making school inclusive

1. Making
Schools
Inclusive
CHAPTER 3

3. (ONCLSIINU) 1 . It is about minimizing all barriers to play,
learning and participation for all children.
Try this!
(SREIRRAB) 2. Refers to obstacles that prevent movements or
access.
(XELCUSOIN) 3. Refers to all those temporary or longer lasting
pressures that get in a way of
participation.

4. THINK OF THESE!
1. As individuals how can we contribute to
making an inclusive school and community?
2. What do you think are the common barriers
to inclusion? How can we eradicate them?
3. Why establishing culture is important in
making inclusive policies and practices?

5. Competencies
This chapter aims for you to develop the following
competencies:
1. the ability to respond effectively to educational
needs of students with additional needs; and
2. the ability to create safe, inclusive, and culturally
responsive learning environments for students with
additional needs.

6. INTRODUCTION
This chapter shall provide insights and practical tip on
cultivating inclusive habits and implementing such practices
in the classroom effectively. It is entirely based on the Booth
and Ainscow (2002) framework to help schools determine
their next steps in shifting to a more inclusive setting.

7. INTRODUCTION
Diversity is the new "normal"
Inclusive practices must be dynamic and
collaborative.
To be truly inclusive, educators must
always check for the presence,
participation, and achievement of their
learners.
Differentiation plays an important role
in the success of inclusive education
practices.

8. A UNIFYING FRAMEWORKS
In 2002, Booth and Ainscow came up with an Index for
Inclusion, which aims to direct educational institutions
developing their own next steps and action plans if they want
to restructure into becoming more inclusive. "It takes on the
social model of disability as its starting point, builds on good
practice, and then organizes the index work around a cycle of
activities which guide schools through stages of preparation,
investigation, development, and review" (UNESCO 2005:30).

9. THREE DIMENSIONAL FRAMEWORK

10. Booth and Ainscow (2002) explained that these three dimensions –
creating inclusive cultures, evolving inclusive practices, and producing
inclusive policies – are interconnected and "chosen to direct thinking
about school change" (2002:7).
Considered the backbone of the framework is the laying down and
establishing of an inclusive culture. Without this at the foundation, it will
be quite difficult to get people to shift policies and practices.
A non-supportive culture would most likely result in resistance from the
school's direct stakeholders.
They explain that these three dimensions also branch out into sections to
further guide schools into implementing more direct steps toward this
paradigm shift.

11. Dimension A. Creating inclusive cultures
Section A.1 Building community
Section A.2 Establishing inclusive values
This dimension creates a secure, accepting, collaborating, and stimulating
community, in which everyone is valued as the foundation for the highest
achievements of all. It develops shared inclusive values that are conveyed to
all new staff, students, governors, and parents/carers. The principles and
values, in inclusive school cultures, guide decisions about policies and moment
moment to moment practice in classrooms, so that school development
becomes a continuous process.

12. Section B.1 Developing the school for all
Section B.2 Organizing support for diversity
This dimension makes sure that inclusion permeates all school plans. Policies
encourage the participation of students and staff from the moment they join the
the school, reach out to all students in the locality, and minimize exclusionary
pressures. All policies involve clear strategies for change. Support is considered
to be all activities which increase the capacity of a school to respond to student
student diversity. All forms of support are developed. according to inclusive
principles and are brought together within a single framework.
DIMENSION B. Producing inclusive
policies

13. DIMENSION C. Evolving inclusive
practices
Section C.1 Orchestrating learning
Section C2 Mobilizing resources
This dimension develops school practices which reflect the inclusive cultures and
and policies of the school. Lessons are made responsive to student diversity.
Students are encouraged to be actively involved in all aspects of their education,
education, which draws on their knowledge and experience outside school. Staff
Staff identify material resources and resources within each other, students,
parents/carers, and local communities which can be mobilized to support
learning and participation.

14. I. CREATING INCLUSIVE CULTURES

15. Inclusive education is an ongoing COLLABORATIVE PROCESS that needs to be
dynamically revisited. For it to truly work. Its essence has to resonate to all
stakeholders of education.
Who are the stakeholders?
 In educational reform, stakeholders are those who are "Invested in the
welfare and success of a school and its students.“
 In other words, these are the teachers, administrators, school staff, officials and
other workers, the parents and their families, the community, and the government.
 They may also be collective entities like local businesses, advocacy groups. the media,
sociocultural institutions, and other organizations that may be directly or indirectly
involved in education

16. 1. What Stakeholders Can Do
The rights-based approach to educational programming "insists
that no right can exist without a corresponding governmental
obligation" (Van den Brule Balescut & Sandkull 20051.
Thus, governments and communities are starting to understand
how they are accountable to children with additional needs in
fulfilling their right to education and providing access to quality
education that is also safe, welcoming, and inclusive.
Legally defining terms and formalizing a system for setting up
inclusive schools in areas where there are none to begin with
ensures uniformity, universality, consistency of implementation,
and eventual success of inclusion in the country.

17. Set the parameters for inclusion
The government has identified key people and
professions, and highlighted important factors
leading to the success of inclusive education-i.e.,
placement process, committees, staffing and
responsibilities, teacher training and
compensation, incentives for private sector
participation, and collaboration of the
Department of Education with other branches of
government.

18. Build key people
The government recognizes the need for teacher
training, both in the special needs education and
general education levels. It also pushes for the use of
evidence-based teaching frameworks, provision of
student assistance, and access to instructional
materials. Most importantly, calls are made for
continuing research and forming of policies to be
initiated by agencies such as the Department of
Education so as to further refine the inclusive process
process and have it tailored to fit to the needs of
children with additional needs.

19. This is an important factor that every nation has to
constantly revisit as the needs of students across
continents, though similar, would have nuances
depending on where they reside. Educational
frameworks cannot just be lifted and "copy pasted"
with the expectation the what worked for one country
will work for another.
UNESCO (2005) state that clarity of purpose, realistic
goals, motivation, support, resources, and an
evaluation of policies and practices all contribute to a
successful shift toward inclusion.

20. UNESCO's Guide for Inclusion (2005) advocates
for the identification and removal of obstacles
that have to do with transforming prevailing
attitudes and values on a systemic level.
Identify and eradicate barriers

21. The Philippine government seems to be in
consonance with this aspect in the light of its
existing legislative policies that ground the
undeniable importance of inclusion. It is also
continuously reorganizing structures in education
and implementing programs that highlight the
need for primary stakeholder like the school, the
parents, and other policy makers, to acquire more
understanding and capacity-building to manage
an inclusive environment.

22. Common Barriers to Inclusion
Attitudes, values systems, misconceptions,
and societal norms – can lead to prejudices
and/or actual resistance to implement
inclusive practices (UNESCO 2005).
Physical barriers – the lack of building,
facility, transportation, or road accessibility
are types of physical barriers that can literally
literally affect one's mobility.

23. Curriculum - a rigid "one size fits all" type of curriculum that does not
allow room for individual differences can significantly stunt one's learning
learning and opportunity for growth.
Lack of teacher training and low teacher efficacy – whether training in
teaching strategies, using curriculum frameworks, or behavior and
classroom management, lack of training as well as low confidence in
one's own skills can directly affect how inclusive practices are
implemented.
Poor language and communication – language barriers may also directly
have implications on how well inclusive practices are implemented.
Common Barriers to Inclusion

24.  Lack of funding – enough funding can allow for training more teachers as
well as coming up with more appropriate programs. instructional
materials, or facilities; lack of funds can be limiting and debilitating to
to schools.
 Lack of policies – policies have the ability to unify beliefs and mobilize
resources; unfortunately, lack of it can become a convenient justification
justification for inaction.
 Organization of educational systems – centralized systems may have
some type of detachment in terms of implementing policies and seeing
seeing the reality of how such policies are affecting learners and other
other stakeholders.
Common Barriers to Inclusion

25. Common Barriers to Inclusion
Too much focus on performance – based standards-
schools have also reportedly refused inclusion
because of fear that the presence of learners with
with additional needs will pull down their rankings
rankings in standardized tests.

26. 2. Special Education vs. Mainstreaming vs. Inclusive
Education
Part of what needs to occur when creating cultures is to also determine
distinctions among frameworks and practices. Most important in this
scenario is to understand how different special education, mainstreaming.
and inclusive education are from each other.
In the previous chapter. we discussed how special education is often
regarded as segregated and exclusive. It has to be noted, however, that this
perception is entirely due to its nature of addressing cases in a highly
individualized way. This is not to mean that special education is an
environment that violates human rights. Because special education assesses,
instructs, and evaluates students individually and intentionally, this type of
educational setting is beneficial to those with very unique needs as well.

27. 2. Special Education vs. Mainstreaming vs. Inclusive
Education
Mainstreaming shares more similarities with inclusion than
with special education. Both look at integrating the child with
additional needs into a general education setting. There are,
however, nuances between the two as well

28. Comparing Special Ed, Inclusion, and Mainstreaming
Special
Education
Inclusion Mainstreaming
Learners Students who are
are part of the
classroom norm.
All same-aged
peers learners
are in one class
regardless of
ability
Selected learners
learners are
included in a
general
education class
based on their
readiness
instead of their
age.

29. Comparing Special Ed, Inclusion, and Mainstreaming
Special
Education
Inclusion Mainstreaming
Curriculum Strengths-based
and needs based
individualized
curriculum
General
education
curriculum
Learner may
have access to
both general
education
curriculum and a
a more
individualized
curriculum.

30. Comparing Special Ed, Inclusion, and Mainstreaming
Special
Education
Inclusion Mainstreaming
Assessment and
Evaluation
Mostly strengths-
strengths- based
but in sometimes
sometimes is
also standards-
based
Norm-referenced
referenced
Both norm-
referenced and
strengths-based

31. Comparing Special Ed, Inclusion, and Mainstreaming
Special
Education
Inclusion Mainstreaming
Learning
Placement and
Delivery of
Services
All services hap pen
pen inside the
special education
classroom but other
other services such
as therapeutic
interventions may
be integrated into
this setting or
delivered
separately.
All services
happen inside
the general
education
classroom.
Receives services in
in both the general
education class-
room and outside
through the use of
resource rooms and
and therapeutic
programs.

32. Comparing Special Ed, Inclusion, and Mainstreaming
Special
Education
Inclusion Mainstreaming
Philosophy Learner-centered:
Some learners have
have very specific
needs that may not
be appropriately
addressed in a
general education
classroom.
Rights-based: All
learners have a
right to access
quality education
education that is
is available to
others.
Preparatory and
Integrative:
Learners are given
access to general
education but will
need to catch up on
on skills first.

33. II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE POLICIES

34. II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE POLICIES
Inclusion starts with an acceptance and embracing of
diversity. It is difficult to start movement if this
practice is not rooted on a culture that assumes the
right perspectives and values. For simultaneous
paradigm shifts to happen among its education
stakeholders, schools must first create a new culture.

35. II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE POLICIES
UNESCO (2005) realistically acknowledges that a societal change in
attitude need not be initially present in a community before
inclusion can be fully practiced. Rather, it must be viewed as a
perspective or an ideal to work toward. Without this realization,
differences in standards and quality of education may surface as
potential problems. Just very recently, the pre-service education
curriculum was restructured so that special needs education units
are not only given to special needs education majors but to other
education majors as well. This is a huge step for teachers and a
nod to inclusive education.

36. The following is a list of other
possible steps that educators
can take to facilitate the much-
needed societal shift and
inform policy:

37. Involve other sectors of society
Current training and awareness campaigns seem to limit the movement of
inclusion to a mere home-school relationship. At most, these are extended to
the departments for social welfare and health. However, for an inclusive set-
up to truly be successful, active involvement of the entire community must be
ensured.
For instance, those in the business, commercial, security, and religious sectors
must also be given representation in trainings.
The idea is for everyone-regardless of their training or exposure-to become
more sensitive and aware of the PWD population. The more aware a
community is, the more it will be able to help.

38. Collaborate
Whether creating an academic program specific to a child with additional
needs or creating a new legislative bill for the PWD community, collaboration
is crucial.
Each member of the inclusive education team would have their own
strengths and weaknesses, and these have to be used wisely to benefit the
child with additional needs.
Del Corro-Tiangco (2014) states that general education teachers are trained
in the general curriculum but would not know how to teach and manage
children with additional needs; while a special needs education teacher
would be equipped to handle atypical behaviors but would not know much
about the general education curriculum. True collaboration would guarantee
an inclusive program that would cover as many areas as possible.

39. Recognize the shift in roles of the teachers
With the shift to inclusive education, the role of special education
(SPED) teachers suddenly seems to be reduced to only "as
needed.” As a result, the SPED teacher's role no longer becomes
that of an Implementer but that of a consultative nature instead. It
also becomes the responsibility of the general education teacher
to know what to do when faced with a learner with additional
needs in his or her classroom.

40. The SPED teachers' role-their trainings, their
insights, and their skills as a supposed prime
mover in the inclusive education framework-
must neither be diminished nor disregarded.
Instead, these must be used to ensure a good
inclusive program is provided to children with
additional needs. Conversely, general
education teachers must go through skills
training and capacity. building workshops to
ensure that they are supporting all types of
learners in their classrooms appropriately.

41. Include transitions in planning.
An abrupt systemic change that is not well-planned or that
disregards practices–whether existing or implied-may
hinder the shift to inclusion and cause resentment from all
stakeholders. Instead, current practices have to be
respected and honored so as to facilitate a gradual shift to
inclusive education.

42. Booth and Ainscow (2002) recommend that schools
reflect on their current policies and practices to check
check their readiness for an inclusive set-up. They also
also devised a questionnaire that would help
administrators, faculty, and other stakeholders
comprehensively gather baseline data. A move that
would greatly help in informing policy would be to
examine different aspects of the school and the
delivery of its services.

43. Specifically, schools may look at the following:
 Student admissions
 Accessibility to utilities and facilities
 Supports available to students, parents, and school
personnel
 Learner accommodations
 Exclusionary or discriminatory incidents
 Number of bullying cases
 Faculty and staff promotions