Teacher Assistant Supports in Inclusive Schools: Research, Practices and Alternatives

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael F. Giangreco

In this article, I summarise the primary content included in a keynote address I delivered via videoconferencing in July 2012 at the national conference of the Australian Association of Special Education, held jointly with the annual conference of the Tasmanian Principals Association in Hobart, Tasmania. The address focused on three major topics pertaining to the utilisation of teacher assistants in inclusive schools: (a) persistent and emerging research trends, (b) contemporary conceptual and data-based concerns, and (c) ideas about what schools can do to provide improved educational opportunities and supports for students with special educational needs in inclusive classrooms. The article concludes that the potential overuse or misuse of teacher assistants is a symptom, not cause. Building integrated models of general and special service delivery in schools can address the challenges associated with questionable teacher assistant utilisation.

Author(s):  
Michael F. Giangreco ◽  
Mary Beth Doyle

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 186-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panayiotis Angelides ◽  
Eleni Antoniou

Over the last few years, there has been considerable debate regarding the ways in which the different educational systems in the world should develop more inclusive practices in their schools. An important aspect of this discussion revolves around the question of what schools can do to become more inclusive in terms of maximizing the participation of all children in their cultures, curricula, and communities. The Cyprus educational system, in responding to international developments, has made certain efforts to provide equal educational opportunities. These initiatives are undertaken centrally by the Ministry of Education and Culture without paying much attention to individual schools, their cultures, and the relations between schools and their communities. Given these efforts, this study examined how school cultures influence the development of inclusive practices, using case study in a rural primary school in Cyprus with 115 students, and through the analysis of our data, we spotted certain elements of the school's culture that contributed to the success of inclusive education. The provided examples, as well as the way that the leaders led the school under investigation toward an inclusive culture, might be helpful for educators in other contexts who struggle to develop inclusive schools.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Iwona Myśliwczyk

In the field of education we observe many positive changes in equalising educational opportunities for children and young people with disabilities. The most important changes have led to the inclusive paradigm which posits education of disabled children together with children with special educational needs. The article deals with issues related to educational inclusion, variously understood by parents of disabled children. Parents experiencing the disability of their children tend to normalize their lives, including education in a mainstream kindergarten. When talking about their children’s education, they unveiled personal meanings given to this event, showed their individual truths and the reality they experience. The stories they told were given a subjective meaning, which from their perspective is important and shapes their being.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 50-66
Author(s):  
Andrey Valeryevich Mironov ◽  
◽  
Evgeniya Sergeevna Shelest ◽  
Olga Vladimirovna Bulatova ◽  
◽  
...  

Introduction. The authors investigate the problem of creating an inclusive educational environment for children with special educational needs (SEN) through interaction with their parents. The aim of this article is to identify obstacles faced by parents of children with SEN within an inclusive learning environment. Materials and Methods. The article reviews and analyses Russian and international studies into implementing inclusive education. The empirical data were collected via questionnaires and processed using the methods of mathematical statistics. Results. The authors identified the following barriers to implementing inclusive education for children with SEN, perceived by parents: information, socio-psychological, organizational, methodological, financial and technological. The comparative analysis showed that the barriers to education of children with SEN are faced both by parents whose children attend inclusive schools, and by parents whose children attend special schools, which create special learning environment, taking into account mental and physical development of children with SEN. Parents identified barriers to education for children with SEN regardless of types of schools and mode of study. Parents of children attending inclusive schools raised concerns about organizational, methodological, financial and technological barriers. Parents whose children attend special schools emphasized social and psychological barriers. Conclusions. In conclusion, the authors summarize parents’ perceptions of the main barriers to implementing inclusive education for children with SEN.


Author(s):  
Sermsap Vorapanya ◽  
Apison Pachanavon

<p>The training aims at: 1) providing essential knowledge to parents of Special Educational Needs (SEN) students in inclusive primary schoolsin Lopburi Provinceand 2) learning the parents’ perspectives on how to presently work with their children with special needs. Eighty-five inclusive schools, from the first and the second school districts participated out of the pool of all regular public schools in LopburiProvince by suggesting parents’volunteer to participate in thesetraining sessions. Two parents of SEN students from each school were allowed to attend the trainings. The first school district had 80 parents attending from 40 inclusive schools, while the second school district had 89 parents joining the training from 45 inclusive schools, equating to 169 totalparticipating parents. Qualitative research reports from the parents’ sharing and brainstorming session emerged into three different themes accordingly: 1) knowing more rights and support for their children, 2) have better knowledge, increase awareness, and a better understanding for living with children with special needs, and 3) managing children with disabilities as if this was a result of their “Bad Karma.”</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 01019
Author(s):  
Oksana Titova ◽  
Margarita Bratkova ◽  
Olga Karanevskaya ◽  
Elena Gravitskaya ◽  
Irma Barbakadze

There is currently a trend towards an increase in the number of children with special educational needs enrolled in inclusive schools. Thus, the number of children with special educational needs enrolled in inclusive schools is growing. This is caused both by significant changes in the legal regulatory framework, including the 2012 Federal Law on Education, the adoption of the Federal State Educational Standard of Primary General Education for Children with Special Needs, etc. and by the fact that in some regions the number of specialized schools is decreasing, inclusive education becomes a more affordable option for children with special education needs. School specialists, parents, and the public engage in an active dialogue about choosing the most efficient path for an educational route for special needs children, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of inclusive and special education. The design and implementation of an individual educational route, an individual curriculum is essential for children with special needs in terms of improving the quality of education and efficiently entering social life. The relevance of the study is determined by identifying the components that facilitate and complicate, hinder the development and implementation of an individual educational route for these children in an educational organization; the determination of the content of an individual educational route based on the current situation in a practical institution considering the requirements of inclusive education. The purpose of the study is to explore the problems of developing and implementing individual educational routes for children with special needs in the context of inclusion and to determine ways to solve these problems. The key methods of the study are a questionnaire and a structured interview. The empirical data confirms the assumption that the development and implementation of an individual educational route for children with special needs in an educational organization are problematic and inefficient for several reasons. The data obtained is new since similar research results have not been found in the open sources over the past five years.


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