1. Inclusive education aims to provide education for all children and adults with various special needs in mainstream settings. It focuses on equality, respect, and accommodating diversity and disabilities without restrictions. 2. Special needs education is education that provides additional support and adaptive teaching methods to students who require extra assistance in learning, such as those with physical, intellectual, emotional or social disadvantages. It utilizes specific resources like trained personnel, equipment, modified content or objectives. 3. Inclusive education and special needs education both seek to respond to learner diversity and reduce exclusion, with the goal of facilitating learning for all.

1. 1. Inclusive Education
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2. 1.1 Meaning of Inclusivity and
Inclusive Education
• The concept of “inclusive education” has been used in various
contexts and to mean different things for different people.
• In Namibia for example, the understanding of inclusive
education has been limited to teaching of children with special
needs in “normal” or mainstream settings.
• In its wide context, inclusive education is an approach that
focuses on the provision of education to all children, youths
and adults with various special needs arising from various
circumstances , and responses of communities and societies
to those circumstances.
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3. Meaning of Inclusivity
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• Inclusive education is parallel to Education for All as quoted
below:
• “ Education for all must take account of the need of the poor
and the most disadvantaged, remote rural dwellers and
nomads, ethnic and linguistic minorities, children, young
people and adults affected by conflict, HIV/AIDS, hunger and
poor health and those with special learning needs” (UNESCO
2003:4).
• For Bevan-Brown (2006), inclusion means that people from
various backgrounds and diversity in terms of skin colour,
gender, socio-economic status, religion, capability, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, culture of physical appearance have the
right to be treated with equality, respect and dignity and be
regarded as valued members society.
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• Inclusion is also used in disability circles to convey the idea
that all education systems should freely and without any
excuses accommodate everyone without imposing
restrictions/limitations of any kind.
• Thus, inclusivity is not limited to ensuring that children and
adults a like with disabilities attend any school or institution of
their choice,
• However, people of differing abilities should be given
opportunities to participate in all activities of their choice and
be accorded the support they need in order to achieve their
goals and those of their communities.
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8. Meaning of Inclusivity
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• In the 1960s, segregation was a common practice and during that
time, charitable and religious organizations started to build schools
and homes for children and adults with disabilities.
• The quality of life of this persons was predominantly limited.
• This prompted International human rights organizations to
intervene.
• Therefore, this has lead to a shift towards normalization with an
emphasis on the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) concept.
• The LRE implied that, to a maximum extent and as far as possible,
people with disabilities should be educated in regular classrooms
with their peers without disabilities and only be withdrawn for the
purpose of receiving specialized services (Cushner et al, 1996)
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• Normalization meant “making available to all persons with
mental retardation patterns of life and conditions of everyday
living which are as close to regular circumstances and ways of
life of society” (Cushner et al, 1996).
• This gave rise to Special Needs Education, which can be
described as the education of persons with disabilities or
impairments, with a focus on Possibilities and Abilities.
• UNESCO (2005) View the concept of inclusion as a process of
addressing and responding to the diversity of needs for all
learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures
and communities and reducing exclusion within and from
education.
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• It involves changes and modifications in content, approaches,
structures and strategies, with a common vision which covers
all children and a conviction that it is the responsibility of the
regular system to educate all children.
• Thus, inclusive education is an approach that looks into how to
transform education systems and other learning environments
in order to respond to the diversity of learners.
• In elaboration of this definition, UNESCO(2005:14) identifies
four cornerstones of inclusion as follow:
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11. Meaning of Inclusivity
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• 1. Inclusion should be a continues activity of finding improved
ways of responding to diverse needs of learners.
• 2. Efforts to reduce elements that may have negative impacts
on learning should be a continues process.
• 3. All learners should be given an opportunity to experience in
the learning milieu
• Inclusion targets learners who , for one reason or another may
fall in a risk category.
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• Values and beliefs regarding inclusive education are as
follow(According to Follows B, 2009):
• Everyone has the right to education
• All children can learn
• Anyone can have difficulties in learning in certain areas or at
certain times
• Everyone needs their learning supported
• The school, teacher, family and community have joint primary
responsibilities for facilitating learning, not just the child
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• Differences should be valued, its normal and enriches society
• Discriminatory attitudes and behaviours should be challenged
• Teachers should be given an on-going support
• Education begins at birth, in the home and does not stop with
adulthood.
• Inclusive education creates opportunities for the needs of all
children to be addressed within a safe environment.
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14. Meaning of Inclusivity
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15. 1.2 Meaning of Special Needs
Education
• Education designed to facilitate the learning of individuals
who, for a wide variety of reasons, require additional support
and adaptive pedagogical methods in order to participate and
meet learning objectives in an educational programme,
(UNESCO:2011).
• Reasons may include but not limited to disadvantages in
physical, behavioural, intellectual, emotional and social
capacities.
• Educational programmes in special needs education may
follow a similar curriculum as that offered in the parallel
regular education system, however they take individuals
particular needs into account by providing specific resources.
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16. Meaning of Special Needs
Education…………
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17. Meaning of Special needs
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• Such special resources can include among others, trained
personnel, equipment or space and if appropriate, modified
educational content or learning objectives.
• These programmes can be offered for individual students
within already existing educational programmes, or be offered
as a separate class in the same or separate educational
institutions
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