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Cody Coleman
Professor Malcolm Campbell
UWRITE 1103
March, 31st 2015

How Does Inclusion in the Classroom Really Help?

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Whenever I talk to people about inclusion I get a few responses. One is from people who
dont know a lot about the educational system and they usually just ask what it is. Then, I of
course give them a dumbed down definition which is when people with special needs or
disabilities are put into a classroom with students who are in the general education classroom.
The other responses are from people who already know what it is and they either say they
disagree or agree with it. One thing I have noticed about from most of the people I talk to is that
they either have one reason or no good reason to why they disagree or agree with it. This paper is
meant to both explain what inclusion is and to show why it can help ALL students learn! This
will tell you parents, students, and teachers views about inclusion to help get a better
understanding of different points of view.
Inclusion gives schools a better chance to use all of their resources including teachers,
making them work together which provides a better learning environment for all students.
(Together We Learn) Teachers do not do their job for money or benefits, but because of their
love for kids and they want to help the next generation make our world a better place. Since they
are there for the students, they always have to try and put the students first in most of their
decisions that they make for the classroom. Whether that be how to teach the class, what
materials to use and a recent decision they have been faced with making is whether or not to
continue being a teacher even though they know of the possibility of students with special needs
joining their class. Some general education teachers are against it because they are scared that the
students with special needs will cause a disruption and cause their students not to learn. Also that
they are not trained enough to handle the behaviors that the students might have. What this

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argument fails to understand is that when talking about school for students with special needs
and disabilities, they try to place them in the least restrictive environment. The least restrictive
environment is when a student with special needs is placed in an environment, or for this
purpose, a classroom, that will provide the most successful place for that specific student to
learn. If a student is causing a disruption or problems for the teachers or students of the general
education classroom, chances are that the classroom is not the least restrictive environment so
they would be places into one that would be more beneficial to the student instead of just placing
them in there for no reason. Another point to consider is Co-Teaching which is when a special
education teacher is in a classroom along with a general education teacher where both kinds of
students are in the class. The teacher is there to help with behaviors the student(s) with
disabilities might have or if he/she struggles with learning something. The special education
teachers who are for inclusive classrooms are, more than, willing to help teachers by giving
advice and suggestions to help them have the most success teaching their students. One of the
main points of inclusion is making sure that the least restrictive environment is the main goal for
all of the students to insure that both the typically functioning students and the students with
disabilities have the easiest place to learn in possible.
Another point of view that should be looked at is from the parents. Parents have final say
in what happens to their kids whether it is for typically functioning students or students with
disabilities. The parents too, are on two sides of the inclusion debate. Over the years parents and
other organizations have worked hard to get rights and special services for their kids with special
needs. Some see inclusion as a step backwards because they fought to get their kids into the
classrooms and special services they have. They think that inclusion is trying to make their
children learn a the same pace as every other student who does not have special needs and that

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the schools push for inclusion is their way of taking away the rights they have worked so long
and hard to receive. Other parents on that side are worried about what every parents is worried
about when they send their kid off to school each day which is will he/she get bullied?. For the
past few years there has been a movement by Special Olympics to stop people from saying the
word retarded because of all the negative connotations that go along with it. Bullying is in
every school and every child will be the victim of some type of bully. In a perfect world
everybody would treat everybody with respect but that, unfortunately, is not the world we live in
nor will it ever be. What we can do to prevent bullying for children with special needs is by
teaching our kids before we even send them to preschool that if somebody looks or acts different
from them, that it does not mean they are less of a human being or below them. They should get
the same respect that everybody deserves and their disability or label has nothing to do with
that. This is one way that we can help the parents who are more worried about bullying, more
than anything else, ease into the idea of inclusive classrooms so that their children can benefit
from it. There is one more thing that I feel like will help parents get used to the idea of inclusion
is making it clear exactly what inclusion is. "Inclusion" does not simply mean the placement of
students with disabilities in general education classes. This process must incorporate
fundamental change in the way a school community supports and addresses the individual needs
of each child. (Inclusive Schools Network 2008) When many parents here what inclusion is,
they hear it is putting students with special needs into a general education classroom. When they
just hear it said like that they shut out the idea completely right then and there. It is
understandable because no parent wants their child to be made fun of or looked over when it
comes to their education. With that being said, if we was to start introducing in a more accepting
tone they wont feel like it is taking away special education teachers and all of their rights. We

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need to explain it to parents and everybody that it is a way to make their students and children
learn better and more accepted by everyone in this world and give all types of children and
students a chance to work and learn together so that they will have practice working with people
from different back grounds and with different skills for when the get jobs in the real world. All
of these things will help parents to accept inclusion and push their kids to be open minded to
accept people of diversity into their lives and classrooms.
The few final points I would like to make is about the students, both with special needs
and without, and could also apply to helping teachers and parents accept inclusion. When
children with special needs are with all of their non-disabled peers, all of the students tend to
learn how to work better together and accept different ideas that students might have. This skill
correlates directly to the real world because no matter who you are, whether you have special
needs or not, you will have to know how to act around different types of people on a day to day
basis. A lot of concerns about inclusion is that the behaviors (if there are any) from the students
with special needs will, as I said earlier disrupt the learning environment but also will rub off on
the other children. The concern is that the general education kids will start to mimic the other
students in hopes of getting the attention that the other student is receiving when he has a
behavior that was caused by his disability. It has been observed that inclusive classrooms have a
positive effect on the behavior of both types of students. Behavioral supports help maintain a
positive learning environment for everyone. (2008) What this quote means, is that when we
show students that we have certain expectations for everybody, they are more likely to follow
them. Students who have special needs are just as capable of following rules as everybody else,
just because they have a disability does not excuse rude or bad behavior that has no relation to
their label. In my experience with kids and adults with special needs, they have the potential to

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have just as much control over their actions as we do. The reason they have those bad
behaviors is because we let them think that it is okay. When we enforce the same rules with
everybody in the classroom it shows them that they are not going to get special treatment if they
do not follow directions and they learn to control their behaviors. All of this relates back to the
students because they are the ones holding themselves accountable for their actions whether it be
bullying or any other form of behavior. This is what behavioral supports mean. When a student
misbehaves, it is not only the job of the teacher to fix it, but the job of the other staff, parents,
and students to hold everybody to the same rules with only a few exceptions to those whose
disabilities have a prominent role in their behavior. If the students disability has that much of an
adverse effect on his or her behavior, an inclusion environment will probably not be the best
place or the least restrictive environment for them anyway which eliminates the problem of
exceptions.
What the main point of this essay was, is to show everybody that we need to make a big
change in the way we view people of diversity or people who might not look and act like what
everybody else deems as normal. When we want to put a definition to the word normal, the
fact is nobody would fall under it. One of the ways we can start changing is by accepting this
idea of inclusion. It is not meant to take away right and services, or to hurt any students chance
at learning. It is meant to make a push for everybody to be accepting of all types of people.
When people say that it shouldnt happen at school and it should be the job of the parents to
teach morals to their children, it hardly ever happens. Teachers, while going to college, are
taught to teach more than just the subjects they are experts in. They are role models for these
children just like any other person who they spend a lot of time with. In some cases, students
spend more time with their teachers in school then they do with their parents at home. So the

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question arises How are those kids going to learn morals? its in the teachers role just as much
as the parents. Inclusion is just one way we can start changing school to teach that everyone has
a right to be accepted and learn the same things. This, in turn, changes the world because those
children grow up and teach their kids to accept people and then that is when we will start having
a better world that appreciates all different kinds of people.

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Works Cited
"Concerns About and Arguments Against Inclusion And/or Full Inclusion." - Issues ...about
Change, Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, Volume 4, Number 3. SEDL. 1995. Web. 04
Mar. 2015.

Cromwell, Sharon. "Inclusion In The Classroom: Has It Gone Too Far?" Education World.
Education World. 27 Oct. 1997. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.

Swain, Kristine D., Philip D. Nordness, and Elizabeth M. Leader-Janssen. "Changes in

Preservice Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusion." Preventing School Failure: Alternative
Education for Children and Youth 56.2 (2012): 75-81. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
"Together We Learn Better: Inclusive Schools Benefit All Children." Inclusive Schools Network.
Inclusive Schools Network. N.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2015.