As a teacher, one is expected to inspire and enrich young students’ lives by acting as their primary source of information. Teachers and other instructors are expected to offer special education services since each student is supposed to study in the least restrictive environment. The least restrictive environment maximizes the ability of a person to engage in instruction or partake in activities with peers. The philosophy of exceptional learning and inclusion is vital in achieving the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities. My teaching design advocates for the articulation of a surrounding invested with exploration and discovery opportunity, ensuring students learn at their own pace and gather knowledge by using learning skills during an authentic situation. Aside from being a requirement as per Part B of IDEA 2004, which required the provision of special education services in public school, and inclusion policy that is guided by individualized education program ideals can help facilitate the effective delivery of instructions to exceptional students within a general education class.
Intended Career Path
Principally, after graduating, I will partake in a career in Early Childhood Education Administration. I would most preferably like to work with children between the ages of four to six years because it will provide me with an opportunity to positively mold their character and have a positive influence in the commencement of the children’s speculative ambition to acquire success in life. Besides, I once taught in a toddler classroom; I do not plan to restrict myself to a single group of children. My past experience teaching young children, along with my ambition to have a positive influence on these students’ character, motivates me to work with them. My long-term objective is to open my preschool. However, before I can build and run a preschool, I intend to work in a school setting, especially a public school or a preschool setting.
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Professional Dispositions
My professional dispositions will dictate how I view child development and learning. I can offer equitable opportunities in learning for all students. I also have the ability to participate in and understand the school, community, and family resources. I also strive to boost success in students by taking up different learning techniques and measures depending on the outcome of the individualized education program. Collaboration with other teaching professionals to improve students’ learning, along with my ability to maintain my position as a role model to the students, will be central to how I conduct myself around my students. When interacting with young students, I strive to offer educational events that fit their individual requirements. In addition to offering individualized education, I will generate a learning setting that will ensure students have achieved their full learning potential. Through consistent motivation and maintaining a positive attitude around students, I will ensure that every student performs at his or her full potential, irrespective of whether it is inside or outside the classroom.
Definition of Inclusion
In my view, inclusion means including every student in the classroom. It refers to getting every child to participate in what is happening in the class, and it is essential. When a child fails to feel included in-class activities, he/she might feel left out. Regardless of the problems a child is undergoing, they must get included in classroom proceedings.
Current State of Inclusion
Generally, the movement toward the state of inclusion has developed from an extended setting. For example, in the nineteenth-century, children ailing from different infirmities established less consideration. In those moments, the learning institutions that presented classes to children with wide incapacities were costly and at distant places. Public Law 94-142 was the "first to mandate schools to offer education to children with disabilities," according to section 1.3 (Wehmeyer & Kurth, 2020). However, although the act got passed in America, education for students with disabilities was still not obligatory (Kirby, 2017). Thus, after different court proceedings, it was till 1975 whereby Congress approved a compulsory law to offer education to scholars with incapacities, termed as "Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA)." It was also termed as "Public Law 94-142 (PL 94-142)."
Consequently, policies and laws directly affected the education system changes as inclusion has provided kids with infirmities admittance to high education quality. In the previous years, families had created a limit of options as educational settings were concerned. "Inclusion has ensured students regardless of disability to get involved in the general environment in education and has provided similar opportunities to the students as their peers" (Kirby, 2017). Understanding the inclusion of state history has helped me realize children's rights who require special educational provision. Through the fact that the system changed from over fifty years ago is still remarkable. I trust that each kid should have the right to education, notwithstanding their state of incapacities. However, in my class, I will guarantee that the setting works well with all students by developing my classroom design to meet every child's needs.
Importance of Collaboration
Collaboration and creating relationships go together, thus working in the educational surrounding, collaboration is essential and highly required. Hardly it is hectic to strengthen collaboration families, the reason being the admin team. In building cooperation, the administration segment must be strong and willing to collaborate with parents and others. For there to be a good collaboration, there must be clear communication between the school and families.
However, every involved party must be on a similar page when problems arise and help adequately. Then, if everyone learns to work together, communication becomes key, creating trust and long-lasting relationships. You cannot build relationships without communicating, and you cannot trust someone without communication (Adams & Jones, 2018). Parents always like to understand that they can trust the person staying with their kid. However, in incorporating the plan, I will bring my parents and ensure they get involved with their children's school lives. Parents' involvement will not only provide aid teachers but students as well. I will introduce monthly meetings whereby parents sit down with the teachers and students and create communication with parents via emails, newsletters, and phone. It will ensure communication gets properly built and ensuring that parents state inputs that could be changed in the classroom. Thus, allowing having a collaborative and successful year.
Using Evidence-based Strategy
The adoption of evidence-based practices and interventions that are effectively supported by strong bases of research evidence is a key element of inclusive special education. The primary evidence-based strategy that will be adopted in my inclusive classroom includes cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and the universal design for learners. The incorporation of cooperative learning in an inclusive classroom will ensure that students with disabilities are more engaged. Various elements of cooperative learning will be included in the classroom. Students will be given more freedom to share their thoughts with the class. In addition, as an instructor, I will give confirming and constructive responses to their thoughts. Other elements include engaging students in questioning techniques, giving students additional practice on their skills, and providing them with more opportunities to respond. The incorporation of the cooperative learning strategy in an inclusive classroom will ensure that students think aloud, and thus putting teachers in a better position to assess the students’ needs and intervene appropriately. A cooperative learning strategy will facilitate easy monitoring of students’ learning, and thus enabling me, as an educator, to guide the students through the learning task and effectively increasing the comprehension process.
Peer tutoring is another strategy that will increase the success of an inclusive classroom. Peers can be a dynamic resource for educators since they approach academic materials from a different perspective. Peer tutoring will be achieved by pairing students that are competent and able to scaffold academic material to be easier to comprehend with students that might find difficulties in understanding such academic contents. Aside from creating a zone of proximal development, peer tutoring will also promote social and cognitive development due to its interactive nature. Furthermore, peer partners can develop a form of trust among themselves, which enables them to freely open up about their misunderstanding of concept, and thus facilitating quicker intervention from the educator.
The universal design for learning (UDL) is a teaching and learning approach that offers students equal opportunities to learn. A general education classroom does not provide equal opportunities for students with special needs as compared to other students. Therefore, to effectively achieve inclusion, the curriculum must be adapted for all students. The unique strengths and weaknesses of exceptional students will be analyzed. By understanding each student’s disability and its impact on his or her learning, I will be able to effectively develop a learning environment that fits their individual needs. Factors such as equal access to school buildings and the availability of special bathrooms can help improve the outcome of inclusion. Moreover, various learning styles and presentations will be adopted depending on the special need of a student. Throughout the process of adapting the curriculum to meet the special needs of exceptional students, the three principles of UDL, including representation, action, and expression, and engagement, will be adhered to.
Using Assessments
The use of individual assessment and adaptation to students with disabilities is vital in any inclusive classroom. According to the Code of Inclusive Practice, it is important to carefully focus on the specific learning difficulties of a student when making an assessment ( Angeloska et al., 2018 ). Students with disabilities can partake in standardized tests offered to all students. However, different accommodation conditions, along with the use of different estimates to measure success, must be employed. For an assessment to be accommodating to all students in an inclusive class, the presentation, response, assessment setting, timing, and ELL specific consideration must be adopted (Salvia et al., 2010). Although the assessment might vary significantly for tests taken under default conditions, they are not expected to influence students’ performance in a way that will affect the interpretation of the scores when compared to other students. The outcome of the tests can be incorporated in summaries of the results without considering the accommodations. However, if a situation dictates, a different assessment model can be adapted depending on the individualized education program developed by a specialist.
Supporting Children
There are multiple specific learning disabilities, including auditory processing disorder, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyslexia, dysorthographia, and organizational learning disabilities, among others. As an instructor, I will adopt effective strategies that will focus on academic instruction, behavioral interventions, and classroom accommodation to help students with learning disabilities. To facilitate better delivery of academic instruction, I will prepare students for upcoming lessons and conduct effective lessons depending on the needs of these students. For example, the provision of follow-up directions, such as written directions to students with an auditory processing disorder, can help extend additional guidelines to help students conceptualize content more effectively ( Pierangelo et al., 2008 ). Furthermore, individualizing instructional practices, particularly on writing, spelling, phonics, and handwriting, can help address various learning disorders.
Students with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) will be supported using a three-pronged strategy. The first step will be identifying the special needs of the student ( Henderson, 2008 ). For instance, I will strive to identify how, when, and why a student inattentive, impulsive, or hyperactive. I will then select education practices that best suits the student’s academic, behavioral, and classroom accommodations needs ( Henderson, 2008 ). An individualized education program that reflects annual goals and special education-related services will be developed for a student with ADHD.
Students with an emotional disturbance with be provided with environmental and behavioral supports and interventions to enhance their ability to learn. Once the supports are provided, the individualized education program team to develop an evidence-based instructional strategy that will help the students (DAKOTA, 2016). However, in other instances, students with emotional disturbance may not need academic strategies that are different from those used in default classrooms. The provision of a conducive environment, along with offering specialized attention to students with behavioral disorders, will help them in their academic and general classroom practices.
Upholding Professional and Ethical Standards
The Council for Exceptional Children dictates various Code of Ethics to instructors of persons with disabilities. Therefore, as teaching dealing with exceptional students, I must have a commitment to developing the highest educational and quality of life potential for students with disabilities ( Council for Exceptional Children, 2009 ). In addition, throughout my practice, I will strive to maintain a high level of competence and integrity. As a teacher who deals with exceptional students, I will be expected to practice objective professional judgment within the constraints of teaching standards and policies. Also, throughout my practices as a teacher in an inclusive class, I will uphold and improve where necessary the laws, regulations, and policies dictating the activities related to the delivery of education to students with special needs.
My Role in Exceptional Learning and Inclusion
As a teacher in an inclusive classroom, I have the role of ensuring the presence, participation, and progress of all students in the classroom without any exception. I have the responsibility of ensuring that all students receive individualized learning through either one-on-one teaching, small group teaching, or collaborative teaching ( Pit-ten et al., 2018 ). As a teacher dealing with exceptional students, I am the primary tool that facilitates the inclusion of these exceptional students in a general classroom. A teacher’s competence and attitude dictate his or her willingness to implement inclusive practices. According to studies, a teacher’s competence is considered to be a requisite for the successful implementation of inclusive practice ( Pit-ten et al., 2018 ). Besides, studies have also demonstrated a correlation between teacher’s attitudes and their evaluation of students with special education needs ( Pit-ten et al., 2018 ). Therefore, a teacher’s competence and attitude affect the implementation of inclusive practice both independently and in combination. As a teacher, I have the responsibility of maintaining a higher level of competence and a positive attitude to facilitate the effective adoption of inclusive practices in schools. I have the role of integrating academic instructions, behavioral interventions, and classroom accommodations in the most effective manner that will meet the special needs of exceptional students.
Conclusion
The philosophy of inclusion is vital in the successful incorporation of exceptional students into general education classrooms. As an individual who intends to practices as a teacher with the highest levels of professionalism and ethics, understanding the current state of inclusion is vital. The current educational system is moving to adopt the philosophy of inclusion to ensure that students with disabilities can also be involved in the general educational environment. The successful adoption of inclusion will also depend on the effective collaboration between the various special needs professionals and parents, among other people. Upon integrating exceptional students in an inclusive classroom, it is important to take up evidence-based strategies, such as cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and the universal design for learning, to ensure equitable access to learning instructions. Also, the assessment model used must vary depending on the specific needs of exceptional students. As a person who anticipates working with students with special needs in the future, I have the role of supporting these children while maintaining high levels of professionalism and code of ethics.
References
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