102084: Inclusive Education Assignment 1

Name: Tony Dimrajian

SID: 19058173

Introduction

Inclusive education is an integral focal point of teaching that all teachers will be

confronted with in their careers. As a teacher I will be presented with classes of

students with diverse learning needs, potentially including students with Autism

Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In order to be a successful teacher, I must be attentive of

the different types of learners and what they all need. The goal of inclusive education

is to effectively account and accommodate for the many different students of a diverse

classroom including those with ASD. To deduce what is required of teachers in their

bid to be inclusive of all students, there are many other aspects that should first be

taken into consideration. These areas of interest include the changing views about

inclusive education, legislation in relation to students with additional needs in

Australian educational settings, knowledge about what a diverse classroom is and

what the different types of classroom disabilities are, with a special look at what ASD

is and how to successfully include students with ASD. It is after considering these

facets of inclusive education that we can see what personal and professional skills will

be required of me as a teacher to include all students and I can then aim to work

towards building these skills for my teaching career.

Changing Views

First let us consider the changing views of inclusive education and the different

standpoints and opinions that various stakeholders have regarding the matter. Over

the years, there have been many limitations of special education including the

“dumbing down” of curriculum content and a clear lack of social and academic

progress for students with mild disabilities (Dunn, 1968). Many of this stems from the

medical model view that locates the disability within the individual as opposed to all

the social things that limit them. This leads to discrimination and labelling students

with disabilities, thus resulting in stigmatisation, peer exclusion and lower

expectations excusing these students to underachieve (Gartner & Lipsky, 1987).

Many advocates for disabled students including parents and teachers have pushed for

more inclusive education by challenging disability labels and the school-wide

restrictions preventing such students from participating to their fullest (Armstrong,

Armstrong & Spandagou, 2011). The implementation of School Learning Support

Officers (SLSOs) to help support disabled students within the classroom has been a

strong step towards enabling the support plans created for individual students where a

teacher cannot put such focus on the single student whilst teaching the entire class.

Whilst the SLSO is a resource, it is the teacher’s job to manage the SLSO and help

guide them at times with regards to which students need the most help. Considering

the teacher’s perspective, reports have shown that 53% of teachers indicated that

student’s behaviour caused them stress (Sullivan, Johnson, Conway, Owens &

Taddeo, n.d.), and dealing with these behaviours in relation to inclusive education can

be a big issue for teachers with very diverse classrooms.

Legislation

Knowledge of the legislation pertaining to inclusive education is useful in

understanding how it has developed and what is required of teachers and schools to

include diverse students in Australian educational settings. The Disability

Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) broadly defined disability as a disorder or

malfunction resulting in someone learning differently from others without the

disorder. The DDA stated that disability discrimination takes place when someone

with a disability is treated less favourably than someone without it, and such

discrimination is unlawful. The DDA helps to protect harassment or discrimination of

disabled people in daily life including when it comes to education, employment,

accommodation or public access (Commission, 2004). The Disability Standards for

Education 2005 (DSE) was another major part of Australian legislation regarding

inclusive education as it stated that all schools must provide the same educational

opportunities for disabled students as other students. The DSE standards pushed for

schools to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities to thrive in the

school and classroom environment. It also states that on adjustments made for

disabled students, their parents should be consulted about changes and progress. As

the fourth of the seven pillars of support for inclusive education, having a flexible

curriculum and pedagogy with planned adjustments for students with disabilities is

one appropriate method of adjustment to include all students (Loreman, 2007). The

seventh pillar looks at how having the necessary training and resources such as

professional learning and the utilisation of SLSOs can successfully help include

students with diverse learning needs.

Including All Students

A diverse classroom is one where there are a variety of students with different

learning needs. Some examples of diverse students include refugees, aboriginals,

LGBTQ, gifted and talented, non-English speaking, and students with mental or

physical disabilities or behavioural disorders. The three most common physical and

sensory disabilities in classrooms are cerebral palsy, dyspraxia and spina bifida which

all affect body movement. Having such a range of possible students may make

inclusive education seem quite daunting to many teachers as they struggle to meet

everyone’s learning needs. In accordance with the first standard of the Australian

Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), one of the primary roles of a quality

teacher is to “know your students”. Knowing how each of these students learn is

essential to accommodating for them within the classroom environment. For example,

once identifying which students are gifted and talented, a teacher can account for

them by giving students the chance to demonstrate mastery of material and perhaps by

providing multiple assignments within a unit for students with differing levels of

achievement (Moltzen, Riley and Mcalpine, 2001). Often disability labels can have an

impact on whether or not teachers will refer students to gifted programs (Bianco,

2005). Dyscalculia is one disability related with my key teaching area of mathematics.

This is a brain disorder resulting in severe difficulty for a student to make arithmetical

calculations. Just as with any disability, there are a number of ways the student can be

supported such as using board games to build math skills and build the student’s self-

esteem. For refugees or non-English speaking students, an increased use of visuals in

the classroom can help to bridge the language barrier. For aboriginal students, being

respectful and appropriately inclusive of their culture within the classroom can help

them to feel more comfortable in the classroom environment. Differentiation, quality

classroom management and the development of student plans typically formed by

SLSOs can all aid teachers to successfully be inclusive of all students in their

classroom.

Including Students with ASD

Let us consider those particular students with ASD in classrooms. ASD is a disorder

that involves one having difficulties with social communication, having restricted

interests or doing repetitive patterns of behaviour obsessively and compulsively.

Experts refer to descriptors when diagnosing someone with ASD and there are

varying levels of severity. Level one or two ASD may be found in regular classrooms,

but typically not level three. Some of the characteristics of ASD include limited

speech, resistance to change, lack of eye contact, difficulty controlling emotions,

attention to detail and poor social skills. It can be very difficult for ASD students to

make and keep friends, as they tend to struggle with communicating to their peers

(Boutot, 2007). For these students to feel included in the classroom, perhaps the first

and greatest step is to promote social acceptance of them. Carefully selecting the

student’s classrooms and supports, and preparing the teacher and students for the

student with ASD can do this. For students with ASD to develop friendships and

effectively learn, they must be provided the opportunities to do so. Using visuals in

the classroom such as real objects, computer-generated images, drawings or

photographs can be particular helpful in aiding ASD students to learn as most students

with ASD have strengths in visual areas. Sensory toys or ‘fidget toys’ are another

useful tool for students with ASD as it can give them something small to play with

which aims to improve their overall learning and behaviour within the classroom.

Setting clear expectations and providing rewards and motivators for the students can
be particularly effective in helping them to take small achievable steps towards goals.

Incorporating the interests of students such as riding, talking or watching something

about their favourite subject can be a great way to engage them, and as students with

ASD can tend to obsess over some of their interests, this can prove especially

rewarding. In addition to these tips, ‘Student Profile Builder’ is an online tool which

can be used by teachers to create a personalised plan for students based on their

specific learning traits. It can be quite applicable for those with mental or physical

disabilities, such as ASD.

Teacher Skills

There are various teacher skills that are required of me as a future teacher to account

for meeting the learning needs of all the different types of students. These teacher

skills are not teaching strategies, but are rather personal and professional capabilities.

One of these skills is effective communication. In a diverse classroom, teachers must

be able to respond professionally to verbal or physical abuse that might take place,

and may need to communicate with various parties including psychologists,

occupational therapists, caregiver and SLSOs to consult them about student progress

an to be assertive with SLSOs when required. Having a positive attitude in the

classroom is another pivotal teacher skill for inclusive education as teachers should

express enthusiasm for topics and demonstrate willingness for inclusivity. Students

should feel encouraged to learn and teachers can entice good behaviour through

descriptive praise. Flexibility is another important skill and this links to teachers being

open-minded, unbiased and having flexible expectations of students. For example,

teachers might selectively ignore some challenging behaviours for the benefit of the

overall lesson. For inclusivity, teachers must also have awareness of disabilities and
of the capabilities of assistive technology. This background knowledge aids their

understanding of what students are going through and allows them to also develop a

sense of empathy towards students. Showing care for students will make them feel

considered and listened to, thus likely to improve the student-teacher relationship and

consequently aid their classroom learning. Patience is another useful aspect of

inclusive education as silent therapy can be a surprisingly useful tool. Organisation is

also a substantially important teacher skill to have if disabilities are to be sufficiently

catered for. By discussing student plans with SLSOs, managing time, showing

consistency and through careful and effective lesson planning, teachers can

appropriately differentiate teaching for a classroom of students with diverse learning

needs.

Conclusion

Overall, by considering the changing views of inclusive education, relevant

legislation and the personal and professional skills required of teaching, there can be a

deepened understanding of what it takes to successfully teach a diverse classroom.

Different students will have different learning needs and by being aware, flexible,

organised, empathetic, encouraging and using effective communication, teachers

should be sufficiently equipped to run lessons that are inclusive of all students. These

are the skills that I intend to strive towards building upon as I strive towards

promoting inclusive education throughout my own teaching career.

References

Armstrong, D., Armstrong, A., & Spandagou, I. (2011). Inclusion: by choice or by

chance?. International Journal Of Inclusive Education, 15(1), 29-39.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2010.496192

Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Retrieved 2 April 2018, from

http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-

teachers/standards/list

Bianco, M. (2005). The Effects of Disability Labels on Special Education and General

Education Teachers' Referrals for Gifted Programs. Learning Disability

Quarterly, 28(4), 285-293. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4126967

Boutot, E. (2007). Fitting In. Intervention In School And Clinic, 42(3), 156-161.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10534512070420030401

Commission, P. (2004). Review of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. SSRN

Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.600962

Disability Standards for Education 2005 | Department of Education and Training.

(2018). Education.gov.au. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from

https://www.education.gov.au/disability-standards-education-2005

Dunn, L. (1968). Special Education for the Mildly Retarded—Is Much of it

Justifiable?. Exceptional Children, 35(1), 5-22.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001440296803500101
Federal Register of Legislation - Australian Government. (2018). Legislation.gov.au.

Retrieved 4 April 2018, from

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A04426

Gartner, A., & Lipsky, D. (1987). Beyond Special Education: Toward a Quality

System for All Students. Harvard Educational Review, 57(4), 367-396.

http://dx.doi.org/10.17763/haer.57.4.kj517305m7761218

Loreman, T. (2007). Seven Pillars of Support for Inclusive Education: Moving from

"Why?" to "How?". International Journal Of Whole Schooling, 3(2), 22-38.

Moltzen, R., Riley, T. and Mcalpine, D. (2001). Guiding Our Gifted and Talented

Students: One Nation’s Story. Gifted and Talented International, 16(1),

pp.57-68.

Sullivan, A., Johnson, B., Conway, R., Owens, L., & Taddeo, C. Punish them or

engage them? Behaviour at School Study.

Web1.modelfarms-h.schools.nsw.edu.au. (2018). Student Profile Builder - Teaching

for Inclusion. [online] Available at: http://web1.modelfarms-

h.schools.nsw.edu.au/learningtraits_pdf.php [Accessed 29 Mar. 2018].