ETH302s Inclusive Education

Differences between Mainstreaming and Inclusive Education: - ANSWER Mainstreaming: 1. Learners must 'fit into' or integrate into a particular kind of existing system. 2. Give some learners extra support in order for th ...

Differences between Mainstreaming and Inclusive Education: - ANSWER Mainstreaming: 1. Learners must 'fit into' or integrate into a particular kind of existing system. 2. Give some learners extra support in order for them to 'fit in' or integrate into the 'normal' classroom routine. Learners are assessed by specialist who diagnose and prescribe technical interventions (eg: placement of learners in programmes). 3. Focus on changes that must take place in learners so that they can 'fit in'. The focus is on the learner. Inclusion: 1. About recognising and respecting the differences among learners and on similarities. 2. About supporting all learners, educators and the system as a whole so that the full range of learning needs can be met. Focus is on learning and teaching actors. Emphasis on the development of good teaching strategies that will be of benefit to all learners. 3. Focus is on overcoming barriers in the system that prevents it from meeting the full range of learning needs. Adaptation of support systems available in the classroom. Main principles of Inclusive Education (MAAL EEE): - ANSWER 1. Maximise participation of all learners and minimise barriers to learning are NB in all schools. 2. Attitudes, behaviour and methods must change to meet the needs of all learners. 3. All children can learn, regardless of their differences in age, gender, ethnicity, language, disability, etc. 4. Learning does not only happen in formal settings, but also in informal settings like the home and community. 5. Each child has his own strengths and abilities. 6. Everyone needs to acknowledge and respect differences among learners. 7. Education structures, systems and learning methodologies must meet the needs of all learners. Historically, there was an unequal delivery of education in SA: - ANSWER 1. Two separate education systems: one for 'normal' learners; one for learners labelled with 'special needs'. 2. A small % of children with 'special needs' from privileged sectors had access to special schools. 3. Many disadvantaged learners and those with 'special needs' were accepted into 'ordinary' schools, but were ignored. 4. They were mostly rejected when they applied at schools and were thus consequently completely excluded from the educational system. Strategies to initiate change within the SA education system: - ANSWER 1. Early identification of barriers to learning. 2. Convergence of schools into full-service schools. 3. Establishment of district-based support teams. 4. Establishment of school-based support teams. 5. Strengthening of special schools. 6. In-service training for teachers. Paradigm shift towards Inclusive Education - from Medical Model: - ANSWER Medical model: - Used in medical sectors. - Find out what is wrong with the child and cure it. - Focus is on diagnosis - ADHD, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, etc. - Determine school placements, eg: special schools. - Child has the problem. - Child must be diagnosed. - Child must adjust to the classroom. - Child is different from others and is in need of care. - Needs specially trained teachers. - Has special needs that can only be handled in a special place. - Needs special equipment. - Needs special school/placement, because he does not learn like 'typical' children. Paradigm shift towards Inclusive Education - from Social Model: - ANSWER Social model: - Learning problems are not only because of something that is 'wrong' with the child. - Social, economic and political practices contribute to the child's learning difficulties. - Other factors include: lack of proper resources, lack of access to service, inflexible curriculum, lack of proper teacher training. - System and society also create barriers to learning. - Don't work with child's problems in isolation. - Support should provided in all schools and classrooms. - Barriers to learning occur from factors within and around the learner. - Policies and legislation must change. - Teaching strategies should be adapted to fit the child's needs. - Collaborative efforts with different role players in the system. - The curriculum must be adapted for multi-level teaching. - Environment must be adapted. - All learners need support. Levels of support: - ANSWER 1. Low - moderate level of support: - Minor modification in a school environment. - Eg: child in wheelchair with intact intellectual skills. 2. High level of support: - Child experiencing more than one impairment. - Eg: child in wheelchair with an intellectual disability. Definitions: Inclusive education: - An education framework that ensures access to education for all learners, regardless of their differences in culture, race, language, abilities, gender, socio-economic status, etc. - It mandates that we all need to acknowledge and respect learner's differences and provide each learner with the necessary support. - ANSWER Definitions Full-service schools (FSS): - ANSWER - Ordinary schools specially equipped to address a full range of learning barriers among all learners in an inclusive education system. - Learners with low - moderate level of support. Definitions Special schools as resource centres: - ANSWER - Converted into resource centres. - Schools equipped to deliver education to learners in need of high-intensive educational and other support - Integrated into the district support teams to provide specialised professional support in curriculum, assessment and instruction to neighbourhood schools. - Accommodate learners in need of high level of support. Roles: - Early intervention and home programmes. - Ensure that learners who attend intervention programmes do not automatically gain entrance into SSRC, but should follow the same process of accessing ordinary schools to get support through the DBST. Universal design for learning (UDL): - ANSWER - A strategy to develop an inclusive approach. - Similar to the concept of differentiation. - UDL aims to establish an education environment whereby all learners can learn. - Learning materials are adapted to suit individual needs of all learners in order for them to learn and participate. Mesosystem - ANSWER - The mesosystem is a representation of the interaction of a child's microsystems i.e home, school and peers. Normalisation - ANSWER - Normalisation is an idea that all people regardless of their characteristics and abilities have the right and freedom to a normal school, home circumstances, normal jobs, etc. Learning Support - ANSWER - Learning support is a teaching practice that acknowledges the potential of all learners to: - grow at their own pace towards maximum level of independence in their learning - using strategies and practising learning styles of choice - and reaching level of achievement in accordance with their unique needs. Integration - Integration is the process whereby learners with and without disability attend the same schools in the neigbourhood. Mainstreaming - ANSWER - Mainstreaming is an education system that ensure that learners with disabilities are educated alongside their peers without disabilities. Ethics in education - ANSWER - Ethics in education is concerned with how teachers ought to conduct themselves within the profession of education and promote qualities that goes beyond a teacher's basic legal responsibilities towards their learners. In SIAS: - ANSWER 1. SBST / ILST: School-based support teams / Institution-level support teams: - Centrally involved in identifying 'at risk' learners and addressing barriers to learning. - Teams established by institutions/schools as an institution or school level support mechanism whose primary function it is to put in place learner-teacher support services. - An institution-level support mechanism. - Primary function: to put in place co-ordinated school, learner and educator support services. - Support the learning and teaching process by identifying and addressing learner, educator and institutional needs. - Strengthened by expertise from local community, DBST and higher education institutions. Roles and functions of the SBST/ILST: - ANSWER - Coordinate all learner, educators, curriculum and institution development support in the institution. - Collectively identify institutional needs and, in particular barriers to learning. - Collectively develop strategies to address these needs and barriers to learning. - Draw resources needed from within and outside the institutions to address these challenges. - Monitor and evaluate the work of the team within an action-reflection framework. Core members: - ANSWER - Educators with specialised skills in areas like: learning support, life skills/guidance, counselling. - Educators from the school: those who volunteer because of their interest, those who represent various levels of the programme (eg: foundation phase) or learning areas (eg: language and communication). - Educators directly involved in management of school (eg: principal, deputy-principal, etc.). - Non-educators (admin and taking staff). - Learner representatives at senior, further or higher education levels (eg: peer-support). > these people can be brought into meetings for 'problem-solving' of particular concerns: - ANSWER - parents/caregivers - members of the DBST - members of local community - educators from other education institutions 2. DBST: District-based support teams: - ANSWER - At the core of implementing an inclusive education system. - Made up of representatives from all key departments within the district. - Include early childhood development (ECD), curriculum, planning, management, further education, human resource development. - Group of departmental professionals whose responsibility it is to promote inclusive education through training, curriculum delivery, distribution of resources, identifying and addressing barriers to learning. - An integrated professional service at the district level. - Promote inclusive education through training, curriculum delivery, distribution of resources, identifying and addressing barriers to learning, leadership and general management. - Aims to provide support to educators at various schools in order for them to identify and address barriers to learning and promote effective teaching. - Comprise of staff from the District offices as well as staff from special schools in the district. Roles and functions of the DBST: - ANSWER - Training IBST in all schools. - Assist educators in specific interventions for individual learners with high support needs. - Provide direct support to learners in terms of special interventions. - Coordinate and manage the systems for the identification of levels of support of individual learners with high intrinsic needs. - Coordinate services of the extended network of support, eg: staff from SSRC and FSS. - Validate assessment process. - Provide additional resources. - Training and mentoring of educators. - Supply assistive devices. - Mobilise community resources. - Provide ongoing support to the SBST. - To link the institution with formal and in informal support systems within the community. - To support learners indirectly through supporting their educators and management. Core members: - ANSWER - Departmental officials (curriculum, ECD, ABET) - Circuit managers - Support officers in special and full service schools - Specialists in health and welfare employed by the DoE (psychologists, therapists, etc.) Primary function: - ANSWER - Evaluate programmes, diagnose their effectiveness and suggest modifications. When planning activities the following steps can be taken to effectively address diversity in the classroom: - ANSWER - Consider past experiences, learning styles and preferences. - Develop questions and activities that are aimed at different levels of ability. - Modify expectations, objectives and outcomes for some learners. - Provide opportunity for different types of participation: individual, pairs, small group activities. - Give learners choices in determining the methods they use to gather information and demonstrate their understanding. - Accept that the individual methods are of equal value. - Evaluate learners based on individual objectives and progress. 4. Responsibility of parents - ANSWER - They need access to information on the kinds of support their child needs. - They must know their rights in terms of accessing available support. - Parents must make every effort to ensure that their child has access to an appropriate early intervention programme available in their