Inclusive special education: development of a new theory for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities

Inclusive education and special education are based on different philosophies and provide alternative views of education for children with special educational needs and disabilities. They are increasingly regarded as diametrically opposed in their approaches. This article presents a theory of inclusive special education that comprises a synthesis of the philosophy, values and practices of inclusive education with the interventions, strategies and procedures of special education. Development of inclusive special education aims to provide a vision and guidelines for policies, procedures and teaching strategies that will facilitate the provision of effective education for all children with special educational needs and disabilities.     

Physical education and sport and special needs in Germany

Abstract

Historically, in Germany individuals with special needs have been offered participation in physical education (PE) both in segregated and increasingly in integrated settings. Specific curricula for children with disabilities (physical disabilities, hearing, and visual impairments, speech and behaviour disorders as well as intellectual disabilities) were developed in the 1960s and 1970s. They all emphasized the specific importance of physical activities for people with a disability focusing not only on motor competencies but also on the psychological and social benefits of physical education. During the 1970s so‐called model schools started to include children with disabilities in mainstream schools. Unlike developments in the United States, for example, where integrated or mainstream schooling was based on legal requirements, in Germany improved integration or inclusion was not based on federal law, but on parents’ or teachers’ initiatives in different Bundesländer (states of Germany). Parallel to these developments, new approaches to PE have accentuated a positive orientation towards ‘ability’ rather than ‘disability’. Professionals in PE in universities and in schools have been challenged to develop better diagnostic skills and more individualized programmes. On the initiative of nine European universities, a European Master's degree of Adapted Physical Activity has been developed to offer advanced training on a European scale. However, despite these positive and innovative developments serious concerns remain concerning the situation of children with disabilities in the school system. This article argues that there is still a significant lack of specially trained professionals and support staff and that the ongoing process of reducing the amount of PE in schools for all children, including those with a disability, does not contribute to improved physical and social skills or increased participation in recreational and sport activities outside schools.     

适合残疾学生特点的体育教学策略研究——以特殊教育学校为例

体育教学策略的实质就是体育教师对体育教学活动进行整体调控的预先谋划过程.教学对象不同,决定了体育教学策略的不同,特殊教育学校的学生在身心发展方面有一定的缺陷和残疾,他们的身体和心理有别于正常儿童少年.为了残疾学生的有效学习,特殊教育学校体育教学策略应符合残疾学生的特点.     

加快山东省特教学校体育发展的思考

本文就山东省特教学校体育的发展历程,追随新时期特教学校体育在推进素质教育中的发展需求与价值取向,通过调查针对目前现状,力求从教育思想与发展对策,教学内容与方法,创新、科研活动与场地设施,经费保障与监督机制等方面,提出建设性意见,为加快特教学校体育的健康发展服务。     

对我国特殊体育教育发展现状的调查与研究

运用文献资料法、问卷调查法与数理统计法等,通过抽样对我国特殊教育学校进行调查,了解当前我国特殊教育学校的体育教学、课外体育活动与体育教师的基本情况,得知影响当前特殊体育教育发展的主要因素依次为:体育经费严重不足,体育场地设施不达标;缺乏统一的体育教学大纲与体育教材,体育教学内容复杂、单调,技能培养类教学内容严重缺乏;体育教师数量不足,教师队伍专业化水平不高,结构层次不甚合理;体育教师科研能力比较差,职前与职后培训脱离等.     

我国特殊教育学校体育现状与发展对策研究

通过对国家12省市特殊教育学校体育现状调查发现,我国特殊教育学校体育现状发展不容乐观,同普通中小学校体育和特殊学校教育自身比较有相对滞后现象,影响着我国特殊教育学校整体的发展。提出了对我国特殊教育学校体育课程建设、体育师资队伍建设、体育设施条件和特殊体育教育科学研究等问题的发展对策。     

关于我国特殊教育学校职能转变的思考

在“以随班就读和特教班为主体，以特教学校为骨干”的特殊教育新格局中，特殊学校的地位将发生根本的变化。本文从我国特殊教育的现状和发展趋势出发，借鉴国际特殊学校教育发展的经验，探讨特殊学校如何在新的条件下继续生存、发展，并切实发挥骨干作用。提出特殊学校应从传统的封闭式教育机构转变为集教学、师资培训、信息服务和社区特殊教育资源管理为一体的特殊教育中心。     

The development of the special educational needs coordinator role in a higher education setting

UK higher education appears to have generally been slow to adopt an organised means of provision for special educational needs for its students. This may be due to the fact that, historically, relatively few disabled students entered UK higher education. However, there is a growing number of disabled students entering UK higher education institutions, and the figure is likely to increase. It is therefore important and, under the UK Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (2001), legally binding, that UK higher education institutions make appropriate adjustments to their activities so as not to disadvantage or discriminate against disabled students. In this article Mark Taylor examines the development of the special educational needs coordinator role in a higher education setting based upon a two‐year case study in a UK university.     

Choosing a career in special education

Over the past three decades, the severe shortage of special education teachers has continued to pose a significant challenge for schools in several countries. This study investigated factors that influence an individual’s decision to choose a career in special education. Understanding more about the experiences of those entering the field of special education provides insight to assist in recruiting individuals to meet this demand. Nineteen graduate students enrolled in a university’s special education program in the United States completed a survey and participated in semi-structured interviews to examine factors that contributed towards their decision to choose a career in special education. Seven factors were identified: experiences with individuals with disabilities, degree program/career goals, a preference for special education, a desire to be an advocate, influence from others, other educational experiences, and personal reasons. In addition, the participants provided recommendations for teacher preparation programs to effectively recruit special education teachers. The recommendations included providing more information to others about what special education teachers do and the impact they make, and providing more exposure to individuals with disabilities.     

Physical activity during physical education lessons: a qualitative investigation of Australian PE teacher perceptions

School physical education (PE) experiences play a critical role in adolescents’ physical activity (PA) levels. Teachers are crucial to students’ initial experiences in PA; however, limited research has explored teachers’ perspectives about PA during PE using in-depth qualitative research techniques. We conducted interviews with 25 current Australian male and female PE teachers to investigate their perceptions about PA in secondary school PE (grades 7–12). Our findings indicated PA was a major focus for teachers during PE lessons; however, many physical and psychosocial factors underpinned practical classes. During PE lessons, PE teachers favoured game-based activities to promote PA while citing the traditional skill-drill approach as a strategy that limited PA. These findings highlight an ongoing shift in PE teaching towards a games-based approach and have several important implications for future teaching practice and research.     

Democratic reform and the emergence of special needs education in Lithuania

Lithuanian educators began working towards the transformation of their educational system in the late 1980s. The movement away from centralized control and an education based on Soviet ideology was central to the Democracy movement in this country and other former Soviet republics. This paper demonstrates the ways in which the movement towards a democratic system built on contemporary Lithuanian values, beliefs and culture has included concerns for the education of children with special needs. By tracing Lithuanian cultural and historic traditions related to the education and care of individuals with disabilities, before, during and after the Soviet period of Soviet occupation, the authors demonstrate the relationship between social-historic contexts and the development of inclusive schools, i.e. general education settings that serve all children. The current status of education for children with special needs is discussed. This discussion includes current legislation and professional preparation, as well as identifying barriers to democratic reform and the creation of an inclusive educational system.     

School placement and conductive education: the experiences of education administrators

A placement at the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE) in Birmingham for children with motor disorders is strongly preferred over mainstream or special schools by some parents, but it has been noted that this is usually refused following the current statementing process. Although funding constraints have been articulated, Angela Morgan, a Research Fellow at the Wolverhampton University Policy Research Institute, and Kevin Hogan, also at the University of Wolverhampton, contend in this article that other explanations are possible, as variability remains in placement decisions. The experiences of education administrators working within the special educational needs departments of local education authorities who make the ultimate decision regarding school placement have hitherto been unexplored. This study offers findings from an exploratory qualitative study, which suggests that administrators are working from disparate understandings of conductive education within an arena fraught with conflict. Recommendations derived from the study include further in-service training for education administrators and prior training for individuals seeking a career in education administration to enhance collaborative working partnerships between administrators and parents.     

The use of video-based instruction to promote independent performance of physical activity skills in students with developmental disabilities in a school and community setting

School psychologists are well-positioned to assist practitioners in engaging students in physical activity (PA) which can increase student access to improved well-being and associated health benefits. This may be of particular importance for adolescents with moderate to severe developmental disabilities (DD; autism and intellectual disability) who display various deficits in performing PA skills. Previous research suggests video-based instruction (VBI) effectively facilitated independence associated with PA skills in people with DD, however, additional research is warranted. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree a VBI impacted acquisition of skills in individuals with DD at school, and, subsequently, in a community setting. Multiple probe design was used to assess the effect of the intervention in four participants. The results indicate the intervention was effective in teaching three participants to perform the circuit in the school setting and transfer the skills to the community setting; however, maintenance was variable. Implications related to practice for school psychologists, teachers, and other practitioners, as well as, limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Inclusive education in Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper describes the different challenges faced by all members of the local community who are directly or indirectly responsible for the educational reform regarding the process of inclusion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yugoslavia education system is regulated in canton legislature. Each canton has its own law on preschool, elementary school, high school and university education, with more than 30 laws covering the area of education. General and special education are separately regulated, thus violating the rights of children with special needs to be educated in the mainstream schools closest to their home. Negative attitudes, prejudices and stereotypes, educational standards non supportive for the inclusive education, lack of engagement of university facilities and negligence of scientifically based research are also considered in this study.     

Ethical and legal landmines: Causal inference in special education decisions

In this article, we discuss conflict between law and science relative to the presumption in special education law that multidisciplinary teams and others identify the causes of problems giving rise to special education needs. First, we explain eligibility criteria, highlighting ambiguities therein and why criteria constitute a mandate for causal inference, and present illustrative examples of how judges have interpreted this mandate. Second, we discuss as a counterpoint school psychologists’ ethical duties to conduct evaluations based on the best available science, and highlight the clear conflicts between the law, ethics, and research. We present the biopsychosocial model of development as a potential framework for reconciling one's legal duty to infer causation with the current evidence base. We conclude with implications for policy and practice and suggestions for future research.     

Teaching and learning in the special education setting: agency of the diagnosed child

ABSTRACT

This article is based on an extensive study of teaching-learning processes in special educational settings organised for children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). There is a general assumption that children’s learning will be supported through placement in a special class with few students and one or more teachers present. The issues explored concern what educational practices unfold in these settings, i.e. what are the children learning, and how do they participate in the activities? The empirical study is based on video-recorded classroom interaction in eight ADHD-classes during a period of seven years, in total about 200 h. The results show that the interactional format dominating is characterised by one teacher instructing one child at a time. These situations usually seem to follow the well-known Initiative-Response-Feedback (I-R-F) structure. The contributions from the children are generally minimal, and there is no indication that the student’s role in such dyads is more active. Thus, there is little evidence that children’s learning will improve and that they become more focussed and assume a more participatory role in the interactional formats offered in special classes. Also, it is not obvious how experiences of this kind will prepare children for a return to regular classroom or develop towards becoming active citizens.     

Revisiting the Narrative about Least Restrictive Environment in Physical Education

ABSTRACT

Since 1975, the implementation of the Least Restrictive Environment, a federal mandate of Public Law 94–142, has been historically challenging for physical educators and adapted physical educators. Confusion and misinterpretation of the law’s intent, as well as competing ideologies, have perpetuated failed Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) practice in the United States. The purpose of this essay is to revisit the conversation about LRE in PE and to provide direction for higher education’s role in addressing the issues. In doing so, a detailed historical context of the LRE is provided, followed by a discussion of the issues associated with the law that have emerged in the literature. Finally, future research directions to address these contemporary issues are presented to the readers.     

The evolution of special education in Malaysia

This article traces the evolution of special education in Malaysia across four chronological stages: before and during the early colonial period (before 1900), pre‐independence (1900–1957), post‐independence (1957–1990) and modern Malaysia (1990 to the present), through document analysis. By placing current issues and trends within a historical perspective, we can provide a context for understanding current practices in relation to shifts in policy paradigms. The effects of policy changes throughout the years are discussed in the context of issues facing special education today. Identifiable areas of improvements are organised into eight themes: (1) provision of education for students with special needs and the degree to which they are inclusive; (2) encouragement of diversity within highly structured education systems; (3) the importance of funding; (4) restructuring pre‐service teacher preparation; (5) multidisciplinary support and collaboration; (6) programme outcomes; (7) provision of related services; and (8) epidemiological data.     

Assessing the learning of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream school physical education

In the UK, one consequence of neoliberalism has been the development of test cultures in schools and standardised assessment strategies used to judge all pupils against within and across curriculum subjects. Few studies to date have explored the influence of this on assessing the learning of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and none have centred physical education (PE). This study used the concept of ableism and semi-structured interviews to explore mainstream secondary school PE teachers’ views and experiences of assessing the learning of pupils with SEND. Based on the findings, we discuss the importance of schools disrupting hegemonic, ableist modes of thinking that cast pupils with SEND as being of inferior ability when compared with their peers and thus being disadvantaged by standardised, normative assessment practices. Specifically, we identify a need for senior leaders and teachers in schools to recognise the needs and capabilities of pupils with SEND, through more holistic assessment approaches that focus on social, affective, cognitive and physical learning and development. We end by discussing the significance of initial teacher education and teacher networks to support this endeavour and advocating for the amplification of the voices of pupils with SEND, given that they have expert knowledge about the perceived inclusivity of assessment in PE because they can draw upon their lived and embodied experiences.