion are incorporated into the educational setting resulting in meaningful

learning. Jarvis (2013) refers to Ainscow and Miles (2008) four principles of inclusion in

order to provide a working definition. These principles are presence, participation, progress

and a sense of belonging. In other words, inclusion removes obstacles so that all students

have access to an equitable education. There is evidence of the philosophy of inclusion in The

Disability Standards for Education (2005) which “provide that students with disabilities must

be treated in the same way as students without disabilities” (Conway, 2014, p. 25). In

particular, the standards cover areas such as enrolment, participation, curriculum

development, accreditation and delivery, student support services and eradication of

harassment and victimisation across all education settings (Commonwealth of Australia,

2006).

Research has demonstrated that educating students in an inclusive educational setting

has benefits across several domains. Anderson, Boyle and Deppeler (2014) explain that

positive outcomes such as employability, income, health, positive family relationships,

tolerance and community participation are all tied in with quality education. Part of this

success may be attributed to research that suggests that the incidences of bullying, in an

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inclusive education environment, are reduced compared to segregated special education

settings. In inclusive education settings children who do and do not have a disability are

provided opportunities to socially develop with each other, form and maintain friendships.

With increased social development, research shows there is a higher sense of self-worth and a

sense of belonging. Furthermore, research is also showing that inclusive education provides

an opportunity for children to become more independent, provides increased awareness and

understanding of other people with diverse needs. Additionally, students in inclusive

environments are performing higher academically than in special education settings owing to

the differentiated instruction and exposure to higher order thinking and group tasks. Other

benefits include increased communication and language skills due to the exposure to

complex vocabulary and participation in conversation. Also initial research is also suggesting

improvements in motor skills and independence (Cologan, 2013).

Challenges of implementing inclusion surround time management, knowledge,

resources and funding. Konza (2008) acknowledges the need for inclusion in Australian

classrooms, but also highlights the many obstacles facing educators wanting to provide an

inclusive environment. These issues include teachers own perception of their lack of ability

and knowledge in educating students with special needs. This may have some validity given

the inclusion of topics to teach students with special needs have only been included in some

Australian universities in recent times (Forlin & Chambers, 2011). Other inhibiting factors in

practicing inclusion include large class sizes that hinder the practice of providing the one on

one attention required by some students. Additionally, there may be a lack of differentiated

teaching resources, materials, facilities or not enough allocated teacher aide time due to a

lack of funding. Inclusive education is also time consuming considering the time taken to

prepare special materials, individualise programs, manage complex behaviour in the

classroom and meeting with outside therapists. Furthermore, there is increased paperwork for

individual
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education plans, paperwork for funding and data collection (Konza, 2008). Cologan (2013)

discusses that the lack of teacher education and support for teachers is another inhibiting

factor for inclusive education and makes a good point that teachers’ attitudes and motivation

have a large influence on the successful implementation of inclusion in the classroom.

Another challenge, for schools and teachers who are inclusive, is grappling with the

requirements of NAPLAN testing which is in itself exclusionary rather than inclusive. It

initially appears that NAPLAN testing offers accommodations for students with special needs

to ensure it is inclusive; however, as Cummings and Dickson (2013) point out, some students

are unable to participate in NAPLAN because these accommodations don’t go far enough to

meet their needs. Students who are exempted from NAPLAN, because the accommodations

provided do not meet their needs, are classed as performing below the minimum standard for

their year level. This may be an inaccurate report if the student is able to perform at or above

year level standard with the right accommodations. Whilst it may be detrimental to students

and families, it is not an ideal prospect for schools either. For example, they may have large

enrolments of students with special needs, and if a large portion of students are reported

below year level it is inaccurate reporting which is then published and made available to the

public (Cumming & Dickson, 2013). Davies (2012) reports that 5% of students are not

undertaking the NAPLAN test. He suggests a significant portion of these students are

withdrawn or exempted because they were identified as being unable to complete the test

under required conditions. Davies is clear about the ramifications of this process by pointing

out that it goes against the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and policies such as the

Melbourne Declaration that support all students should be assessed. Aside from not meeting

legislation requirements there are other issues such as excluding students with special needs

from a mainstream schooling experience and their academic outcomes are not measured

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against national benchmarks for future planning. It also may prevent families from making

decisions about their child’s schooling (Davies, 2012).

In an inclusive classroom a standard practice of differentiating learning tasks for all

students provides students with special needs the individualised relevant support required for

them to be able to meet the lesson objective and feel successful. Carol Ann Tomlinson is an

advocate and a leader in her field for differentiated instruction which goes hand in hand with

inclusive education (Tomlinson, 2014). Tomlinson (2014) points out that it is unviable to

place a diverse range of students into one classroom and teach them as though they all had

the same learner profile. Students will achieve better outcomes when teachers know them

and adjust and scaffold learning to meet students’ individual needs. Across a range of

educational settings, including mainstream and inclusive, there is a diverse range of needs

including student readiness, student interest and student learning profile. In a differentiated

classroom all students’ needs are met with curriculum relevant content and teachers modify

learning for students rather than expect students to adapt to the classroom and teaching style.

This approach benefits students with a variety of needs including those with special needs

and advanced learners (Tomlinson, 2014). Given the legislation in place to meet individual

learner needs for special needs students, it is hard to look past the philosophies of

differentiation that boasts higher outcomes for all students in areas such as attendance,

discipline, school satisfaction and achievement. (Tomlinson, 2015)

Differentiation is a major key in an inclusive environment but teachers’ attitudes

towards differentiation and inclusion need to be positive to influence positive life outcomes

and improved academic results. Cologan (2013) has quite a bit to say regarding teacher

education surrounding inclusive education and states that in order for teachers to successfully

manage an inclusive learning environment they need to reconsider their view to an ableist

point of view. In other words, rather than considering what a student can not do, then look at

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what the student can do in order to learn. Changing this point of view is not enough;

universities should make topics surrounding inclusion and teaching students with special

needs compulsory rather than segregating those topics to the special education branch of the

education degree. Additionally, initial teacher training should be followed by ongoing

professional development in inclusive practices and support from school leadership is crucial

(Cologan, 2013). Tomlinson makes a good point, that best practice in education is brought

about by experienced teachers, so there needs to be an understanding and an acceptance that

beginning teachers need exposure, understanding, practice and ongoing professional

experience to provide the best outcomes for students in inclusive education settings. Forlin

and Chambers (2011) also tie these principles together in their Western Australian based

research and conclude that pre-service teachers are better prepared to teach students with

special needs in an inclusive environment when their course offers topics on diversity and

adjusting curriculum needs, but of utmost importance is the continued support and

professional development that beginning teachers need that will increase their confidence in

creating an inclusive classroom.

The Australian Government places a lot of emphasis on NAPLAN testing and the

accommodations for students with special needs need to be appropriate so that all students

can demonstrate what they are capable of doing in their year level. Lai and Berkeley (2012)

cite Elliot et al (2001) by saying that allowing students to use the same accommodations on

assessments as they use in regular learning tasks should be standard practice. These could be

a range of accommodations such as paraphrasing, use of technology, cueing, use of

manipulatives, extended time, use of scribes, or a separate room. However, despite a

multitude of studies, research has not identified a definitive outcome with some studies

showing the accommodations increased the performance of all students, whilst in other

studies, it demonstrated no effect. Essentially, with so many variables between tests,

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individual students and accommodations there are no conclusive results. This warrants

further controlled research into this area is necessary if high-stakes tests, such as NAPLAN,

are to continue and if the policies and legislation surrounding inclusive education are to be

upheld. (Royer & Randall, 2012). With no clear knowledge as to what equitable

accommodations could be utilised, another approach could be universal design for

assessment which may lessen the requirements for student accommodations. An example of

universal design in assessment is having an untimed assessment or having the assessment on

computers. In this case, the font can be enlarged, sections made audible, speech recognition,

typing and it may be intuitive to direct students to other questions that may better assess their

knowledge based on their answers (Lovett & Lewandowski, 2015).

As inclusive education settings are legislated for in Australia and promoted

worldwide, the concept of schooling is changing from segregated special needs schools to

schools where all students feel a sense of belonging, are catered for, grow and learn. In turn,

the philosophies of inclusion will generate diverse communities who are employable, are

social, accepting and who can expect successful life outcomes. The research surrounding the

benefits of inclusion is far reaching, but with these benefits, there are challenges met by

educators and schools wanting to offer inclusive learning for all students. Challenges such as

fair and equitable testing such as NAPLAN is a major issue that requires further research.

Universal design principles for all high-stakes tests should be considered to ensure students

with special needs are not excluded from a mainstream experience. Ideally, correct and

appropriate test conditions should be provided for all students rather than favouring those

who require no adjustments. Teacher perceptions and attitudes towards an inclusive

classroom is another major challenge especially since teachers decisions and teaching

strategies are what determines the type of classroom it is for students. Differentiation is an

approach that goes hand in hand with inclusion and it is an approach that all teachers should

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be taking with all students, those with special needs and without to promote better academic

outcomes by meeting students where they are at with either readiness, interest or their

learning profile. Differentiation and inclusion require a concentrated effort and strong

knowledge base for teachers. Universities should also include topics surrounding diversity

and curriculum adjustments to provide knowledge to pre-service teachers. Support and

ongoing professional development surrounding inclusive education settings are also required

for both beginning and experienced teachers in order to promote their confidence and success

in an inclusive learning environment.

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 References

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