Inclusion of Children with Disabilities: The Philippines Experience

In striving to educate as many children as possible and with limited funds to build a separate special education infrastructure to cater to the needs of children with disabilities, inclusive education was officially adopted in 1997 by the Department of Education in the Philippines as a viable educational alternative. This article reports on the current state of affairs for including children with disabilities within regular schools in the Philippines. The ‘Silahis Centres’ (‘school within the school’ concept) is presented as a feasible model for implementing and promoting the inclusion of children with disabilities within regular schools throughout the Philippines. Other aspects related to inclusive education such as teacher education, policies as well as lessons learned so far from inclusion efforts and future challenges are also described.     

Including students with disabilities in Education for All: lessons from Ethiopia

This article addresses the inclusion of students with disabilities into the Education for All and Sustainable Development Goals agenda through a case study of Ethiopia, a country aiming to promote inclusive education amidst rapidly rising school enrolments. The article begins with a review of debates concerning inclusive education in the Global South and the strategy taken by Ethiopia. It then examines how inclusive education is currently being implemented drawing on recent fieldwork at rural and urban schools in Tigray province. Through interviews, participant observation, and focus groups, we found that teachers and school administrators are generally in favour of mainstreaming children with disabilities into ‘normal’ schools. However, insufficient training of teachers and itinerant teachers along with shortages of teaching materials and resources present major challenges to addressing special education needs.     

Challenges and opportunities in efforts towards inclusive education: reflections from India

ABSTRACT

Across the globe, the Salamanca Statement has provided the strongest impetus for drawing attention to the education of some of the most marginalised groups. In India, it has had a significant and specific impact on the provision of schooling opportunities for children with disabilities. This paper provides a critical analysis of key developments in national policies and programmes and how these have shaped provision at the classroom level. Drawing on Nancy Fraser’s conception of justice as an analytical tool, efforts towards inclusive education in India are explored through the interlinked ideas of redistribution, recognition and representation. Over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in the numbers of children with disabilities being enrolled in schools, driven by factors including, positive legislation and the increased provision of aids and appliances, etc. However, little attention has been paid to the quality of teaching and learning, experienced by children with disabilities. Instead, efforts remain focused on assimilation into a mainstream system fraught with different challenges. Despite these issues, India is a powerful example of how the vision of inclusive education, as outlined in the Salamanca Statement, is feasible, especially if efforts build on contextual realities.     

Working towards inclusion: Reflections from the classroom

This article explores developments towards inclusive education being undertaken in some schools in India. Drawing on data collected through interviews with key professionals working in schools and classroom observations, the study focused on the practices and experiences of professionals involved in these efforts. Findings suggest that these schools had provided access to children who would otherwise have been denied admission to the mainstream due to their disabilities. However, these children remained the ‘included’ children and did not necessarily become a part of the classroom. Thus, evident in these schools were a range of exclusionary practices that continued to exist alongside efforts towards inclusion. I therefore argue that there is not only a need to provide stakeholders with the knowledge and skills for developing inclusive teaching practices, but also a need to challenge existing values, beliefs and attitudes to ensure the full participation of all children in the curriculum and culture of their school setting.     

An ecosystemic approach for understanding inclusive education: An Indian case study

India is currently faced with the formidable task of fulfilling its commitment towards Education for All. This paper presents findings of a multi-level study, which explored the various meanings, and efforts towards inclusive education in an Indian context. Using an ecosystemic framework, it discusses the many complex ways in which efforts have been influenced by international developments and socio-cultural factors within the national context. This paper discusses the emergence of inclusive education, as being about the education of children with disabilities. It places specific focus on exploring the impact that narrowly constructed notions of “ability” and “disability” have on efforts undertaken at the government and school level. The paper concludes by arguing for a need to understand inclusive education, not only in terms of new terminology, policies and legislations, but also by critically examining the beliefs and values that underpin its developments.     

河北省随班就读残疾儿童体育教育现状调查与分析

采用文献资料、问卷调查、数理统计等研究方法,对来自河北省6个地区的39所有随班就读残疾儿童的普通学校领导、体育教师和残疾学生进行调查,结果表明：领导和教师对接纳残疾儿童随班就读持消极态度,对残疾儿童体育教育没有给予应有的重视,随班就读生体育意识差,体育课出勤率和课外体育活动参与率都很低,教学内容“常人化”,不符合残疾儿童特点。文章分析了原因并提出对策和建议。     

Variables affecting teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in Bangladesh

Inclusive education is a worldwide reform strategy intended to include students with different abilities in mainstream regular schools. Evidence from previous research shows that success in implementing effective inclusive teaching practices in the school is contingent on teachers' positive attitudes towards inclusive education. This study was conducted in the context of primary education in Bangladesh aiming to examine variables influencing teachers' attitudes towards inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms. Data for the study was collected from 738 teachers working in 293 government primary schools in Bangladesh. The results indicated that perceived school support for inclusive teaching practices and a range of demographic variables including previous success in teaching students with disabilities and contact with a student with a disability were associated with more positive attitudes of the teachers towards the inclusive education. The results are discussed with possible implications for educators, policy‐makers and international organisations working on the implementation of inclusive education.     

Parental perspectives and challenges in inclusive education in Singapore

Relatively little work has focused on inclusive education in Singapore. This study examines the experiences and perceptions of parents whose children with disabilities are attending mainstream secondary schools in Singapore. Data was drawn from interviews with 13 parents of children with mild disabilities. Our findings reveal that parental perspective on inclusive education in Singapore is not only about classroom support but also reflects a deeper concern about whether their children with disabilities will emerge from school as contributing individuals in society. While parents strive to effectively include their children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, there were dichotomies in their (1) understanding of disabilities, (2) expectations of school support, and (3) expectations for their child with disabilities. Given that academic and social prowess is a critical prerequisite to have a shot at entering the meritocratic Singapore society, the tension parents experience is to gauge a reasonable amount of pressure to exert on their children, the school and themselves as they assert their children's educational entitlements within an imperfect but evolving state of inclusion.     

‘Unconscious’ inclusion of students with learning disabilities in a Malaysian mainstream primary school: teachers' perspectives

The inclusion of children with special needs in mainstream regular schools has been seen as the best practice in special education provision, most markedly since the 90s. International research has provided amassing evidence towards the advantages of inclusive model over a segregation model of special education provision. However, nearly two decades after the signing of the international pledge, namely the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO) towards accepting inclusive education, Malaysia has not yet fully gained the momentum to implement inclusive education for children with special needs, especially for children identified within the category of learning disabilities. Because of the delay in policy implementation, inclusive education remains sparingly practiced in some schools without formal support. This study aims to investigate a scenario of this practice in a mainstream primary school via interviewing the regular teachers. The ultimate aim of this investigation is to identify ways to move forward from the current practice of ‘unconscious inclusion’.     

Inclusive Education in India: International concept,national interpretation

This article examines education of children belonging to marginalised groups, with particular reference to children with disabilities, within the Indian context. Based on an analysis of post‐independence Government documents, various educational provisions made available for children with disabilities are discussed. It explores the Indian Government’s focus on the development of special schools, its efforts towards integration, and the more recent emphasis on inclusive education. Furthermore, it attempts to elucidate “inclusive education” as understood in various official documents. The article concludes by arguing for a need to develop a contextual understanding of inclusive education that is reflective of current educational concerns in India.     

Editorial

It is arguable whether Singapore's mainstream schools are moving towards ‘inclusion’ by providing support for students with mild to moderate disabilities through the provision of a newly created para-professional called the Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural) [AED(LBS)]. Since 2005, the government has provided an incremental supply of these trained para-professionals to offer both in-class support and withdrawal sessions. Many primary and secondary schools have one such para-professional catering to an unpredictable number of children with and without assessed learning needs. This paper draws upon data from a study investigating how a group of 30 newly qualified AED(LBS) para-professionals shaped their professional role during their first year in school. Data were generated through an online survey, interviews; and analysed through theories on identity and communities of practice. Findings focus on how the participants had learned to grow into their roles despite contradictory expectations; how they learn to work with student diversity they had never encountered; and how schools should be learning communities to embrace and include the new AED(LBS). The paper discusses the need to define ‘inclusivity’ and the need for the education system to become more professionally inclusive towards AED(LBS).     

Supporting Disability Education through a Combination of Special Schools and Disability-Inclusive Schools in the Pacific Islands

This article reports on a multi-method study of the ways in which special and mainstream schools support the educational needs of children with disabilities in Fiji. The aims of the study were: (1) to identify capacity and functions of special schools to support inclusive mainstream schools for children with disabilities; and (2) to explore the capacity of mainstream disability-inclusive schools in meeting the needs of children with disabilities. Results from the special education survey indicated that type of disability, geographic location and controlling authority were associated with transition to mainstream education. Findings from the action research study suggest that supportive school leadership and positive attitudes towards disability and inclusion contribute to greater mobilisation of supporting resources. However, limitations in facilities and resources currently pose barriers which prevent inclusion for all students with disabilities. Together, these findings indicate that special and inclusive mainstream schools jointly support disability-inclusive education in Fiji.     

Children's participation in school grounds developments: creating a place for education that promotes children's social inclusion

This paper advances the idea that ‘education for the social inclusion of children’ is similar but different to ‘inclusive education’ as it has come to be understood and used by some authors and UK government documents. ‘Inclusive education’ tends to carry an inward emphasis on the participation of children in the education system (with discussions on school culture, transitions, truancy, exclusion rates, underachievement, and school leaving age). In contrast, education for the promotion of children's social inclusion requires an outward emphasis on children's participation in ‘mainstream’ society while they are still children. The latter emphasis is seen to be lacking in educational policy discourse in Scotland though a recent shift in policy towards education for active citizenship is noted. Examples are provided to show how many policy statements enact a limitation on the scope for education to promote children's social inclusion by emphasizing children's deficits as social actors and focussing on the ‘condition’ of social exclusion. The paper draws on an empirical study of children's participation in changing school grounds in Scotland. The analysis shows how the enclosure of learning in books, classrooms and normative curricula was challenged. Learning from school grounds developments was constructed relationally and spatially, but the scope of what was to be learned was often delineated by adults. The paper closes with a discussion of how education that promotes the social inclusion of children will benefit from seeing both children and adults as current though partial citizens and using socio-spatial opportunities for the generation of uncertain curricula through their shared and/or differentiated participation.     

致力于更加公平的教育:义务教育政策三十年——基于改革开放30年义务教育政策与法制建设的思考

改革开放30年来,具有中国特色的义务教育法律体系初步形成,同时在政策领域,采取了小学升初中免试就近入学、均衡发展政策,针对社会弱势儿童实施了"两免一补"政策、随班就读政策、"两为主"政策等,形成了相对全面的普及和救助政策体系,致力于更加公平的教育是改革开放30年来义务教育政策和法制建设的主旋律。尽管如此,还存在着义务教育发展尚不均衡、弱势儿童的受教育机会尚未得到全面保障等突出问题。为此,要强化政府的义务教育公平责任,建立和完善保护儿童受教育权利的政策和法律机制,实现教育公共服务均等化,以保障每一个儿童都能上好学。     

I agree to sit next to you. Does that mean I like you? Measuring using the wrong tapeline – the lack of ‘Social Distance’ measures for inclusive school development and research – a review of the literature

This review provides an overview of definitions and measurements of ‘Social Distance’ and attitudes children without disabilities carry towards children with disabilities. Measures include explicit and implicit approaches but clearly, the ‘Bogardus Social Distance Scale’ (A Social Distance Scale, 1933, 14 May 2014) is the most used scale in research, yet it is outdated. For a deeper look into what impacts children's ‘Social Distance’ in inclusive school settings and in order to find measurable constructs, relevant attitude questionnaires are discussed. To bring long‐used measures and attitudes together, a comprehensive model of ‘Social distance’ is introduced. This model integrates the classical view on ‘Social Distance’ as interaction willingness with feelings associated with this interaction and includes attitudes children carry towards individuals and towards the group the interaction partner is believed to belong to. In summary, this paper shows the need for a more comprehensive and precise measure on how school children really engage with one another.     

Attitudes and experiences of parents regarding inclusive and special school education for children with learning and intellectual disabilities

In a survey, 840 parents of children with cognitive deficits who were educated either in special schools or in inclusive classes were asked to assess their children's school experiences. The results showed an overall high degree of satisfaction with the schooling, but there were marked differences among the parents' assessments depending on the degree of learning disabilities and on the type of school. Satisfaction with their children's social experiences and satisfaction with the special education curriculum depend on these two factors. All in all, many parents of children in inclusive classes were satisfied with their children's schooling than those of children in special schools. The analysis of the causes for discontent showed that dissatisfied parents had chosen the type of school under less favourable conditions and a larger part of them are still not convinced of this necessity of additional help. This applied to parents of pupils in inclusive classes as well as to those of pupils in special schools. Furthermore, parents of children with German as a second language showed a higher degree of discontent than others.     

Do private schools really produce more learning than public schools in India? Accounting for student’s school absenteeism and the time spent on homework

Do students attending private schools learn more and have higher cognitive abilities than their public school counterparts in India? Though some recent works have discussed this question, the empirical contours to address the issue remain unclear, particularly in a diversifying school education market in India. This paper examines the factors determining the inequality in children’s learning outcomes (i.e., reading and math scores) in India using the second round of India Human Development Survey data. We examine the effect of a child’s ‘school absenteeism’ and ‘time spent for studying and doing homework’ on learning outcomes, and how these explain the existing learning gap between private and government school children. We provide strong evidence that the children attending private schools have significantly better learning outcomes than their government school counterparts. However, this performance difference between private and government school-going children reduces with the increase in school attendance and the time spent in studying and doing homework by a child. The findings of the study implicate that the cognitive abilities of low performing government school students can be improved by reducing their absenteeism in schools and increasing time for studying and doing homework after school.     

Understanding teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy in inclusive education: implications for pre-service and in-service teacher education

Although there are clear differences in national policies regarding inclusive education, the international debate has not fully considered their impact on implementation within different countries, for example on teacher education. This paper reports on results from a comparative study of in-service teachers’ attitudes and self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices in South Africa and Finland and its implications for teacher education in these countries. A sample of 319 South African and 822 Finnish primary and secondary education teachers completed a questionnaire containing a scale measuring sentiments, attitudes and concerns on inclusive education as well as a scale measuring teachers’ self-efficacy in implementing inclusive practices. A comparative analysis indicated that whereas the overall sentiments towards disabilities were positive in both countries, teachers had many concerns about the consequences of including children with disabilities in their classrooms. While the most positive aspect of self-efficacy among the South African teachers was their self-efficacy in managing behaviour, the Finnish teachers saw this as their weakest point. Self-efficacy, in particular efficacy in collaboration, was clearly related to overall attitudes towards inclusion. The implications of these findings for pre-service and in-service teacher education are discussed.     

Accessing mainstream: examining the struggle for parents of children who have learning difficulties

In the past decade Ireland has witnessed substantial changes in policy and provision for children with general learning difficulties as government policies and legislation increasingly underpin the move towards more inclusive provision. Despite this series of policy initiatives parents of children who experience Down syndrome and general learning difficulties can encounter serious obstacles in gaining access to mainstream education for their children.
This research project was a study of the experiences of a small sample of parents of children who experience Down syndrome and general learning difficulties in relation to their efforts to access appropriate education and education supports for their child in the mainstream school setting. These parents had to invest extraordinary levels of time, energy, and resources in their struggle to get these children into mainstream school and to support their progress there. At local school level these parents and children had positive experiences, but life has taught them that society offers acceptance as a favour, so they cannot confidently expect acceptance by schools and teachers as a right.     

The end of modernist approaches to school funding policy in Australia: a new rationale for funding with inclusive implications for all Australian schools?

The Australian Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee has been asked to examine the principles of Commonwealth Funding for schools, with particular emphasis on how these principles apply in meeting the current future needs of government and non‐government schools and whether they ensure efficiency in the allocation of school funding. The Committee will also investigate accountability arrangements including and through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs. This paper provides a critical discourse analysis of recent developments, tracking two themes: the construction of ‘efficiency and effectiveness’ in the allocation of school funding in Australia, and the impact of such a construction on a discourse of inclusive education for all schools in Australia. Through this analysis, it is argued that the current enquiry creates an opportunity for a substantial shift in focus — from funding government and non‐government schools in relation to government schools, to both government and non‐government schools — within a framework of presumptive equality and inclusion. It is also argued that extant policy, removing the substantial Catholic sector from its hitherto hybridized and separate funding position and bringing government and non‐government schools into sector‐specific funding competition with each other, realigns and rearticulates federal involvement in school funding policy areas that have been the traditional preserve of state governments and territories. In the process, responsibility for instilling and supporting inclusive educational practices is currently solely that of the states and territories where, in many cases, funding as well as inclusive education policies and programmes have been determined at local levels. The endorsement by the federal government of new principles in funding, as proposed here, linked with renewed requirements in relation to school access and participation, creates a space that potentially enables new strategies for inclusive education to be conjoined with funding allocation policy in Australian schools, to the economic and social benefits of all schools as well as the polity.