Name: Carys Arnold

SID: 10096097
KLA: English
Inclusive Education

Inclusive education is a somewhat ambiguous term that lacks a set meaning that has led to

some misconceptions and misguided practices (Australian Research Alliance for Children

and Youth (ARACY), 2013). The purpose of this paper is to define some of the requirements

and expectations of inclusive education, and to offer suggestions for practice in schools and

individual classrooms. Inclusive education is in accordance with international human rights

conventions and is an important part of both education and society as a whole. This paper

will be focused on the education of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and

other learning impairments. ASD categorises people who have been identified as having

difficulty with social communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour,

interests and activities. Historically, children with ASD or learning impairments have been

segregated and treated as outsiders to their community. Inclusive educational policies seek

to rectify that by including all students in mainstream education and by utilising their

differences for the benefit of all.

Early treatment plans for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) were often quite

barbaric and may have stemmed from a lack of knowledge about the disorder. Children

were subjected to horrific practices in the name of treatment, such as electrotherapy,

psychosomatic drugs and antidepressants (Rotatori et al, 2011). Their parents were also

subjected to psychotherapy as it was presumed that they were subconsciously unloving

towards their children and that their unloving nature was a cause of the autism (Rotatori et

al, 2011). None of these practices were effective. In days past, it was purported that

removing children with learning impairments from mainstream education was for their own
 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
benefit – that they would feel too much pressure from the expectations of those classes

(Dunn, 1968). This is now widely believed to have been a fallacy, and that removing children

with learning impairments was purely for the benefit of the teachers at the time, who

simply did not wish to take the time to teach students of differing abilities.

Historically, students with impairments and students displaying signs of ASD have been

forced into educational environments focusing on basic skills and menial work, regardless of

the personal needs or abilities of the students involved (Munyi, 2012). The first educational

institutions that offered education for children with impairments and disabilities often took

them away from their families and isolated them completely from contact with the outside

world (Historic England, 2018). The attitudes behind this kind of social isolation brought

about a stigma for people with disabilities, and they are often treated as different for their

whole lives (Dunn, 1968). This emphasis on the disability rather than the individual costs

people the opportunities afforded to their peers (Munyi, 2012). Dunn (1968) suggests that

this segregation may also have been rooted in the bias against and inherent racism towards

those of lower socio-economic backgrounds since many of those that were institutionalised

were of low socio-economic status, and a great proportion of those were not Caucasian.

More recently, studies have shown that most teachers now agree that students with ASD

should be educated alongside their peers in mainstream education (Wilkerson, 2012). The

past quarter century has shown a marked increase in students with ASD in mainstream

education (Spirko, 2015). Beginning in the mid-20th Century, it was posited that including

children of differing abilities and backgrounds is a better way of learning for all students

(Ferfolja, Diaz & Ullman, 2016). Good classroom pedagogies include reciprocal
 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
communication (Department of Education and Training (DET), 2003), as teaching and

learning has been shown to be a social act with participants contributing and learning from

individual perspectives that can assist them in creating their own knowledge (Smith, 2010).

To be effective, teachers must ensure that their pedagogies can be adapted or modified to

suit the needs and abilities of all of their students rather than a one size fits all approach.

Diversity should be viewed as a teaching and learning resource and “inclusive schools regard

diversity as a valuable asset that contributes to the social capital and richness of the school

community” (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011). In the English classroom, peer supported

or group-based learning can be especially effective in assisting students with learning

impairments or ASD to engage with increasingly difficult texts as they progress in their

education.

It is important to remember that pedagogies that allow for differences in students

(regardless of the kind of difference) will benefit all students. Because each student brings

their own skill set and background knowledge to the classroom, pedagogies and lesson

plans must be flexible enough to ensure that all students are able to fully engage in the

content by drawing on and building upon those skills. Good pedagogies allow for that

flexibility, and effective teachers are aware of the differing needs of students in their class

(Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), 2017). It is important to remember

that teachers are not just teaching the syllabus, they are also modelling cultural norms and

societal expectations to the children in their care (Egan, 1978). Disability awareness is

important for both teachers and students. It is therefore essential that teachers behave in a

manner that creates an open, respectful classroom environment that allows all students to

thrive. This is the guiding principle of inclusive education.

 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English

One of the challenges to inclusive education is ensuring that students with learning

impairments are properly catered to in the classroom. Teachers need special training to

learn how to make effective student accommodations, and they need to have the attitude

to back up those skills since teacher attitude is strongly correlated to the quality of inclusive

education (Hong et al, 2017). “Attitudes toward including students with disabilities [are]

more likely to be positive when teachers feel strongly about their teaching performance”

(Spirko, 2015), so it is essential that inclusion is addressed as a point of quality teacher

education.

As early as 1960, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

(UNESCO) set out a convention against discrimination in education. Article 1b prevents the

limiting of any “person or group of persons to education of an inferior standard” (UNESCO,

1960), thus setting legislation that persons with learning impairments must also be included

in mainstream education. After decades of work, in 2006 the United Nations Convention on

the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), negotiated a treaty to affirm the individual

rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities. The eight guiding principles of the treaty

include accessibility, equality of opportunities, respect for the dignity and autonomy of, and

the acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity, and most importantly

for educators, “full and effective participation and inclusion in society … [and] respect for

the evolving capacities of children with disabilities” (United Nations, 2006). This treaty has

been adapted and implemented by the Australian Government to ensure Australian

education meets the United Nations standards. Section 7 of the Australian Disability

Discrimination Act (DDA) “makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person because of a

 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
disability” (Department of Education and Training, 1992), meaning that it is illegal to

relegate people with learning or other impairments such as ASD to diagnosis-specific or

“special” education classes in the interest of segregation. All students must now be fully

included in education (this is in direct opposition to integration where the student must

adapt to the learning environment – rather pedagogies must be adapted to the student).

It is imperative that teachers engage in quality teaching practices to ensure that students of

differing abilities have equitable outcomes. In inclusive schools, all members of the

community have their voices heard as teachers collaborate with “students, families and

members of the wider community to improve teaching and learning for everyone in the

school” (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011). Especially for children with ASD, parent and

community involvement is important. Collaboration allows for a wider range of views and

may result in creative solutions to problems. When creating Independent Learning

Programs, it is imperative to include several community members (such as therapists and

the like) along with school staff, parents, the student him or herself so as to make the best

informed decision for the student.

Schools must create a positive learning environment where all students are treated with

respect and are given equal opportunities for learning. The three main areas of

differentiation that the curriculum can be adapted are through; content, process and

product. Some classroom practices that can assist students with learning impairments and

ASD include a variety of adjustments, some examples of which include;

 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
 Modifying tasks to suit individual ability – when students are given one set task, it

assumes that all students can create the same response. English in particular, given

the wide range of possible responses and complexity of thought required, is an

excellent learning area in which to modify tasks to student ability. For example, top

tier students may be given an essay to write, while mid-tier students have a creative

writing piece, and learning impaired students could be tasked with writing a short

poem or limerick, or simply listing main points of discussion rather than an extended

response. This kind of task focuses on the competencies of students (Hoogveld, Paas,

& Jochems, 2005).

 Offering differentiated responses to the same task, for example, allowing students to

create their own response to a question and assessing the response based on their

level of ability. This could include students completing tasks through a variety of

media such as spoken word, written pieces, models or digital media. This type of task

focuses on the individual talents of students and gives them the opportunity to

create visual, auditory or tactile responses based on their strengths (Taylor, 2015).

 Teacher reflection – teachers should reflect on the teaching practices that they have

used each day and take note of the more effective strategies. This type of

assessment focuses on teacher pedagogy (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011).

It is also imperative that teachers offer differentiated classroom instruction to cater to the

abilities of students. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) document

indicates that teachers must adjust their teaching to include children of different cultures
 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
and backgrounds, and this is extremely important in the case of students with ASD (APST,

2017). While the tasks listed above are useful for assessing learning, teachers must be

prepared to offer multiple methods of teaching to ensure that all students have the same

opportunity to learn. In the English classroom, this could be through offering a variety of

media or print types for children to learn from. For example, the Shakespeare play Othello

can be taught through the original text, manga or graphic novels, film, interactive digital

sites, or even by having students act parts out in class. This will benefit not only students

with learning impairments, but also those who are not particularly interested in the subject

(Ferfolja, Diaz, & Ullman, 2016).

Even the classroom itself must be adapted to be inclusive of all students. Consideration

must be given to not only the layout of desks or learning areas, but also to where students

are seated in the classroom that will encourage a collaborative and inclusive environment.

Some examples of this could include grouping students to assist with peer to peer support,

ensuring there are no distractions such as flickering lights or loud noises, or having

dedicated quiet areas (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011).

Research has shown that educators that include and appreciate students from a wide

variety of backgrounds and cultures, who make use of the students’ vastly different

knowledge bases, and who modify their pedagogies to allow all students to engage with and

understand their teachings have the best results. Studies have shown that open, welcoming

classrooms with collaborative and respectful environments allow students to build their

knowledge together, and engage with their education (Moore, 2012). That students with

ASD or learning impairments have been excluded in the past for their perceived inability to
 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
integrate with mainstream education has been a loss not only for them, but for their

unimpaired peers. Education should be inclusive, for if it is not, we as a society, lose our

ability to learn from each other.

 Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English
References

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Name: Carys Arnold
SID: 10096097
KLA: English