It seems as if we have fought so many barriers for inclusion. Our society obviously began as a proponent of exclusion in the classroom. Inclusion, in itself, has been an on-going battle since the beginning of organized classrooms and schools. Exclusion has surfaced its ugly head with sex, race, and disabilities.
This topic is one that I take seriously when it comes to education. I firmly believe that if the best setting for a child is to be totally inclusive, then that is what needs to happen. I also see that there are times when this setting might not be ideal for a student as well.
After watching the movie about Samuel, I can’t help but wonder how he would have been impacted from having a program that pulled him out from his class. He was quite the social butterfly and enjoyed being around his peers. At the same token, the girl who struggled with psychological issues couldn’t have made it in the regular education classroom. I believe it all boils down to LRE and the question of how can we best meet the needs of this student?
I’m not sure that I have completely developed my core values. To be honest, I’ve never really explored them on my own but rather have just adjusted to what I know and what I see as truth. I believe that teachers, in general, have their own set of values that definitely influence their teaching. One must be careful to evaluate these to examine if they are in tune to what needs to be taught in our classrooms. For example, if I do not value diversity in the classroom, I have no business setting foot into this profession.
2 comments:
I graduated high school nine years ago and I don’t remember there being any inclusion. I remember students that had disabilities were in different classrooms and I would see them at lunch or during passing periods.
Every student has special or unique needs and as teachers we will have to determine what the best environment is for the students. At first while watching the movie I thought inclusion would be best for every student and then realized how wrong I was. Every student is different and I will need to remember that when I am teaching.
I am pleased to know that inclusion is happening in today’s schools because I think that it will open the minds and hearts of the students, teachers and parents.
Was inclusion part of your education experiences? Do you think there are any negative side effects to inclusion?
Jean,
Your comments related to “live and let live” got me thinking. Although it’s not a good idea to pawn off your own values on your students, it does make sense to teach them how to think critically and make choices consciously about their own values. And, as a matter of fact you will be teaching your own values by example, for good of for bad.
Although you indicate that you haven’t yet decided what your educational philosophy is, it seems to me that you already have a large set of ideas and values that bespeak your philosophy. I think the same is true for me. The difficulty is in being introspective about all these various ideas, thoughts, and feelings and find a way of integrating them into a formally stated philosophy!
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