Statement of Problem
Front Matter
The research study selected for the review in this paper is “Barriers and Facilitators to Inclusive Education” written by Jayne Pivik, Joan McComas, and Marc Laflamme. The authors of this article represent a group of reputable professionals working in the areas of Psychology, Physiotherapy for people with disabilities, and education; they are highly educated and experienced in their professional spheres due to an ongoing practice.
The study was published in 2002 in Exceptional Children, the peer-reviewed journal that is also known to serve as the official periodical for the Council for Exceptional Children, as well as a renowned member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The journal is focused on publishing original research concerning the issues and development and education of children at various stages of life.
Purpose
The purpose of the study under review was to explore the level of inclusion that is currently present in the schools. The researchers specified that over two decades have passed since the educational reform that brought the attention of educators to the problem of inclusion and the need to adjust educational facilities to the needs of learners with disabilities. As a result, it made sense to research and overview the kind of progress that has been made since the initiation of the reform in order to identify which aspects of the issue were addressed and which challenges still persist.
Question
The focus of the study was the current state of inclusive education and the level of progress that has been made over the years in this field. In particular, the researcher outlined their research question as an exploration of the extent to which the present special education efforts match the needs of students with disabilities and meet the expected standards of inclusion at schools and the understanding of what this phenomenon is anticipated to represent in terms of the professional participation and the preparedness of the educational facilities (Pivik, Mccomas, & Laflamme, 2002).
Hypothesis
The research hypothesis of this study was not separately explained by the authors. However, based on the topic of the article, as well as the major research question, it is possible to summarize the hypothesis as the researchers’ expectoration that certain barriers to inclusive education existed in the modern schools and were faced by students with disabilities of all age groups on a daily basis.
Audience and Importance
The target audience of this study includes educators (both theorists and practitioners) who work with diverse classrooms and work at inclusive schools. It also could be useful for the other researchers focusing on inclusive education, as well as the parents and students’ advocates willing to make change in this area.
The topic of this study is highly important as in the contemporary society the issues of inclusion and diversity are some of the most frequently discussed subjects. The modern Western education prides itself in the high level of diversity in its institutions and in making learning available to every child; as a result, it is critical to explore and address the problems preventing inclusion that may still persist.
Overall, the study is well-written and rather comprehensive, the procedure and findings were explained clearly; the discussion at the end of the study set several interesting points and emphasized the required course for the future actions that would help to find solutions to the identified problems.
Literature Review
Introduction
In the introduction to this study, the authors presented a strong and detailed background to the researched problem supported by multiple references to the findings and visions of the world-renowned organizations such as WHO and the United Nations, the official documents and legislations such as CELDIC report of 1970 and the IDEA Act dedicated to the education of the individuals with disabilities.
Moreover, the authors referenced a variety of research studies published within 5 years of the time when the article under review was published. The themes covered in the introduction to this study included the definition of people with disabilities, the concept of barriers to inclusive education, the common attitudes toward the provision of education to such individuals and the problems they typically face, the solutions implemented in the past in order to address the existing problems, and the challenges educators and institutions have to handle when working with people with disabilities integrated into the average learning environments.
Qualitative Study
Method and Participants
The researchers purposely sampled two focus groups of participants comprised of students with disabilities attending the inclusive schools. The participants were grouped according to their age and gender; there were three groups in total – the first group included children aged 9 to 13 of both sexes, the second group had only male students of 14 to 16 years, and the third group was comprised of 4 female students of 9 to 14 years and one male of 14 years (Pivik et al., 2002). All of the children were affected either by cerebral palsy or spina bifida.
The three focus groups were gathered for 1.5-hour sessions during which they were asked questions about the challenges faced in the school environments and invited to brainstorm the potential solutions to those problems. It is possible to describe this data collection method as the interview.
Findings
During the meetings, each of the focus groups identified a set of challenges experienced in their school life. The sets of problems named by each group were similar. The major problem recognized by all of the students was based on the challenge of getting to school and moving around in the building due to the hallways and passageways inappropriate for the people in wheelchairs and with limited mobility (Pivik et al., 2002).
Another set of barriers named by the children involved intentional and unintentional attitudinal barriers that resulted in isolation and alienation of the children expressed in mocking and bullying, as well as the general lack of knowledge of communication with people with disabilities among their teachers and peers. Finally, physical barriers were identified as one more serious problem. They represented the students’ need for assistance or specialized learning materials and tools (Pivik et al., 2002).
Limitations
The primary limitation of this study is its rather small sample that was comprised of only 15 students. The small size of the sample presents a significant limitation to the transferability and generalizability of the study results. In addition to the limited size of the sample, the student included in the study also had a very narrow range of disabilities – spina bifida and cerebral palsy. Practically, the participants only discussed the challenges faced dues to their mobility restrictions. In that way, the students with learning or cognitive disabilities and hearing or eyesight problems were not represented at all. As a result, it is possible to conclude that not all the potential barriers to inclusive education were identified over the course of this study.
Implications and Interpretations
Instead of a separate concluding section, the authors presented the discussion of their findings and an analysis of their potential implications. A thoughtful review of the results was provided with the emphasis to the needs of the students with disabilities, the limitations they face, and the disadvantages they experience due to the existing challenges.
The authors added that the disability awareness programs are required for the communities and educators to understand the problems of inclusion at schools and learn how to interact with the students with disabilities. Alongside with the awareness-raising efforts, physical modifications to the school environments need to be undertaken in order to alleviate the burden of the learners with disabilities attempting to navigate the inappropriate environments.
Back Matter
As for the supplemental materials and aids, the study under review did not include any charts, graphs, or tables. Its findings were summarized in the respective section. However, the inclusion of tables presenting the organized demographics of the participants, and their structured responses could improve the visual comprehensiveness of the results.
Overall Evaluation
Overall, the research study by Pivik et al. (2002) presented a focused research with clearly communicated findings and potential solutions. The article is written in an understandable manner and provides a solid basis explaining the rationale for the research and the previous findings and vision of the explored subject. The study could benefit from some visual aids such as tables and schemes representing the participants’’ demographic information and the responses given during the discussion sessions as to the barriers to the inclusive education and the potential solutions.
Case Study Paper
Introduction and Problem Statement
In the middle of the 1990s, at an assembly attended by the representatives of 92 governments and 25 international organizations held in Salamanca, Spain, the authorities issued a statement acknowledging the need for inclusive education worldwide and recognizing it as a pressing issue in need for solutions (Miles, 2000). The Salamanca Statement maintained that the right to education was fundamental for every child on the planet, and thus the educators should work in agreement with the statement and achieve favorable inclusive conditions at schools matching all the special needs some groups of learners may have (Miles, 2000).
Over two decades had passed since the time when the Statement was released, and a lot of work was done in the field of inclusive education. However, regardless of all the efforts and attempts to boots inclusion, the average rate of it in the United States is still rather low; namely, it is about 37% collectively, meaning that some states have a much higher rate and the others – much lower (Heasley, 2014).
The aforementioned statistics indicates that there exist certain barriers to inclusive education in the USA that require fast and creative solutions.
Research Questions
Since there are barriers to inclusion at school in the USA, it would make sense to explore this problem deeper and establish the kinds of barriers to inclusive education that can occur. The quality, causes, and outcomes of such barriers also require exploration. In addition, due to the diversity and complexity of the problem of inclusion driven by the versatile nature of factors that could potentially trigger it, it could be useful to focus on barriers typical for a certain community. This approach would allow a more detailed and specific investigation of the kinds of problems with the inclusion that exist in a selected environment. For this purpose, the additional research questions of the proposed study will cover the barriers to inclusive education, as well as their impact on learners, in relation to a community of choice. The latter area preferred for the proposed research is the City of Chicago.
In that way, the following set of research questions will be used for the research:
- What are the general barriers to inclusive education, their causes, and outcomes?
- What are the specific barriers typical to the selected community?
- How do the existing barriers impact the current learners with disabilities in this community?
Review of the Literature
What are the general barriers to inclusive education, their causes, and outcomes?
As pointed out by Pivik et al. (2002), there are two main types of barriers that can be faced by children with learning disabilities attending inclusive schools; they are attitudinal and physical barriers. The former type can be of international and unintentional nature and is often linked to underidentification that is the lack of literacy concerning disabilities among students, parents, and teachers (Pivik et al., 2002; Black, 2010). When it comes to physical barriers, they can also be characterized as structural obstacles – the organization of school environments, curricula, programs, and demands in a manner that isolates and limits learners with special needs (Powell, 2015).
What are the specific barriers typical to the selected community?
In the community selected for the proposed research, that is Chicago, Illinois, there are many schools that made public their stories and experiences with tackling the issues of inclusion. For example, Chicago’s Audubon Elementary School reported having spent over seven years attempting to better their inclusive education practices; however, the institution still faces such challenges as the lack of specially trained educators to help solve behavioral issues and address the unique needs of learners with disabilities, as well as of strategies and tools for working with the included learners and supporting their development and communication with the community (Connolly, 2017).
Also, St. Matthias Catholic School reported focusing on inclusion but facing budgetary constraints, especially when it comes to the training programs for the educators to master working with special needs students; moreover, the school authorities mentioned that research is required for them to be able to learn more about the needs of the students who face severe limitations due to their disabilities (Klich, 2017).
How do the existing barriers impact learners?
According to the findings of Pivik et al. (2002) and Murphy (2015), the administrative, attitudinal, and physical barriers can limit children’s ability to attend classes, navigate the school buildings, communicate with their peers, become accepted as members of the school community, comprehend the delivered knowledge, and keep up with the rest of their classrooms.
Conclusion
The findings of several different authors recognize a set of main barriers to inclusive education – administrative, attitudinal, and physical. These barriers prevent learners with special needs from functioning successfully as members of their communities and as learners. The barriers tend to result in isolation of students with disabilities in an intentional or unintentional manner. In the area of Chicago, there are many inclusive schools that report facing such challenges as the lack of training for the teachers, and absence of professional consult when needed, funding limitations, and attitudinal problems driven by uneridentification.
Reference
Black, R. S. (2010). Underidentification and overidentification in special education. In F. E. Obiakor, J. P. Bakken, & A. F. Rotatori (Eds.), Current issues and trends in special education: Identification, assessment and instruction (pp. 35-50). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
Connolly, C. (2017). Inclusion – Is it working? Web.
Heasley, S. (2014). Report: Inclusion on rise in nation’s schools. Web.
Klich, S. (2017). An Inclusion revolution: A Chicago school’s journey. Web.
Miles, S. (2000). Enabling inclusive education: Challenges and dilemmas. Web.
Murphy, P. (2015). The biggest barriers to inclusive education. Web.
Pivik, J., Maccomas, J., & LaFlamme, M. (2002). Barriers and facilitators to inclusive education. Exceptional Children, 69(1), 97-107.
Powell, J. J. (2015). Barriers to inclusion: Special education in the United States and Germany. London, UK: Routledge.