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Inclusion in Action © 2022 Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited
6th Edition
Iva Strnadová Copyright Notice
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Brief contents
PART A: INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS 1
1 Introducing inclusion in education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
v
Contents
Guide to the text................................................x
Guide to the online resources.......................xiv
Preface.............................................................xvi
About the authors........................................xviii
Acknowledgements......................................xxiii
Standards mapping grid..............................xxiv
vi
CONTENTS
ix
Guide to the text
As you read this text you will find a number of features in every
chapter to enhance your study of Inclusive education and help
you understand how the theory is applied in the real world.
Standards mapping grid
BOOK FEATURES
This book is designed to assist readers to achieve the Australian Professional Standards for Graduate Teachers.
The following grid shows how the content of particular chapters contributes to the Standards.
xxiv
2
CHAPTER
xi
Contemporary education environments place an emphasis on collaboration between students to
support their learning. The mechanism which supports this collaboration is talking. Therefore,
communication via oral language is critical for cognitive development and learning (Gillies,
2014). Children also learn about themselves through the ways in which others communicate with
GUIDE TO THE TEXT them. This places considerable responsibility on parents/caregivers and teachers to consider how
they communicate with – and about – children. For teachers, particularly, it is important to reflect
on the language used when talking about children. It is also important to reflect on the words
and style of communication used when speaking with children. The manner in which adults
communicate with each other and children in preschools and classrooms is critical to inclusive
FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS
education. Consider the following versions of an exchange between two teachers discussing a
student’s behaviour.
Teacher A: ‘It seems every time I try to get him involved in a group activity, he just loses it.
I’m sure some of it is just to get under my skin!’
negative
reinforcement
In behavioural terms, both are negatively reinforced by the teacher reactions. By the student Important Key terms are
displaying the behaviour and the subsequent teacher actions, the teacher is negatively reinforced
This occurs when a
behaviour allows the by having peace in the room and the student out of the room. The student is negatively reinforced marked in bold in the text and
person320to escape
BK-CLA-STRNADOVA_6E-210116-Chp08.indd by getting out of the work and the room. Importantly, the student has communicated that the 20/08/21 4:57 PM
from something
that they would work is beyond her ability, and this should be noted by the teacher, particularly if the student defined in the margin when
otherwise find
does not have the skill to communicate frustrations in other ways.
aversive and to
avoid an unwanted
From a social skills perspective, students who display these behaviours are considered to have
they are used for the first time.
consequence.
interfering problem behaviours (Gresham, 2017). Gresham sees these as being in three categories:
• social skills acquisition deficits – they do not have appropriate skills in their repertoire
• social skills performance deficits – they have the behaviour and either choose not to use the
behaviour, or do not realise that they need to use the skill
• social skills fluency deficits – they use the behaviour in the setting in which it is reinforced
but fail to use it in other situations.
ICONS The issues of social skills will be discussed further later in the chapter as they are critical in
ensuring the social inclusion of all students, particularly those with disabilities.
available on common forms of diversity. When you see this icon, ask your instructor for
behaviour. In order for this to happen, teachers want students to:
• start on time
access to the
• prepare for thefact
lesson sheet that relates to that topic.
• attend to what the teacher says
ACARA (AC)
• comply withicons indicate material from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and
teacher directions
• strive to finish assigned tasks to the highest possible standard
Reporting Authority,
• collaborate ACARA.
constructively with other students when required, and
• work
PART B INCLUSIVE TEACHING AND without
LEARNINGdisturbing
PRACTICES others when required (Angus et al., 2009, p. 5).
Angus
PART B INCLUSIVE TEACHING et al. (2009)
AND LEARNING were studying teachers in Western Australia and their concerns about
PRACTICES
student behaviour and classroom learning at Years 2, 4, 6 and 8 (first year of secondary in
WA), and particularly in lower socioeconomic areas. They found that the behaviour of most
Summary
concern to teachers was inattention, with over 20 per cent of students identified as inattentive.
END-OF-CHAPTER
STUDY Summary
This
FEATURES
chapter has focused on the role of the regular national and jurisdictional curricula that
Unmotivated behaviour was more commonly reported in secondary than primary classes.
heavily influence mainstream classroom teaching. The approach has been to examine ways in
This chapter has the
focused on the rolestudents
of the regular
werenational and jurisdictional curricula that
STUDY
TOOLS Importantly, unmotivated not aggressive in their behaviour;
which the curriculum can be adjusted to meet the requirements of students with disability, rather
heavily influence mainstream classroom teaching. The approach has
they simply
diddeveloping
than not engage in learning.
discrete Aggressive
curricula or teachingbehaviour was
models that may lessbeen
farexacerbate to examine
common ways inproductive
than either
differences rather than
TOOLS which the curriculum can be adjusted to meet the requirements of students with disability, rather
or unmotivated
enhance behaviour
inclusion for all studentsat in
allthe
levels.
class.Angus et al.that
Strategies used thebeen
have terms ‘productive’,
examined include‘disengaged’,
the
At the end ofthan each
adjustment chapter
of individual you will
disruptive’.
materials find
adjustingseveral
Interestingly,
through only
their tools
developing discrete curricula or teaching models that may exacerbate differences rather than
‘uncooperative’, and teaching
‘low-level 40 per cent
readability andofthrough to
students
enhance inclusion for all students in the class. Strategies that have been examined include the
help
thewere seen you to review, practise and extend
asofconsistently
inclusion language andproductive, 20 perthat
reading activities centare
consistently unproductive
appropriate to the students’and the remainder
instructional levels.fluctuated
your knowledge
The difficulties ofusingyear
of the key
to school
text-based learning
year. This
materials
PART B INCLUSIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING PRACTICES
inclusion of language and reading activities thatwas
objectives.
adjustment of individual teaching materials through adjusting their readability and through the
from school attributed
and the challenges
are appropriate tofinding
of
to thestudents’
the setting and
suitable the typeslevels.
alternatives
instructional and
havecontent of
been acknowledged,
instruction. considering the heavy reliance placed on them, particularly by secondary teachers.
The difficulties of using text-based materials and the challenges of finding suitable alternatives have
The rapid expansion of alternative materials through technological sources, such as the internet, is
been acknowledged, considering the heavy reliance placed on them, particularly by secondary teachers.
expanding options, but these still need adjustments in many cases for students with disability.
Summary
Unproductive behaviours
The rapid expansion of alternative materials through technological sources, such as the internet, is
Review your understanding of
The development
expanding options, ofbut
units of work
these to provide
still need a more selective
adjustments amount
in many cases forof content,
students coupled
with with focused
disability.
STUDY This
vocabularyInchapter
The development
ahas
studybeen ofsuggested
has student
focused on
of unproductive
units
behaviours
asthe role of in
theSouth
an appropriate
of work tobehaviours
provide a more
regularAustralian
approachnational
selective
schools,
and
amount
Sullivan
jurisdictional
for mainstreamed
of content,
et al. (2012,
curricula
classes. While that
such an 2014) also the key chapter topics with the
approach found
heavily that
influence
is time-consuming mainstream
for theclassroom of concern
individualteaching.
teacher, to teachers
Theinvolvement
the approach were
has
of been
groupstocoupled
largely
examine
of
with
low-level
teacherswaysfocused
disengaged
andinwhole
TOOLS vocabulary
which
faculties
approach
than
has
canthe
behaviours,
been
reduce
isdeveloping
suggested
curriculum
the
time-consuming
can be
including
burden
discrete for
as
on
an appropriate
adjusted
being
eachlate to
formeet
teacher
the individual
curricula
approach
andthe
class,
teacher,
or teaching
for
avoiding
increase
mainstreamed
requirements
thedoing
array
the involvement
models that may
of
classes.
ofschoolwork
students
adjustedwith
of groups
exacerbate
and
While suchrather
disability,
disengaging
materials
of teachers
differences
an
for later from
and whole
Summary.
classroom
use. Adjusted activities.
curriculum Other unproductive
presentation has the potentialbehaviours
to increase included
student low-level
involvement andrather
disruptive
reduce than
behaviours
faculties can reduce
enhance the for
inclusion burden
all on eachin
students teacher andStrategies
thelesson,
class. increase the thatarray
have of adjusted materials for later
disruptivesuch as disrupting
behaviour through the flow ofatthe
teaching the student talking out
instructional turnbeen
oflevel. and examined include
making distracting the noises.
use. Adjusted
adjustment curriculum presentation
of individual teachinghas the potential
materials through toadjusting
increase student involvement
their readability and and reduce
through the
Aggressive/antisocial
The more specific
disruptive behaviour adjustmentsteachingbehaviours
and modifications such as verbally
required abusing
for students other students, spreading
with high support needs rumours
inclusion of languagethrough
and reading activities at thethat
student instructional
are appropriate level.
to the students’ instructional levels.
andaexcluding
necessitate greater level peers were very
of support uncommon
for classroom for allThis
teachers. teachers.
is perhapsHence,
bestacross all years
undertaken of schooling
through
The more specific
difficulties of adjustments
using text-based and materials
modifications required
and the for students
challenges of findingwith high support
suitable needs have
alternatives
collaborative planning with specialist teachers to ensure maximum participation in classroom learning
necessitate a greater considering
been acknowledged, level of support for classroom
the heavy relianceteachers.
placed onThis is perhaps
them, best by
particularly undertaken
secondary through
teachers.
and assessment and the possible use of teacher’s assistants to supervise learning activities in the class.
240 collaborative
The rapid expansionplanning ofwith specialist
alternative teachers
materials to ensure
through maximum sources,
technological participation in classroom
such as the internet,learning
is
Finally,
and
expanding it isoptions,
assessment important
andbut
thefor the still
executive
possible
these use and staff assistants
ofadjustments
need teacher’s to support
in manyto acases
coordinated
supervise approach
learning
for students to learning
activities
with and
in the
disability. class.
teaching adjustments. The following chapter will explore further the interrelated areas of social
Finally, it is important
The development for the
of units executive
of work and staff
to provide to support
a more selectivea amount
coordinated approach
of content, to learning
coupled and
with focused
integration and management of the inclusive classroom.
teaching
vocabulary adjustments. The following
has been suggested as an chapter
appropriatewill approach
explore further the interrelated
for mainstreamed areasWhile
classes. of social
such an
integration
approach is 240
BK-CLA-STRNADOVA_6E-210116-Chp06.indd and managementfor
time-consuming
Discussion questions
of the individual
inclusive classroom.
teacher, the involvement of groups of teachers and whole
faculties can reduce the burden on each teacher and increase the array of adjusted materials for later
Test your knowledge and
20/08/21 4:53 PM
1 designed.
What topics would you include in a half-day staff development session on adjusting curriculum,
least three grades above or below the grade level for which the teaching material was originally
learning,
3 designed.
Draw a mapteaching
of yourand assessment
classroom, for students
including seatingwith
plan,disability
position in
ofyour mainstream
resources school?
– especially technology
CHAPTER 4 studY tOOls
2 that
How supports
can you make assessment
the learning tasks relevant
of students for all students
with additional in the
needs, and class?of students with
location
3 Draw a map of your classroom, including seating plan, position of resources – especially technology
3 disability
What are the andtypes
their specific learning
of curriculum, needs. and
learning Track where you
teaching moverequired
supports within theforcourse
studentsof most lessons.
with high
that supports the learning of students with additional needs, and location of students with
How does
support yourand
needs utilisation
how canoftheyspacebehelp to meet diverse student needs? Does your classroom space
provided?
disability and their specific learning needs. Track where you move within the course of most lessons.
Group activities
encourage diverse students to learn together, allow for targeted grouping of students within lesson
How does your utilisation of space help to meet diverse student needs? Does your classroom space
structures, etc.?
Individual activities
1 As aencourage
small group, diverse
take students
a curriculumto learn
topictogether,
and workallow for targeted
through grouping
the process of students
of identifying thewithin
criticallesson
1 structures,
curriculum
Take a topic etc.?
content, adjusting
in your teachingthearea
vocabulary
and identifyand then developing
the ‘must know’acontent
series ofandsample teaching materials
the vocabulary that
190 for the topicbethat
should demonstrate
placed in each ofthe
theimportance of adjusting
three categories. Compare curriculum, reduced
your results vocabulary
with those and
of a colleague.
appropriate presentation
2 Take an existing styles.
teaching Also prepare
material an adapted
and adjust assessment
it for use by studentstask foran
with the same topic. Share
instructional level atthe
190
outcomes withgrades
least three other groups in below
above or the same
theor different
grade level curriculum areas.
for which the teaching material was originally
2 Have each member of the group examine a different technological approach to supporting students
designed.
with disability
3 Draw a map ofthe
BK-CLA-STRNADOVA_6E-210116-Chp04.indd 190in
classroom
your (e.g.
classroom, digital books,
including iPad
seating applications,
plan, position ofRead and Write
resources Gold). Discuss
– especially your
technology
20/08/21 7:00 PM
xii 190
a comparison to your own approach. Consider how your future planning might best meet individual
learning needs within a positive, inclusive climate.
4 Examine and critique ACARA’s CASE Content – Abilities – Standards – Evaluation Planning Pathway
(https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/student-diversity/planning-for-student-diversity/
steps-to-personalise-learning-case/)
BK-CLA-STRNADOVA_6E-210116-Chp04.indd 190 20/08/21 7:00 PM
appropriate presentation styles. Also prepare an adapted assessment task for the same topic. Share the
outcomes with other groups in the same or different curriculum areas.
2 Have each member of the group examine a different technological approach to supporting students
with disability in the classroom (e.g. digital books, iPad applications, Read and Write Gold). Discuss your
findings with the group and how they could be used in the classroom.
3 Discuss and identify adjustments required for students with special needs, those who are gifted
and talented and those with an EAL/D background. Share the outcomes and consider how these
GUIDE TO THE TEXT
differing needs can be met in an inclusive classroom. ACARA’s Illustrations of Practice (https://www.
australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/student-diversity/illustrations-of-practice/) include documents
(e.g. unit overviews) showing the teaching adjustments made within the video samples. Use these as
a comparison to your own approach. Consider how your future planning might best meet individual
Extend your understanding National Assessment Program: Disability Adjustment Scenarios https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/school-
Recommended reading
support/adjustments-for-students-with-disability/disability-adjustments-scenarios
References
Abell, M. M., Bauder, D. K., & Simmons, T. J. (2005). ACT Department of Education and Training (2013). 191
Access to the general curriculum: a curriculum and Every chance to learn: curriculum framework for ACT
instructional perspective for educators. Intervention in schools preschool to year 10. Canberra: Author. https://
School and Clinic, 41, 82–86. portfolio.canberra.edu.au/artefact/file/download.
ACARA (n.d.) CASE191
BK-CLA-STRNADOVA_6E-210116-Chp04.indd Planning Pathway. Retrieved from php?file=176673&view=46411 20/08/21 7:00 PM
At the back of the book you will find appendices of common abbreviations and shortened forms,
BK-CLA-STRNADOVA_6E-210116-Chp04.indd 192 20/08/21 7:00 PM
xiii
Guide to the online resources
FOR THE INSTRUCTOR
MINDTAP
Premium online teaching and learning tools are available on the MindTap platform – the
personalised eLearning solution.
MindTap is a flexible and easy-to-use platform that helps build student confidence and gives you
a clear picture of their progress. We partner with you to ease the transition to digital – we’re with
you every step of the way.
The Cengage Mobile App puts your course directly into students’ hands with course materials
available on their smartphone or tablet. Students can read on the go, complete practice quizzes
or participate in interactive real-time activities.
MindTap for Strnadová’s Inclusion in Action is full of innovative resources to support critical
thinking, and help your students move from memorisation to mastery! Includes:
• Inclusion in Action 6th edition eBook
• Classroom videos
• Revision quizzes
• And more
MindTap is a premium purchasable eLearning
tool. Contact your Cengage learning consultant to
find out how MindTap can transform your course.
INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE
The Instructor’s guide includes:
• Learning objectives
• Key points
• Suggested responses to Narrative discussion questions and Reflect on this activities
• Solutions to end-of-chapter activities
• Chapter video with questions and activities
xiv
GUIDE TO THE ONLINE RESOURCES
POWERPOINT™ PRESENTATIONS
Use the chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides to enhance your lecture presentations and
handouts by reinforcing the key principles of your subject.
MINDTAP
MindTap is the next-level online learning tool that helps you get better grades!
MindTap gives you the resources you need to study – all in one place and available when you
need them. In the MindTap Reader, you can make notes, highlight text and even find a definition
directly from the page.
If your instructor has chosen MindTap for your subject this semester, log in to MindTap to:
• Get better grades
• Save time and get organised
• Connect with your instructor and peers
• Study when and where you want, online and mobile
• Complete assessment tasks as set by your instructor
When your instructor creates a course using
MindTap, they will let you know your course link
so you can access the content. Please purchase
MindTap only when directed by your instructor.
Course length is set by your instructor.
xv
Preface
The focus of this book is on how schools can become inclusive communities, providing optimal
learning environments for a wide diversity of students. The editors and chapter authors have
a strong view that the basis for inclusive education is good teaching. For this reason, much of
this book is about teaching rather than about differences or disability. If all teachers focus on
the needs of the individual students in their classes, inclusive educational processes will follow.
The concepts presented are about processes such as adapting curriculum to meet individual needs,
planning teaching strategies, using evidence-based practices, applying whole-school approaches,
encouraging positive interactions, ensuring smooth transitions and working collaboratively. These
concepts are as applicable in regular education as they are in ‘special’ education, and they apply
to students with a wide range of abilities (or disabilities). The book therefore focuses on the
diversity of students attending regular schools, and the strategies that can be used to optimise
the educational experiences of all students. As a result, the various chapters in this book include
reference to Indigenous students, students for whom English is an additional language or
dialect (EAL/D students), gifted and talented students, and students with a range of additional
education support needs.
The approach in this book does not generally attempt to link particular teaching strategies to
particular forms of disability or diversity. It is wrong to assume that identification of a disability
or additional need will indicate the type of teaching approach to be taken. For example, knowing
that a student has Down syndrome or cerebral palsy or spina bifida or is gifted and talented
does not tell us much about the teaching approach we need to take for that student. In some
situations, particular approaches have proven useful. For example, there are some specific
suggestions in this book about teaching students who are on the autism spectrum, but even these
should not be seen as a general recipe. As with any other student, we would want to assess an
individual student’s current attainments, skills and strengths, and set some educational goals
based on a broad-based assessment. It is also recognised that there are specialised teaching
approaches for students with significant sensory disabilities (vision or hearing loss), and
these are not covered specifically in this text. Teachers can access information about specific
disabilities when they have a student with that disability in their class, and there are fact sheets
on disability and diversity on the website. Parents are usually experts on their child’s disability or
additional needs. The internet is also a source of the most up-to-date information about particular
aspects of diversity, and website references are provided at the end of each chapter. However, for
most students, the classroom teaching approach is determined by careful assessment of their
individual educational needs.
The book is divided into four parts. The first part sets the scene by providing an overview of
concepts, principles, legislation and policy related to inclusion, with a focus on inclusive practices
in the school. The second part examines effective teaching and learning practices, including
curriculum adaptation, planning for teaching and supporting positive behaviour. The third part
deals with specific difficulties in communication, literacy and numeracy, which occur in many
students with a disability. The final section examines inclusive practice in three common school
divisions: early childhood education, primary schooling and secondary schools transitioning into
post-school options.
The book can be used as the basis for a semester-long course for undergraduate and
postgraduate students. An online instructors’ manual is available which assists lecturers and
tutors with end-of-chapter activities and within-chapter discussion questions. There are also
chapter videos and other instructor resources, and an online course website for students, provided
by the publishers.
xvi
PREFACE
Note on terminology
We respectfully acknowledge that there are differences in the ways people talk about disability.
Some people with disability prefer person-first language, which emphasises the principle of
people first, disability second (e.g., a student with intellectual disability). Others prefer identity-
first language (e.g., autistic student). In this book we use person-first language, which reflects
the predominant usage in the Australian and international context, and aligns with the editors’
philosophy. However, respectful of the voices of many autistic people who believe that autism
makes them who they are, and is therefore a critical part of their identity, we use the term
‘student on the autism spectrum’, which has been recognised in the latest research (Bury et al.,
2020) as one of the more acceptable terms for this community.
Reference:
Bury, S. M., Jellett, R., Spoor, J. R., & Hedley, D. (2020). ‘It Defines Who I Am’ or ‘It’s Something
I Have’: What Language Do [Autistic] Australian Adults [on the Autism Spectrum] Prefer?
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04425-3
xvii
About the authors
Dedication
ROBERT CONWAY died in early 2020 after a short period of illness. The Editors and Contributors
of this edition wish to pay tribute to his huge contribution to the field of special and inclusive
education, and extend their condolences to his family. Bob, as he was affectionately known, was
an Emeritus Professor at Flinders University where he served as Dean of Education from 2007
to 2012. Prior to this role he was a leader in special education at The University of Newcastle,
playing several roles including Director of the Special Education Centre, with a background
as a teacher in both mainstream and special education. His main research centred on the area
of students with behaviour problems in both mainstream and specialist settings. He worked
with education systems to improve the management of students with behaviour problems,
particularly in the ways in which student management, learning and teaching could be addressed
concurrently. He also had a strong interest in the inclusion of students with a range of learning
needs in mainstream education and the ways in which schools and education systems can
become more inclusive by meeting the needs of all students. He was a member of the Australian
Government’s former Schools and Disability Advisory Council. Bob is greatly missed by all those
who knew him, and his legacy in the field is substantial.
Editors
IVA STRNADOVÁ is Professor in Special Education and Disability Studies at the University of
New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Her research aims to contribute to better understanding
and the improvement of the life experiences of people with disabilities. Combining research with
advocacy is essential in her research program, which builds on supporting the self-determination
(including self-advocacy) of people with intellectual disabilities, and is grounded in an innovative
inclusive research approach, in which people with intellectual disabilities are included in the role
of researcher.
She has a particular research interest in the wellbeing of people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities and their families over the life span, diverse transitions in lives of
people with disabilities (particularly intellectual disabilities and autism); girls and women with
intellectual disabilities; parents with intellectual disabilities; inclusive research; issues relevant
to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities; and approaches giving voice to
people with intellectual disabilities (e.g., Photovoice, body mapping).
xviii
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PHIL FOREMAN is Emeritus Professor of Education at The University of Newcastle. He was Chair
of the NSW Institute of Teachers from 2007–2013, and was Professor and Dean of Education at
The University of Newcastle from 2002–2008. Prior to that he was Director of the University’s
Special Education Centre. He was Editor of the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental
Disability from 1992–2002, and remains an Associate Editor. He is also an Associate Editor of the
Australasian Journal of Special and Inclusive Education. He was foundation president of Newcastle
& Hunter Community Access and Disability Advocacy Service Hunter. He is a Member of the
Guardianship and Administrative Divisions of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal. In
2013 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to special education
and to people with a disability.
Contributors
THERESE M. CUMMING is a Professor of Special Education in the School of Education and
Academic Lead Education at the UNSW Disability Innovation Institute. Therese is a Scientia
Education Academy Fellow and has had extensive leadership experiences in learning and
teaching. Her teaching and research focus on promoting the use of evidence-based practices to
support the learning and behaviour of students with disabilities and the use of technology to
create inclusive, accessible, and engaging learning environments.
KERRY DALLY is a senior lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle.
She teaches in the postgraduate program in the areas of early childhood intervention, learning
difficulties, and social-emotional learning and positive behaviour support. She is a past recipient
of the Australian Resource Educators Association award for excellence in research in the field
of learning difficulties and the Australian Early Childhood Doctoral Thesis award. Her current
research interests encompass inclusive education, student self-efficacy and wellbeing, and
whole-school approaches to creating supportive learning environments.
MICHAEL DAVIES (B Econ, Grad Dip Psych, M App Psych, PhD) is Associate Professor and the
Program Leader in Counselling at the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors and an
Adjunct Associate Professor at Griffith University in Brisbane, where he was an academic for
30 years. Prior to academia he worked for 5 years as a Counselling Psychologist with long-term
unemployed adults, those undertaking rehabilitation, and students regarding their vocational
choice. Seven years working with family members of people with disabilities, and training
residential staff supporting people with severe intellectual disabilities followed before becoming a
lecturer. Over 30 years at Griffith University he taught counselling and interpersonal psychology
among many other subject areas, especially to special education teachers in training. He was
also Program Leader in Special Education at Griffith University. Since February 2017 he has led
the team of academics at AIPC and teaches counselling skills and ethics in undergraduate and
postgraduate courses. His research includes over 70 publications across the interconnecting
themes of social skills, stress and coping, and transitions from school to post-school life and
this work has been presented to many academic and practitioner communities nationally
and internationally.
xix
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
mental health and whole-school approaches. Judith has had extensive experience teaching
in mainstream and support classes in infants, primary and secondary schools in isolated,
Indigenous, rural and suburban communities. Her area of research explores links and engagement
in learning through behaviour support, the professional learning of teachers and staff
collaboration.
SARAH HOPKINS is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Monash University and has
many years of experience in primary and secondary teacher education. Her current research
is focused on understanding and addressing students’ difficulties learning mathematics and
preparing teachers for inclusive classrooms. Sarah leads a collaborative project between Monash
University and Wallara (a community-based organisation) called the Keep on Learning (KoL)
program. The KoL program involves pre-service mainstream teachers working with young adults
with intellectual disability (students) in a literacy and numeracy tutoring program. Along with
her colleagues, she has investigated the benefits of the KoL program for pre-service teachers in
terms of preparing them to teach in inclusive classrooms and the benefits for students in terms of
their learning outcomes and wellbeing.
SALLY HOWELL has been involved in the education of students with special needs both as a
teacher and special education consultant for many years. This has involved working in public,
independent and Catholic schools. Sally has worked as a special education lecturer at Macquarie
University Special Education Centre (MUSEC) in the areas of numeracy instruction, research
methods and behaviour management. Sally is currently the Principal of MUSEC School. Sally has
provided advice to the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
and the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) regarding curriculum and assessment for
students with a disability. She has expertise in assessment and programming for students with
difficulties in learning, particularly in the areas of numeracy and reading. Sally has extensive
experience working collaboratively with parents and schools to support students with special
needs in both inclusive and specialist settings. Sally’s research focus has been on number sense
as a predictor of early mathematics achievement and on schema-based instruction applied to
mathematics’ problem solving.
MARTIN HOWES has been teaching in both primary and high schools over the past eleven
years. After graduating with honours from the University of Newcastle with a Bachelor of
Teaching (Special Education)/Bachelor of Arts degree, he started his teaching career as a
learning support teacher. His varied teaching experiences have included a period of relieving
as an assistant principal of a support unit, a mainstream class teacher and a wellbeing teacher
in primary schools, as well as a special education teacher in a high school support unit setting.
He is currently an assistant principal and learning support coordinator in a primary school.
His interests are in learning support for students with additional educational needs and
technology in education.
CORAL KEMP is an experienced practitioner, consultant, program director, teacher educator, and
researcher in the field of early childhood intervention. Coral’s practical experience has included:
special educator on a transdisciplinary home-based early intervention team, preschool special
education consultant for the NSW Department of Education, and Academic Team Leader of
the Early Years programs at Macquarie University. During her time at Macquarie, Coral won a
federal grant to establish an inclusion support program for children with disabilities in childcare
centres in predominantly disadvantaged areas of Sydney. Coral is a member of the coordinating
committee for the International Society on Early Intervention, Honorary Senior Lecturer
xx
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
at Macquarie University and member of the Board of the STaR Association, which supports
children with disabilities in regular childcare. Coral has published her research on early childhood
inclusion in Australian and international peer-reviewed journals.
CARL LEONARD is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and Co-Coordinator of the Master
of Special and Inclusive Education Program at The University of Newcastle, Australia. He has
research interests in holistic, innovative, communication-rich leadership structures aligning a
core focus on wellbeing; teaching and learning structures embedded in implementation science;
and universal design for learning as the springboard for success. Carl worked in schools for
28 years in various teaching, leadership and consultancy positions as an advocate for public
education, inclusivity and diversity
Simultaneous to this, Carl also lectured in the postgraduate programs at The University of
Newcastle, aiming to foster the growth and development of the current and next generation
of teaching professionals. In addition to working full-time in schools up until mid-2019, Carl
has achieved significant scholarly output including one sole-authored book, a range of journal
articles and presentations at national and international conferences.
MICHELLE RALSTON has extensive experience in mainstream and special education, teaching
children from 3 years of age through to 18-year-olds. She has led whole school change in literacy
and inclusion in her roles as learning-support team coordinator, assistant principal, itinerant
communication/language disorders and learning support teacher within mainstream schools.
She lectures at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in early childhood, primary and
secondary inclusive and special education, collaboration, learning difficulties, communication
disorders, positive behaviour support, social emotional learning, learning difficulties, disability
discrimination legislation and education policy. Her current research interests include the
Disability Standards for Education and related policies, learning and development experiences for
school staff, and the role of school leaders in promoting inclusive practice.
UMESH SHARMA is Professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Australia where
he is the Academic Head of the Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education Community.
Umesh’s research programs in the area of disability and inclusive education span India, Pakistan,
China, Bangladesh, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa as well as Australia, Canada,
USA and New Zealand. He is the chief co-editor of the Australasian Journal of Special Education
and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Inclusive and Special Education. He has authored over 150 academic
articles, book chapters and edited books that focus on various aspects of inclusive education.
His co-authored book A Guide to Promoting a Positive Classroom Environment was the recipient
of the International Book Prize Award from the Exceptionality Education International. He was
recently (2019) named the top Special Education Researcher (Field Leader) in Australia based
on the impact of his work locally and internationally by the Australian Chief Scientist https://
specialreports.theaustralian.com.au/1540291/. His main areas of research are: positive behaviour
support, inclusive education for disadvantaged children and policy and practice in special and
inclusive education.
DEAN SUTHERLAND is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing at
the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. His research focuses on communication,
education and parent/teacher-child interactions, in particular supporting children and young
people (and their families) who experience difficulty developing or retaining communication skills.
This work involves working with diverse populations, including children with autism spectrum
disorder and other developmental and neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy.
xxi
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
MICHAEL L. WEHMEYER, PhD is the Ross and Mariana Beach Distinguished Professor of Special
Education; Chair of the Department of Special Education; and Director and Senior Scientist,
Beach Center on Disability; all at the University of Kansas. His research and scholarly work has
focused on issues pertaining to self-determination, positive psychology and disability, transition
to adulthood, the education and inclusion of students with severe disabilities, conceptualising
intellectual disability, and technology use by people with cognitive disabilities.
xxii
Acknowledgements
The editors, Iva Strnadová, Michael Arthur-Kelly and Phil Foreman, would like to thank the
many parents, students, teachers, principals and other professionals who so generously provided
narratives and case studies to develop and illustrate the concepts presented in each chapter.
They would also like to thank staff at Cengage, together with their fellow contributors, for their
expertise and commitment to this publication.
The authors, editors and publisher would like to thank all those who have contributed
photographs and other material for inclusion in this edition, as well as to those who have
contributed to past editions of Inclusion in Action. The editors and the authors of Chapters 2, 3
and 12 would like to acknowledge the work and contribution of the authors of earlier editions of
these chapters: Dr Ian Dempsey and Dr Gordon Lyons. The editors and authors of Chapter 9 would
also like to extend their thanks and acknowledge the contribution of Amanda Boelen, Visiting
Teacher Service, and Ms Mirna Farah, Learning and Support Teacher.
Cengage, the editors, and the author team would also like to thank the following reviewers for
their incisive and helpful feedback:
• Nadine Ballam – University of Waikato
• Jeanette Berman – University of New England
• Corey Bloomfield – Central Queensland University
• Dr Melissa Cain – Australian Catholic University (QLD)
• Karen Glasby – University of Southern Queensland
• Edwina El Hachem – Deakin University
• Rosemary Horn – University of the Sunshine Coast
• Dr Sofia Mavropoulou – Queensland University of Technology
• Sue O’Neill – University of New South Wales
• Bea Staley – Charles Darwin University
• Marion Sturges – Western Sydney University
We would also like to extend our thanks to the reviewers who provided their feedback on all
previous editions of Inclusion in Action.
xxiii
Standards mapping grid
This book is designed to assist readers to achieve the Australian Professional Standards for Graduate Teachers.
The following grid shows how the content of particular chapters contributes to the Standards.
xxiv
STANDARDS MAPPING GRID
xxv
STANDARDS MAPPING GRID
xxvi
PART A
INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
1 Introducing inclusion in education
1
1
CHAPTER
Introducing inclusion
in education
Iva Strnadová and Phil Foreman
Introduction
diversity Teachers in the twenty-first century expect to have a diversity of students in their classes.
Reflects the
The term ‘diversity’ may refer to students’ cultural backgrounds, their social and family
wide variation
in educational backgrounds, their ethnic origins, their ability level or their functional level. For classrooms to
needs of students
be optimal learning environments, teachers need to understand the diversity of their students,
in contemporary
classrooms and the and to provide appropriate programs and learning conditions. In the past, many classes in
need to be aware
Australia and New Zealand were not very diverse, often containing students from similar
of factors related
to their ethnic, backgrounds and only rarely having a student with a significant disability. However, teachers
cultural and social
are now likely to have students from many different countries, from varying religious and
backgrounds, their
special abilities and, ethnic backgrounds, and from a variety of family arrangements including nuclear families,
if relevant, their
single parent families, shared parenting families, and same-sex parent families. They are
disabilities.
also likely to, at some stage, teach students with a diagnosed disability. It is the successful
disability
The functional inclusion of a diversity of students, including in particular those who have a disability, that is
consequence of an the primary focus of this book.
impairment. For
example, because Most contemporary classrooms will include one or more students with a diagnosed
of the impairment
of spina bifida, the intellectual, physical, sensory or learning disability. The recent Nationally Consistent
disability may be that Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD, 2020) in Australia has also
a person is unable
to walk without highlighted areas of focus such as cognitive, sensory and social/emotional domains, and
the assistance of the fact that students may not have a diagnosis and yet have real and important learning
crutches.
needs (NCCD uses the term ‘imputed disability’). This inclusion of students with a range of
2
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
needs that happens in regular classrooms reflects the widespread agreement that people with sensory disability
a disability have a right to participate fully in the community. Consequently, many parents of Impairment of vision
or hearing, including
students with a disability choose to send their child to their local school rather than to a special deafness and
school or unit. The prospect of having students with a disability in their classes may cause blindness.
concern for some teachers, but these concerns are often misplaced. Good teaching provides learning disability
(or difficulty)
for the individual needs of all students (see Figure 1.1), and challenges can come from many An impairment
students, including those with or without a disability. in one or more
of the processes
involved in using
spoken or written
language. This may
particularly show
itself in problems
with reading,
writing, spelling,
speaking, listening
and mathematical
calculations. (In
the UK, intellectual
disability is referred
to as ‘learning
disability’, which is a
different concept.)
Some teachers will find that a child with a diagnosed disability is less challenging than other
students in the class. The example of Mia, in Narrative 1.1, illustrates this.
NARRATIVE
1.1
Mia’s considerations
Mia is a 12-year-old girl who is paralysed from the waist down as a result of a car accident
when she was 7 years old.
She is about to commence at her local high school in a large country town. She uses an
electric wheelchair. Her academic work is above average. She would like to work on web
design when she leaves school. Students with
Some planning is needed before Mia arrives. Perhaps a learning support team will be physical disability
established, with Mia, her family, the year teacher and a learning support consultant from
the school or region. Among the questions the team will consider are:
• How will Mia deal with the problem of stairs?
• Are there any obstructions to her wheelchair?
3
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are some other questions that Mia and her learning support team will need to
give consideration to before Mia begins high school?
Most education systems will provide support for the issues raised in Narrative 1.1, and will
have a procedure for assessing each student’s support needs. However, once these questions
have been answered and appropriate supports have been put into place, it is likely that Mia will
cause her teachers fewer problems than many other students in the class, such as those who
resist teacher authority. Yet there was a time when Mia would have spent all of her school career
mixing only with other students with a physical disability, simply because the problems she
has were regarded as insurmountable in a regular school. No-one would suggest that it would be
reasonable for students to be grouped educationally according to their weight, ethnicity or skin
colour, so why would it be reasonable for Mia to be grouped according to one specific aspect of her
humanity (her physical disability)? The same comments apply to Christopher, whose parents’
voice is heard in Narrative 1.2, later in this chapter.
In the last 35–40 years, attitudes to disability have changed considerably. Since the
International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) in 1981, it has become more likely that people
with a disability will have the same choices as people without a disability. Until the later part of
the twentieth century, many students with a disability either did not attend school or attended
a separate ‘special’ school. This was part of a general policy of keeping people with a disability
separate from the so-called ‘normal’ community. As a result, most teachers, other than those who
had chosen to be ‘special education’ teachers, were unlikely to have much contact with students
with a disability.
In earlier times, segregation was even more pervasive. It affected all aspects of living. In the
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a range of institutions was developed, some of them
very large. This was done with good intent, to protect vulnerable people from possible harm or
abuse in the wider community. This separation was also believed to benefit their families and
society generally by allowing them to ‘get on with their lives’ without having to worry about
the child with a disability. It was common for the institutions to be physically isolated from the
rest of the community, and the treatment of residents was not always kind. Even people who
remained at home with their families were sometimes hidden away, or expected to mix only with
other people with a similar disability.
Although some institutions still operate, despite the de-institutionalisation movement that
focused on closing down all institutions, we now recognise the right of people with a disability to
make choices in the way they live their lives. It is accepted that most people wish to choose where
they live, who they mix with, where they work, and how they spend their leisure time. In the past,
many adults with a disability were separated from the general community in environments that
gave them little opportunity to make any choices in their lives, even in such routine matters as
who they would talk to, what they were going to eat or when they would go to bed.
4
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
Changes that have occurred over the last 35–40 years have meant that children and young
people with a disability generally live at home with their parents, or elsewhere in the community,
rather than in a large institution. They may also attend the local school. As a result, classroom
teachers are now likely to have some students with a disability enrolled in their schools and
classes.
5
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Normalisation
normalisation Normalisation has formed the basis of the special education policies of most school systems. It
The concept that all
people, regardless
is a social justice concept based largely on the writings of Bank-Mikkelsen (1969), Wolfensberger
of disability, should (1972, 1980) and Nirje (1970, 1985) and has impacted primarily on the lives of people with a
be able to live a life
that is as normal as
disability. The concept of normalisation embraces the belief that people are entitled to live as
possible for their ‘normal’ as possible a lifestyle in their community. Normal is taken to mean what most other
culture. In education,
the principle of
people in that culture would prefer to do. It can easily be shown that it is not ‘normal’ for most
normalisation people in Western cultures to live in a dormitory and eat in a communal dining room. It is not
suggests that all
children should have
‘normal’ for adults to have little choice about their daily activities or to be prevented from
the opportunity intimate sexual contact. Thus, a residential institution that was influenced by the concept
to attend the local
school.
of normalisation might change its dormitories into one- or two-person bedrooms, provide
opportunities for residents to choose and perhaps cook their own food, select their own clothes
and activities, and interact freely with people of both sexes.
In relation to education, the principle of normalisation suggests that all students should be
able to attend the neighbourhood school, or perhaps attend an independent school, as preferred
by students and their families. Wolfensberger later stated that he considered normalisation
social role theory to have been ‘subsumed by the broader theory of social role valorisation’ (1995, p. 164),
valorisation
A reconceptualisation
which looks at the various ‘social roles’ that people perform; for example, husband, wife, partner,
of normalisation by friend, teacher, colleague, leader. Some social roles are obviously much more highly valued than
Wolf Wolfensberger
that is based on the
others. The way others respond to our social roles affects the way we perceive ourselves.
social role assumed Wolfensberger pointed out that the social roles of people with a disability tend to be poorly
by individuals, and the
value placed on that valued. If people with a disability are to be genuinely included in the community, it is important
role by society. that their social roles are ‘valorised’. This means they need to be given roles and opportunities
that are valued by the rest of the community. For example, street begging is a very poorly
regarded activity in almost every culture, with very low status. As such, it would be contrary
to social role valorisation to have people with a disability raising money for charity by holding
donation boxes in the street.
6
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
7
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
NARRATIVE
1.2
Christopher’s educational journey
Our son Christopher was born in 1987, the youngest of three
boys. He has Down syndrome, his main difficulty being very
poor speech. He has a lot to say though, and talks confidently
to a large range of people, including on the phone to friends
and family. He loves to speak at public events like weddings
or birthdays. Chris moves in a lot of social and work spheres
and even with limited language skills he knows people by
name, has friendly conversations with them, and is a popular
member of any group. It is not that hard to keep up with the
many topics of his conversation, using a mix of guesswork,
context and knowledge of his life. We have also seen a
society-wide shift in people’s willingness and openness to
engage with communicators like Chris. Communication at all
levels in his life has been a keystone to good outcomes.
We knew when he was born that we would try to give
FIGURE 1.3 Christopher at high school him a life and an education as much like his brothers’
as possible. Now that he is 29, we can look back on the
milestones and bumps along the road. Chris was well
catered for by school and post-school training and education programs because segregated
and isolationist practices were being phased out, and he had mostly happy and socially
inclusive experiences during his education. We were, however, motivated to join advocacy
groups and political campaigns in the ‘90s because change in educational practices and
funding was slow. It was immensely satisfying to see Australia introduce the National Disability
Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in 2012. Chris is now part of this, with his own planner and the means
for us and him to negotiate his future.
8
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
Chris’ education and pathway through life can be seen in the context
of his family, school, and societal context, because it is the people
around him who worked together effectively, who helped him achieve
what he has. We can highlight many excellent strategies, initiatives and
programs that have led to his present good adjustment and happy life.
There are clear guidelines here for good educational practice, but some
cautionary tales as well.
Regular preschool
Before he started school, Chris attended a local preschool two days a week, with funding
assistance provided for some of those hours. The staff focused on ready-for-school skills,
particularly writing and drawing and small group work. They used sequenced learning and task
analysis to work with Chris. Belonging to a group of peers without a disability was great modelling
for him, and he looked forward to going each day. Staff here also believed in the benefits of
inclusion. We talked with staff about his progress, and believed he had the basis for fitting into an
inclusive school setting.
Starting school
Based on the psychometric tests that were part of the enrolment procedure in 1992, we were
psychometric
offered a special school for Chris, but asked for, and were allocated, a special class in a regular tests
school in another suburb. We were disappointed all the same, because we hoped for – and Chris Assessments
that measure
and our middle son expected – that he could attend our local school. Communication between mental
preschool, school and placement personnel was nil. states and
processes.
Transition-to-school guidelines were not formalised until 1997 in New South Wales, and Examples are
they are still in development. A NSW Government Standing Committee on Transition in 2012 intelligence
recognised the importance of good planning and practices for all times of change in the lives of and
personality
people with a disability. Yet, there is still no legislation in Australia which would clarify transitions- tests.
related responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders, including development of individual transition
plans (ITPs).
We can vouch for the very different journey that parents embark on when they have a
child with a disability. Starting school is one of the early major hurdles to get through, and the
experience can be traumatic. Having older children may only serve to highlight what a different
world you have entered.
Funding and practice at the time Chris started school was not to the liking of many parents, and
in 1996 we campaigned for change in an election year under the banner ‘Kids Belong Together’.
9
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
10
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
Staff learned from each other about catering for learning needs that were different to their
usual classes, and they sought advice from special education teachers. Some regular teachers, and
a few kind but gullible canteen helpers, were shown more appropriate ways to work with students
who liked to gain special treatment. Chris was not the only one who scammed food at the canteen
when he had no money, or who was allowed cute but cheeky behaviour.
Students had access to regular classes according to individual education plans, as well as to
TAFE, and were totally integrated in the playground and for sports activities. Mainstream students
also received a great benefit in mixing with students with disabilities and they very quickly
accepted Chris and his peers as part of the school community. The coffee shop run by the special
education classes was a big hit in the school community. Regular students who were disparaging
or thought little of the students with disabilities were counselled, and spent time in the classes as
helpers.
Chris’ program was a mix of individual and group work, with input from us as parents to focus
on things we felt were important for him. He took away many practical skills that he still uses
today, and he can read timetables, calendars, television guides and community signs to a level that
suits him.
Chris’ years in high school were very happy, as acceptance and belonging were part of a
whole-school inclusive philosophy. Staff and student morale was high, and achievements were
celebrated at all levels.
After school
We talked regularly with Chris’ teachers about his transition from school, helped just a little by his
father being on the staff! Chris built up a useful repertoire of social, work and life skills that have
stood him in good stead since. He was ready to leave in Year 12, had a great time at his formal,
and hasn’t looked back.
Chris had a successful transition from school to a program that continued his education and
training. The focus of post-school programs is progress to independence and self-reliance and
Chris embraces that. Using funding from the NDIS he has learned to catch a bus to the program
and back independently, which was a great step. He also progressed from work experience
to paid work in a supported environment – three days per week – so he is a taxpayer in Hi-Vis
gear. It has been very important to Chris and us as his parents to see progress through the
milestones of life, and to become adult and responsible to the best of his ability. Many people
have contributed to that, making Chris a real beneficiary of all the best things about family, our
school system and Australian social programs. Because of NDIS funding, we were able to find just
the accommodation provider we were looking for and transition Chris out of home to full-time
living with three well-suited mates who are house-sharing just like other young men their age. As
parents we are extremely proud of Chris and thrilled to watch him live life as an adult.
SOURCE: Judy and Alex Neilands, parents
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What are Chris’ parents’ hopes for their son at various points in his education? Consider
the extent to which their hopes for their son reflect socially valued roles and experiences.
What examples do they give to suggest that Christopher’s inclusion has been successful?
2. Christopher’s experiences in the ‘traditional room’ in primary school were not very
positive. What went wrong? What could have been done to improve the situation?
11
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
Age-appropriate behaviour
It is important that all school students have roles that are valued by the school community.
All students need to be able to participate in the school’s day-to-day activities and, wherever
possible, perform roles that are seen by their peers and themselves to be positive and valuable.
The principles of normalisation and social role valorisation suggest that students’ activities
age-appropriate should be appropriate for their age. For example, age-appropriate behaviour means that teenage
behaviour
A behaviour or activity
girls with an intellectual disability should not be given dolls to play with, and teenage boys
that is consistent with should not be doing preschool puzzles or playing with childish toys. These activities are seen as
the behaviours and
activities normally
low status by others, and probably by the students themselves. It is usually possible to substitute
undertaken by same an age-appropriate activity or teaching material for an age-inappropriate activity. As an example,
aged peers. For
example, a young
it is preferable for older students to be given counting practice using age-appropriate objects such
woman playing with as coins rather than using childish objects such as blocks or counters.
a toy doll would
not be displaying The issue of age-appropriateness is relevant to the debate about the optimal way of providing
age-appropriate for the needs of gifted and talented students. Some argue for acceleration; that is, moving
behaviour.
students to a grade where the curriculum is appropriate to their developmental level (e.g. Willis,
2012), while others argue that, for example, to send a 10-year-old student to high school is not
age-appropriate and places the student’s social development at risk. They might argue that it
is better to provide enrichment for students within their regular grade level. Such placement
decisions are complex and depend on many factors related to the students, their families and
their schools.
REFLECT ON THIS
Age-appropriateness says that teenage girls with a disability should not be given dolls to
play with. There is also a contrary argument that people with disabilities should be able to
choose preferred activities, regardless of what others think of them. Which do you think is
the stronger argument?
12
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
formats. For example, information can be provided in a format of a textbook chapter, a video,
or a podcast about the topic. This principle also includes providing students with options for
comprehension. This may include activating students’ previous knowledge or demonstrating
how two pieces of information belong together (Mitchell & Sutherland, 2020). Last but not the
least, it is essential to provide students with options for perception. Students with intellectual
disabilities or with a visual impairment might need enlarged text. Students who are blind might
need voiced descriptions of visuals (Mitchell & Sutherland, 2020).
13
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
are the Stanford Binet Intelligence Test (5th edition, 2003) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale
for Children (5th edition; WISC-V, 2014). Adaptive behaviour is usually assessed by tests such as
the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales or the Diagnostic Adaptive Behavior Scale.
The average intelligence quotient or IQ score is 100, with a score below 70 indicating a degree
of intellectual disability if it is associated with similar limitations in adaptive behaviour. The
level of intellectual disability is often classified in the following way:
• 55 to 70 IQ: mild intellectual disability
• 30 to 54 IQ: moderate intellectual disability
• below 30 IQ: severe intellectual disability.
For scores below 30 IQ, some people use the term ‘profound’ intellectual disability. However,
this term has become less used in recent years because of the difficulty of assessing IQ levels
below a score of 30, and because of the negative implications of the term. Therefore, the terms
‘multiple severe disabilities’, ‘profound and multiple learning disabilities’, ‘profound intellectual
and multiple disabilities’, or ‘high support needs’ are sometimes used to refer to people who have
a combination of severe physical, intellectual and/or sensory disabilities.
Unfortunately, referring to levels of intellectual disability often translates to language used
in practice, where teachers refer to their students in terms of categories, rather than individual
students. For example, in New South Wales, numerous mainstream schools have special
units (classrooms), which are named after the type and level of disability, such as IM classes
(i.e. classes for students with mild intellectual disability), or for example IO classes (i.e., classes
for students with moderate intellectual disability). School personnel often refer to students
attending these classes as ‘IM student’ or ‘IO students’, which makes the students become part of
‘a category’ rather than a human being (Graham et al., 2020).
The term ‘developmental disabilities’ refers to significant problems in development
occurring during childhood, which may or may not include an intellectual disability. The term
‘developmental delay’ is sometimes used with young children when aspects of their development
are seen to be slow, compared with the development of other children their age. The term is
relatively non-specific, so may be used to include young children who are delayed in physical
development, cognitive development, communication development, social or emotional
development, or adaptive development. The term is useful as it describes the current situation
without making predictions about the future. However, use of the term ‘developmental delay’ is
potentially misleading, as it gives the impression that the child’s disability is temporary, which is
not usually the case. The term is best used only with very young children, usually below the age
of six, before they have been fully diagnosed.
IQ tests
It is important to note that the use of IQ measures to establish ‘abilities’ of people with
intellectual disability has been long contested. As highlighted by Colmar et al. (published in
2006 – yet still true!), ‘despite contrary thinking and evidence, intellectual disability continues
to be measured largely in terms of an IQ-based classification system, as is evident in most
administrative systems’ (p. 180). Some of the issues regarding IQ measures include a variation
between IQ tests (resulting in a situation where 70 on one test would not equate to 70 on another
test), and the fact that most IQ tests were designed for a population of people without disabilities
(Colmar et al., 2006). Colmar et al. conclude that ‘the use of IQ tests as the main means of
assessing intellectual disability is a flawed process, with little in the way of positive outcomes
for the child and family, or for the assessing psychologist’ (p. 185). In other words, it needs to
be remembered that IQ tests (or adaptive skills tests) are simply a measure of performance on a
particular test at a particular time. For example, it would obviously be silly to define someone’s
14
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
‘artistic ability’ for life on the basis of their performance in a drawing aptitude test when they
were six or eight years old, but this sort of determinism sometimes happens with intellectual
ability. The results of IQ and adaptive skills tests should never limit teachers’ expectations of
students with intellectual disability.
Physical disability
The term physical disability usually refers to a difficulty in mobility or movement, walking physical disability
Disability in
in particular, but may also refer to a difficulty in the use of the hands or arms. Most physical movement, usually
disabilities are congenital (present at birth). These may include disabilities such as spina bifida, of the lower or upper
limbs.
which is usually obvious at the time of birth and can be detected prenatally, and cerebral palsy,
which is often detected when the young child’s physical skill development starts to appear to be
slow or different. Physical disability can also have a later onset, such as from a car accident or
other injury either directly to the limbs or indirectly to the brain. There are also some physical
Physical disability
disabilities, such as muscular dystrophy which, while present in the genetic structure, are not
apparent in the early years of life.
Some people wrongly assume that a severe physical disability is always associated with
a severe intellectual disability. This happens particularly when the physical disability affects
the person’s speech. We typically judge a person’s intelligence from their speech and language,
and some very intelligent people with cerebral palsy are treated as if they have an intellectual
disability because their speech is slow or indistinct. They may be ignored, or spoken to like a
child. The best policy on meeting a person with a physical disability is to assume that the person
can be spoken to like any other person, until there is good reason to believe otherwise.
Although students with physical disabilities have typically been educated in separate special
schools, they are often the easiest to include in regular classes, from the perspective of teaching
and curriculum. For example, if the student does not have an intellectual disability, the teaching curriculum
program may be exactly the same as that for every other child in the class, once their physical A general term used
to describe a course
needs have been catered for (see the earlier example of Mia in Narrative 1.1). of study that has
been planned with
expected learning
Sensory disability outcomes and which
has a structure of
‘Sensory disability’ is an impairment in vision or hearing. In its most severe form this is blindness learning activities and
evaluation procedures
or deafness. Students with mild vision problems have almost always been catered for in regular (e.g., the K–6 English
classes, sometimes with minor adjustments by teachers, sometimes without any adjustments. curriculum).
Nowadays, students who have very low vision, and even those who are blind, usually attend
regular classes.
Students with very low vision may need specialised lighting and equipment, and the help
of a teacher assistant or a specialist itinerant teacher. Most school systems have procedures for
providing materials in large print or Braille, and computers have hugely increased the access Vision impairment
to a range of resources of students who are blind. Some people who meet the legal definition of
blindness may still have perception of light and colour, and may even have quite good vision
within a very restricted field (e.g. ‘tunnel’ vision).
Hearing impairments cover the range from a mild impairment that is not noticed by others
to profound deafness that affects the quality of speech, or may stop the person from learning
to speak at all. There has been debate about whether students who are deaf should be taught Hearing impairment
through oral methods, or through the use of sign language, or through a combination of methods.
Sometimes students who are taught using sign language will be in a special class because of the
need to have teachers who are expert in sign. Students who speak are more likely to be in regular
classes, particularly as they move into the higher grades. However, in country areas there is often
little choice other than mainstreaming, as sending students to a residential special school is no
15
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
cochlear implant longer an option. Some regular classes will enrol students who have had a cochlear implant
Electronic device
which allows for (bionic ear). There will almost certainly be expert advice available to help the teacher provide the
receiving sounds from best possible learning environment for a student with a cochlear implant.
a microphone typically
attached to a student’s Profound deafness is rare, so the chance of having a student who uses sign language in a
ear and delivering the regular class is small. If a student who signs is enrolled, the system will usually provide an
sounds electronically
directly to the interpreter, often in the form of a teacher assistant. Some regular teachers have been very
student’s cochlea. innovative and have learned to sign and have taught signing to the rest of the class as a second
language. This greatly enhances communication between students who are deaf and their
classmates, and could provide hearing students with a skill that would be useful if they met other
people who sign. This would be a very good example of inclusion in action!
Attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder
Learning difficulty
Some children find it very difficult to learn the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. They may
have a general intellectual disability, which affects all areas of their learning; however, some
students who function well in most areas of learning will have difficulties in one area, often
reading. Even students who are identified as gifted and talented can have a learning difficulty.
This is sometimes referred to as a specific learning difficulty.
The term learning difficulty is seen by many as preferable to learning disability, as it is usually
Learning difficulties
assumed that a difficulty can be overcome with assistance, whereas a disability appears to be
less amenable to change. For example, if a person had some problems with learning to drive, he
would probably prefer to be told that he had a ‘driving difficulty’ rather than a ‘driving disability’.
Chapters 9 and 10 contain information about developing literacy and numeracy skills, which are
the main areas of learning difficulty.
REFLECT ON THIS
What conclusions would we come to about the intelligence of persons such as Professor
Stephen Hawking if they had not been provided with a communication system? Imagine
what it would be like to be an intelligent person with a physical disability that prevented
speech.
16
CHAPTER 1 Introducing inclusion in education
Indigenous students
In both Australia and New Zealand, numerous studies have shown that Indigenous students
achieve below the level of non-Indigenous students in academic areas, particularly literacy
and numeracy and school completion. It has also been shown that, given the right educational Aboriginal and
opportunities, learning outcomes for Indigenous students can be the same as for all other Torres Strait Islander
students
students. Education systems now have well-developed policies and processes for supporting
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Māori students, and teachers who have such students
in their classes should ensure they seek any specialist support that is available. They should also
use the processes suggested in later chapters of this book to optimise the learning environments
of all students.
17
PART A INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENTS
heard no English until they enrolled in an English-speaking school, to students who were born
in Australia, whose parents are bilingual but have a first language other than English. Some
Indigenous students also have English as an additional language.
In some cases, students will be highly proficient in two or more languages and their EAL/D
background will be an advantage in their education. Other students will require considerable
support. For example, students arriving in Australia or New Zealand from overseas are usually
placed in an age-appropriate grade. This can mean, for example, that a newly-arrived 13-year-
old student is likely to be placed in a secondary school setting even though she may have very
limited English skills and, perhaps, limited prior schooling. Most systems provide intensive
English classes before placing the student in a regular class, but at some stage that student will
become the responsibility of a regular class teacher.
Even those EAL/D students who were born in Australia or New Zealand can have educational
difficulties if English is not the first language in their home. Apart from obvious difficulties in
language, there may be subtler differences related to the way in which their life and cultural
experiences have differed from those of other students in their class.
Integration
integration
The term integration Integration is a broad term used to refer to attendance at, or participation in, activities at a
refers to a child’s regular school, or the process of transferring a student to a less-specialised setting. A student
attendance at a
regular school. A who attends a regular school, but is in a separate special unit or class, such as an EAL/D class
student who attends or a class for students with an intellectual disability, is still often said to be ‘integrated’ (e.g.
a regular school,
but is in a separate Chris’ secondary schooling in Narrative 1.2). Although the student is in a special class, the
special unit or class, opportunities to interact with other members of the regular school community are greater than
can still be said to
be integrated. if the student is in a special school. There is also a greater chance that the student will have
18
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Navy eternal
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online at
www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will
have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using
this eBook.
Author: Bartimeus
Language: English
THE NAVY-THAT-FLOATS
THE NAVY-THAT-FLIES
AND THE NAVY-UNDER-THE-SEA
BY
“BARTIMEUS”
DEDICATED TO
Captain
Royal Navy.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PROLOGUE 17
CHAPTER I
“USQUE AB OVO” 23
CHAPTER II
IN THE TWILIGHT 48
CHAPTER III
THE NAVY-THAT-FLIES 89
CHAPTER IV
“LEST WE FORGET” 118
CHAPTER V
THE FEET OF THE YOUNG MEN 156
CHAPTER VI
GIPSIES OF THE SEA 164
CHAPTER VII
THE DAY--AND THE MORNING AFTER 180
CHAPTER VIII
THE NAVY-UNDER-THE-SEA 190
CHAPTER IX
THE PORT LOOK-OUT 213
CHAPTER X
THE SURVIVOR 220
CHAPTER XI
THE Nth BATTLE SQUADRON 237
CHAPTER XII
MYSTERY 257
CHAPTER XIII
THE SPIRIT OF THE FLEET 273
CHAPTER XIV
THE EPIC OF ST. GEORGE’S DAY, 1918 289
EPILOGUE 308
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
“USQUE AB OVO” 23
HEAVY METAL 48
A STRIKING FORCE 55
THE LEFT FLANK 63
THE HUNT 69
OVERDUE 76
“TUPPENCE APIECE” 83
THE NAVY-THAT-FLIES 89
THE DOVER PATROL 143
THE FEET OF THE YOUNG MEN 163
GIPSIES OF THE SEA 164
THE PORT LOOK-OUT 213
THE SURVIVOR 220
THE Nᵀᴴ BATTLE SQUADRON 237
THE SPIRIT OF THE FLEET—“GATE, THERE! GATE!” 273
THE EPIC OF ST. GEORGE’S DAY, 1918 289
EPILOGUE 308
FINIS 331
PROLOGUE
Anyone familiar with the River Dart knows the Mill Creek. The hills on either side
slope steeply down to the edge of the water, oak and beech and elm clustering thick
on the one hand, red plough, green shoots, and golden corn-fields alternating on the
other through all the changing seasons.
The creek is tidal, transformed at half-flood into a fair expanse of shimmering
water; at low tide, however, it dwindles to a score of meagre channels winding
tortuously through whale-backed mudbanks, the haunt of scurrying crabs and
meditative heron.
Here, one afternoon in midsummer some dozen years ago, came a gig (or, in
local parlance, a “blue-boat”) manned by seven flannel-clad cadets from the Naval
College. Six sat on the thwarts pulling lazily against the last of the ebb. The
seventh sat in the stern, with the yoke-lines over his shoulders, refreshing himself
with cherries out of a bag.
As they approached the shelving mudbanks, purple in the afternoon sunlight,
the figure in the bows boated his oar and began to sound cautiously with his
boathook. The remaining five oarsmen glanced back over their shoulders and
continued paddling. The helmsman smiled tolerantly, as a man might smile at the
conceits of childhood, but refrained from speech. They all knew the weakness of
the bowman for dabbling in mud.
“Half a point to port!” said the slim form wielding the dripping boathook. “I can
see the channel now.... Steady as you go!” A minute later the boat slid into the
main channel and the crew drew in their oars, punting their narrow craft between
the banks of ooze. None of them spoke, save the bowman, and he only at rare
intervals, flinging back a curt direction to the helmsman over his shoulder.
For half an hour they navigated the channels winding up the valley, and came at
length to a crumbling stone quay beside the ruin of a mill. Ferns grew in the
interstices of the old brickwork, and a great peace brooded over the silent wood
that towered behind. They made the boat fast there; and because boats and the sea
were things as yet half-unknown and wholly attractive, none of them attempted to
land. Instead, with coats rolled up as pillows and their straw hats tilted over their
eyes, the seven made themselves comfortable as only naval cadets could in such
cramped surroundings, and from under the thwarts each one drew a paper bag and
a bottle of lemonade.
“Dead low water,” said Number 1 (the bow oar) presently. “We shall have a
young flood against us going back; but then there’s no chance of getting stuck on
the mud.” He drew a bunch of keys from his pocket and proceeded to take careful
soundings round the boat, using the keys as a sinker and the lanyard as a lead-line.
“Oh, shut up about your everlasting tides,” said Number 2, “and keep quiet; I
want to sleep.”
“They interest me,” replied Number 1 simply. “I shall be a navigator, I think.”
“You’d better go in for submarines,” said Number 4, applying himself to his
bottle of fizzing beverage. “Plenty of poking about mudbanks in them if it interests
you. One of the first we ever had stuck in the mud one day and never came up
again.”
“P’raps I shall,” admitted the bow. “In fact I shouldn’t be surprised if I did go in
for submarining.”
Number 3 was lying on his back on the thwart, his head resting on the gunwale.
“They’ll never come to anything,” he said. “The submarine’s a failure.” His eyes
followed the flight of a white-winged gull that circled with outstretched wings far
above their heads. “No. It’s going to be in the air, when we have a war. I’m all for
flying machines....” He was silent awhile meditating, then turned his head quickly.
“Bombs!” he said. “Fancy being able to drop bombs all over an enemy’s country.”
“You couldn’t do it,” said Number 2. “You’d go killing women and civilians.
They’d never let you.”
“Who?” demanded the prospective aviator, his enthusiasm rather damped.
“Who’d stop me?”
“International Law,” cut in the coxswain quickly. “Conventions and all that....
Why, there’d be no limit to anything if it weren’t for international law. An enemy
could go off in his beastly submarine and paralyse the trade routes.”
“Paralyse ’em—how?” inquired the bow man.
“Just torpedoing ’em, of course, you ass.”
“What, merchant ships?”
The jurist nodded.
“But no one could do that. I mean you’d never get a naval officer to do that,
international law or no international law. That ’ud be piracy—like those fellows at
Algiers. ’Member the lecture last week?”
“I don’t mean we’d do it,” conceded the coxswain. “But some nations might.”
The idealist shook his head. “No naval officer would,” he repeated stoutly,
“whatever his nationality.”
“The surface of the sea’s good enough for me,” chipped in No. 2. “I don’t want
to bomb women or torpedo merchant ships. I’m going to be captain of a destroyer.”
He raised his head. “Thirty knots at night, my boy!... Upper-deck torpedo tubes and
all that....”
“I’d blow you out of the water with a 12-inch gun,” said Number 5, speaking
for the first time, and laying aside a magazine. “Gunnery is going to save this
country if ever we have a war. That’s why gunnery lieutenants get promoted
quickly—my governor told me so.”
“Did he?” said the stroke oar. “He’s wrong. You can only fire big guns from big
ships, and you know what happened to big ships in the Russo-Japanese war.”
“What?” inquired the visionary coldly.
“Mines. Big ships can’t move when there are mines about.”
“We don’t use mines any longer,” said the coxswain, crumpling up his empty
bag and throwing it over the side. It floated slowly past the boat towards the head
of the valley. “They’re not considered sporting. ’Sides, even if you could, you can
always countermine, and sweep ’em up. My brother went through a course in the
Mediterranean once—place called Platea. I remember him telling me about it.”
The stroke oar sat upright and glanced the length of the boat. “Wouldn’t it be a
rum thing,” he said, “if there was a war some day and we were all in it.” He ticked
off their names on his fingers: “Submarine, aeroplane, destroyer, minelayer,
minesweeper, battleship——” He paused. “I’d like to be in a cruiser,” he said. “A
big cruiser scouting ahead of the Fleet. You’d get more excitement there than
anywhere.” His voice deepened to a sudden note of triumph. “It ’ud be the
forefront of the battle.”
“Then we’d all meet afterwards,” said Number 2, “and have a blow-out
somewhere ashore and talk about our experiences. Wouldn’t that be topping?”
The bow oar sat with his eyes on the crumpled paper bag that floated up-stream,
shading them against the glow of the sun turning all the creeks into molten gold.
“Those of us that were left,” he said dreamily. “Tide’s turned.... We’d better think
about getting back.”
CHAPTER I
“USQUE AB OVO”
Reminiscences
of those days
“in the distance
enchanted”
never come in
an orderly
procession
according to
the original
sequence of
events. Some,
for reasons
quite
inexplicable,
jostle their way
to the fore
readily enough.
Others, dim
and elusive,
hover in the
background,
and only
respond to the
lure of firelight
and tobacco
smoke
ascending
incense-wise
from the depths
of the arm-
chair.
Sooner or
later, though,
they can all be
caught and held for the moment needed to record them. The difficulty is to know
where to start....
Harker is foremost among the “thrusters” in the surging crowd of memories of
the old Britannia days. Harker, with his piercing, rather melancholy eyes, his black
beard and tattooed wrists, and his air of implacable ferocity that for months
succeeded in concealing from his term a heart as tender as a woman’s.
His name was not actually Harker, of course; but he is probably still alive, and
even retired chief petty officers of the Royal Navy have their susceptibilities. He
was a term C.P.O.—mentor, wet-nurse, “sea-daddy,” the outward and visible
embodiment of Naval Discipline to sixty-odd naval cadets who yesterday were raw
schoolboys and to-day wear the King’s uniform and eke brass buttons—a transition
unhinging enough to more matured souls than those of his charges.
How he succeeded in conveying within the space of the first evening the
exceedingly unfamiliar routine of training-ship life, the art of turning into a
hammock, the necessity for keeping their chests locked, the majesty of the term
lieutenant and the omnipotence of the chief cadet captains, to sixty bewildered
fifteen-year-olds, only he knows.
Yet he harried none; they were conscious of him as a flock of disconcerted
sheep are aware of a wise collie. His voice was never still: it was to be presumed
that he slept at some mysterious time during the twenty-four hours, and yet his
square, compact form seemed to be always drifting about at all hours of the day
and night. Even when a hapless wight (in the throes of nightmare) tipped bodily out
of his hammock on to the deck the first night, it was Harker who appeared
noiselessly out of the shadows to tuck him in again.
Their names he had pat within twenty-four hours; this tightened his grip of the
term instantly, but it also caused him to be regarded as scarcely canny. Indeed, it
was disconcerting enough to regard yourself one moment as an insignificant and
unknown unit among 250 others, and in this comfortable reflection to lean in a
dégagé attitude against the white paintwork (one of the seven deadly sins): then to
hear admonition and your name, coupled together like chain-shot, ring out along
the crowded main-deck. Harker had seen you.
There were other C.P.O.’s on board: each term owned one. But they were, by
comparison with Harker, sorry fellows. One was reputed to be given to beating the
big drum at Salvation Army meetings ashore, garbed, moreover, in a scarlet jersey.
Hotly his term denied it, but the story was stamped with the unimpeachable
authority of the boatswain’s mate of the lower-deck: a godless seaman,
conversation with whom, being of a spicy and anecdotal nature, was forbidden.
Another was admittedly of a good enough heart, but a sentimentalist, and
consequently to be despised. On the occasion of the chastisement of an evil-doer,
his was the arm chosen to administer the strokes with all the pomp and
circumstance of an official execution. He laid the strokes on well and truly—that
much the victim himself admitted. But when he turned from his duty his eyes were
observed to have tears in them. His term had in consequence to adopt an apologetic
manner for a considerable time afterwards.
It was a similar scene, but one in which Harker played the Lord High
Executioner, that must here be recorded. The setting alone was sufficient to strike
awe and even terror into the spectator’s hearts. And now, after the lapse of years,
recalling the circumstances of that harrowing quarter of an hour, it is doubtful
whether there was not just some such motive behind the grim circumstance that led
up to the painful consummation.
The scene was the orlop-deck. What light there was came in through the open
gunports, slanting upwards off the water. Not cheering sunlight, you understand,
but a greenish sickly gleam that struggled ineffectually with the shadows clinging
like vampires among the low oak beams overhead.
The victim’s term were fallen-in in a hollow square about the horse—a block of
wood supported on short legs, with ring-bolts and canvas straps hanging from each
corner. Then there came a pause. Possibly the captain had not finished his
breakfast; or perhaps Harker had for once made a mistake and got his term there
too early. But for the space of several minutes (or weeks, or years) the term stood
in shuddering contemplation of this engine.
Then one of the spectators, the victim of either an over-rich imagination or an
acutely sensitive conscience, dramatically fainted and was borne forth. After that
things began to happen. The malefactor appeared, accompanied by Harker. The
captain, the term lieutenant, and (a thrill ran through the on-lookers) the surgeon
followed. It was half-expected that the chaplain would also join the group and
administer ghostly consolation to the culprit, who, it must be reluctantly admitted,
looked rather pleased with himself.
His offence was not one to alienate him from the hearts of his fellows. If
memory serves aright, he had been overheard to refer to his late crammer in terms
that may or may not have been just, but were certainly not the way a little
gentleman should talk. But his term—or most of them—were still smarting under
the recollections of crammers’ methods and were disposed to regard the
delinquent’s lapse rather more as a pardonable ebullition of feeling than a breach of
morality. In short he was a bit of a hero.
“Chief Petty Officer Harker,” said the stern voice of the term lieutenant, “do
your duty.” The harrowing preliminaries completed, Chief Petty Officer Harker did
it, as was to be expected of him, uncommonly well.
The victim took it, as was also to be expected of him, uncommonly well. It was
not long before these lines were written that he was called upon to meet a sterner
and his last ordeal. The pity is that no spectator can bear testimony to the worthier
courage with which he must have met it.
Harker it was who smelt out, like a Zulu witch-doctor, the grass snake and
dormouse that lived a life of communistic ease and reflection in the washing till of
someone’s sea-chest. Harker’s the suspicious mind that led to official “ruxes” of
private tills, and the confiscation of meerschaum pipes, Turkish cigarettes, and
other contraband. Yet all this without any effect of espionage.
The nearest approach to active espionage that Harker permitted himself was
hovering in the vicinity of the gangway when the terms were landed for daily
recreation. The law of the Medes and Persians had it that during cold weather all
cadets not playing games must land wearing a particularly despicable form of
under-garment: a woolly and tucked-into-the-socks abomination that the soul of
every right-minded cadet revolted from. As the procession passed under the low
gangway on its way to the launches alongside, Harker, lurking in the vicinity,
would suddenly pounce upon a suspect.
“ ’Ave we got our DRAWERS on, Mr. So-and-so?” came the merciless query. The
progress of the procession was arrested while Mr. So-and-so racked his brains for
some suitable parry to this very leading question. A damning negative having
eventually been extorted, the underclad one was hauled from the ranks and given
three minutes in which to get to his chest, extract from his wardrobe the garment
that found such high favour in Olympian eyes, put it on, and rejoin the tail of the
procession. Thus a first offender; a second offence resulted in “no landing.” There
was no appeal.
The muddy, tired, ever-hungry throng that returned some three hours later again
passed on board under this lynx-eyed surveillance. This time illicit “stodge” was
the subject of Harker’s unquenchable suspicions.
Smuggling stodge on board (another of the seven deadly sins) required
considerable ingenuity, owing to the ban the authorities thought necessary to
impose on pockets. Regular outfitters pandered to this Olympian whim, and
constructed trousers with an embryonic fob just large enough to hold a few coins.
The unorthodox, who arrived with garments bearing the stamp of provincialism
and pockets, were bidden to surrender them forthwith, and stout fingers ruthlessly
sewed the pockets up.
The jacket had only one, a breast pocket already congested by keys,
handkerchief, letters from home, pet bits of indiarubber, and the like. Remained
therefore the despised garment already alluded to. This, being tucked—by official
decree—into the wearer’s socks, formed an admirable hold-all for a packet of
butterscotch—worked flat—a snack of Turkish Delight, or a peculiar and highly
favoured form of delicacy known as “My Queen.”
With a not too saintly expression, an unflinching eye, and a sufficiently baggy
pair of trousers, the contrabandist might count on a reasonable amount of success.
But Harker’s X-ray glance rarely failed him.
That stern, incisive voice would rivet all eyes upon the culprit just when the
muster by the officer of the day had been completed, and the long ranks awaited
the stentorian dismissal of the chief cadet captain.
“Mr. Z! You’ll step along to the sick-bay when we falls out.”
The blanched smuggler clutched at his momentarily abandoned halo of
rectitude.
“Sick-bay!” he echoed indignantly. “Why the sick-bay? There’s nothing wrong
with me—I swear there isn’t. I never felt better in my life.”
“That there nasty swelling on your shin,” was the pitiless reply, “did ought to be
seen to at once.” A draught, that had fluttered the carefully selected baggy trousers
against their wearer’s legs, had been his undoing. The game was up.
Like all truly great men, Harker could unbend without discipline suffering an
iota. As the months passed and his term of fledgling “News” acquired the modest
dignity of “Threes” (second term cadets), Marker’s methods changed. He was no
longer the detective, inquisitor, encyclopædia of a thousand unfamiliar phrases,
events, and objects. His term were on their feet now, treading in their turn paths
fiercely illumined by the new first term’s gaping admiration and curiosity. They
were an example.
“ ’Ow long ’ave we been in the Britannia?” he would demand reproachfully
when some breach of the laws called for reproof. “ ’Ere we are in our second term,
an’ talkin’ about HUP-STAIRS!”
The scorn in his voice was like a whiplash.
“When you young gentlemen goes to sea you won’t find no STAIRS!”
When they went to sea! That was the gradually increasing burden of his song.
For a while it presented a picture too remote almost for serious contemplation. It
was practically a figure of speech, meaningless. But as time went on, and the
successive dignities of “Sixer” and “Niner” (third and fourth—the last—terms)
loomed up and passed into reality, and at last the Great Wall of the final
examination alone stood between them and the sea-going gunrooms of the Fleet,
the words took on their real significance.
Harker abandoned even sarcasm. He became guide, philosopher, and friend, a
patient mentor always accessible—generally somewhere on the chest-deck—in
leisure hours to thirsters after knowledge. Was one shaky in that branch of nautical
lore known as “Bends and Hitches”? Harker’s blunt fingers tirelessly manipulated
the end of a hammock-lashing until the pupil could make even a “sheep-shank”
with his eyes shut.
Another would bring him, in a welter of grease and ravelled strands, a tortured
mass of hemp-rope.
“It’s meant to be a Long Splice,” was the explanation, “but I don’t seem to get it
right—ever,” and with a despondent sigh it would be thrust into Harker’s hands.
Harker would examine the interwoven strands, twisting it to and fro with jerks
of his powerful wrists, pulling taut here, tucking something in there, and lo! the
thing took shape.
“This is where you goes wrong, Mr. P., every time!” (Recollect there were
sixty-odd in his term.) “Don’t forget what I’m always telling you. You splits the
middle strands, and then an over-’and knot in the opposite ’alves....” It always
looked so easy when Harker did it.
It was during the last night on board that Harker rose to heights truly
magnanimous. The fourth term regarded it as its right and privilege, on the last
night of the term, to hold high carnival until sleep overtook them. Cadet captains
even cast their responsibilities to the winds that night and scampered about, slim,
pyjama-clad figures, in the dim light of the lanterns, ruthlessly cutting down the
prig who yearned for slumber, lashing-up a victim in his hammock and leaving him
upside-down to reflect on certain deeds of the past year that earned him this
retribution, floating about on gratings on the surface of the plunge baths, and
generally celebrating in a fitting manner the eve of the day that was to herald in
new responsibilities and cares.
Harker, who for fifteen months had haunted the shadows on the look-out for
just such a “rux,” whose ear caught every illicit sound—even the crunch of the
nocturnal butterscotch—Harker was for once unseeing and unseen. It needed but
this crowning act of grace to endear him for ever to his departing flock.
Yet he had one more card to play, and played it as he passed in farewell from
carriage to carriage of the departing train. Further, he dealt it with accentuated
emphasis for the benefit of those he thought needed the reminder most.
“Gosh!” ejaculated such a one when Harker passed to the next carriage: he
flopped back on to his seat. “Did you hear? He said ‘sir!’ to each one of us when he
said good-bye!”
So much for Harker. But he brought with him a number of other memories
entangled somehow about his personality, and on these it may be as well to enlarge
a little ere they slip back into the limbo of the forgotten past.
It says much for the vividness of Harker’s personality that he outran in these
reminiscences the memory of “Stodge.” Certainly few interests loomed larger on
the horizon of these days than the contents of the two canteens ashore.
There was one adjacent to the landing-place: a wise forethought of the
authorities, enabling a fellow to stay his stomach during the long climb from the
river to the playing fields, where the principal canteen stood.
“Stodge” was of a surpassing cheapness. That much was essential when the
extent of the weekly pocket-money was limited (if memory is to be trusted) to one
shilling. Further it was of a pleasing variety, certain peculiar combinations,
hallowed by tradition, being alone unchanging.
Of these the most popular was the “Garry Sandwich.” Components: a half-stick
of chocolate cream sandwiched between two “squashed-fly” biscuits; the whole
beaten thin with a cricket-bat, gymnasium shoe, or other implement handy. The
peculiarity of this particular form of dainty was that it sufficed as an unfailing bribe
wherewith to open negotiations with one Dunn, the septuagenarian keeper of the
pleasure boats. The moral atmosphere of the boat-house, in consequence of its
custodian’s sweetness of tooth, came in time to resemble that of a Chinese yamen.
Another delicacy about which legend clustered was the “Ship’s Bun,” split in
half, with a liberal cementing of Devonshire cream and strawberry jam oozing out
at the sides. Concerning the bun itself, the maternal solicitude of the authorities
extended one gratis to each cadet ashore on half-holidays lest the impecunious
should hunger unnecessarily between lunch and tea. The buns were obtainable on
application at the counter, whence the daughter of the proprietor—whom we will
call Maunder—was charged with the duty of issuing them.
How she pretended to remember the two and a half hundred faces that presented
themselves in surging crowds round the counter at 4 p.m. is more than her present
recorder can say. But even as she extended a bun to the outstretched grubby hand
of a suppliant, an expression of vixen-like indignation and cunning would
transform her features.
“You’ve ’ad a bun afore!” she would snap shrilly, withdrawing the bounty in the
nick of time. The hungry petitioner, cheerfully acknowledging defeat in a game of
bluff, would then withdraw, pursued by Miss Maunder’s invective.
All the same she was not infallible, and on occasions hot protestations and even
mutual recrimination rang to and fro across the counter. Appeal, ultimately carried
to Mr. Maunder, was treated in much the same way as it is by croupiers at Monte
Carlo. A gentleman’s word is his word. But it is as well not to be the victim of too
many mistakes.
Maunder, who was occupied with the stern responsibility of catering for the
whim of the rich, had a way of recapitulating the orders from the beginning, adding
up aloud as the count went on, thus:
Cadet: A strawberry ice, please, Maunder.
Maunder: One strawberry ice tuppence.
Cadet: Oh, and a doughnut, while you’re about it.
Maunder: One strawberry ice one doughnut thruppence.
Cadet: That’s just to go on with. Then in a bag I want a stick of cream chocolate
——
Maunder: One strawberry ice one doughnut one stick cream chocolate
fourpence.
Cadet: (breathlessly) And a bottle of barley sugar and a “My Queen” and four
Garry biscuits and half a pound of cherries and a bottle of lemonade and one of
ginger beer and—that’s all, I think.
Maunder: (coming in a little behind, chanting, the general effect being that of a
duet in canon). One strawberry ice one doughnut one stick cream chocolate one
bottle barley sugar one “My Queen,” etc., etc., etc.... And a bag one an thruppence
’a’-penny.... Thank you, sir. Next, please.
On occasion demigods walked among the children of men. The visits of the
Channel Fleet to Torbay usually brought over one or two of a lately departed term,
now midshipmen by the grace of God and magnificent beyond conception.
It was their pleasure, these immaculately clad visitors, to enter the canteen,
greet Maunder with easy familiarity and Miss Maunder with something
approaching gallantry, slap down a sovereign on the counter and cry free stodge all
round. They would even unbend further, dallying with a strawberry ice in token of
their willingness to be as other men, and finally depart in a cloud of cigarette
smoke and hero-worship.
This record is not concerned with the fact that on their return on board their
ship, some hours later, one suffered stripes for having forgotten to lock his chest
before he went ashore, and the other, being the most junior of all the junior
midshipmen, was bidden swiftly to unlace the sub’s boots and fetch his slippers.
To every dog his day.
IN THE TWILIGHT
I. Heavy Metal
It was still dark when the battle cruisers slipped from their moorings and began to
feel their way towards the unseen entrance of the harbour. From the bridge of each
mass of towering indeterminate shadows the stern light of the next ahead could be
discerned dimly through binoculars, and on those pin-points of light they steered.
What the battle cruiser flagship steered by, in the narrow confines of the crowded
harbour and the inky darkness, only the little knot of figures on her forebridge
knew: the admiral and flag captain, the navigator and officer-of-the-watch, muffled
in duffle coats and moving mysteriously about the glow-worm arc of light from the
binnacle and charttable.
One by one the long black shapes slid through the outer defences, ebon
shadows in a world of shades. The voices of the leadsmen in the chains blended
their mournful intermittent chant with the rush of water past the ship’s side; to all
but the ears of the watchful figures on the bridges the sound was swallowed by the
dirge of the funnel stays and halliards in the cold wind heralding the dawn.
The red and green lights on the gate-marking vessels winked and bobbed in the
swell caused by the passage of the grim host. It passed with incredible swiftness;
and before the troubled waters began to quiet, the escorting destroyers came pelting
up astern, heralded by the rush and rattle of spray-thrashed steel, funnels glowing,
and the roar of their fans pouring out from the engine-room exhausts. Night and the
mystery of the darkness enfolded them. The gates closed upon their churning
wakes and the tumult of their passing. Dawn glimmered pale behind the hills and
broadened slowly into day; it found the harbour empty, save for small craft.
Beyond the headlands, beyond the mist-enshrouded horizon, the battle cruisers
were abroad, unleashed.
Once clear of their protecting minefields, the battle cruisers moved south at
high speed, with their smoke trailing astern in broad zig-zags across a grey sky. At
intervals they altered course simultaneously and then swung back to their original
path, flinging the grey seas asunder from each gaunt, axe-headed bow as they
turned.
They scarcely resembled ships, in their remorseless, purposeful rush under the
lowering sky. The screening T.B.D.’s spread fan-wise on their flanks were dwarfed
to insignificance beside these stupendous destroyers with the smoke pouring from
their huge funnels, and nothing to break their stark nakedness of outline but the
hooded guns. Men lived on board them, it is true: under each White Ensign a
thousand souls laboured out each one its insignificant destiny. They were entities
invisible like mites in a cheese; but the ships that bore them were instruments,
visible enough, of the triumphant destiny of an empire.
As far as the eye could reach, the battle cruisers were alone on that grey waste
of water. But swift as was their passage, something swifter overtook them out of
the north as the morning wore on. It was the voice of the battle fleet moving south
in support. “Speed so-and-so, on such-and-such a course,” flickered the curt cipher
messages through sixty miles of space. And south they came in battle array,
battleships, light cruisers, and destroyers, ringed by the misty horizon of the North
Sea, with the calling gulls following the white furrows of their keels like crows
after the plough.
A division of light cruisers, driving through the crested seas at the speed of a
galloping horse, linked the battle fleet with the battle cruisers. Seen from either
force they were but wraiths of smoke on the horizon: but ever and anon a daylight
searchlight winked out of the mist, spanning the leagues with soundless talk.
It was still early afternoon when a trail of bubbles flickered ahead of the
flagship of the battle fleet’s lee line. It crossed at right angles to their course, and a
thousand yards abeam of the third ship in the line something silvery broke the
surface in a cloud of spray. It was a torpedo that had run its course and had missed
the mark. Simultaneously, one of the escorting destroyers, a mile abeam, turned
like a mongoose on a snake, and circled questing for a couple of minutes. Then
suddenly a column of water leaped into the air astern of the destroyer, and the
sound of the explosion was engulfed by the great loneliness of sea and sky. She
remained circling while the battle fleet swept on with swift, bewildering alterations
of course, and later another far-off explosion overtook them.
“Strong smell of oil; air bubbles. No wreckage visible. Consider enemy
submarine sunk. No survivors,” blinked the laconic searchlight, and the avenger,
belching smoke from four raking funnels, came racing up to her appointed station.
As the afternoon wore on, a neutral passenger ship crossed the path of the fleet.
She was steering a westerly course, and altered to pass astern of the battle cruisers.
The captain wiped his glasses and handed them to one of the passengers, an
amiable merchant of the same nationality as himself, and a self-confessed admirer
of all things British.
“Ha!” said the captain. “You see? The clenched fist of Britain! It is being
pushed under the nose of Germany—so!” He laughingly extended a gnarled fist in
the other’s face. The merchant was a frequent passenger of his, and the sort of man
(by reason of his aforesaid proclivities) to appreciate the jest. The merchant
stepped back a pace rather hurriedly: then he laughed loudly. “Exactly!” he said,
“very neat, my friend.” And borrowing his friend’s glasses he studied the far-off
tendrils of smoke in silence awhile.
A quarter of an hour later, a light cruiser altered course from the fleet in the
direction of the neutral steamer. Then it was that the amiable merchant was struck
by a sudden recollection. It was a matter of considerable urgency and concerned an
order for a large number of bolts of calico and a customer’s credit. So pressing was
the business that he obtained the captain’s permission to send a radio telegram to
his firm while the approaching cruiser was still some miles away.
The message was duly dispatched, and, with surprising rapidity, by methods
with which this narrative is not concerned (of which, indeed, the narrator is entirely
ignorant), reached Wilhelmshaven by nightfall. Here four German battle cruisers
were raising steam preparatory to carrying out a bombardment at dawn of a
populous English watering-place. The message that reached them had, however,
nothing to do with calico or credit, but it bade them draw fires and give the usual
leave to officers and men; orders for the bombardment were cancelled. The
German battle cruisers were not unaccustomed to rapid changes of programme of
this sort, and they asked no questions.
At nine o’clock the following morning, a British taxpayer sat down to breakfast
in a house commanding a fine view of the sea from the popular watering-place
already mentioned. It was a large house, and incidentally offered an admirable
target from the sea. The taxpayer unfolded his morning paper, and took a sip of his
tea. Then he put the cup down quickly. “You’ve forgotten the sugar,” he said.
“No, dear,” replied his wife, “I haven’t forgotten it, but there isn’t any.”
“Eh,” said the taxpayer, “why not? why the devil isn’t there any sugar?”
The taxpayer’s wife advanced a number of popular theories to account for the
phenomenon, while the taxpayer gloomily stirred his unsweetened tea.
“Then all I should like to know,” he replied, when she had finished, “is, what
the blazes is our Navy doing?”
“I don’t know, dear,” said the taxpayer’s wife.
The submarine did not attempt to attack with her torpedoes. She retired instead
to where the sand-fog stirs in an endless groundswell, and the North Sea cod hover
about the wrecks of neutral merchantmen. In these unlit depths she lay for an hour,
listening to the chunk of many propellers pass overhead and die away. She knew
nothing of the mysterious chain of events which sent those cruisers venturing
beyond the protection of the far-reaching German minefields. She was as ignorant
of popular clamour in Germany for spectacular naval activity as she was of the
presence of a large convoy of laden freighters a hundred miles away to the
northward, escorted by destroyers and making for a British port. These matters
were not her “pidgin.” On the other hand, having once sighted the German cruisers,
she became very much concerned with getting the information through to quarters
where it would be appreciated. Accordingly, when the last of the water-borne
sounds ceased, the submarine rose to the surface, projected a tiny wireless mast
above the wave-tops, and sent out the Call rippling through space.
It was addressed to a certain light cruiser squadron, lying at its buoys with the
needles of the pressure gauges flickering and the shells fused in the racks beside
each gun, waiting day and night in much the tense preparedness with which the fire
brigade waits.
Within two hours the light cruisers were out, ribands of foam and smoke
unreeling astern of them, with their attendant destroyers bucketing and plunging on
either side of them, flinging the spray abroad in the greeting of a steep easterly
swell. The last destroyer swung into station ere the line of minesweepers, crawling
patiently to and fro about the harbour approaches, were blotted from view in their
smoke astern. Presently the harbour itself faded out of sight; in lodging, cottage,
and villa the women glanced at the clocks as the ships went out, and then turned to
their morning tasks and the counting of the slow hours....
East into the sunlight went the slim grey cruisers, and then north, threading their
swift way through the half-known menace of the minefields, altering course from
time to time to give a wide berth to the horned Death that floated awash among the
waves. At intervals the yard-arm of the leading light cruiser would be flecked with
colour as a signal bellied out against the wind, and each time speed was increased.
Faster and faster they rushed through the yellowish seas, fans and turbines
humming their song of speed, and the wind in the shrouds chiming in on a higher
note as if from an æolian harp.
The spray rattled like hail against the sloping gun-shields and splinter-mats,
behind which men stood huddled in little clusters or leaned peering ahead through
glasses; cinders from the smoke of the next ahead collected in little whorls and
eddies or crunched underfoot about the decks; the guns’ crews jested among
themselves in low voices, while the sight-setters adjusted their head-pieces and the
layer of each slim gun fussed lovingly about the glittering breech mechanism with
a handful of waste....
Then suddenly, above the thunder of the waves and singing of the wind, a clear
hail floated aft from a look-out. Bare feet thudded on the planking of the signal
bridge, bunting whirled amid the funnel smoke, and the hum of men’s voices along
the stripped decks deepened into a growl.
“Smoke on the port bow!”
A daylight searchlight chattered suspiciously—paused—flashed a blinding
question, and was silent.
Orders droned down the voice-pipes. Somewhere a man laughed—a sudden
savage laugh of exultation, that broke a tension none were aware of till that
moment. Then a fire-gong jarred: the muzzle of the foremost gun suddenly vomited
a spurt of flame, and as the wind whipped the yellow smoke into tatters, the
remaining light cruisers opened fire.
Bang!... bang!... bang!... bang!... bang!
On the misty horizon there were answering flashes, and a moment later came a
succession of sounds as of a child beating a tray. The light cruisers wheeled to the
eastward amid scattered columns of foam from falling shells, and as they turned to
cut off the enemy from his base the destroyers went past, their bows buried in
spray, smoke swallowing the frayed white ensigns fluttering aft. In a minute they
had vanished in smoke, out of which guns spat viciously, leaving a tangle of little
creaming wakes to mark the path of their headlong onslaught.
Neck and neck raced the retreating raiders and the avenging Nemesis from the
east coast of Britain. Ahead lay the German minefields and German submarines
and the tardy support of the German High Seas Fleet. Somewhere far astern a
huddle of nervous merchantmen were being hustled westward by their escort, and
midway between the two the hostile destroyer flotillas fought in a desperate death-
grapple under the misty blue sky.
When at length the British light cruisers hauled off and ceased fire on the fringe
of the German minefields, the enemy were hull down over the horizon, leaving two
destroyers sinking amid a swirl of oil and wreckage, and a cruiser on her beam
ends ablaze from bow to stern. The sea was dotted with specks of forlorn humanity
clinging to spars and rafts. Boats from the British destroyers plied to and fro among
them, bent on the quixotic old-fashioned task of succouring a beaten foe. Those not
actively engaged in this work of mercy circled round at high speed to fend off
submarine attack; the light cruisers stayed by to discourage the advances of a pair
of Zeppelins which arrived from the eastward in time to drop bombs on the would-
be rescuers of their gasping countrymen.
The bowman of a destroyer’s whaler disengaged his boathook from the
garments of a water-logged Teuton, grasped his late enemy by the collar and hauled
him spluttering into the boat with a single powerful heave of his right arm.
All about them cutters and whalers rising and falling on the swell were quickly
being laden to the gunwales with scalded, bleeding, half-drowned prisoners. A
midshipman in the stern of a cutter was waving a bedraggled German ensign and
half-tearfully entreating his crew to stop gaping at the Zeppelins and attend to
orders. The barking of the light cruisers’ high-angle guns was punctuated by the
whinny of falling bombs and pieces of shrapnel that whipped the surface of the sea
into spurts of foam. In the background the sinking cruiser blazed sullenly, the shells
in her magazine exploding like gigantic Chinese crackers.
In the bows of the whaler referred to above the able seaman with the boathook
sat regarding the captive of his bow and spear (or rather, boathook). “ ’Ere,
Tirpitz!” he said, and removing his cap he produced the stump of a partly smoked
cigarette. The captive took it with a watery smile and pawed his rescuer’s trousers.
“Kamarad!” he said.
“Not ’arf!” said his captor appreciatively. “Not ’arf you ain’t, you—— —— son
of a—— ——!”
The second bow, labouring at his oar, looked back over his shoulder.
“ ’Ush!” he said reprovingly. “ ’E can’t understand. Wot’s the use o’ wastin’
that on ’im?” He spat contemptuously over the gunwale.