Special Education and Inclusion: The Opportunities and Challenges

SPECIAL EDUCATION AND INCLUSION:
THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC: Special education and inclusion: the opportunities and challenges ..................................3
Section 1: Brief Overview of special education and inclusion...................................................3
Section 2: Controversies and debates regarding special education and inclusion......................5
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

TOPIC: Special education and inclusion: the opportunities and challenges
In recent times, special education and inclusion is becoming one of the key features for
embracing the societal ideologies and is attainable through sustainable approaches in the
education sector. It is important to understand that students with special needs must have mixed
experiences to encounter the challenges and able to interact socially without any awkwardness.
Inclusive education is the platform to bridge the gaps between the students with disabilities and
those without any disability. There is no differentiation of any form in this model and discard the
concept of individualized classes which has proved detrimental for the overall development and
growth of special needs students. Herein such children tend to learn in the least restrictive
environment and are beneficial in fostering their mental development with implementation of
collaborative teaching. This essay outlines the challenges and opportunities that reflect upon the
significance of incorporating the special needs students via using a restructured setup.
Section 1: Brief Overview of special education and inclusion
Special education can be defined as an education practice for educating students in such a
way that all of their needs, differences can be addressed in a specific manner. In this special
education, complete teaching process is planned, monitored with all the required materials and
equipment. Special education is important in order to educate special students such as: dyslexic
students, communication disorder students, children with learning disability etc. Such type of
students is taught with special teaching process by using various kinds of technology which
provides benefits and helps such students. These type of special students can also be taught in an
inclusive classrooms where all the students with general and special need learn together (Lee and
et.al., 2015). Teachers of inclusive classrooms opt various kinds of techniques, strategies etc. in
order to create a successful and productive learning environment for both general and special
students. Inclusion means embracing societal ideology for individuals having special needs or or
who are disabled. Thus inclusion will be securing greater opportunities for those students with
those who are non-disabled peers into general education classrooms.
There will be certain opportunities linked with inclusive education with this students who
are having special need as government will provide more facilities. Building up these facilities
will encourage children to attend the school as the lack of facility will not become barrier for
them. Thus it will also reduce cost and becoming more economical and accommodating children
with benefits rather than building different school for disabled children.

On the other hand there are also some challenges faced like certainly there will be some
negative attitude among the teachers. As there will be negative attitude towards disabled child
but it was included that rather teachers must be building up positive attitude and they should be
given special training for this. There is also lack of facilities and infrastructure which will
demotivate children and teachers to teach disable children.
There are different key aspects of special education and inclusion such as:
Principles or Philosophies: There are few principles or Philosophies for special
education and inclusion which helps the students to learn in different ways. These philosophies
are based upon sharing, equality, participation of special students in terms of education, such as:
All the students should be taught in different ways so that they can understand what they are
learning either by visually explaining the concept or by giving them a brief into lecture on the
topic which they will study. Teachers should understand student's questions and doubts carefully
and should explain them their doubts accordingly (Hernandez, Hueck and Charley, 2016).
Different type of activities and projects should be given to special students so that they engage
themselves in it and experience and learn in a different way such that they feel comfortable and
understand any concept clearly. Full-time support of materials, teachers and technology should
also be provided to special students in order to make them learn in an easy and better way.
Background or history: Special students with disabilities were able to attend public
schools after 1975 when an act of education for all handicapped students was passed. Before this
act, students with special needs were not provided with proper education and even some schools
didn't even admitted such students. Before 1975, need for special education and inclusion was
seen as some schools excluded special students and as the disabled were allowed to study into
same classroom as non-disabled which created problem for teacher to handle or teach them. Due
to this reason, need for a legislation or act was required which allowed special students for
education. This will also help in resolving conflicts between special students’ parents and
teachers of public school (Sharma and Sokal., 2015). This act improved educational
opportunities for all the special need students and special school and inclusive classrooms were
system emerged which allowed and gave equal education opportunity to all the students.
Comparison with mainstream: In Inclusive classrooms, all the children attend a regular
classroom for both academic and social benefit but all the special need students do not learn the

same study material as rest of the class reads. All the special students in inclusive classrooms
have their own study material, while all the special students in main-streaming classrooms
attending schools for their academic and social benefits, learn the same study material as the rest
of the class reads. But all those special students are assessed differently with some adjustments in
their academic courses. All the students in main-streaming classrooms are expected to show
improvements while students in inclusive classrooms are not expected to show improvements.
Legislation and policies: There are various kinds of legislations and policies which are
made for special students so that they can get equal education like other general students (Hardy
and Woodcock., 2015). Few of them are: Education for all handicapped children Act 1975,
Individuals with disability education act 1990, Individualized education program for different
kind of students etc.
Strengths: The special education programs or inclusive classroom have various strengths
and advantages such as: General students learn how to help others, work and learn along with
special need students. All the special need students learn how to behave socially with other
students as well as learn in an effective and easy manner. With the help of special education
programs, disabled students become self-sufficient in doing their daily work and learn both
socially and academically. These inclusive classrooms help special students to organize
themselves and their work.
Section 2: Controversies and debates regarding special education and inclusion
Special education has the primary objective to create an environment in which disabled
children become equally competent in the field of education and knowledge. Along with the
special education inclusion classrooms provide a means through which all disabled and normal
students can study together. All students are provided educational environment without any
restrictions so that core curriculum can be understood with better efficiency. However, special
education and inclusion are affected by several controversies. For instance, it is quite possible
that peer students and their parents may not find it suitable that handicapped children are
educated in the same environment as other students. The main theory behind this argument is
that parents believe that there is difference between needs of both types of students (Powell,
2015). Thus, inclusion programs are not as effective as they are assumed to be. Contrary to this,

there are many individuals who believe that there are greater benefits of inclusive programs as it
teaches students that how disabled people can integrate with the main stream society.
One of the regular debate which has been raised by the educational authorities and social
groups is that it is not possible that every teacher has the skill and knowledge to educate or
understand the students with disability or special needs. Thus, such communities demand that
special education must be provided in separate classrooms. It has been also argued that even if
teachers are skilled and such programs are effective, but peer support proves to be regular
challenge (Inclusive Classrooms: Looking at Special Education Today, 2018). For instance, there
are both possibilities that children with special needs may not find themselves comfortable with
the students having more efficiency or capabilities. It may lower the moral and confidence of
disabled children. Contrary to this, cooperative and supporting peers can also encourage disabled
students to enhance their learning skills through inclusion programs (Nepi and et.al., 2015).
There may be a wide gap between learning abilities of disabled children as compare to
other students. For instance: in special education programs allow disabled children to use
calculators, large prints or to have additional time duration for accomplishing projects or tasks.
However, when the same thing is applied in inclusion classes it can create conflicts and
coordination issues because other students may not understand or like these necessary
advantages for disabled students. It is required that special education programs must be designed
and implemented with proper planning. These programs need collaborative support of
specialist’s educators with classroom teachers. However, the lack of understanding and
cooperation between both the instructors can lead to unsatisfactory educational environment. At
broad extent the parents of both disabled and regular students does not find inclusion classes
comfortable or efficient (Peer and Reid, 2016).
These programs are also criticised for their efficiency and purpose. Children with special
needs required personal attention in extremely controlled learning environment. However, in the
inclusion classrooms, it is not possible or is limited with several restrictions. Parents of disabled
children also have fear that in inclusion classes other students will ridicule the disabled children
as well as limited attention from teachers will also influence their capability to gain the routine
life skills. Thus, it is not good to integrate these children's with different needs together through
inclusion programs.

However, in the same context Kauffman and et.al., (2016), elucidated that in the name of
special needs, disabled children are isolated from other students. It lowers their self-esteem and
they feel that they are not normal or capable. The separate classrooms for such students prevent
them to experience achievement and struggle within mainstream. The lack of well-defined
inclusion classroom model and framework can be considered as the challenging aspect. Social
visibility is considered to have more importance as compare to the academic performance
(Inclusive Education: What It Means, Proven Strategies, and a Case Study, 2017). since
inclusion classrooms help disabled children to enhance their visibility in social groups, these
programs are promoted by the regulatory authorities as well. However, there is need of more
educational support and government agencies.
Government agencies and education providers must understand and analyse the
suitability of partial or complete inclusion programs and special education so that child
development can be accomplished effectively. It can be analysed by taking feedback from the
care takers of disabled people, and by developing clear guidelines. Communication barriers such
as language and other physical disabilities can make it very hard for the disabled children to
catch up and learn something easily. Hence, in inclusion classrooms, teachers of regular students
may alone not be capable to fulfil the need of special children.
It is very essential that these controversies must be addressed prior to the implementation
of inclusion program. It is vital not only for the welfare and benefit of children with special
needs, but also for the service providing teachers and regular students (Shepherd and et.al.,
2016). The evaluation of inclusion framework and existing needs of children can help to resolve
these issues.
Section 3: The way forward for special education
In regard to the above, there are several challenges that have been encountered while
establishment of inclusive schools, however, it has also emphasized on the platform of
opportunities for such children and their involved families. This inclusive component is
prominent currently due to its shift on the understanding of human rights for the people with
disabilities. This disabled population is in need of special care and attention from their
surroundings, especially in the growing years which are influenced from their parents and
teachers as well. Henceforth, with the help of governmental interventions at both regional and

national levels, the cost effectiveness is achieved and in order to sustain it, the children from both
segments must join it. There are number of schools and facilities that would encourage these
special needs children to attend and learn for better opportunities in context to their career and
professional lives in near future.
Along with this, such steps in all the districts, cities and states would be useful in
minimising the cases of dropouts from schools as it is not economical with the continuous
treatment these kids require (Lo and Hew, 2017). It would be time efficient since the teacher
student ratio might be controllable and each student would be able to receive proper time to
spend and understand their needs and shortcoming. Consequently, proper training programmes
must be conducted for teachers to maintain the amiable environment and to provide their
assistance and support in more profound manner. This training also would be helpful for the
teachers and counsellors at schools to teach these kids in a more open and transparent channels.
Their expertise would get enhanced and must be able to use some creative ideas to make the
students more compassionate and empathetic towards each other needs, requirements and goals.
Several innovative teaching methods encourage the implementation of special needs and
inclusion in more effective and proficient manner. Nevertheless, this will aid in improving the
equipment and teaching tools to encourage the special kids to become comfortable and friendlier
towards others.
In addition to the above mentioned, there are also chances of creating a positive
behavioural approaches to be used by both non-disabled and disabled children. Since the
environment is free and comprises unrestricted surroundings, there are chances of mutual trust
and respect that promote fraternity (Clark, Dyson and Millward, 2018). This encourages the
parents with special needs to be more socially acceptable and help in building bonds or ties with
other parents without any social scenarios. Moreover, this paves the path towards a qualitative
delivery of educational methods, principles and teachings in the wholesome manner. Such
inclusive education would act as catalysts to reduce the stigmas attached with disability and give
wings to such kids to maintain friendships and help them to bring improvisations with respect to
speech therapies, using multi-sensory instructions and more.
Moreover, the inclusive framework is based on the robust differentiated teachings and
thus needs a sustainable approachability to use Individualized Education Program on the

standardized modes to prevent any discrimination and maintain the harmony. Such framework is
refereed to promote collaborative modes of teaching to help the disabled children in effectual
ways (Kauffman and et.al., 2018). Alongside, by developing the awareness through consistent
campaigning and promotional activities at all levels, it would be beneficial in living quality
education and support in the social development of special needs students who used to be
ignored. This type of inclusion has not only reaped benefits for such disabled kids but also gave a
ray of hope to their families and friends that they will be having an independent livelihood and
will not be a burden.
It has been summarized that the special needs and inclusion is a bold step to bring a
common platform to defy the traditional education levels. This essay includes advantages and
several challenges that led to raise few suggestions to maintain its existence for better future of
people with disabilities. This has successfully given insights about the historical background and
the legal frameworks in terms of policies and legislations, which assists in developing healthy
atmosphere for the special needs students. Additionally, it brought attention to the entire society
towards the education sector which is an ideal gateway for the upliftment of their communities
and the entire society on the whole. To sum up, the major concerns that are involved after
examining the impact of special education and inclusion is to promote equality and unity without
any place for discrimination.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Clark, C., Dyson, A. and Millward, A., 2018. Towards inclusive schools?. Routledge.
Hardy, I. and Woodcock, S., 2015. Inclusive education policies: Discourses of difference,
diversity and deficit. International Journal of Inclusive Education. 19(2). pp.141-164.
Hernandez, D.A., Hueck, S. and Charley, C., 2016. General Education and Special Education
Teachers' Attitudes towards Inclusion. Journal of the American Academy of Special
Education Professionals. 79. p.93.
Kauffman, J.M. and et.al., 2016. Inclusive education moving forward. In General and special
education inclusion in an age of change: Roles of professionals involved (pp. 153-178).
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Kauffman, J.M. and et.al., 2018. Special education: What it is and why we need it. Routledge.
Lee, F.L.M., and et.al., 2015. Inclusion of children with special needs in early childhood
education: What teacher characteristics matter. Topics in Early Childhood Special
Education. 35(2). pp.79-88.
Lo, C.K. and Hew, K.F., 2017. A critical review of flipped classroom challenges in K-12
education: Possible solutions and recommendations for future research. Research and
Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning.12(1). p.4.
Nepi, L.D. and et.al., 2015. Social acceptance and the choosing of favourite classmates: A
comparison between students with special educational needs and typically developing
students in a context of full inclusion. British Journal of Special Education. 42(3).
pp.319-337.
Peer, L. and Reid, G. eds., 2016. Special educational needs: A guide for inclusive practice. Sage.
Powell, J.J., 2015. Barriers to inclusion: Special education in the United States and Germany.
Routledge.
Sharma, U. and Sokal, L., 2015. The impact of a teacher education course on pre‐service
teachers' beliefs about inclusion: an international comparison. Journal of Research in
Special Educational Needs. 15(4). pp.276-284.
Shepherd, K.G. and et.al.,2016. The search for role clarity: Challenges and implications for
special education teacher preparation. Teacher Education and Special Education. 39(2).
pp.83-97.
Online
Inclusive Classrooms: Looking at Special Education Today. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through
<http://inservice.ascd.org/inclusive-classrooms-looking-at-special-education-today/>
Inclusive Education: What It Means, Proven Strategies, and a Case Study. 2017. [Online].
Accessed through
<https://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/classroom-resources/inclusive-education/>