Inclusive Education
We are all learners. That is a mantra I live by every single day and it will be part of our culture at 360 Academy. Recently, I was asked to present at a webinar for Special education, a topic on which I had little knowledge but a strong desire to learn. My journey to learn more led me to discover new approaches to special education and allowed me to discover amazing schools, educators, and heroes on their own journey to change the world.
My quest to learn more led me to numerous case studies, videos, and research papers. I spent time learning about schools that have built an impressive inclusive education curriculum. I also learned about the challenges and benefits (for all children) of implementing an inclusive education system into our schools. The following blog post and linked slides are blurbs about what I learned in this process.
For those reading this who may not be aware, special needs children are generally provided one of three school settings: Segregated, Integrated, or Inclusive.
Segregated: Occurs when the education of students with disabilities is provided in separate environments designed or used to respond to a particular or various impairments, in isolation from students without disabilities.
Integrated: Persons with disabilities are put into existing mainstream educational institutions, as long as the former can adjust to the standardized requirements of such institutions.
Inclusive: All students are fully accepted members of their school community, in which the educational setting is the same for everyone, disabled or non-disabled, when appropriate.
In my research, I came across the incredible story of Brad Cohen, a teacher with Tourette’s syndrome. Tourette’s is a common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by motor / vocal tics. Despite this challenge, Brad found a hero in his middle school principal who worked to educate the entire school on Tourette’s syndrome. Brad’s story was made into a Hallmark TV movie (Front of the Class) as well as a Bollywood movie (Hichki).
Brad Cohen is the epitome of what it means to overcome the kind of obstacles that would stop many people from pursing their dreams.
The scope of my presentation was to highlight a couple examples of schools that are doing an exemplary job of incorporating inclusive education into their education system. The two schools I highlighted were:
The Henderson School was transformed into an Inclusive School in 1989 by William Henderson, a pioneer educator who had become blind in the middle of his career. It currently serves 800 K-12 students, of which approximately 33% have some disability.
The transformation to an inclusive school did not come without challenges. Principal Henderson focused on improving two primary items: Culture and the Individual Instruction / Curriculum.
The evolution to an inclusive education means there are now expectations for everyone associated with the school including the education staff, students, and even families of students.
Adult Behavior: There is an expectation that all staff – including cafeteria and custodial staff – play a positive role in creating an inclusive environment.
Student Leadership: Students have the opportunity to demonstrate the hallmark traits of respect, responsibility, determination and inclusivity in a number of ways. Examples:
Each day, a different class greets fellow students as they get off the bus and escorts them into the building.
A rotating group of students from each homeroom does the morning announcements.
Student Behavior: Lack of discipline issues at the school can be attributed to a strong school culture, clear expectations around classroom management and use of strategies to individualize instruction for students.
Family Engagement:
The school sponsors publishing parties and other family gathering events to share student work.
Year-end celebration that includes performances and other artistic events that demonstrate the skills and abilities of all students.
In addition to changes to the school’s culture, the transformation required an updated, specialized instruction model using Universal Design learning principles, and a process of collaboration / problem solving.
Improved Instructional Model
Teachers and support staff work alongside students inside the classroom
School moved from whole group instruction to a workshop model with station and center based teaching to individualize instruction
Students receive ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis), PT (Physical Therapy), OT (Occupational Therapy) services inside the class
In each class:
Two teachers / 22-25 students
Class is blended with mix of students with mild/moderate/significant disabilities and others
Six para-professionals are used school-wide depending on needs of students
Therapists provide majority of services in classrooms to small groups of students
Universal Design Learning Principles
The principles offer “a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone, not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.”
Elements of UDL used at Henderson:
Center- and station-based teaching
Small group/Tiered support
Before/After school support
Use of technology: Tablets, Smartboards, Adaptive Education Software
Collaboration / Problem Solving
Scheduled time for teacher collaboration
Daily, Weekly, Monthly meetings to share best practices among classrooms, discuss student data, and work together to solve problems to help students learn and grow.
What Henderson has been able to do is nothing short of extraordinary. It serves as a model for schools around the world looking to transform to an inclusive education system.
The second school I found to highlight was Akshar School in Kolkata, India. Akshar was established in 1998 with a special focus on serving underprivileged students. Akshar is a relatively small school (500 K-9 students) and has aspects similar to Acton Academy. The school’s primary focus is on building life skills. The school incorporates a large number of extracurricular clubs including Nature club, Computer club, and Literary club (Debate, story telling).
In order to maintain an inclusive school, Akshar has incorporated the following processes / approaches:
Use of co-teacher in the classroom: Each class functions with a trained teacher assisted by a co-teacher, both implementing the curriculum mandated by CISCE.
IEP: Individual Educational Plan is made for each student based on his/her cognitive and physical ability.
Universal Design: Used in all classrooms, laboratories, library, audio-visual room.
Open Communication: Regular meetings, communication with parents
Life skills: Focus on activities outside the classroom to build life skills
Class size: Limited to 24 students
In addition to these two schools, I also looked at benefits of an inclusive system for both disabled and all students. The benefits of an inclusive school for disabled students include:
Friendships
Increased social initiations, relationships and networks
Peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills
Increased achievement of individual goals
Greater access to general curriculum
Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization
Greater opportunities for interactions
Higher expectations
Increased school staff collaboration
Increased parent participation
Families are more integrated into communities
The benefits of an inclusive school for all students include:
Meaningful friendships
Increased appreciation and acceptance of individual differences
Increased understanding and acceptance of diversity
Respect for all people
Prepares all students for adult life in an inclusive society
Opportunities to master activities by teaching others
Greater academic outcomes
Compilation of research studies indicated that the vast majority (81 percent) of nondisabled students either experienced no effects (58 percent of studies) or experienced positive effects (23 percent of studies) on their academic development as a result of being educated alongside students with disabilities
Universal design means greater resources for everyone
That’s a lot to digest! This journey has taught me a lot and I will continue to learn more about special / inclusive education. There is another webinar I will be attending this weekend on special education. At 360 Academy, we will allow students to pursue their interests to whatever level they want. I am not yet done learning about special education and am excited to continue this journey.
Lastly, I want to end the blog post with an inspiring Ted Talk by Dr. Nandita De Souza that includes the amazing story of “Michael” who was born with Cerebral Palsy.
Dr Nandita talks about the barriers to inclusive education.