Setting a Framework of Inclusive Support for Students With Disabilities

The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance to parents, teachers, and school administrators, as it relates to the various elements and considerations to implementing inclusion programming in schools. The author introduces the implementation of inclusion in terms of a multidimensional framework needed to support the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWD) in general education classroom settings. Inclusive settings allow access to the general education curriculum, ensuring compliance with federal law, and enhanced academic and social opportunities for students with disabilities. A discussion of key stakeholders in inclusion, as well as preparation, implementation, and sustainability of inclusion efforts are also reviewed.

Mentoring Dispositions for Pre-Service and Early Career Special Educators Through Service Learning

Service learning projects were created and implemented by faculty in the special education unit at Molloy College for pre-service and early career special education teachers. The service learning projects provided an opportunity for faculty to mentor participants in the area of dispositions for teaching through a shared experience outside of the higher education classroom. The projects were conducted in/or with community schools serving the K-12 population and students with disabilities in inclusive settings. It was hypothesized that service learning opportunities would serve as a platform for participants to reflect and to evaluate their dispositions as they act and interact in environments which were multidimensional. The results indicated that this was the case and that participants gained insights into their dispositions when the statements of dispositions were related to an experience. Faculty concluded that a variety of service learning projects provided varied opportunities for participants to exercise beliefs and bring clarity to the term “dispositions for teaching.”

Robotics Applications in the Training of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Children with autism spectrum disorders encounter many difficulties in their social interactions with other people. Impairments in verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as repetitive and stereotypical behaviors, are some of the most common characteristics of this disorder. Along with other treatments and methods, the use of robotics is a relatively new and promising field, which can be implemented in most classrooms. Socially assistive robotics (SAR) is a subcategory of robotic technology that emanated from social robotics and assistive robotics. SAR can be used to enhance literacy skills, social communication, adaptive behaviors, and emotion recognition. In this chapter, the authors discuss some of the most popular robotic tools used in autism interventions for school-aged children, as well as ways to implement robotic partners in inclusive settings.

The Anxiety Caused by Secondary Schools for Autistic Adolescents: In Their Own Words

Secondary schools are increasingly becoming inclusive of all students whatever their individual needs, but we question whether teachers understand enough about specific needs in order to effectively support all their students. Research indicates that autistic students often struggle with aspects of school (conformity; social communication; sensory challenges; bullying) but very few studies ask autistic adolescents about their experiences. One of the key elements of the school experience for autistic adolescents is the levels of anxiety experienced by many students on a daily basis. This research set out to explore the extent to which autistic students in secondary schools in the UK were able to recognise and reflect on their own anxiety. The eighteen participants in this co-produced qualitative study took part in semi-structured interviews planned by a team of autistic and non-autistic researchers. The themes that emerged from this study, in terms of triggers for anxiety, included other people’s behaviour, fear of the unknown, and sensory sensitivities. A theoretical view of their difficulties concurs with the concept of intolerance of uncertainty. Our data suggest that autistic students continue to experience high levels of anxiety throughout their secondary education, despite supports put in place by some schools. Strategies are highlighted that could be implemented by all schools to promote truly inclusive settings.

Fair and Equitable Grading for ALL Students in Inclusive Settings

Grading is a common practice in general education settings. Few teachers, however, are clear about how they should grade students with significant cognitive disabilities when those students are included in the general education classroom. Unfortunately, existing research provides minimal information to aid teachers and education leaders as they consider fair and equitable grading practices for these students. In this article, we examine the four criteria for high-quality inclusive grading outlined by The William & Mary Training & Technical Assistance Center for grading within the inclusive classroom: (a) grades are accurate, (b) grades are meaningful, (c) grades are consistent, and (d) grades are supportive of learning and discuss how these criteria could be applied to provide a more fair and equitable grading system for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Enhanced learning through joint instrumental education

The perspectives of music teachers and students on the main benefits of collaborative musical learning are explored in this chapter. Qualitative data from two recently conducted studies are discussed through the main conceptual resources of the “embodied approach” to mind. In these studies, an open-ended questionnaire was administered to expert music teachers and students from the European Union and North America who took part in individual and collective instrumental music classes. The overall results indicate that the joint element of the tuition allowed students to become more responsible for their own learning, helping teachers foster more inclusive settings where interactions among peers are prioritized. Having considered the relevance of the results in light of classic views on peer-learning by Piaget and Vygotsky, it is argued that an embodied approach can help researchers and educators better capture the relational dynamics of collective pedagogies.

Paraeducator-Delivered Interventions for Students with Extensive Support Needs in Inclusive School Settings: A Systematic Review

Schools have continued to rely on paraeducators to assist special education teachers and other professionals in the provision of special education and related services. Although paraeducators often support students with extensive support needs (ESN) in a range of school environments, the subset of intervention studies focused on paraeducators who support students with ESN in inclusive settings has not been systematically reviewed. The purpose of this literature review was to synthesize single-case research studies involving paraeducator-delivered interventions for students with ESN in inclusive school environments. Our findings suggest that research primarily has focused on communication and social skills interventions that involved paraeducator-facilitated peer supports in core academic classes and specials (e.g., art, music, physical education). Overall, paraeducator-delivered interventions resulted in improved student outcomes. Likewise, paraeducator training, which typically included an oral description, modeling, and/or performance feedback, was effective in improving paraeducator implementation of the target interventions. We present implications for practice specific to paraeducators who support students with ESN in inclusive settings and future research directions.

ATTITUDES OF NON-DISABLED STUDENTS TOWARDS THEIR PEERS WITH DISABILITIES IN AN INCLUSIVE SETTING IN GHANA

<p>This study measured the attitudes of non-disabled students towards their peers with disabilities. A cross-sectional survey was employed for the study. The Chedoke-McMaster Attitudes Towards Children with “Handicaps” (CATCH) scale was used to collect data from n=119 respondents. Descriptive statistics analysis was employed in analysing the data. Results indicated that students without disabilities generally held neutral attitudes towards their peers with disabilities (M=2.12; SD=0.687) with no significant difference in gender, age, having a close friend or relative with a disability. Teachers in inclusive education schools were encouraged to measure the attitudes of students towards their peers with disabilities and other related variables. This would enable them to plan, design, develop, implement and evaluate effective interventions that would change non-disabled students’ negative and/or neutral attitudes, thereby ensuring the full social participation of students with disabilities in inclusive settings. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0852/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Aufgabenklärung in inklusiven Settings. Zuständigkeiten von allgemeinen und sonderpädagogischen Lehrkräften

Die Umsetzung schulischer Inklusion erfordert eine (multi-)professionelle Kooperation. Welche konkreten Aufgaben allgemeine und sonderpädagogische Lehrkräfte im inklusiven Setting übernehmen (sollen), gilt als Kern der Kooperationsproblematik. Die Klärung dieser Frage liegt in der Verantwortung der Lehrkräfte. Ausgehend von der Notwendigkeit der Professionalisierung von pädagogischem Fachpersonal für inklusive Bildung und Kooperation wird auf ein Fortbildungskonzept zur Kooperation im inklusiven Setting verwiesen. Dazu werden die theoretische Fundierung, die konzeptionelle Verankerung sowie die wesentlichen Inhalte der Fortbildung zusammenfassend dargestellt. Die explizite Aushandlung der Aufgabenzuständigkeiten wird mithilfe eines Reflexionsbogens unterstützt. Zudem erfolgt eine Analyse der Daten aus der Begleituntersuchung zur Frage nach den gegenwärtigen und gewünschten Zuständigkeiten für inklusionsspezifische Aufgaben aus Sicht der Lehrkräfte. Abstract (Multi-)professional work teams are needed to meet the requirements of inclusive education. It is unclear which tasks collaborating teachers (should) fulfil, wherefore task clarification is considered the problematic core of collaboration. Regular and special education teachers are mostly left to clarify these uncertainties on their own. Following the need for professionalization in inclusive settings a professional development measure, especially designed for pairs of collaborating teachers in inclusive settings, is depicted. The theoretical foundation, the concept and essential contents will be described. A sheet for reflection is used as one part of professional development, to encourage the task clarification among teachers. The research project, accompanying the professional development, poses the question which tasks are considered as whose responsibility and if this classification is in line with the teachers’ expectations.

Intersectional Aspects of Education at the Nexus of Disability and Forced Migration: Perspectives of Parents, Educational Experts, and School Authorities in Greater Vienna

Although Austrian statistics inform about the distribution of students among different school types based on either their special education needs or their (forced) migration background, the group facing the disadvantages of both situations is almost invisible in the national context. There is a lack of data about the intersection of the kind of schooling (integrative setting, inclusive settings, or special education classes), gender, nationality, or first language use. In order to learn about the current educational practices and challenges in the Austrian context, parents of disabled children from a refugee background as well as educational experts and school authorities were interviewed. Findings showed that there is only a little awareness of the intersectional aspects of disability and forced migration among educational experts and school authorities, while the diagnosis of special education needs suffers from the complexity of the situation. Additionally, parents’ lack of information, as well as the need to improve collaboration and increase the availability of translation services, multilingual counseling, or service provision in general were other aspects that this study found. Parents perceived school choice as a key decision and findings underlined that their worries, also as a result of past experiences, affected current decision-making regarding their children’s education.