The document is a research paper outline for a student named Christina Sookdeo on the effects of inclusion at the secondary level. The paper will have an introduction defining inclusion and noting its benefits. The body will discuss academic effects like improved literacy and cognitive development through opportunities, activities, and an inclusive environment. It will also examine social effects such as developing relationships and contradicting findings, with a conclusion summarizing the effects and recommendations.

1. University Of Trinidad And Tobago
School For Studies In Learning And Cognition
Student Name: Christina Sookdeo
Student ID: 52927
Course: EDFN112B- Academic Reading, Writing and Research Skills
Instructor: John Pierre
Group: X
Year 1- Semester 2
Assignment: Research Paper on the Academic and Social Effects of Inclusion

2. Broad Plan
Inclusion is becoming more prevalent in schools and it is proven to be an effective
strategy. Inclusion is not simply a „good strategy‟ in education but it serves a much greater
purpose in the personal and professional lives of students, including those with disabilities.
According to the President of the United States, Barack Obama at a conference held 2008,
“We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination.... policies
must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed
to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full
citizens in their communities"
There are many reasons why teachers should create an inclusive classroom. This topic
targets students at the secondary level of education- both with and without disabilities- and also
the staff members of a school. Secondary school students with disabilities are at a greater risk to
„drop-out‟ because of their lack of motivation and the feeling that they are not „normal‟ or in the
mainstream as the other students. Inclusion is both essential and critical in this particular area
and therefore I have chosen to address this audience.
The format or mode of this essay is a cause and effect expository essay. Explanations and
the analysis of the information on the social and academic effects for students with disabilities
will be presented.
The main aim of this research paper is to inform the intended audience of why inclusion is
necessary and the effects that it has on students. It will not only enlighten them but stimulate a

3. desire in the teachers and students to take action on making the classroom a more inclusive
environment. The expected conclusion for this research paper is that I can educate the audience
about the importance of the effects or results of inclusion and ways that they can help foster it for
a better education system.

4. Detailed Outline
Introduction:
The opening paragraph of this essay provides the reader with a clear definition of what inclusion
is as well as an overview of some of its main features. It will entail brief research findings that
show the effects that inclusion has on students academically and socially and what its outcomes
are for such individuals.
Body:
Section 1
I) Academic Effects
A) Better use and knowledge in literacy
1. Most students with disabilities often encounter problems in literacy.
2. Students are usually provided with these to develop their literacy:
a) opportunities
b) activities
c) strategies
3. Inclusive settings appear to be fundamental for the literacy development of
children with disabilities. (Research finding)

5. B) Increased Cognitive development
1. Inclusion ensures access to the general education curriculum.
2. Two strategies of practice:
a. cooperative learning
b. peer tutoring
3. It provides a more stimulating environment for cognition.
4. Students develop critical thinking skills and complex thinking skills.
Section 2
II) Social Effects
A) Development of peer relationships and acceptance
1. Many students with disabilities often feel isolated and have poor social skills.
2. To gain a better understanding they are taught social skills:
a. how to interact with people and create relationships
b. people interact with them frequently
3. Inclusion can help students with disabilities reduce the fear of human
differences.

6. Contradictory findings
B) Whether inclusion has a positive effect on students with disabilities
1. Students may feel that they will be insulted, teased or harmed because of their
disability.
2. Too much emphasis on socialization and less on academics
3. Some students with disabilities need to attend special schools to develop other
important skills in a more fixed environment.
4. Students can develop a sense of low self-esteem and self-worth.
C) The effect that inclusion has on students without disabilities
1. Students may see this as a disruption, distraction for their own learning.
2. It can create a degree of resentment or tension among students with disabilities and
those without.
Conclusion:
The conclusion will indicate the main effects of inclusion that were found out and its
contradictory findings. It was include recommendations of how these contradictions can be
overcome and also what I learnt from doing this research paper.

7. Working Outline
(First Half of Essay)
Inclusion has been defined on numerous accounts in the past and also recently, however,
a prominent definition remains to be, “Inclusion is a movement of families, educators, and
community members that seeks to create schools and other social institutions based on
acceptance, belonging, and community.” (Salend, 1998, p.7) Some of the key features of schools
where inclusive education is said to be thriving are: collaborative teamwork, a shared
framework, family involvement, general educator ownership, clear role relationships among
professionals, effective use of support staff and procedures for evaluating effectiveness.
(Giangreco, 1997.) According to Kochlar, West and Taymans (2002), inclusion promotes levels
of achievement higher or at least high as those achieved in self-contained classrooms. It also
facilitates more appropriate social behaviour because of higher expectations in the general
education classroom for students with disabilities.
Most students are proficient enough in literacy and can communicate on a day to day
basis with their level of literacy skills. However, students with disabilities who are regular non-
attenders are found to be those with literacy and numeracy scores one to four years behind their
peers. (Topping and Maloney, 2005, p. 124). Teachers hold the responsibility of helping these
students with disabilities to develop to their literacy skills.
Students need to be given the opportunities in order to start or in some cases, continue in
the developmental process of their literacy skills. Teachers should create an environment where
literacy can be fostered with and without help from adults or those with high literacy skills.

8. Vaughn and colleagues (2000) opine that “all students should have the opportunity to be exposed
to the same information.”
Some of the opportunities that teachers should create are embedded in classroom
instructions, written, reading and homework assignments and also tests, quizzes and grades. In
classroom instructions, teachers should write key points of instruction on the board or allow
them to read it orally. They should also provide study guides that identify key vocabulary and
concepts and also provide positive feedback. In written, reading and homework assignments the
teacher should not penalize students for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. The value
of listening comprehension should be recognized and also practiced and lastly, teachers must
allow the student to type or dictate their own homework assignments. With tests, quizzes and
grades, it should be kept in mind that terminologies or concepts must be simplified according to
the level of the student.
Students need to be provided with activities in order to boost their literacy development.
Opportunities alone cannot suffice the development process, students need to practice and learn
from activities ordered by the teacher. In reading and writing activities there should be a focus
on the students‟ experiences, interests, and background knowledge. (Salend, 1998, p.317)
A variety of activities for integrating reading and writing throughout the curriculum to
develop the literacy skills of students with disabilities exists. Among such are storytelling,
repeated reading, choral reading and drama. Storytelling is one of the most basic forms of
promoting literacy in students because it gains the attention and interest of students. (Maldonado-
Colon, 1991.) concur that storytelling can assist students in constructing meaning from text,
promote listening comprehension and vocabulary skills, and motivate students to read. Repeated

9. reading is the process of simply rereading short meaningful sentences. (Salend, 1998, p.318)
holds the view that repeated reading of a book or a selection can increase students‟ fluency and
also aid students in learning the rhythm, volume, and tone and language patterns of a student‟s
second language. Choral reading involves the students and teachers in reading materials together
and it promotes students fluency, vocabulary development, dictation, self-confidence and
motivation to read. (McCauley & McCauley, 1992.) According to (Hernandez, 1989) drama is
the acting out or retelling of stories through miming, gestures, role playing and the use of props
and it is though drama that a students‟ reading and language acquisition can be greatly improved.
Inclusive settings clearly appear to be fundamental for the literacy development of
students with disabilities. The inclusive classroom does not hold a fixed design but it differs
according to the interactions of the teachers and the students. According to Kliewer (2008), it is a
classroom where learning often happens in small groups with peer support and it is student
centred. Research has also shown that in an inclusive setting, there is improved reading
performance. (Salend, 2001.)
Inclusion ensures access to the general education curriculum. Access to and time spent in
the general education programs appear to not only increase their cognitive abilities but it also
enhances the student‟s preparation for adulthood. In the opinion of Salend (1998) students with
disabilities who partake in the general education curriculum are more likely to participate in
post-secondary academic programs, be socially integrated into their community and be employed
and make high salaries.
There are two main strategies of practice in inclusive classrooms that are used-co-
operative learning and peer tutoring. According to Kagan, Spencer (1994) co-operative learning

10. is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of
ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. In co-
operative learning students with special needs are not pulled out or excluded from their
classrooms for additional instruction rather, the special education staffs provides instruction in
the regular classroom, to increase learning time and gives students an opportunity to participate
fully in their classrooms. Research findings has shown that co-operative learning techniques do
promote student learning and academic achievement, increase student retention, enhance student
satisfaction with their learning experience, help students develop skills in oral communication
and promotes their self-esteem. (Kagan, Spencer, 1994.).
Entwined into co-operative learning is peer tutoring. In peer tutoring, one student tutors
and assists another in learning a new skill. It is a widely used cooperative format that has been
effective in increasing the amount of time students are engaged in learning and fostering positive
attitudes towards school and learning. Peer tutoring enables students to be assigned to
heterogeneous ability peers. However, there is a strategy called „Classwide Peer Tutoring‟ which
has been effective in teacher reading, spelling, vocabulary, math and social studies to a wide
range of students educated in a variety of instructional settings. Both cooperative learning and
peer tutoring can increase the cognitive abilities of students with disabilities and also motivate
them to aid this development further.
Inclusion provides a more stimulating environment for cognition to occur. For inclusion
to occur there must be a set of conditions in the environment to trigger this simulation of
cognition. These conditions are the basis of the type of environment that needs to be formed and
such conditions comprise of opportunities for pupil participation in the decision making process,
a positive attitude about the learning abilities of pupils, teacher knowledge about the students‟

11. learning difficulties, skilled application in specific instructional methods and parent and teacher
support. (Topping and Maloney, 2005, p. 36) Each of the above conditions is necessary;
however, one alone is not sufficient to promote cognition among students with special needs. For
example, a positive attitude alone cannot promise successful inclusive education but
participation, knowledge, application of knowledge and support is also needed.
Typically, when students are placed in such a stimulating environment and when these
conditions exist or at least most do, students can develop critical thinking skills and even
complex thinking skills. Students are challenged to solve problems and are placed in scenarios
where they question themselves critically about what should or should not be done. Effective
methods are used by teachers in order for students to succeed. Some of these are assignments,
homework, participation in discussions, listening skills, reading and writing about the content
that is given by the instructor. Through these critical thinking skills and complex thinking skills
are developed.

12. Working Bibliography
Adams M., & Brown S. (2006). Towards Inclusive Learning in Higher Education,
Developing curricular for disabled students. USA, Canada: Routledge.
McLeskey J., Waldron L. N. (2000). Inclusive Schools in Action: Making Differences
Ordinary. USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Salend J. S. (1998). Effective Mainstreaming: Creating Inclusive Classrooms. Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Simon and Schuster/A Viacom Company.
Sands J. D., Kozleski B. E., French K. N. (2000). Inclusive Education for the 21st
Century. USA: Wadsworth.
Topping K., Maloney S. (2005). The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Inclusive Education.
USA, Canada: RoutledgeFalmer.
Internet Sources:
Hines, Rebecca A. (2001). Inclusion in Middle Schools. ERIC Digest. Retrieved 2nd
March, 2011 from http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-3/inclusion.htm.
Schultz J. J. (1998). Inclusion Q & A: A Parent's Guide Retrieved on 1st March, 2011
from http://www.ldonline.org/article/Inclusion_Q_%26_A%3A_A_Parent's_Guide.

13. Research Paper
Introduction:
Inclusion has been defined on numerous accounts in the past and also recently, however,
a prominent definition remains to be, “Inclusion is a movement of families, educators, and
community members that seeks to create schools and other social institutions based on
acceptance, belonging, and community.” (Salend, 1998, p.7) Some of the key features of schools
where inclusive education is said to be thriving are: collaborative teamwork, a shared
framework, family involvement, general educator ownership, clear role relationships among
professionals, effective use of support staff and procedures for evaluating effectiveness.
(Giangreco, 1997.) According to Kochlar, West and Taymans (2002), inclusion promotes levels
of achievement higher or at least high as those achieved in self-contained classrooms. It also
facilitates more appropriate social behaviour because of higher expectations in the general
education classroom for students with disabilities.

14. Body:
Most students are proficient enough in literacy and can communicate on a day to day
basis with their level of literacy skills. However, students with disabilities who are regular non-
attenders are found to be those with literacy and numeracy scores one to four years behind their
peers. (Topping and Maloney, 2005, p. 124). Teachers hold the responsibility of helping these
students with disabilities to develop to their literacy skills.
Students need to be given the opportunities in order to start or in some cases, continue in
the developmental process of their literacy skills. Teachers should create an environment where
literacy can be fostered with and without help from adults or those with high literacy skills.
Vaughn and colleagues (2000) opine that “all students should have the opportunity to be exposed
to the same information.”
Some of the opportunities that teachers should create are embedded in classroom
instructions, written, reading and homework assignments and also tests, quizzes and grades. In
classroom instructions, teachers should write key points of instruction on the board or allow
them to read it orally. They should also provide study guides that identify key vocabulary and
concepts and also provide positive feedback. In written, reading and homework assignments the
teacher should not penalize students for errors in spelling, punctuation and grammar. The value
of listening comprehension should be recognized and also practiced and lastly, teachers must
allow the student to type or dictate their own homework assignments. With tests, quizzes and
grades, it should be kept in mind that terminologies or concepts must be simplified according to
the level of the student.

15. Students need to be provided with activities in order to boost their literacy development.
Opportunities alone cannot suffice the development process, students need to practice and learn
from activities ordered by the teacher. In reading and writing activities there should be a focus
on the students‟ experiences, interests, and background knowledge. (Salend, 1998, p.317)
A variety of activities for integrating reading and writing throughout the curriculum to
develop the literacy skills of students with disabilities exists. Among such are storytelling,
repeated reading, choral reading and drama. Storytelling is one of the most basic forms of
promoting literacy in students because it gains the attention and interest of students. (Maldonado-
Colon, 1991.) concur that storytelling can assist students in constructing meaning from text,
promote listening comprehension and vocabulary skills, and motivate students to read. Repeated
reading is the process of simply rereading short meaningful sentences. (Salend, 1998, p.318)
holds the view that repeated reading of a book or a selection can increase students‟ fluency and
also aid students in learning the rhythm, volume, and tone and language patterns of a student‟s
second language. Choral reading involves the students and teachers in reading materials together
and it promotes students fluency, vocabulary development, dictation, self-confidence and
motivation to read. (McCauley & McCauley, 1992.) According to (Hernandez, 1989) drama is
the acting out or retelling of stories through miming, gestures, role playing and the use of props
and it is though drama that a students‟ reading and language acquisition can be greatly improved.
Inclusive settings clearly appear to be fundamental for the literacy development of
students with disabilities. The inclusive classroom does not hold a fixed design but it differs
according to the interactions of the teachers and the students. According to Kliewer (2008), it is a
classroom where learning often happens in small groups with peer support and it is student

16. centred. Research has also shown that in an inclusive setting, there is improved reading
performance. (Salend, 2001.)
Inclusion ensures access to the general education curriculum. Access to and time spent in
the general education programs appear to not only increase their cognitive abilities but it also
enhances the student‟s preparation for adulthood. In the opinion of Salend (1998) students with
disabilities who partake in the general education curriculum are more likely to participate in
post-secondary academic programs, be socially integrated into their community and be employed
and make high salaries.
There are two main strategies of practice in inclusive classrooms that are used-
co-operative learning and peer tutoring. According to Kagan, Spencer (1994) co-operative
learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different
levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject.
In co-operative learning students with special needs are not pulled out or excluded from their
classrooms for additional instruction rather, the special education staffs provides instruction in
the regular classroom, to increase learning time and gives students an opportunity to participate
fully in their classrooms. Research findings has shown that co-operative learning techniques do
promote student learning and academic achievement, increase student retention, enhance student
satisfaction with their learning experience, help students develop skills in oral communication
and promotes their self-esteem. (Kagan, Spencer, 1994.).
Entwined into co-operative learning is peer tutoring. In peer tutoring, one student tutors
and assists another in learning a new skill. It is a widely used cooperative format that has been
effective in increasing the amount of time students are engaged in learning and fostering positive

17. attitudes towards school and learning. Peer tutoring enables students to be assigned to
heterogeneous ability peers. However, there is a strategy called „Classwide Peer Tutoring‟ which
has been effective in teacher reading, spelling, vocabulary, math and social studies to a wide
range of students educated in a variety of instructional settings. Both cooperative learning and
peer tutoring can increase the cognitive abilities of students with disabilities and also motivate
them to aid this development further.
Inclusion provides a more stimulating environment for cognition to occur. For inclusion
to occur there must be a set of conditions in the environment to trigger this simulation of
cognition. These conditions are the basis of the type of environment that needs to be formed and
such conditions comprise of opportunities for pupil participation in the decision making process,
a positive attitude about the learning abilities of pupils, teacher knowledge about the students‟
learning difficulties, skilled application in specific instructional methods and parent and teacher
support. (Topping and Maloney, 2005, p. 36) Each of the above conditions is necessary;
however, one alone is not sufficient to promote cognition among students with special needs. For
example, a positive attitude alone cannot promise successful inclusive education but
participation, knowledge, application of knowledge and support is also needed.
Typically, when students are placed in such a stimulating environment and when these
conditions exist or at least most do, students can develop critical thinking skills and even
complex thinking skills. Students are challenged to solve problems and are placed in scenarios
where they question themselves critically about what should or should not be done. Effective
methods are used by teachers in order for students to succeed. Some of these are assignments,
homework, participation in discussions, listening skills, reading and writing about the content

18. that is given by the instructor. Through these critical thinking skills and complex thinking skills
are developed.
Including the many academic effects and the benefits that inclusion has on students with
special needs there are also a significant positive effects that it has on students socially. Inclusion
aims at providing students with disabilities the opportunities to interact with others and create
relationships and social skills that will help them in life later on.Social skills can be thought of as
the behaviours that help students interact successfully with peers, teachers and others and that
help student‟s win social acceptance.
Comfort for students with special needs in the inclusive classroom can be achieved by the
student‟s ability to forge meaningful relationships and feel accepted or competent. Students with
special needs must be given the opportunity to make friends in order for there to be acceptance.
Friends are characterized by the range of social interactions that they make amongst each other.It
is evident that some of the advantages of inclusion for students with disabilities are that they
demonstrated increased acceptance and appreciation of diversity; they developed better
communication and social skills and they created warm and caring friendships.
In spite of the desire to form relationships and feel accepted many students with
disabilities often feel isolated and have poor social skills. They tend to feel that because of their
disability most people reject them or that others will never understand them. When children
attend classes with an inclusive environment that reflect the similarities and differences of people
of the real world, they learn to appreciate their diversity and work towards becoming their own
person. They develop a positive understanding of themselves and others and gain respect from
their peers or different cultures and backgrounds.

19. To gain a better understanding of how people interact with each other and how to interact
and form relationships, students with special needsare taught social skills of how to interact with
people and create relationships and this is further developed by the amount of interaction that
people have with them frequently. Inclusion provides opportunities for expanding social
networks and forming new friendships.
Students with special needs cannot create and understand relationships if they are not
allowed to participate in the social community of the classroom. For effective interaction, there
must be a high level of participation from both the students with special needs and those without.
Students need to feel accepted by their peers on the opinions that they make, the choices that
they choose and their personal philosophy. Teachers and peers need to create opportunities for
students with special needs to experience social dilemmas and solve them. Educators need to
encourage friendships through heterogeneous cooperative groupings, peer support committees
and activities that get them acquainted with each other.(Salend, 1998.) Students with disabilities
can try their best to understand relationships and feel accepted but their normal peers need to
play their role in making their lives easier. Teachers must educate the students without
disabilities about how they should represent themselves when interacting with their peers with
special needs. Educators should have resourceful information and create activities that involve
every child in the class to form relationships and understand each other‟s perspective.
Relationships and acceptance between students with and without disabilities can help
them to reduce their fears of human differences.Students with disabilities often have a low self-
esteem and self-worth because of their disability status. In a proper inclusive environment when
connections are made with regular teachers and peers and students realize that all people have
flaws of their own, they begin to feel a sense of self-worth. They can begin to see themselves as

20. a significant individual within the social community and as someone who can share some of the
same experiences and opportunities as their non-disabled peers.
There are always two sides to everything; the positive and the negative. Inclusion is not
excluded from this as there is great controversy surrounding the question that has been frequently
asked, “Does inclusion truly have a positive effect on students?” Many research findings and
theories have been dedicated to this controversial matter to address and acknowledge that there
are indeed disadvantagesof inclusion. As stated by Topping and Maloney (2005) “It was
acknowledged that there were problems involved for some children in providing more inclusive
settings.”
As humans, we all speculate about what people perceive of us from first impressions, the
way we look, and the way we carry about ourselves. Students with disabilities are no different;
they too have emotions and ask themselves the same questions as to how their peers view them
because of their disability. Many students are afraid to venture into the raw inclusive classroom
because they feel as though not everyone will accept them and they will be insulted, teased or
harmed because of their disability. Students are not the only ones who are concerned about their
physical and emotional well-being but parents and educators also fear allowing their child to
attend to inclusive classrooms. Educators are distressed by the idea that students with special
needs will monopolize their time or that they themselves are not „good enough‟ to handle these
students. This is true of some teachers as it is proven that there is a lack of teacher training with
special education needs and teachers often feels unprepared to educate these students. (Seehorn,
2011.)
Very often, when we think of inclusion in the classroom, we think of allowing students
with special needs to be able to socialize, fit in and be accepted into the mainstream through

21. these interactions. An enormous focus is placed on the feature of socialization in inclusion
whereas less emphasis is placed on the academic benefits for these students which are equally as
important. Students with special needs are often placed in classes where they simply sit and „look
normal‟ (Berg, 2004.) The physical presence of the student alone cannot suffice for successful
inclusion. This can be detrimental to the academic progress of the student and important skills
that need to be taught can be ignored.
Along those same lines, it is important to mention that not all students with disabilities
can attend regular schools but sometimes they need to attend special schools to develop other
important skills in a more fixed environment. In the general education classroom there are many
positive impacts on the student who has special needs but it must be notified that this setting can
also be distracting, over-populated and generalized. Students with special needs sometimes need
a small classroom size where the teachers can take on one-on-one instruction and this can be
made available in a convenient way outside of the general education classrooms. Reading,
writing and mathematics can be dealt with more precisely and intensely than in the inclusive
classroom.
It has been reported that many students with disabilities often leave the general education
classroom with a low sense of self-esteem and self-worth. In research conducted (Adams and
Brown, 2006 p. 37, 38, 39, 40, 41.) it has been clearly shown that many students often feel
uncomfortable in inclusive settings in terms of taking notes, the amount of assignments, physical
difficulties with writing, literacy skills, group work and oral presentations. Some have even
reported that life in the mainstream was characterized by fear, frustration, ridicule and isolation.
Students can feel this way because of the pressure and the attention placed on them during
regular classes and the constant eyes of their peers and educators on them. When in regular

22. classrooms, students with disabilities often see what their peers can do and compare it with what
they cannot do.
As a result of this, students may often become depressed, overwhelmed and academically
inadequate compared to their non-disabled classmates. (Berg, 2004.)This leads to the aspect of
where students can develop a sense of low self-esteem and self-worth from such experiences.
Students with disabilities are a sensitive case and need to be treated with careful respect and
love. Educators and non-disabled students should take into careful consideration the emotional
and physical needs of their peers with disabilities such as the need to be looked in the eye when
talked to, to be included in social discussions and interactions, and to be given the chance to
voice their opinions.
Besides the many effects that inclusion has on students with disabilities there are also
effects that it has on students without disabilities. Non-disabled students may see the entire
inclusion process as a disruption and distraction for their own learning. Some factors that might
make the inclusive classroom more distracting for regular students are the addition of more than
one teacher, special education aides, and students with disabilities coming in and out of
classrooms for various reasons. Some regular students as well as educators are not able to
concentrate and their own academic progress could suffer. Students can also feel a degree of
resentment or tension among students with disabilities and those without.(Berg, 2004.) Students
with disabilities are often given more attention, lessened date on assignments, less work to do in
class and they socialize mostly. This can cause peers to think that they are being treated unfairly
and teachers are being biased towards them. These are among the many effects that inclusion has
on students with and without disabilities.

23. Conclusion:
While there is great contradiction on inclusion beliefs, the practice still has a potential to
be proven effective considering that studies about its effectiveness with positive results will
increase.As the effects of inclusion were examined, it was learnt the impact that it has on
students both socially and academically. Some of the main effects were that students with
disabilities gained a better use and knowledge in literacy, increased cognitive development, and
the development of peer relationships and acceptance. Some of the contradictory findings were
that it is questioned whether inclusion has a positive effect on students with disabilities and those
without as well. It was found that as opposed to the positive effects of inclusion students can also
develop low self-esteem, be teased or feel under pressure from the constant expectations of their
peers and teachers. It can be recommended to create a more comfortable environment for both
students with disabilities and those without through personal recommendations and suggestions
by the classmates themselves.
From writing thisresearch paper, I have learnt two very important lessons. One is that
inclusive education is not only about special education but also about meeting the needs every
student in the classroom as well. The second lesson I have learnt is how people think and feel is
most critical to the inclusive classroom and how we manage it. Despite the many barriers and
negative effects, I believe thatinclusive programs are a work in progress and can be proven to be
effective.

24. References
Adams M., & Brown S. (2006). Towards Inclusive Learning in Higher Education,
Developing curricular for disabled students. USA, Canada: Routledge.
McLeskey J., Waldron L. N. (2000). Inclusive Schools in Action: Making Differences
Ordinary. USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Salend J. S. (1998). Effective Mainstreaming: Creating Inclusive Classrooms. Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey: Simon and Schuster/A Viacom Company.
Topping K., Maloney S. (2005). The RoutledgeFalmer Reader in Inclusive Education.
USA, Canada: RoutledgeFalmer.
Internet Sources
Berg, Shannon L. (2004). The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Inclusion of Students with
Disabilities into Regular Education Classrooms. Retrieved 1st March, 2011 from
http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2005/2005bergs.pdf
Hines, Rebecca A. (2001). Inclusion in Middle Schools. ERIC Digest. Retrieved 2nd March,
2011 from
http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-3/inclusion.htm
Seehorn, Ashley. (2011). Barriers and Benefits of Inclusion. eHow Family. Retrieved 4th March,
2011 from
http://www.ehow.com/about_5090952_barriers-benefits-inclusion.html