Inclusiveeducationofdifferentlyabledchildren:Going

beyondphysicalintegration
Weliveinaworldofdifferentlyabledchildren,thusitis
incumbentuponeducatorsandpolicymakerstoprovide
differentlyabledchildrenwiththesameopportunitiesof
learningastheirfullyabledcounterparts.Suchanidea,of
providingequalaccessandopportunitycomeundertheumbrella
ofinclusiveeducation.Thoughinclusiveeducationisabroad
concept,forthepurposesofthisessayIwilllimitthescopeto
theeducationofdifferentlyabledchildrenbecauseofallthe
partieswhoexperienceexclusionintheeducationprocess,
differentlyabledchildrenmakeuponethird(UNESCO2009).I
willinvestigatethetypeofeducationdifferentlyabledchildren
arereceiving,andlookatspecificallywhethertheyshouldbe
integratedwithinmainstreamschoolsorsegregatedwithin
specialneedsinstitutions.
Toproceed,educationisbroadlydefinedastheprocessby
whichonegenerationpassesonitsknowledgetothenext
generation,andIbelieveinthatprocessofeducationnochild
shouldbeleftbehind.InclusiveEducationistheprocessof
strengtheningthecapacityoftheeducationsystemtoreachout
toalllearners,anditisbasedontheprinciplethateducationis

afundamentalhumanrightandthefoundationofanequal
society(UNESCO2009).Thisconceptofinclusiveeducation
hasbecomepopularpolicythroughouttheglobesincetheWorld
ConferenceonSpecialNeedsEducationtookplacein
Salamanca,SpaininJune1994.
SincetheSalamancaconference,inclusiveeducationhasgained
alargesupportbaseamongsteducatorsandpolicymakers
thoughitsimplementationhasnotbeenholistic.Onmany
occasions,theinstitutionsoflearningfallshortofthemarkin
adaptingtheprocessesandsystemsofeducationtomeetthe
needsofdifferentlyabledchildren,whichiswhattrueinclusion
necessitates.
Mainstreamschoolsaregenerallydesignedtomeettheneedsof
themajorityofstudentswhoarenotdifferentlyabled;thisfocus
onthemajorityconsequentlygeneratesasystematicbiasagainst
differentlyabledstudentswhomakeupasmallminority.Many
schoolshavetakentokenisticstepssuchasincorporating
disabilityaccessintotheirarchitecture,thinkingthatthisisall
thatdifferentlyabledstudentsrequireinordertoachievetheir
educationalobjectives.Theneedsofdifferentlyabledstudents
intheeducationprocessgofarbeyondaccessibility,andthe

beginningofatrulyinclusiveeducationistosharetheirburden
asaschool.
Ifschoolsviewdisabilityasanissuethatconcernsthe
differentlyabledstudentalone,theycanneverrealiseinclusive
education(Oliver1996).Thisperspective,whichviews
disabilityasadifficultybornonlytothestudent,isknownasthe
medicalmodelofdisability.Manyinstitutionsoflearningwho
advocateinclusiveeducationunfortunatelystillviewdisability
accordingtothismedicalmodel,andthusonlyimplementa
policyofphysicalintegrationbetweendifferentlyabledstudents
andtheirfullyabledcounterparts.Inmanycases,thisentails
enrollingdifferentlyabledstudentsinmainstreamclassrooms,
withaviewforthemtotryandfitinasbesttheycanintothe
mainstreamclassrooms.
Aholisticmodelofinclusionentailsgoingbeyondphysical
integration(ErkilicandDurak,2013).Physicallyintegrating
studentsintoaschoolingsystembuiltuponexclusionary
principlescannotbeconsideredinclusion.
Schoolpracticescanbeexclusionaryinmanyways,fromthe
curriculumtotheaccessibilityoffacilitiesincludingthelayout
oftheclassroom(UNESCO2001).Itispreciselytheseelements
oftraditionalschoolingthatmustbeadaptedtofacilitate
inclusiveeducation.Successfulinclusioneducationentails

adaptingthemechanismsofeducationtomeetthespecificneeds
ofeachstudent,irrespectiveoftheirindividualcharacteristics
andlearningabilities.Thisperspective,whichputstheonusof
removingthebarriersofdisabilityuponthesociety,isknownas
thesocialmodelofdisability.
Educationalinstitutionsthatadvocateinclusiveeducationwhile
viewingdisabilityaccordingtothemedicalmodel,canunderno
circumstanceachievetheinclusionofdifferentlyabledstudents
intomainstreamclassrooms(Shakespeare2006).Suchan
approachisamanifestcontradiction,whichonlyenhancesthe
difficultiesofdifferentlyabledstudents.
CountlessindividualssuchasCorbett(2001)havearguedthat
anytypeofsegregationofdifferentlyabledchildrenis
discriminatory,justlikesimilarpracticesof(ofsegregation)
wouldbediscriminatoryiftheyoccurredonthebasisofgender,
colourorsexuality.Thefactthatspecialschoolsexistisafailure
ofoursociety.UNESCOsreporttitledTowardsInclusive
EducationforChildrenwithDisabilities:AGuideline(2009)
statesthatmultiplebarriersremaintothefullparticipationof
childrenwithdisabilitiesineducation.Lackofinformation,
combinedwithdiscriminatoryattitudestowardspersonswith
disabilitiesatalllevelsofsociety,contributestothecontinued

neglectoftheirrighttoeducation.Thispartlyexplainsthe
minimalrateofprogressthathasbeenmadetowardsthe
enrolmentandparticipationintheeducationprocessofchildren
withdisabilities.Thefactorsarecomplexandextendbeyondthe
boundariesoftheschoolandclassroom(pg.5).Thissame
reportcontinuestostatethatlessthan10%ofchildrenwith
disabilitiesindevelopingcountriesintheAsiaPacificregionare
inschool(pg.5).
PittandCurtin(2004)identifiedatrendthatsomedifferently
abledstudentsaremovingfrommainstreameducational
institutionsbackintospecialneedsfurthereducation.They
undertookastudyconsistingof24volunteerparticipantswith
varyingdisabilitiesandeducationalexperiences.They
highlightedthatthestudentswhousedwheelchairswere
unhappywiththelevelofsupportandphysicalaccessibility
withinmainstreamschools.Theparticipantsallexpressedaccess
totherapythatfosteredindependentlivingskillswasamajor
factorintheirpreferringspecialneedsschools.Surprisingly,
someoftheparticipantsidentifiedthattheirsociallifeimproved
throughparticipatinginextracurricularactivitieswithinspecial
needsschools,becausetheydidnotfeelleftoutandenjoyed
beingamongstotherdifferentlyabledstudents.

Schwarz(2006)summariseswhatinclusiveeducationlookslike
whenhesaidThestrategybehindinclusionistodesign
supportsinnovativeapproachestolearning,differentiated
instruction,curricularadaptationsforeverystudentinthe
classroom,toincludetheentirespectrumoflearners(p.35).In
anidealworldthisdichotomyofspecialvs.mainstreamschools
wouldnotexistandeverystudentwouldhavetheirdifferences
celebratedandtheirneedscateredforinthepublicsystemof
education.
Toremoveexclusionarypracticesfromourschoolsand
classroomsandtobringtolightthenegativeschooling
experiencesofourdifferentlyabledstudentsisoneofthemost
importanttasksateacherisrequiredtoundertake.Thesesortsof
socialissuesalongwithgenderequalityandAboriginalrights
mustnotbeallowedtocontinuetothesubsequentgenerations
andwe(asteachers)cansupportthesecausesinourown
classroomsandschools.Thelegalandethicalframeworkis
alreadyexistent,itisonlyuptoustoimplementitandliveupto
ourpotentialasfreeandjustsociety.

references

Corbett,J.(2001).Supportinginclusiveeducation:Aconnective
pedagogy.London:Routledge.
Erkilic,M,andDurak,S,2013,TolerableandInclusive
LearningSpaces:AnEvaluationofPoliciesandSpecifications
forPhysicalEnvironmentsthatPromoteInclusioninTurkish
PrimarySchools.
InternationalJournalofInclusiveEducation17(5):462479.
Oliver,M.1996.UnderstandingDisability:FromTheoryto
Practice.Basingstoke:Palgrave.
Pitt,V&Curtin,M,Integrationversussegregation:the
experiencesofagroupofdifferentlyabledstudentsmoving

frommainstreamschoolintospecialneedsfurthereducation,
Disability&Society,Vol.19,No.4.
Schwarz,P.(2006)FromDisabilitytoPossibility:ThePowerof
InclusiveEducation.HeinemannPublications
Shakespeare,T,2006.TheSocialModelofDisability.InThe
DisabilityStudiesReader,197205.London:Routledge.

TowardsInclusiveEducationforChildrenwithDisabilities:A
Guideline(2009)
http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/disabchild09
en.pdf