Advancing Teacher Candidates' Capabilities for Differentiated Instruction

This chapter illustrates pedagogical practices from an undergraduate educational psychology course focused on preparing preservice teacher candidates for inclusive education in grades 7-12 general classes. First, literature related to teacher preparation for multi-tiered inclusive education is reviewed. Next, an inclusive instructional project is showcased to pinpoint pedagogical approaches used for promoting preservice teacher candidates' capabilities for differentiated instruction and technology-enhanced instruction in general education. Finally, implications of pedagogical practices for promoting preservice teacher candidates' aptitude for teaching diverse students via differentiated instruction are discussed, and future research directions for examining effectiveness of teacher preparation in general education for inclusive education are suggested.

Strategies for Integrated Collaborative Inclusion Relationships

This chapter examines the roles and responsibilities of general education and special education teachers in the inclusion model of teaching. Providing students with disabilities services within the inclusion model of services requires both teachers to use specialized strategies and methods such as the co-teaching models ensuring all students are successful within the classroom. These models include the one teach one observe, one teach one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, alternative teaching, and teaming. Kagan provides collaborative teaching strategies to assist in helping students to learn to work together in during projects and other classroom activities. Students must learn to work in a cooperative manner to be prepared for future essential life skills and jobs. Employers are seeking students who can get along with others and work in group settings to accomplish tasks in a competitive field.

Specific Learning Disabilities - Implementation of an Intervention Program

Over the past three decades, the interest of teachers and parents has focused on a variety of learning difficulties that students face in school settings. A significant number of students systematically fail in school, as they lack early detection of learning difficulties or effective intervention. This case study examines an elementary school student within a more general context, taking into account essential parameters such as family, school, and social environment. Furthermore, the authors thoroughly describe his difficulties in practical terms, as well as ways to address them through the implementation of an individual intervention program that responds to the needs of the student. Finally, reference is made to significant evidence that cooperation with parents as well as with a number of institutions strengthens and enhances intervention.

Challenges to Inclusion

The expansion of inclusion practices has led to an increase in the integration of special education learners into general education classrooms. In order to meet the needs of all learners within inclusion classrooms, general and special education teachers must combine their respective teaching expertise. However, there are significant challenges to inclusion opportunities arising from a variety of sources. These major barriers to integration are described as environmental, knowledge-based, and relationship-based challenges. Examples of these challenges are discussed with respect to issues related to inclusion faced by both general and special education teachers.

Collaborative Learning Community Facilitating Inclusive Learning Settings

One of the authors (Shigeru Ikuta) has organized a collaborative learning community with schoolteachers to provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities using newly developed multimedia-enabled dot codes. He created “Post-It-like” sticker icons on which dot codes were printed; each sticker icon could be linked with up to four multimedia mediums, in addition to up to four voices/sounds. Touching a dot code icon with a speaking-pen enables audios to be replayed and touching a dot code icon with a dot-code reader enables multimedia to be replayed. Four software packages to create self-made contents were developed by Gridmark Inc. The sticker icons, a speaking-pen and dot-code reader, and software packages are distributed to schoolteachers for free; they can now create original teaching materials for students in classes. The present newly developed software and tools are quite useful to support the students with various difficulties in inclusive learning settings.

Effective and Efficient Practices for Successful Inclusion in Public School Settings

Given the increasing diversity of students included in general education classrooms in public schools, the field must establish a clearer definition of what successful inclusion entails. This endeavor involves an analysis of best practices for inclusion, taking into account the knowledge and skillset required of teachers in their roles as instructional experts. With limited time and resources, teachers are challenged to maximize opportunities for individualized learning without creating the need for additional teacher-directed instruction. Teachers must therefore enact classroom practices in which students and their peers serve as mediating agents in their own learning. In addition, special and general education teachers must collaborate with one another, as well as with all members of the larger school community, in order to provide students with the least restrictive classroom placement along a continuum of options. All those involved must believe in, and advocate for, successful inclusion practices to support an increasingly diverse and accepting public sector.

Collaboration Constructs for Inclusive Settings

Inclusion is built on the idea that all students are valuable and significant members of their community and should be accepted in general education settings. Inclusion is a term that can define classroom practices, but it is also a valued system where all students have a sense of belonging. Collaboration between teachers can effectively support students with special needs (SSN) in inclusion, offering insight into student needs and providing valuable information for supporting students. Research has identified the effective collaborative constructs of (1) shared planning, (2) frequent communication, (3) shared vision, (4) mutual respect, and (5) joint trust. This chapter will investigate the real-life issue of collaboration needs and define the established collaborative constructs for practice.

Professional Learning Communities

Thriving in today's global society means meeting the demands for success by simple provisional steps or internal and organizational paradigm shifts. As organizations command numerous departments, oversee a diverse workforce, and have various agendas and goals, creating and maintaining a culture of collaboration and inclusion is vital but challenging. Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a way for colleagues from all areas of an organization to connect. PLCs have been a proven strategy for fostering collaboration, expanding scholarship, and enhancing professional efficacy. The intention of a PLC is to confront a challenge, meet a goal, or implement a change for the good of the organization while also building a sense of community through collaboration. This chapter will emphasize how PLCs contribute to experiential learning, inclusive learning settings, and address common communication challenges.

Instruction Expanded

The concept of inclusiveness encompasses more than just the integration of students with special needs into the general education setting. It involves modifying and reorienting access to the curriculum so that the learning experience encourages talent development that reinforces scholarly traits that are reflective of the needs, interests, abilities, and cultural backgrounds of the learners in the classroom. In this chapter, the authors overlay two instructional strategies for classroom teachers—scholarly traits and the talent development model—and articulate how they can reinforce the building blocks of a culturally mediated and inclusive learning environment that broadens access to the curriculum. The goal of this chapter is to model how research-based pedagogical strategies can be altered to intersect, tailored to reinforce, and reworked to be responsive using aspects of universal design for learning and culturally-mediated instructional practices to create inclusive learning experiences for all students.

Leadership Challenges to Inclusion

Higher education institutions have a responsibility to address past and present social inequalities, one of which is the marginalization of people with disabilities in education. The chapter explores and highlights leadership challenges to the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education (HE). A qualitative approach and interpretive paradigm will be used to review the literature and analyze documents as data generation methods. The chapter will contribute to the debate on the role of leadership in the inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education. Aspects such as the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral factors are key in understanding the inclusion of students with disabilities in HE. Some of the leadership challenges to the inclusion of students with disabilities, amongst others, include institutional and architectural barriers, leadership strategies, and institutional policies. Policy and practice may serve to obscure the challenges of inclusion.