Assignment 1 – What is Inclusive Teaching - Learning



Assignment 1– wHAT IS INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND HOW WILL THIS SHAPE TEACHING PRACTICESCourse 3142VTA – INCLUSIVE TEACHINGConvenor: Dr. Leesa WheelahanSubmitted by: David MartinStudent #2636349s2636349@student.griffith.edu.auPHONE: 07 56677532Date Submitted: 10th April 2008This assignment will argue that inclusive education can be used to describe an ethical approach that creates more equal outcomes for more people by contrasting and evaluating different approaches to understanding inclusion and exclusion. There are many challenges for students in Australia, even more so for those who are from overseas or speak English as a second language. Unequal opportunities and outcomes are caused by a number of factors; human and cultural capital, socio-economic status and the hidden curriculum involved with vocational education in Australia. Making education more inclusive can be assisted by government legislation, policies and frameworks allocating resources to societal worth and by using human rights as a way of developing policies and frameworks that helps promote tolerance and acceptance of all involved. The term inclusive education will be shown as more than treating everyone the same and that it can be used to describe an ethical approach to more equal outcomes for more people. Finally, there will be reflection on how these concepts and understanding of inclusive teaching shape teaching practices.Inclusion means more than just than treating everyone the same; firstly, it is about seeing all students as people with individual needs rather than seeing some students as being disabled CITATION Ant07 \p 3 \l 1033 (Shaddock, Giorcelli, & Smith, 2007, p. 3). Inclusion can be promoted by reducing learning barriers to all students, not only those with disabilities or special needs CITATION CSI08 \l 1033 (CSIE: What is inclusion?) and while disability can be considered biomedical or as a social disadvantage CITATION Ter07 \p 299 \l 1033 (Terzi, 2007, p. 299) if social and cultural conditions are made more inclusive greater participation levels can be achieved, not only in education, but in the quality of life for the entire society. Further, not only do students need to be considered as individuals but also as of equal importance, as should teachers, parents and the community in general. Most discussion that involves inclusive education is based on “curriculum, pastoral systems, attitudes and teaching methods” which is a narrow school based set of ideas CITATION Tho05 \p 20 \l 1033 (Thomas, Walker, & Webb, 2005, p. 20) and inclusion needs to have a much wider focus, with participation issues being approached not by establishing special programs, but by expanding mainstream thinking so that all students are accommodated CITATION Ant07 \p 4 \l 1033 (Shaddock, Giorcelli, & Smith, 2007, p. 4). Inclusion in education can therefore promote more opportunities for more people more often.In education, exclusion is the intentional or non-intentional act of creating unequal opportunities or outcomes. Unequal outcomes have been considered to come about from a number of issues, including disability, gender, behaviour, poverty and culture CITATION Ant07 \p 4 \l 1033 (Shaddock, Giorcelli, & Smith, 2007, p. 4). In the 1990’s people from non-English speaking backgrounds were identified as one of five demographically determined groups who were ‘missing out’ on vocational education CITATION Gil05 \p 6 \l 1033 (Considine, Watson, & Hall, 2005, p. 6). Human capital theory can account for tastes in education and range of cognitive skills (Haveman & Wolfe, 1994 cited in Lamb, Walstab, Teese, Vickers, & Rumberger, 2004, p. 23) and I would argue that there is an international exchange rate for human capital when students from a non-English speaking background engage in Australian educational institutions; that pedagogical practices, frameworks and policies are skewed against these students. This has been recognised throughout the history of TAFE, in the 1974 Kangan and 1976 Fitzgerald report equity target groups became an issue and policy groundwork was started CITATION McI04 \p 20 \l 1033 (McIntye, Volkoff, & Egg, 2004, p. 20) and is still an issue with participation rates for this group of students below their population share CITATION Dum04 \p 28 \l 1033 (Dumbrell, de Montfort, & Finnegan, 2004, p. 28). However there are problems with creating a group with such simple characteristics; there are many factors that affect learning outcomes and I would argue that the range of factors that impact on school completion also continue into adult life. Groups that suffer from poverty and unemployment as adults are often from the same groups that fail at school (Teese, 2000, p. 1) and the varying factors that affect learning outcomes can create sub-groups that suffer further exclusion but can also cancel out the negative impact of language and cultural barriers. For example, while learning outcomes for young people from non-English background are unequal, this same group are more likely to stay in full time education after reaching the minimum of age (Lamb, Walstab, Teese, Vickers, & Rumberger, 2004, p. 24). A further example is a report that the majority of students at one selective high school were of Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean background (Doherty, 2005 cited in Krause, Bochner and Duchesne, 2007). Overall though, while enrolment rates are high, people from non-English speaking backgrounds achieve lower pass rates and have lower employment outcomes CITATION Dum04 \p 30 \l 1033 (Dumbrell, de Montfort, & Finnegan, 2004, p. 30) showing that there is a level of exclusion for this diverse group of students in Australian education. Exclusion needs to be recognised not as a problem that specific groups of people suffer from but is a complex and evolving issue that needs to be worked in a variety of ways.Education has its own culture that encourages success from those that are aware of the expected behaviours and excludes those who are not conditioned to the accepted norms. For those that leave school early create for themselves a strong disposition towards future non-completion (Lamb, Walstab, Teese, Vickers, & Rumberger, 2004, p. 31). Further, many students who do not have a positive relationship with the academic curriculum are found not to be involved with the expected behaviours outside of the classroom, either as part of family or community interactions CITATION Lam04 \p 22-23 \l 1033 (Lamb, Walstab, Teese, Vickers, & Rumberger, 2004, pp. 22-23). Teachers typically use the beliefs of the mainstream culture to control classroom interaction, classroom resources and assessment practices CITATION Kra07 \p 318 \l 1033 (Krause, Bochner, & Duchesne, 2007, p. 318). This mainstream culture and expected behaviours form the hidden curriculum that is part of education. Those who are unable to access or interpret implicit requirements and expectations of education will be disadvantaged CITATION Cro07 \p 301 \l 1033 (Crozier & Davies, 2007, p. 301) and are therefore excluded from the educational environment. Teachers can assist those with less educational and cultural capital by making the curriculum more explicit and using being sensitive to cultural differences in the classroom.It is argued that some participation and achievement problems are engineered by society CITATION Tho04 \p 8 \l 1033 (Thomas & Vaughan, 2004, p. 8) and historically education has worked for those of high socio-economic status and those that already have the skills and knowledge to work with the system CITATION Rea01 \p 334 \l 1033 (Reay, 2001, p. 334). I would argue that to reverse the situation of low participation and achievement can partly be addressed by governments by using careful resource allocation. Resources for education should not be just allocated on the basis of the expected net return in training value, but also allotted on the basis of community worth and societal effects (Rawls 1972 cited in Thomas & Vaughan, 2004, p. 12). Further, increasing resource allocation would help address some of the main complaints of introducing inclusive education to the classroom reported from teachers; lack of time in the classroom, funding, extra paperwork and the effects of other students learning CITATION Ant07 \p 2 \l 1033 (Shaddock, Giorcelli, & Smith, 2007, p. 2). However, there are such a diverse range of factors that it is difficult for governments to develop solutions and while government policies can inject much needed funds into areas of education where inclusion is an issue, the policies, regulatory frameworks and legislation are often stop gap measures aimed at specific target groups. These special programs are often short term and not part of mainstream education (Australian National Training Authority, 2000, p. 4) and I would argue that this type of aid is still based on the types of thinking that creates exclusionary patterns, rather than a holistic approach to inclusive education. Using human rights as a basis for developing policies and frameworks has allowed issues of special needs schooling and inclusion to become part of a larger struggle against discrimination and the fight for equality CITATION Tho04 \p 21 \l 1033 (Thomas & Vaughan, 2004, p. 21). Equitable outcomes are a focal point of vocational education and many stakeholders say that greater flexibility and responsiveness in educational delivery is the key to creating solutions CITATION Aus00 \p 4 \l 1033 (Australian National Training Authority, 2000, p. 4). However the belief that the industry focus of vocational education has taken away from the social purpose of equitable access (Considine, Watson & Hall 2005 cited in Figgis, et al., 2007, p13) is a very popular one and education needs to be seen as having more than just an economic value, but also a social value. Societal gains, education and policy are closely linked in Australia and if the government can assist in creating inclusive education it will assist in creating an inclusive society.As adult educators, vocational teachers will have students with a history of educational success or failure. This history is often dependant on the levels of inclusion that the student has been exposed to. Too often diversity is seen as a barrier rather than something that can add to the classroom and creating an inclusive classroom means allowing all students to have an equal opportunity of educational success, and using the diversity of students as a way of enhancing the learning environment. Governments and administrators realise there are improvements that can be made to help create inclusive environments, and that by making education inclusive, society itself will become more accepting to diversity. Ultimately it is the teacher that must make the classroom an inclusive environment and can only do so with a thorough understanding of the issues involved and the ability to reflect on their own practice and the practice of others.List of References BIBLIOGRAPHY Australian National Training Authority. (2000). Achieving Equitable Outcomes: A Supporting Paper to Australia’s National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training 1998 – 2003. Brisbane: ANTA.Considine, G., Watson, I., & Hall, R. (2005). Who’s missing out? Access and equity in vocational education and training. Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.CSIE: What is inclusion? (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2008, from Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education: , T., de Montfort, R., & Finnegan, W. (2004). Equity in VET: An overview of the data for designated equity groups. In K. Bowman (Ed.), Equity in vocational education and training: Research readings (pp. 19-42). Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.(2007). Context. In J. Figgis, A. Butorac, B. Clayton, D. Meyers, M. Dickie, J. Malley, et al., Advancing equity: Merging 'bottom up' initiatives with 'top down' strategies (pp. 12-16). Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.Krause, K.-l., Bochner, S., & Duchesne, S. (2007). Chapter 9: Sociocultural factors in the learning process. In Educational psychology for learning and teaching (pp. 312-359). Southbank: Thomson.Lamb, S., Walstab, A., Teese, R., Vickers, M., & Rumberger, R. (2004). In Staying on at school: Improving student retention in Australia Report for the Queensland Department of Education and the Arts (pp. 19-32). Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning, The University of Melbourne: Queensland Department of Education and the Arts.McIntye, J., Volkoff, V., & Egg, M. (2004). Perspective on equity. In Understanding equity strategies of training providers (pp. 17-31). Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.Reay, D. (2001). Finding or losing yourself?: working class relationships to education. Journal of Education Policy , 16 (4), 333-346.Shaddock, A., Giorcelli, L., & Smith, S. (2007). Students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms: A resource for teachers. Barton: Commonwealth of Australia.Teese, R. (2000). The Age of Cirriculum. In Academic Success & Social Power: Examinations and Inequality (pp. 1-9). Carlton Sourth: Melbourne University Press.Terzi, L. (2007). A Capability Perspectve on Impairment, Disabilirt, and Specian Needs. In R. Curren (Ed.), Philosophy in Education: An Anthology (pp. 298-313). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Thomas, G., & Vaughan, M. (2004). Part One: "The context - rights, participation, social justice". In Inclusive education: readings and reflections. (pp. 7-28). Maidenhead: Open University Press.Thomas, G., Walker, D., & Webb, J. (2005). Inclusive education: the ideals and the practice. In K. Topping, & S. Maloney (Eds.), The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Inclusive Education. New York: RoutledgeFalmer.Critical reflectionThe topic of inclusive education is easy to appreciate but more difficult to define and to try and include in everyday teaching. My own experience with physical and intellectual impairment is limited, in three years of teaching, only one student would fit that category, and I did not treat him any different to other students. There should have been considerations made to ensure that he had equal opportunities to participate in my classes. This assignment has let me think about ways of how to include the diversity of students into the learning component of my classes, what knowledge and experiences do students have that can contribute to the rest of us.I used the readers as the main source of research for this assignment, but was selective in what to read in depth. I had already chosen international/non-English speaking students as my target group, so merely skimmed information on other groups. This is one of the weak points of the assignment, I have only researched one target group in depth. Through the readings I felt that human rights was an important concept but found it hard to say how it can be used and found it hard to find readings that explained practical application of this idea.To start the assignment information and quotes were gathered and put into a diagrammatic mud map, then starting with key points and then building on them with references. Stating arguments was also a focus for this assignment, as part of trying to find a more active voice in my assignments and trying to make revision more than just adding and taking out ideas. This assignment was started on time, so there was time to leave it for a couple of days at a time and then review the text and I often go back to the assignment details and marking criteria. This is one of the strengths of my start early approach. ................
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