Inclusive Education: Benefits and Challenges

This assignment requires students to conduct a comprehensive literature review on inclusive education, focusing on its benefits and challenges. Students must critically analyze various research articles, books, and reports to understand different perspectives on the topic. The goal is to synthesize the findings from these sources and present a well-structured argument about the effectiveness and impact of inclusive education for children with disabilities.

Running head: RESEARCH AND LITERACY
Research and Literacy
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Introduction
Segregation versus mainstreaming among children with disabilities
Children with disabilities and special needs have been reported of presenting certain
issues. They are likely to encounter various challenges in terms of mixing with the general
population and express themselves in a complete manner that is conducive to their holistic
development. The behavioral outcomes in relation to their social communication as well as other
cultural representations all are threatened as a consequence to discriminating attitudes. Disability
in children has often been attributed to the impact due to isolation, segregation and
discriminating behavior that delineates them from being considered as a part of the general or
mainstream population (Fawcett 2016).
Benefits of mainstreaming disabled children
Children with disabilities are in constant need for achieving their developmental
milestones by catering to their specific special educational needs that might include range of
problems such as physical disabilities, behavioral issues or learning difficulties. However,
instead of labeling for special education, arranging mainstream education for them might harbor
positive outcomes where children shall have the opportunity of gaining both academically as
well as in the social contexts through provision of appropriate accommodation (Boyle 2014).
Need of funding
An urgent call must be raised in terms of making proper allocations and arranging
resources through which the rights of very children in all their fairness and justice may be
achieved. In order to attain these objectives of an inclusive and socially just educational system,

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the schools must be well equipped and ready to impart holistic education through recruitment of
adequate staff and resources. Teacher’s behavioral assessment must be streamlined for
improving educational provision for the intended audience (Ballard 2016).
Literature Review
Databases used
The Google Scholar database was accessed for retrieving pertinent information related to
the chosen topic. The database houses a huge and exhaustive collection of peer-reviewed articles
on various topics and is updated as well (Falagas et al. 2008). In addition to this, the EBSCO
host database was also utilized for procuring most relevant information.
Keywords
In any research strategy, keywords play a crucial role in narrowing down the search
process to the desirable ones. Time is saved and accuracy may be maintained by virtue of using
most suitable keywords that are in line with the chosen topic. Keywords are often clubbed with
Boolean operators to shorten the search procedure (Lewis 2015). In this particular study, the
keywords such as segregation, mainstreaming, benefits, children with disabilities were
incorporated to retrieve suitable information related to chosen topic.
Inclusion criteria
The articles published within the timeframe ranging from 2007 until 2017 and in English
language were only considered.
Exclusion criteria

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The articles unrelated to the topic, published before 2007 and in any languages other than
English were not considered for inclusion in the study.
Articles
As per the given article, Gickling and Theobald (1975) in their work have already paid
attention to the issue of mainstreaming children with disability. They have emphasized on
pursuing a needs assessment in order to understand better the teacher attitude, perceptions and
programs apart from the significance of adequate service delivery and teacher education. Holistic
growth and development of child has been argued to be fostered through this avenue with
commitment from the educators and active involvement of the stakeholders. Literature review
conducted with respect to this issue will highlight on similar and relevant works that might have
vital implications.
Lindsay (2007) in his work has argued in favor of inclusive education or mainstreaming
as a prime policy objective meant for educating the children and young people with special
educational needs and disabilities. The effectiveness of inclusive education has been grossly
investigated based on the child outcomes. Sample for the study has been selected as children
with special needs ranging from preschool until their end of compulsory education. Relevant
articles published between the years 2001 and 2005 in the journals of special education have
been chosen for inclusion. A varied range of studies comprising of qualitative study, non-
comparative case study and others were taken into consideration. Measurements were done in
accordance with the social as well as educational outcomes. Respondent’s judgments were also
emphasized alongside exploration of process factors such as that of teacher attitudes in addition
to use of teaching assistants. The study concluded that promotion of inclusive education or

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mainstreaming education meant for disabled children is based on the rights of children to be
incorporated into the realm of mainstream education and the proposed effectiveness of inclusive
education in harboring positive results.
The work by Wang (2009) has carried out a critical analysis in questioning whether every
student having special educational needs should be incorporated in mainstream education
provision. As per the traditional practices, separate learning environments are reserved for
children requiring special educational needs thereby segregating them from the normal children
who do not have any such requirements or disabilities. However, criticisms of these traditional
approach has been rampant whereby many educators have proposed in favor of including such
students in the mainstream schools so that maximization of their learning experiences may be
achieved. A revamp of the educational curriculum through change in attitude of the educators
have been suggested in this regard to attain holistic outcomes favoring the positive growth of
such child. However, the study inferred that proper conceptualization of the children’s
disabilities as well as the needs of children must be attended to for framing a suitable educational
system. Active involvement of all the stakeholders consisting of educators, parents and school
administrators is desirable in this context for driving goal-oriented results towards an inclusive
education system through proper planning and sufficient coordination.
Hardiman, Guerin and Fitzsimons (2009) in their study has compared the social
competence of children with moderate intellectual disability as observed in case of inclusive as
opposed to segregated school settings in the Republic of Ireland. In course of the study, a
convenience sampling was employed by virtue of two large intellectual disability services. 45
children in totality were recruited across two groups in which Group 1 comprised of 20 children
attending inclusive school and Group 2 comprised of 25 children attending segregated school.

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On the other hand , the parents and teachers who attended the study were asked to complete the
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Adaptive Behaviour Scale. For the statistical
analysis, 2×2 ANOVAs were computed based on social competence scores utilizing the
educational placement types that accented for inclusive Vs segregated school in addition to
proxy rater consisting of parent Vs teacher as independent variables. Evidences in support of
majority of proxy ratings of social competence suggest that children in inclusive schools did not
reveal significant differences with children in segregated schools thereby indicating the value of
different educational setting.
Hettiarachchi and Das (2014) in their work has highlighted on the preparedness of both
the regular as well as special education teachers working in the domicile of Sri Lanka on matter
related to teaching of students with disabilities in an inclusive educational setting. A mixed
method approach was employed to carry out the study whereby 75 teachers were surveyed
through using a two-part questionnaire. On the other hand, eight teachers participated in semi-
structured interviews. Data analysis was completed by virtue of using the Framework Analysis
for the interview dataset while descriptive statistics was employed for analyzing the survey
derived quantitative dataset. Findings of the study revealed that special educators expressed
greater perceived competence in terms of working with students having special needs in contrast
to the general education teachers. Thus, teacher training in both pre-service as well as during in-
service sessions has been indicated so that the concept of inclusive education may be well
introduced and the purpose sufficiently achieved. Mainstreaming of children with disabilities
may be attained through adoption of pragmatic approaches facilitating contextually-relevant and
culturally-sensitive inclusion education for bringing forth positive outcomes.

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The study conducted by Olsson et al. (2015) has highlighted on the social service
utilization patterns among children with mild intellectual disability alongside representing the
differences that exist between children integrated into mainstream classes in comparison to
children in self-contained classes. As part of the stud methodology, available social services
records were utilized for the sake of using the social services among 84 children possessing mild
intellectual disability in conjunction with their families, who are residents of two municipalities
in Sweden. The results generated from the study has focused that one-third of the families
pertaining to the child’s disability received services while one-fourth of them had access to
services on the pretext of social services. Thus, it was found that children who have been
integrated into mainstream classes are less likely to be eligible for receiving social services due
to their disability as opposed to children in self-contained classes. Therefore, recommendations
have been made in terms of expansion of outreach activities by the social services particularly in
schools in order to ensure that families having child with mild intellectual disability receive
appropriate, comprehensive services.
Critical appraisal
Reliability of the information presented in articles is generally adjudged by means of
conducting critical appraisal. Critical appraisal of articles is necessary in this context to evaluate
the validity and acceptability of information presented in these literature (Elwood 2017). In the
following assignment, the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) tool will be utilized to
achieve the desired purpose of evaluating the feasibility and reliability of the data used in study.
The first study is a systematic review in which a clearly focused question regarding the
effectiveness of inclusive education or mainstreaming has been addressed. Most relevant papers

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comprising of both qualitative as well as comparative outcome studies were incorporated in the
study. The quality of the included studies have been properly scrutinized by catering to research
methods and analysis with detailed insight into the procedures involved in selecting the most
suitable study (Best and Kahn 2016). Studies of outcomes and studies of process have been
categorized under two separate sections and the results as occurred through various studies have
been combined for correct interpretation. Overall results have highlighted on the importance of
inclusive education from two different aspects. Thus, precision in terms of the results is missing
no definite conclusion has been arrived at. Application of the results to local population is
questionable as all the important outcomes were not succinctly considered in the study thereby
somewhat diminishing the acceptability of the information retrieved.
In the second study, a critical analysis on matter relevant to the inclusion of students with
special education needs into mainstream education has been speculated. Literature of diverse
nature has been incorporated for providing an insight into the topic with analysis of the issue
under separate headings. No information about the procedure of retrieval of papers has been
mentioned in the article. The discussion of various articles has been placed based on relevancy
with the topic heading. Quality of the articles has not been assessed and most of the articles
referred in the article are old and belonged to the 1990’s era. Proceedings of the various articles
have been combined into one for indicating a prospective conclusion in which emphasis has been
laid to reconsider the needs and concept of inclusive education meant for children with disability.
Precision in terms of study results is missing due to lack of prudent analysis of study findings
and consideration of all related variables (Xu and Croft 2017).
The third study has offered an insight into the issue of social competence of children
having moderate intellectual disability by comparing the outcomes with respect to inclusive

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versus segregated school settings. The clearly focused issue has been addressed through attention
being given to appropriate research methodology. Convenience sampling has been undertake in
addition to measures being taken with respect to various questionnaire and scale. Moreover,
ethical consideration was also taken care of in the study to conduct study in liaison with proper
ethical and legal liabilities. Data analysis was also done diligently thereby adding to rigor and
reliability of the data obtained. Efforts were also taken to minimize the occurrence of bias
(Silverman 2016). Limitations of the study that confounded it have also been mentioned in due
course of the article. Results obtained is very precise as it clearly stated that children in inclusive
schools did not show significant difference compared to children in segregated schools on
majority of proxy ratings in social competence.
The fourth study resorted to a mixed method study design in which investigation was
carried out with respect to preparedness of special and regular education teachers in Sri Lanka
for teaching students with disabilities in an inclusive educational setting. In this qualitative
study, appropriate methodology comprising of semi-structured interview and survey
questionnaire has been utilized to derive proper conclusion. The aims of the research has also
been clearly mentioned in the article thereby adding to the clarity of research undertaken. Hence,
the methodology adopted is suitable and perfectly in line with the aims of the study. The
relationship between the researcher and the participants has also been clearly defined whereby
the specific tasks performed by the researcher has also been mentioned. The ethical issues
associated with the research has also been mentioned in the article thereby enhancing the
confidence in the data received from the analysis (Flick 2014). Descriptive statistics in
conjunction with framework analysis was utilized for the sake of conducting data analysis along
with indication about the implications of the research. Perceived competence about teaching

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students with special needs was higher among special educators in contrast to the general
teaching educators.
In the fifth study, a quantitative total population study was conducted by means of using
the existing social service records. The study aimed to highlight the types and number of services
that are being utilized by the families from the social services either due to child’s disability or
due to social problems. For attending the aim, the methodology adopted is quite acceptable.
However, the number of sample recruited for the study might have been a little large so that the
results obtained may be validated largely and might appear as a true representation of the
population (Marshall et al. 2013). Recruitment of the participants was done appropriately with
possible measures being taken to mitigate the generation of bias in the study apart from other
confounding factors. Data analysis has also been rational with future directives for proper
engagement of social services in catering to the needs of children with disabilities.
Recommendation
The discussions made in the above articles have indicated on a common aspect that
inclusion of the disabled children in the mainstream education might harbor beneficial effects for
them. Participation of these children with special needs into the general educational curriculum is
likely to exert positive impact on their social and intellectual development. The holistic growth
of the child is heavily dependent on the initiatives and approaches taken by the educational
fraternity. The services and attitudes of the educators play pivotal roles in influencing the growth
of the children with disability whereby core emphasis is laid on inclusive education. Rights of
these children need to be safeguarded and justice should be upheld for them so that they might
get the opportunities to lead their lives in sync with others. All the schools must be proactive in

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their endeavors to invest in optimal resources conducive to the development of the child.
Funding is extremely important in order to attain the desired objectives. The school authorities
might approach the education department to procure requisite funds for improving the
educational environment status in which inclusive education for children with disabilities will be
streamlined. Adequate finding will ensure mainstreaming of these children into society.

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References
Ballard, K., 2016. Children and disability: Special or included. Waikato Journal of
Education, 10(1).
Best, J.W. and Kahn, J.V., 2016. Research in education. Pearson Education India.
Boyle, C., 2014. Labelling in Special Education: Where do the benefits lie?. Routledge.
Elwood, M., 2017. Critical appraisal of epidemiological studies and clinical trials. Oxford
University Press.
Falagas, M.E., Pitsouni, E.I., Malietzis, G.A. and Pappas, G., 2008. Comparison of PubMed,
Scopus, web of science, and Google scholar: strengths and weaknesses. The FASEB
journal, 22(2), pp.338-342.
Fawcett, B., 2016. Children and disability: Constructions, implications and change. International
Social Work, 59(2), pp.224-234.
Flick, U., 2014. An introduction to qualitative research. Sage.
Gickling, E.E. and Theobald, J.T., 1975. Mainstreaming: Affect or effect. The Journal of Special
Education, 9(3), pp.317-328.
Hardiman, S., Guerin, S. and Fitzsimons, E., 2009. A comparison of the social competence of
children with moderate intellectual disability in inclusive versus segregated school
settings. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30(2), pp.397-407.

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Hettiarachchi, S. and Das, A., 2014. Perceptions of ‘inclusion’and perceived preparedness
among school teachers in Sri Lanka. Teaching and Teacher Education, 43, pp.143-153.
Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.
Lindsay, G., 2007. Educational psychology and the effectiveness of inclusive
education/mainstreaming. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(1), pp.1-24.
Marshall, B., Cardon, P., Poddar, A. and Fontenot, R., 2013. Does sample size matter in
qualitative research?: A review of qualitative interviews in IS research. Journal of Computer
Information Systems, 54(1), pp.11-22.
Olsson, L.M., Elgmark Andersson, E., Granlund, M. and Huus, K., 2015. Social service
utilisation patterns among children with mild intellectual disability–differences between children
integrated into mainstream classes and children in self-contained classes. European Journal of
Special Needs Education, 30(2), pp.220-236.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
Wang, H.L., 2009. Should All Students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Be Included in
Mainstream Education Provision?--A Critical Analysis. International Education Studies, 2(4),
pp.154-161.
Xu, J. and Croft, W.B., 2017, August. Quary Expansion Using Local and Global Document
Analysis. In ACM SIGIR Forum (Vol. 51, No. 2, pp. 168-175). ACM.