Establishing an Inclusive Setting
From the interviews, it is clear that an inclusive setting in the school context is established once the school is able to provide a balanced learning environment for typical children and students with special needs. Another requisite ingredient is co-teaching, which normally involves pairing one general education instructor with one special education instructor in an inclusive classroom setting of general education and special education students (Scruggs et al., 2007). The third critical ingredient is the adoption and implementation of one or multiple co-teaching variations identified in the education literature (Friend et al., 2010). From the interviews, it is clear that parallel teaching is favored since it provides teachers with an opportunity to work together to teach one lesson, thus allowing students to gain perspective in various ways. In station teaching, a variety of learning stations are developed and the co-instructors avail individualized support at the different stations (Scruggs et al., 2007).
Role of Administration
From the interviews, it is clear that the administration should be part of the IEP team that is involved with the development of the students’ goals and objectives. In inclusive settings, the administration is charged with the critical role of maintaining an ongoing focus on school improvement and support for change to ensure that students with special needs are well accommodated, while their counterparts of general or exceptional capabilities are not held back by the shift in the school’s policy and culture (Salisbury & McGregor, 2002).
Furthermore, it is been demonstrated in the literature that the behavior and actions of the administration directly determines the school’s climate as well as its effectiveness. This observation implies that the administration is centrally placed to determine the success of the inclusive setting by not only initiating changes in school schedules and spearheading effective and balanced deployment of personnel, but also pursuing productive assignment of students within the existing structures of the school (Salisbury & McGregor, 2002). Lastly, it should be the role of the administration to address the attitudinal and knowledge hindrances that can adversely influence the participation and membership of learners with disabilities in inclusive school settings (Keefe & Moore, 2004).
Challenges faced by Students and Instructors
There are innumerable challenges faced by students and instructors in inclusive settings. From the interviews, the challenges faced by instructors include: difficulties working on the goals and objectives of one lesson due to lack of shared vision; lack of cooperation among the teachers; broad variations of teaching styles; handling large classes; difficulties in maintaining close contact with parents; difficulties in instructional adaptation; lack of proper understanding of the guiding policy or the needs of the child; dealing with challenging personalities, and; lack of time to cover what is needed. These challenges have been well documented in the literature (Keefe & Moore, 2004).
In inclusive settings, exceptional students may feel as if they are being held back, while those with special needs may feel disenfranchised by the pace of instruction or perceived lack of inclusion. Both instances, according to Keefe & Moore (2004), lead to lack of motivation among students, ultimately lowering classroom experience as well as performance.
Benefits & Obstacles for all Students and Instructors
While it can be argued that the interview items failed to capture the benefits and obstacles of inclusive education for instructors, available literature demonstrates that instructors benefit from enhanced instruction skills such as differentiated instruction, increased training opportunities, enhanced support from parents and the school administration, as well as considerably reduced class sizes (Phelan, 2012). However, the obstacles facing them include incapacity to balance the requirements of high-stakes accountability while meeting the needs and expectations of diverse students within their classroom, fear of non-proficient scores, discontent from the school administration, and potential risk of embarrassment due to a wide difference of scores that may exist between students with special needs and their non-disabled peers (Friend et al., 2010).
The benefits for all students include: greater access to the general curriculum; empathy acquisition; development of strong social and communication skills; improved reading performance; increased social opportunities and appropriate role models; enhanced parent participation; fostering a sense of belonging and friendships with neighborhood peers, and; increased self-respect, self-esteem and confidence (Phelan, 2012). Some of the obstacles that face students in inclusive settings, as noted in the interviews, include dealing with adverse behavior issues that may be exhibited by students with special needs, failure to meet educational needs due to the diversity of learning, and classroom organization difficulties.
References
Friend, M., Cook, L., Hurley-Chamberlain, D., & Shamberger, C. (2010). Co-teaching: An illustration of the complexity of collaboration in special education. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 20(1), 9-27.
Keefe, E.B., & Moore, V. (2004). The challenge of co-teaching in inclusive classrooms at the high school level: What the teachers told us. American Secondary Education, 32(3), 77-88.
Phelan, P.S. (2012). Inclusive education: Integrating special needs and typical students in the classroom. Web.
Salisbury, C.L., McGregor, G. (2002). The administrative climate and context of inclusive elementary schools. Exceptional Children, 68(2), 259-274.
Scruggs, T.E., Mastropieri, M.A., & McDuffie, K.A. (2007). Co-teaching in inclusive classrooms: A metasythensis of qualitative research. Exceptional Children, 73(4), 392-416.