History of Inclusive Education and Teacher Skills

Rees Wilson - 18563476

The education environment of Australia is increasingly moving towards one of the inclusion of

students with disabilities in regular classrooms. With a move away from segregated classrooms

(Loreman, 2007), it is important to consider the implications this may have on the teachers who

are called upon to develop skills which enable them to best cater to a growing range of students

in the classroom. As such, this essay will begin by considering the historical perspectives around

inclusion in schools, discussing the changing views and fundamental pieces of legislation.

Following this, consideration shall be given to the impact of inclusion on teaching mathematics,

with special consideration given to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Finally, the

author will highlight key skills that he believes he will need in order to teach students with

diverse learning needs.

However, before considering the skills that a teacher must develop to best provide an inclusive

classroom for all students, it is helpful to first consider the historical landscape from which the

current education system has evolved. For the sake of this essay, disability shall refer to a range

of functional limitations (Hodgson, 2013, p.184), which may or may not be physical, mental or

intellectual, and which impact upon a persons regular participation in society. The inclusion of

students with a disability has been debated from as early as the 1900s, gaining more attention

towards the end of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s (Hodkinson, 2010). In Australia,

students with disabilities were often termed negatively as handicapped and retarded (Alchin,

2014, p.3), considered ineducable (Loreman, Deppeler & Harvey, 2011, p.38) and were

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therefore excluded from regular school attendance. As such, during most of the twentieth

century, students with disability were largely ignored in much discussion of public education and

viewed unfavourably. However, this saw a radical shift in 1989, when the United Nations

adopted the Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC). The CRC advocates that all children be

given the opportunity to receive education, regardless of any disability that they may face

(Whitburn, 2015). It also recognises that some pedagogical adjustment will need to occur to

allow this to happen (Hodgson, 2013).

While the CRC advocated for the inclusion of all children in education, the responsibility lay

with each signatory to see this happen. Australia responded to the CRC with the creation of the

Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) (Whitburn, 2015). The purpose of the DDA was to

see people with disabilities welcomed into regular Australian society (Hodgson, 2013). While it

did proscribe inclusion in education (Cumming & Dickson, 2013), the focus of the DDA was

more broad than just the schooling system. It classified discrimination as either direct or indirect

(Loreman et al., 2011) and as such, a person with a disability must be treated with equity, such

that reasonable adjustments may have to be made so that they are given the same rights as all

members of Australian society (Hodgson, 2013). However, as the concept of reasonable

adjustments takes into account all invested parties, in some instances, adjustments may not be

made for a person with a disability if these adjustments impact too heavily upon the others

involved (Loreman et al., 2011). While the DDA was a large step forward for the inclusion of

people with a disability in the Australian society, some argue that the concept of a reasonable

adjustment does not truly enable all members of society to be treated on the same basis, as in

some cases the adjustments will be deemed unreasonable (Alchin, 2014). Nonetheless, as a

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response to the CRC, the DDA did act to see Australia move to becoming a more inclusive

society, even if there is still some room for improvement.

As the DDA was such a broad legislation, focusing on the Australian society as a whole,

questions remained about the specifics in relation to education. Hence, after a decade, the

Disability Standards for Education 2005 (DSE) was formed. Remaining subject to the decisions

found in the DDA (Cumming & Dickson, 2013), the DSE sought to outline specific practices for

inclusion of students with a disability in the classroom (Commonwealth of Australia, 2006).

Where the DDA briefly mentioned education, the DSE was able to have a more substantive

coverage (Hodgson, 2013, p.204), detailing a range of issues relating to the inclusion for

students with a disability. The DSE is also seen as expanding upon the DDA in providing

guidance as to what adjustments are considered as reasonable within education (Hodgson, 2013).

The combination of the DDA and the DSE provided Australia with a starting point to enable the

inclusion of students with disabilities in education.

The impact of decisions made in these pieces of legislation can be clearly seen in the current

educational setting, however some claim that these steps are not enough. Influence of the DDA

and DSE can be clearly seen in the Australian Curriculum which reiterates that all students,

including those with a disability, be provided with an equal opportunity to education (Cumming

& Dickson, 2013). However, some believe that the current legislation does not go far enough

towards providing an inclusive educational system (Alchin, 2014), while others go further,

claiming that it is little more than a token gesture (Whitburn, 2015, p.524) which has little

effect on the inclusion of students with disability. Yet, not all see the legislation so negatively,

hoping that it will lead to the attainment of the inclusive educational system that it advocates for

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(Hodgson, 2013). While the educational environment in Australia may still see the exclusion of

some students with disability, when required adjustments would be too taxing, it is clear that in

the past decade, through social movements and legislation, the educational landscape has become

far more inclusive than it once was.

Following the discussion of the historical developments of the inclusion of students with

disabilities within the Australian education system, consideration will now be given to the

difficulties students with disabilities face in my teaching area, mathematics. Disability often has

a negative impact on student participation in mathematics, and as such, students with disabilities

often well underperform when compared to their peers (King, Lemons & Davidson, 2016). As

such, it is very important that mathematics teachers deliberately cater to students with disabilities

when teaching. Specifically, for students with learning disabilities (LD), who also often

underperform in mathematics, the focus on problem solving found in mathematics can actually

serve to help students develop skills they need to navigate the challenges presented by their LD

(Franz, Ivy & McKissick, 2016). Hence, mathematics teachers will best support their students in

ensuring that all students experience not just computational questions, but those which develop

students problem solving ability.

Furthermore, in preparation for teaching a class including students with ASD, we shall now

consider the impact for students studying mathematics with ASD. Appearing differently from

person to person, ASD and can exhibit itself in a range of ways, from difficulty with social

interactions (King et al., 2016) to weaknesses in executive functioning (Schulze, 2016) which

could be seen in a difficulty with organisation or concentration, setting goals or motivation, or a

combination of these (Schaefer Whitby, 2013). As ASD can present itself very differently among

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students, its effect on student ability is also quite broad. Students with ASD generally

underperform in mathematics when compared to their peers, yet in some cases they may excel

(Schaefer Whitby, 2013). Further the specific areas of weakness and strength in mathematics for

students with ASD can also range, as some may struggle to perform simple mathematical

calculations but easily answer questions requiring critical thinking, and in other cases, the

opposite may be true (King et al., 2016). As such, when teaching a student with ASD, a teacher

must understand their students specific needs and use strategies which will benefit them. Some

possible strategies for aiding students with ASD and disabilities in general will be mentioned in

the following section, which considers the skills needed by teachers when teaching students with

disabilities.

Now the discussion turns to a consideration of the skills that I believe will be vital in my practice

as a teacher to effectively teach students with diverse learning needs. The skills which would

benefit teachers in catering to the range of students in the classroom, both regular students and

those with disabilities, would be too long to consider here. As such, the discussion will consider

three which I believe are very important, namely social and emotional, organisational and

self-development skills. Each of these will be expanded upon below and their development

would greatly improve teaching practice in inclusive classrooms.

Firstly I shall focus on what I consider the most important of the skills for teaching in inclusive

classrooms, the need for teachers to develop social and emotional skills. Loreman et al., (2011)

highlight that a teachers own level of social and emotional skills have a large impact on their

ability to teach students these skills. This is an especially important task when teaching students

with ASD, who often struggle in social situations (King et al., 2016) and students with

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disabilities in general, as they often experience negative social interactions. Hence, teachers must

place importance upon developing their own social and emotional skills. Furthermore, in a

classroom with students with disabilities who may be more distracted than regular students, good

social and emotional skills will enable teachers to hold their composure when repeatedly giving

instructions. In addition to this, social and emotional skills may be required when interacting

with other staff, especially support staff who enter the classroom (Loreman, et al., 2011). From

my experience on professional practice, I saw the importance of effectively communicating with

Learning Support Officers (LSO). My mentor teacher had developed an understanding with the

LSO, which allowed them to work together to teach the students, however if this was missing, I

imagine situations could arise when conflict occurred. Hence, as teaching relies so heavily on

social interactions I believe that the development of social and emotional skills is paramount for

teachers in inclusive classrooms settings.

The next set of skills which I will explore that would be of benefit for teachers of inclusive

classrooms are organisational skills. When teaching classrooms with diverse student abilities, a

teacher will need to develop organisational skills to ensure that they provide resources which

cater to every student, as well as ensuring that they are documenting and acting upon student

progress. This is particularly important when considering students with disabilities for whom a

teacher may experiment with different strategies to improve student outcomes. In order to do this

effectively, a teacher needs to collect data to assess whether improvement has occurred as a

result of the interventions or changes in pedagogy (Schulze, 2016), and therefore needs good

organisational skills. Furthermore, when teaching students with LDs or ASD, a teacher must be

able to respond to a range of student actions at any point. In order to do this effectively, a teacher

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must be organised, and I have seen this in my practice as a teacher, as when I was the most

prepared for a class, I was also the most able to respond to disruptive student behaviour and

unexpected questions. As such, it is vital that a teacher develop organisational skills.

The final skills that I shall consider are skills of self-improvement. Having good

self-improvement skills will allow a teacher to be constantly improving and adapting their

practice. This will give the confidence to take risks (Loreman, et al., 2011) and therefore

improve their teaching when responding to a range of learner needs. Such focus on

self-improvement may be required if teaching a student with a disability which requires a

teachers standard teaching pedagogy to be changed to cater to that student. One example of

when I have needed to use self-improvement skills in my practice was in teaching a class with a

range of abilities. Some students were coached in mathematics at home and therefore excelled,

while others struggled as a result of large gaps in their understanding. After a lesson where the

students who were gifted were very disruptive, I adapted my teaching to provide additional work

to challenge these students, while still catering to the range of students in my class. This worked

effectively to improve student concentration in class. For this reason, I believe that a teachers

self-improvement skills are very important for their practice.

In an educational landscape which has seen much development over the past decade, teachers

now find themselves in a context where they must cater to a diverse range of student needs.

Special consideration must be given to teaching students with disabilities, and this has been done

above in the context of a mathematics classroom including students with ASD. In order to

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effectively respond to the current form of inclusive classrooms, teachers must develop a range of

skills, including social and emotional, organisational and self-development skills.

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Reference List

Alchin, G. (2014). Is reasonable adjustment a deficit ideology?. Special Education Perspectives,

21(1), pp.3-6.

Commonwealth of Australia (2006). Disability Standards for Education 2005 plus Guidance

Notes.

Cumming, J. J., & Dickson, E. (2013). Educational accountability tests, social and legal

inclusion approaches to discrimination for students with disability: A national case study

from Australia. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 20(2), 221-239.

Franz, D. P., Ivy, J., & McKissick, B. R. (2016). Equity and Access: All Students are

Mathematical Problem Solvers. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies,

Issues and Ideas, 89(2), 73-78.

Hodgson, D. (2013). The educational rights of persons with disabilities: International human

rights law and Australian law perspectives. International Journal of Discrimination and

the Law, 12(4), 183-220.

Hodkinson, A. (2010). Inclusive and special education in the English educational system:

Historical perspectives, recent developments and future challenges. British Journal of

Special Education, 37(2), 61-67.

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King, S. A., Lemons, C. J., & Davidson, K. A. (2016). Math interventions for students with

autism spectrum disorder: A best-evidence synthesis. Exceptional Children, 82(4),

443-462.

Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D. (2011). Inclusive education: Supporting diversity in the

classroom. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

Loreman, T. (2007). Seven Pillars of Support for Inclusive Education: Moving from.

International Journal of Whole Schooling, 3(2), 22-38.

Schaefer Whitby, P. J. (2013). The effects of Solve It! on the mathematical word problem

solving ability of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other

Developmental Disabilities, 28(2), 78-88.

Schulze, M. A. (2016). Self-Management Strategies to Support Students With ASD. TEACHING

Exceptional Children, 48(5), 225-231.

Whitburn, B. (2015). National and international disability rights legislation: a qualitative account

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