Выступление “How does Inclusive education help children with disabilities in modern society?”

“How does  Inclusive education help children with disabilities in modern society?”

Teacher:Chindaryova N.F.

Tryokhbaltaevskaya  Secondary School

Form 8 “A”

Stratilatova Anna

2015

 Contents

1.Introduction.

2.Main body.

2.1.What is Inclusion?

2.2.Education for the disabled people in the USA.

2.3.Education for the disabled people in Russia.

2.4.Benefits of Inclusive Education.

2.5.Research part.

2.6.Conclusion.

2.7.Bibliography.

                                                 Introduction

               “We must create a system of education

for children with disabilities to provide

an opportunity for disabled and

non-disabled children to learn together

at mainstream schools. Both children

and society will benefit.”

      Dmitry Medvedev

 Children with disabilities are children who have functional limitations because of illnesses, deviations or defects of development.

    Disabled people have a lot of difficulties in our modern society. They are separated from society and social life; they cannot live a normal life. It has become a problem of a worldwide scale. The integration should be started from the school age. Children with disabilities should not get their school education separately from healthy children. It means that we should place children with disabilities in mainstream schools.

   Our choice of the topic was motivated by several reasons: several episodes on TV, some articles in youth magazines and some life experience. I think this problem is of great social importance. Everyone has the right to live a normal life, socialize with other people, get education and participate in life of the society. It must be done on the basis of tolerance and social justice.I think that this topic can be interesting for everybody.

  We set up a hypothesis that inclusive education is a worldwide problem, for most people it has become the starting point for working over their self-esteem.    

                      The aims of the project:

-to distinguish  the role of  inclusive education   in modern world;

-to decide which way of education suits children with disabilities most of all;

-to examine how this policy is implemented in Russia and in the USA;

-to investigate the pros and cons of inclusive education;

- to investigate people’s attitude to the problem;

  During our research we used such methods as

·                    analysis and comparative analysis

·                    interviewing

·                    sociological survey

                                                  Main body

Social integration is a process of including an individual in different social groups and relationships by the organization of collaborative activities.

During the Renaissance people started to pay a lot of attention to people with physical or mental defects, they tried to find out how to help them. Italian humanists were the first who developed the ideas of the attentive attitude to the individuality of a child and his creative abilities. They created a model of social integration through education for children with disabilities.

Childhood is the best period for getting the first social and cultural experience. During this period the rules of behaving and different values are set. A child’s personality develops. Because of this it is very easy to integrate a child into society.

The requirements for the integration

A child integrates into society only when he communicates. We should take into account that when a child interacts with other people he collects their principals, moral foundation, he starts behaving like them.

With the help of communication the child’s self-esteem is formed, the social culture is developed. While communicating a child learns everything consciously and unconsciously, he explores different social roles and acquires a lot of interpersonal relations.

If a child feels that he is part of a social group, if he has the same values and beliefs, it means that the level of his integration is very high.

Thus, we can say that integration into society is unreal without communication. However, during the integration not only the person tries to adapt to the society, but also the society tries to adapt to an individual.

People’s view on disability can be an obstacle for the child’s integration.

Every child integrates into society, but the integration is rather more difficult for children with disabilities. Different physical or mental defects do not allow them to do it fast.

Most normal children do not accept children with disabilities; they do not treat them like normal children. A person with physical and mental defects is taken as something negative and lost for people and the society. This kind of discrimination reduces a disabled person’s life chances, he becomes aggressive and hostile. In that case a disabled person usually becomes a marginal, he loses his positive motivation to activity, he starts to lead an isolated life and his self-esteem becomes lower.

In order to make the process of integration easier, we should get rid of such stereotypes and think not about defects, but about the person’s personality, good qualities and human dignity.

It is obvious that school suits most of all for the integration. It will allow a child with disabilities to communicate with other people and to integrate into the society. The school focuses on the inclusion of a child in social relationships and life of the society.

School is a small model of the society. An educational plan is a special tool for social integration. There is not only an official educational plan; there is also an unofficial educational plan. This plan gives students knowledge about rules of behaving in the society; it develops social communication skills.

As a result, such integration gives children a chance to participate in social life. We must give such a chance to children with disabilities.

There are three main kinds of education for disabled children:

1)      Segregation. A disabled child gets education in a special school or in a home for disabled citizens. In this way the child does not contact with normal people, does not integrate into society. It means that the child will not learn how to interact with other people; he will become isolated from the society. This kind of education only strengthens social inequality.

2)      Integration. Disabled children get education in a mainstream school in a special class or in a regular class without any help.

3)      Inclusion. Disabled children get education in a mainstream school with the help of specialists who take their needs into consideration.

                                                        What is Inclusion?

       Inclusion is part of a much larger picture then just placement in the regular class within school. It is being included in life and participating using one's abilities in day to day activities as a member of the community.                                                                

In education, the word inclusion sometimes is used to simply describe a child with a disability placed in a regular class.

A goal of inclusive education is to help children reach their potential and become productive members of society. When people feel good, they have a greater capacity to function to their potential in every aspect of their lives. There are sports, clubs, assemblies, and other non-academic activities that help children become well rounded and more receptive to learning.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) which sets out children’s rights in respect of freedom from discrimination and in respect of the representation of their wishes and views.  Inclusion itself is better because it fits everyone. Many worldwide organizations (UNESCO, UNICEF) and countries have recognized inclusion.

 In 1994 the Salamanca declaration declared that all disabled children should have an access to mainstream schools, which should make conditions satisfying their needs. Also the principal of inclusive education must be taken as a law. We must admit that not only disabled children benefit from inclusion but normal children as well. Their results at school are much better because teachers are more qualified, the classes are more organized, the school program is easier to understand and children are taught to be tolerant, sympathetic and respect all people. Inclusion is about the child’s right to participate and the school’s duty to accept the child. Inclusive education means that all students in a school, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses in any area, become part of the school community. They are included in the feeling of belonging among other students, teachers, and support staff.                                                                                                                                        The fundamental principle of inclusive education is the valuing of diversity within the human community.

-All students can learn and benefit from education.

-Schools adapt to the needs of students, rather than students adapting to the needs of the school.

-Individual differences between students are a source of richness and diversity, and not a problem.The diversity of needs and pace of development of students are addressed through a wide and flexible range of responses.Inclusive education is a process of removing barriers and enabling all students, including previously excluded groups, to learn and participate effectively within general school systems. Inclusion needs to be appropriate to the child's unique needs.  Inclusive education teaches all children team work and how to interrelate and function together with others of different abilities. They learn to value diversity, see the ability of others to contribute, and it gives children a sense of unity.

                                    Education for disabled people in the USA

The system of education for the disabled in the USA is at a high level, it has been developing for decades. There are about 5 million children with disabilities in the USA and the majority of them (96%) learn in regular schools.

Education for the disabled is a specialized area of education which uses unique instructional methods, materials, learning aids, and equipment to meet the educational needs of children with learning disabilities.

The story of Special Education begins in the early part of the 20th Century. Parents formed advocacy groups to help bring the educational needs of children with disabilities to the public eye. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation. The panel’s recommendations included federal aid to states. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which provided funding for primary education, and is seen by advocacy groups as expanding access to public education for children with disabilities.

Despite these two important events, by the 1970’s, only a relatively small number of children with disabilities were being educated in public schools. Both enacted in 1975, two federal laws would change this: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).

EHA (1975) required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical and mental disabilities. Public schools were required to evaluate handicapped children and create an educational plan with parents. One more important thing is that separate schooling may only occur when the nature or severity of the disability is such that instructional goals cannot be achieved in the regular classroom.

IDEA (2004) was passed to federal law to ensure all children until the age of 21 get a free public education despite any mental or physical disabilities. All children are to be given proper accommodation to help them with the learning process. The IDEA requires that education occurs in the least restrictive environment and requires schools to take a child’s disability into account when enforcing discipline.

According to the IDEA, the school system must insert the students into the least restrictive environment possible, so great effort is put into keeping the students in regular classrooms, but sometimes special classes with fewer students are required for more individual attention. These students will be able to attend non-academic classes, such as physical education and music, with normal students.

The IDEA mentions that private schools do not receive government funding and are not required to provide the same type of special education services that a student would receive at a public school. Every private school has a different policy, and it is the parents' responsibility to contact the desired school and request the information. We can say that private special schools are not encouraged and the government wants both normal and disabled students to study in public schools.

However, not all students receiving special education and Individual Educational Plans are qualified for this legislation. Other services are available to those students. In order for a child to be covered under IDEA they have to have a strong kind of disability such as: mental retardation, autism, serious hearing impairments or be deaf, speech and language impairments, blindness and other visual troubles, physical disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, and serious emotional disturbance that impedes daily functioning. Children with some learning disabilities are also covered under IDEA.

 In addition to being covered by the IDEA these students are also protected by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act. It requires that schools not discriminate against children with disabilities and provide them with reasonable accommodations. Students that do not qualify for the IDEA often receive services under Section 504. Children covered under Section 504 either have less severe disabilities than those covered under the IDEA. Children with different physical disabilities are even not considered very serious. They do not have a special teacher and do not attend special courses.

Any teacher with a bachelor’s degree in education can join a course on Special Education. There are many collegiate institutions that offer bachelors and masters degree programs in special education. Many organizations offer short-term programs to aid teachers in becoming more specialized in the area of special education.
Special education teachers use various techniques to promote learning. Depending on the disability, teaching methods can include individualized instruction, problem-solving assignments, and small group work.

Special education teachers together with school psychologists, teachers, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists as well as parents develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each special education student. This plan will detail specifically the knowledge, skills, or attitudes that the educators will focus on to give the child the best chance to succeed.

The IEPs are then reviewed periodically throughout the year as necessary and team meetings must occur at least once annually. Teachers work closely with parents to inform them of their child's progress and suggest techniques to promote learning at home. They are involved in the students' behavioral, social, and academic development, helping the students develop emotionally, feel comfortable in social situations, and be aware of socially acceptable behavior.

The IEP also includes transportation to and from school regardless of adaptive needs and providing the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for the child to learn in. A least restrictive environment means that a child with special needs to be grouped in a classroom with peers where they will achieve the highest academic and social progress.

How the system works:

There is a special model of education in the USA. A disabled child should be taken in a regular classroom. If he is not ready to study in a regular classroom with normal children, the child is studying individually with his own program – the IEP. If the child can behave well in a regular classroom for 10 minutes, he is placed there for 10 minutes. The special teachers then place the child for more time in a regular classroom in order to make some progress. After some time the child can be placed in a classroom for a lesson. If the child is not ready at all, he goes on studying individually but he can communicate with normal children in the canteen or during the break.

                        Education for the disabled people in Russia

Due to some legislative acts the system of education for the disabled could have been well developed. However, we do not have an effective system that works. Only 290 733 children with disabilities attend regular schools and get inclusive education.

The first inclusive school “Kovcheg” opened in Moscow in 1991 on the basis of the Center of the therapeutic pedagogy and the parent’s social organization. However, since then only about 40 schools in Moscow have started working on the basis of inclusive education.At the end of December 2012 the State Duma of the Russian Federation (RF) approved a law on education in the RF during the third reading. The work on the project was started in 2009. According to the new law the State shall guarantee free basic education for everybody in the framework of the federal education standards. This document expands the State guarantees for free education and strengthens the link between education programs and the modern labor market. Moreover, the law is aimed at enabling children with disabilities to learn at common schools. The new law gives priority to inclusive education, which imagines education for children with disabilities as not in a specialized but common institution. Nevertheless, these children can choose to attend specialized institutions as before.Inclusive education across the RF is at present regulated by the Constitution, by the federal laws “On education”, “On social protection of people with disabilities in RF”, as well as by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and by the Protocol N1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.In 2008 Russia signed the Convention of the United Nations “On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. Article 24 of this Convention states that State-participants shall provide inclusive education at all levels and livelong education, for the realization of the Right to Education. The possibility of all children getting an education by, regardless of their disabilities, is allocated in the law “On Education in the RF” (29th December of 2012, N 273-ФЗ, page 2). According to the law, inclusive education is a guarantee of equal access to education for all pupils and students considering their different educational demands and individual capabilities.A child with disabilities is of course a special child. It is also made special due to the fact that such a child is sent to a special institution for children with disabilities, isolating him or her from real society and constraining the child in his or her developmental possibilities. Is this what he or she wants? Doesn´t this child need education, mentoring and communication with his or her peers? Inclusive education provides an opportunity to children with special development to attend common schools and learn together with other children.The main question is how to give this child with special development not only a rich social experience, but also develop his or her educational demands to the full extent in a way that that the participation of such a child would not decrease the general level of education of

other children. In this way, the question shifts from the ideological dimension to an

organizational, scientific-methodical and investigational one.

There are many objective and subjective difficulties in inclusive education, but the

following has to be marked above all:

1. A program of the social integration of children with special development across the whole territory of Russia has not been developed yet as the level of tolerance, selfconsciousness as well as the helping attitude of healthy people has to be raised.

2. The legislation concerning the rights of children with disabilities is very weak at all levels. The duties of the State and of society towards them are not judicially determined.

3. More attention should be paid at adaptation of the place of education and creation of an accessible environment for all children with disabilities.

4. There is a serious problem of combination of the speed of teaching and the volume of knowledge in regard to children with disabilities and healthy children. A child with special development shall be put into an environment which corresponds at that moment with the capabilities of child´s education. Moreover, in case of need, a tutor will be assigned to such a child.

5. There is no special medical support in educational institutions.

6. The contacts between children with disabilities and healthy children are difficult and are developing very slowly.

 7. There is no special transportation for pupils with disabilities, which would enable them to reach educational institution and to come back home.

8. Microcampuses for foreign students with disabilities which would consider (first of all the everyday) demands, are not been built.

9. The programs of employment assistance of the graduated students with disabilities are exceptionally ineffective.

10. Those teachers and professors, who enable the inclusive education, shall be

accordingly prepared and shall get further training.

According to statistics, there are over 4 Million of children in Russia with disabilities

(8% of the children population) at present. About 700.000 children among them are children with physical disabilities. Every year the number of this category of children is growing. In particular, in 1995 in Russia there were 453.600 children with disabilities, in 2011 their number reached to almost 590.000. About 90.000 children among them have physical disorders which obstruct their movement and make access to social and educational resources difficult.A systematic implementation of the best practices of inclusive education takes place in Russia exceptionally slowly and considerably unevenly. In some regions as(Moscow,Samara, Arkhangelsk) good results were achieved while in other regions this practiceis only starting now.According to the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the RF, from 2008 to 2010 themodel of inclusive education has been implemented (on an trial basis) in educationalinstitutions in different regions of the RF, such as Moscow, Arkhangelsk, the region ofSamara, in the capital of Republic of Buryatia Ulan-Ude, Ukhta (the Komi Republic),the Republic of Karelia (Petrozavodsk, Sortavala), Tomsk, Voronezh, Saint Petersburg, Khabarovsk, Republics of the North Caucasus.The development of inclusive education in Russia is often carried out with the support of  State structures and nongovernmental organizations.The legislation of the RF foresees, according to the international rules, guarantees of equal rights to education for people with disabilities and people with physical disabilities. In Russia three different approaches to education of children with special educational demands are being implemented at the present moment:

1. Differentiated education of children with speech disorders, hearing or visual

impairments, disorder of the locomotor system, intellectual disabilities or mental

disorders in special institutions of I-VIII types.

2. Integrative education for children in special classes (groups) in institutions of

general education.

3. Inclusive education, when children with special educational needs are learning in a classroom with other common children.

According to the statistics provided by the government, the number of schools in which barrier-free environment for pupils with disabilities will be created, will grow more than eight-fold in the next five years– from 1.200 to 10.000.The Russian Republic of Chuvashia prides itself on its wide range of social programs, putting a lot of effort into caring for people with different physical abilities.

The region brings more and more social services to various projects, funded by the federal government, and helps its disabled citizens in the hope of improving the standards of living in the republic.

                               Benefits of Inclusive Education

The benefits of inclusive education are numerous for both students with and without disabilities.                                                                                         Benefits of inclusive education for students with disabilities

1.                 Friendships

2.                 Increased social initiations, relationships and networks

3.                 Peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills 

4.                 Greater access to general curriculum

5.                 Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization

6.                 Increased inclusion in future environments

7.                 Greater opportunities for interactions

8.                 Higher expectations

9.                 Increased school staff collaboration

10.             Increased parent participation

11.             Families are more integrated into community

Benefits of inclusion for students without disabilities

1.                 Meaningful friendships

2.                 Increased appreciation and acceptance of individual differences

3.                 Increased understanding and acceptance of diversity

4.                 Respect for all people

5.                 Prepares all students for adult life in an inclusive society

6.                 Opportunities to master activities by practicing and teaching others

7.                 Greater academic outcomes

All students’ needs are better met, greater resources for everyone Inclusion means change!! We believe both inclusion and change are inevitable.

 

                                                   Research part

Criteria	Russia	The USA
The number of children with disabilities.	3,5-4 million	5 million
The number of disabled children who get inclusive education.	290 733 children in Russia study inclusively (142 659 study in a regular classroom with normal children, 148 074 study in special classes of a regular school).	4 800 000 children study in a regular school ( ¾ spend 40% of their day in a regular classroom, ¼ spend 80% of their day in a regular classroom).
The law in the sphere of children’s disability.	The Convention about disabled people’s rights. In 2012 the State Duma of the Russian Federation (RF) approved a law on education in the RF during the third reading.	The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).
The number of schools which work on the inclusive basis.	Model of inclusive education has been implemented in educational institutions in different regions of the RF, such as Moscow,Arkhangelsk, the region of Samara, in the capital of Republic of Buryatia Ulan-Ude, Ukhta (the Komi Republic),the Republic of Karelia (Petrozavodsk, Sortavala), Tomsk, Voronezh,SaintPetersburg, Khabarovsk, Republics of the North Caucasus,in the Chuvash  Republic.	Due to EHA and IDEA all public schools must provide children with disabilities with free public education. Separate schooling may occur only when the disability is so severe that educational goals cannot be achieved in a regular classroom.

Thus, we can say that the number of disabled children who get inclusive education and the number of schools which work on the inclusive basis is much bigger in the USA just because of the strict law basis, whereas in Russia the law in the sphere of children’s disability is only in the process of developing and implementing. As a result, we should wait until the law basis will be well developed in Russia and then the number of inclusive schools will be greatly increased. I have no doubt it will be beneficial to our society as the results of the experiments in Perm, the Samarskaya Oblast and other regions show us that the system of inclusive education has a lot more advantages over the system of segregate education.

However, we can face a lot of different problems while broadening the inclusion, for example:

1)      The first problem is lack of teachers’ qualification. The problem is that teachers in mainstream schools do not know how to work with disabled children; they do not know any special methods of teaching such students. Teachers should be ready to interact with all students, both normal and the disabled; they should make students with disabilities participate in the same activities as normal children.

2)      Another problem is inability of normal children to accept children with disabilities mainly because of stereotypes which I have mentioned earlier. Normal children should be sympathetic to children with disabilities, they should learn to help and support them.

3)      The realization of inclusive education will require a large sum of money in order to adapt a school building for children with disabilities; it may include special furniture, medical equipment, elevators and ramps. Moreover, the need for professionals (psychologists, speech pathologists etc.) is obvious because each school will need such specialists in order to realize inclusive education.  

We have carried out an opinion poll among 39  teenagers aged 15-16 in order to find out if they are ready to study with the disabled and if the problem of inability of normal children to accept children with disabilities is so acute.

We can see that teenagers are ready to accept peers with disabilities, they are ready to study with them and we can say that the attitude to the disabled is rather positive, therefore, the problem of inability of normal children to accept children with disabilities is not a problem at all.

                                               Conclusion

     In conclusion, I would like to say that inclusion is not only the way or method of education, it is the realization of a person’s right to education. A lot of worldwide organizations have chosen this way of education as the best one; many countries from all over the world are changing their system of education in order to make it suitable for everyone. The system of inclusive education suits both normal children and children with disabilities. The number of inclusive schools should be increased with the help of education and social policies, despite the fact that it will require a lot of effort from teachers, parents and students.

      Inclusion itself is a great phenomenon because with the help of inclusion a disabled person becomes a socialized person, he has a chance to participate in life of the society and, therefore, he starts feeling as a member of a social group. It is the main advantage of inclusion.

The urgency of the problem is obvious because so many people with disabilities today are not adapted to social life; they lead a closed separated life which minimizes their social activity.

Our country has made the first steps on the way of realization of inclusion: the law basis is being founded and the first inclusive schools are being opened. The results of my survey show us that the barrier of not accepting children with disabilities with normal children is not a barrier at all. Other problems which may occur while realizing inclusion are not as serious as it might seem at first sight. The lack of teacher’s qualification can be easily improved by establishing special courses for teachers of mainstream schools in order to increase the level of their qualification. Teacher’s training colleges should establish special faculties or subjects in order to provide future teachers of mainstream schools with special methods of teaching children with disabilities.

We must give a chance to children with disabilities to live a normal life, socialize with other people, and be clever and educated. We should remember that "The benefit to one will be the benefit of all."

We’re all able. We’re all able.

To think, to feel, to love.

We’re all able.

In my mind, I have a dream.

That we’re all playing on the same team.

We all deserve, deserve a try.

                                         Bibliography

1)      D.V. Zaicev “Social Integration of Children with Disabilities in Modern Russia”. Saratov: Scientific book, 2003.

2)      www.unicef.ru

3)      http://www.ibe.unesco.org

4)      http://www.specialednews.com