Inclusive Culture for Students with Specific Needs Essay

Introduction

Leadership is one of the most potent tools that can help to promote positive change within various establishments. At the same time, leaders possess the authority, power, and tools to address specific problems and offer practical solutions. However, the scope of challenges peculiar to modern organizations becomes more significant, meaning that top managers and team leaders should employ effective strategies to attain success and ensure that negative tendencies are overcome. Thus, education is one of the spheres requiring strong leadership and robust methods to ensure learners are provided with information and that there are no barriers impacting results and academic performance. Under these conditions, educational leadership acquires the top priority as one of the frameworks for aligning better collaboration between educators and guaranteeing enhanced outcomes. Analyzing the proposed scenario from this perspective, it is possible to offer a practical solution and create the basis for positive change.

Background

The discussed situation revolves around the school offering services to students with diverse special needs. The principal of a special school has to resolve the problem of building an inclusive education model and guaranteeing all learners can have adequate access to information and knowledge regardless of their unique needs. The complexity of the proposed scenario comes from the highly diverse nature of students’ demands and the impossibility of using one approach that would help to meet all these needs. Under these conditions, the principal, as the main leader, becomes responsible for reconsidering the work of the educational establishment and introducing new patterns that might help to overcome barriers and ensure all students can learn and have chances for success in the future. At the same time, the available resources should be considered to ensure the offered approach is relevant and feasible.

Inclusive Education

The possible solution to the problem should be searched in the field of inclusive education. It implies that students with diverse backgrounds and needs can learn side by side in the same classroom (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). Moreover, they continue cooperating after school activities to build better relations and support each other during complex periods (Thomas, 2010). The scenario implies that the special school consists of students with special needs of various kinds. It is impossible to create classrooms consisting of learners with a certain type of disability, demand, or health condition (Scanlon & Theoharis, 2020). For this reason, it is critical to select approaches guaranteeing the same access to educational resources for every student regardless of the condition. It can be attained by using the idea of inclusive learning and reconsidering the work of the educational establishment to ensure teachers can support the incentive.

In such a way, the possible solution to the problem in the scenario is creating a collaborative and inclusive culture. It will help to provide access to the general education curriculum and specific instructional support that might be needed for all students with specific needs or disabilities (Hudgins, 2012). Shifting to an inclusive culture and practices means that leaders should find the most effective approaches to creating social and learning environments supporting students in their attempts to acquire information necessary for their development and evolution (Hudgins, 2012). At the same time, the solution’s effectiveness depends on the leader’s ability to attract attention to the existing issues, gather colleagues’ support, motivate them, and initiate the change process. For this reason, cultivating an inclusive and collaborative culture by employing the means of educational leadership is the practical solution to the existing problem.

Educational Leadership Perspective

Thus, the leadership model has several important goals and aspects to consider. Its central aim is to guarantee academic success and outstanding results through the process, additional training, and material improvements (Green, 2016). However, the outlined goal cannot be achieved without adequate collaboration between all individuals involved in the process, their cooperation, and help. For this reason, educational leadership can be defined as the continuous process of guiding the talents and capabilities of teachers, learners, and their parents to achieve existing educational aims and ensure students benefit from the current approaches and have more chances for success (Green, 2016). The framework is often associated with transformational leadership, or the approach of cultivating positive changes within teams and organizations and inspiring followers to achieve new, more ambitious, and important goals (Green, 2016). In such a way, the current approach becomes the central tool for resolving the problem mentioned above and transforming the organization to cultivate an inclusive culture.

Proactive Approaches

The first step towards establishing an inclusive culture is the shift towards proactive approaches used by teachers. It means an educator should anticipate what will happen rather than respond to the aftermath and try to improve the situation (Banks, 2014). Fast responses are often associated with reduced effectiveness, inappropriate measures, and the lack of understanding of the root causes and failure to address them (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). Speaking about the inclusive culture, teachers should act in advance and prepare to interact with students by collecting information about their specific needs, conditions, and how they can be managed (Banks, 2014). A leader should explain the necessity of planning for everyone to participate and achieve within the offered instruction (Green, 2016). In such a way, proactive approaches and teaching styles should be viewed as the first step towards achieving positive change and establishing the required framework.

Flexibility

Flexibility is another important aspect that should be promoted regarding the proposed solution. The more flexible teachers’ approaches allow educators to adapt to the class, learners, and their unique needs and create more changes for increased student participation and engagement (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). Unfortunately, in many cases, teachers continue using standard approaches and methods regardless of the unique class’s demands and conditions (Bryant et al., 2019). It impacts the effectiveness of the process and reduces the chances for higher inclusion and participation (Bryant et al., 2019). Under these conditions, the central goal of education leadership is the reconsideration of outdated approaches toward creating new, more flexible, and proactive strategies. Educators should be ready to select among the wide range of methods that can be applicable to the unique demands of their students (Bryant et al., 2019). Otherwise, there is a high risk of failure and inability to build an inclusive culture.

Additional Training

In such a way, additional training should be viewed as another critical element of the proposed solution. As stated previously, teachers’ flexibility and proactivity are closely linked to the ability to select among various methods of working with students characterized by specific needs (Plummer, 2018). It means that educators with inappropriate expertise or lack of experience might fail to choose the most effective and practical measure because of their poor understanding (Green, 2016). For this reason, from the educational leadership perspective, it is critical to provide additional training for teachers to guarantee they have the skills and information vital for working with disabled students (Plummer, 2018). Moreover, the increased variety of methods guarantees higher flexibility levels and educators’ ability to adapt to diverse classrooms consisting of learners with numerous needs. It will also help to improve outcomes and adapt to new challenges emerging in the course of cooperation.

Inclusive Environment

Furthermore, an inclusive culture implies creating a particular environment within classrooms. Thus, an inclusive classroom refers to a specific environment where all students are supported intellectually and academically and feel belongingness regardless of their unique needs and conditions (Kara, 2021). Establishing this environment requires additional effort and attention from leaders. First, they have to align collaboration between specialists engaged in working with students and reorganizing the current approaches (Kara, 2021). Second, the required climate is linked to all educators’ understanding of diverse needs peculiar to their students and the support provided during classes (Kara, 2021). In such a way, the inclusive classroom environment should be viewed as the top priority for the principal. He/she should also focus on equipping them with the necessary tools and devices required for learners’ specific needs. The physical environment plays a critical role in cultivating inclusion. For this reason, this aspect also remains an integral part of the proposed solution.

Assessment

Cultivating an inclusive culture should also be followed by introducing effective student assessment. It is the process of evaluating students’ abilities, achievements, and needs to determine whether the curriculum meets their requirements and is effective in promoting their academic success (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). However, considering diverse and specific learners’ needs, it is critical to shift to inclusive student assessment practices. From the educational leadership perspective, it is vital to provide teachers with effective evaluation tools and explain how they can be used in the existing setting (Thomas, 2016). Additionally, student learning can be enhanced by assignments promoting self-awareness and self-assessment practices. It would help learners to realize their learning needs and inform educators about them (Thomas, 2016). At the same time, it is vital to align collaboration between educators and students to make assessments more effective and combine data from teachers’ and students’ self-assessments to alter current teaching methods.

Communication

The leader’s role also implies promoting positive change in communication models used by educators when interacting with students. The problem is that the traditional methods and approaches might be ineffective when interacting with individuals with disabilities or specific health conditions. Under these conditions, the school should focus on using inclusive communication methods as a beneficial way of cooperating with students (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). It can be defined as sharing information in ways that can be understood by all participants involved in the educational process (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). From the perspective of inclusive learning, this strategy becomes a potent tool for interacting with students, explaining the instruction, and providing additional tasks necessary for their development. The principal, as a leader, should explain to other teachers the basics of inclusive education and provide strategies to interact with all students. It would help to attain better results and cultivate a new environment.

Engagement

A transformational leader should also be responsible for cultivating higher engagement levels among followers. From the perspective of the educational establishment, it helps to increase students’ attention, focus, and motivation to participate in all processes and acquire desired outcomes (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). It might be difficult for learners with specific needs to achieve high engagement levels because of their peculiarities. As a result, they might fail to participate and attain high levels of academic performance. For this reason, an inclusive culture should be characterized by the necessary engagement levels. It can be cultivated by teachers’ focus on involvement and using inclusive communication methods making the instruction and response clearer (Friend & Bursuck, 2018). Furthermore, it is vital to address all engagement categories, such as behavioral, cognitive, and affective (Theoharis et al., 2020). It would help to improve academic results and guarantee enhanced cooperation between all parties.

Teamwork

Finally, the cultivation of an inclusive environment requires enhanced teamwork. In the educational sphere, it means that both teachers and students should work in groups to attain better results. Speaking about educators, a leader’s task is to align the improved cooperation between specialists to share information about students’ specific needs and create a collaborative approach to improve learning (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2013). On another hand, teamwork among students is also essential as it helps to improve their social skills, communication, listening, and speaking (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2013). Moreover, by sharing their feelings and emotions, they would have a chance to discuss their problems and feel better (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2013). In such a way, building effective teamwork is one of the crucial elements of inclusive education.

Positive Change and Future

Thus, the aspects mentioned above should be viewed as fundamental elements of an inclusive culture. Using new communication models, proactive teaching, and flexible approaches, it is possible to improve engagement and guarantee that students with diverse needs will be involved in the process and acquire changes for better academic performance. At the same time, a leader acquires a set of important tasks necessary for promoting positive change and achieving the desired results. These include monitoring the process, controlling the teachers’ work, introducing new training opportunities, and reviewing the outcomes (Terrel et al., 2018). It is critical to ensure that the central ideas of educational leadership are observed and integrated into the work of the establishment.

At the same time, it is vital to create the basis for further improvement. The work of any educational establishment should be organized regarding the principle of continuous enhancement and transformation. It is impossible to remain within the same framework for an extended period because of the gradual decrease in various methods’ effectiveness and the emergence of new learners’ needs that should be considered in the process. For this reason, cultivating an inclusive culture within the discussed educational establishment should be viewed as the basis for future improvements. It is vital to expect further diversification of students’ special needs and create new methods to meet them. The outlined processes will help to transform the organization and provide teachers with new strategies and methods for better performance.

Conclusion

Altogether, the educational establishment providing services to students with specific needs should be ready to transform to meet their major demands. For this reason, it is critical to apply the main ideas of educational leadership and promote positive change. The solution for the discussed case implies cultivating an inclusive culture and environment. It implies using proactive approaches, flexible teaching methods, better communication practices, and increased attention to students’ unique needs. Assessment and evaluation should also be viewed as vital aspects that might help to collect information about learners’ peculiarities. In such a way, a collaborative approach, teamwork, and higher engagement levels will help to attain the desired goal and work with diverse students.

References

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