Topic: Teaching Exceptional Children in a regular classroom. (Dissertation Sample)

Teaching exceptional children in a regular classroom Name Institute Course Chapter two LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION In this chapter, we are going to have the theoretical aspects that are related to the study. With the relevant researchers done we are going to try to answer the research questions that are in association with this study. This chapter focuses on the behaviour and attitudes of disabled children and teachers in a regular classroom, the challenges and the benefits received from inclusive education as well as the approaches and methods teachers use in an inclusive classroom. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE With the increasing demand from the government and various international bodies to make sure that regular schools are including disabled children into their classrooms, schools from multiple countries are now having inclusive education as part of their curriculum, while some are trying to have inclusion implemented into their system. There are many challenges from teaching disabled children in the same classrooms as the children with no disabilities. I, therefore, decided to research the International Journal of Inclusive Education and found the article of the teachers' attitude towards educating the disabled children in a regular classroom which was the review of the literature which was done by de Boer, Pijl and Minnaert (2011). After analysing the research, I came to the understanding that the attitude of teachers who are teaching in the schools that offer inclusive education needs to be investigated thoroughly as well as the behaviour of the disabled children and the children with no disabilities in the classrooms. Many studies are available in support of inclusive education in the European countries but not so many articles were found from the other parts of the world. The UNESCO study is available in various literature review articles, and I summarised them accordingly as I researched the effective ways of teaching exceptional children in a regular classroom. DEFINITION OF TERMS In the quest to understand how disabled children can receive education in a regular classroom, it is essential that we, first of all, define the terms used in the research. During the Salamanca frameworks, the abbreviation (SEN) which is special education needs for the children and the youth who have difficulties in learning, as defined by UNESCO (UNESCO, 1994) The educational needs of the disabled children which were part of Warnock's Report of the philosophy (DES, 1978). It shows difficulties that may make the child to not reach their ability in the classrooms (Stakes and Hornby, 2000). The term is also used to describe the disabled children who have difficulties n achieving their full potential while in school. The disability can be deaf, blind, or even retarded. It also covers the ones who are dyslexic and the one who have difficulties with their emotions and behaviour (Hornby, 1998). Bickenbach et al. (2011) defined the term disability is the term that best describes the limitations of the individual's participation in an activity or physical impairments as a result of health problems (Bickenbach et al. 2011). In the pursuit to include the disabled children in the regular classrooms, the international community has not tired down and is committed to making sure that it is a success. According to Pijl and Dyson (1998), they defined the terms integration and inclusion as putting the disabled children in regular schools and educating them the same way as their peers (Pijl & Dyson, 1998). UNESCO, during the Salamanca framework, defined the term inclusion, where the schools have to follow the principle of providing education to all children without looking at the differences of the children (UNESCO, 1994). There is a more broad definition of the term inclusion by UNESCO which includes providing education for children who are gifted, street children, children who are from marginalised communities, children from the minority cultures and those from nomadic populations (UNESCO, 2003). Dupoux, Hammond, Ingalls and Wolman (2006), stated that the term inclusion is in use in USA and England, but integration is in use in the other parts of the world. These words often cause confusion and teachers cannot still differentiate them (Dupoux, Hammond, Ingalls and Wolman 2006). "Integración" which is a Spanish word meaning inclusion which has been in use by UNESCO during the Salamanca framework (UNESCO, 1994). There is a slight difference between these words, the studies that use both the words are not to be left out in this research of teaching disabled children in a regular classroom. The term exceptional children refer to children who are "gifted" in certain ways. It includes the children that have physical or mental disabilities and cannot be able to function reasonably as their peers. They can be the ones in elementary school, senior schools or the ones that have started school recently. The term difficulties in learning have been used to describe the state of the disabled children who have problems in learning like the other children who are in the same age group as them. Authors like Booth, Ainscow, Black-Hawking, Vaughn and Shaw (2000) however do not agree with the definition because it can lead to the problem of successful implementation of inclusive education in schools. They said that the term would give it a bad name and the teachers will think that it is only a specialist that can be able to deal with the disabled children (Booth, Ainscow, Black-Hawking, Vaughn and Shaw, 2000). According to Okpanachi (1995), he points out that special education is a tool that helps in the development of special education children to achieve their dream like the normal children without looking at the fact that they are different from the way they think, sense and process things (Okpanachi, 1995). Booth et al. (2000) refer to the word as ways to overcome learning barriers (Booth et al., 2000). Mittler (2000) argues that using the word special discriminates other like the ones living in poverty because inclusive education has not yet reached them (Mittler, 2000). EARLY STUDY ON INCLUSION ACROSS THE WORLD As we describe the first studies done on inclusion, it is crucial to look at the survey by Bowman (1986), as it gives us more insight into the topic. According to an investigation done by Bowman which was under UNESCO in (1986), he found out that in 1986, most of the teachers needed appropriate training for them to be able to work with the disabled children and wanted to work will small numbers while some of them were not even willing to participate in inclusion education (Bowman, 1986). The teachers also wanted the parents of the disabled children to be given advice accordingly and specialised equipment to be available to facilitate the teaching of the disabled children. They also wanted to be provided support from the various advisors of education when necessary. The study was in 14 countries, and over 100 schools were in the survey regarding the inclusion policy and the teacher's views regarding including disabled children in a regular classroom. The teachers said that they found children with medical and physical disabilities were easy to handle in a regular classroom, some of the teachers thought that the children who could not talk or listen properly could also easily fit in with the other children. A smaller number of teachers who had the survey concluded that the children who have moderate handicap could have the education in a regular classroom. An even lower amount of the teachers said that the children who cannot sense well could also be in a regular class. The number of teachers who thought that the children with a more serious mental handicap could be in a regular classroom was less than 10%. Furthermore, the teachers agreed that for the disabled children to be in a regular classroom, it is going to depend on the level of the disability. The ones who had severe disabilities were not favourable for inclusion. Although this study gives a broad introduction to the research that analyses how exceptional children can receive education in a regular classroom there is an excellent need for further investigation. BACKGROUND LITERATURE REVIEWS The findings from the study of Bowman (1986), has been found in many types of research to provide background information on teaching exceptional children n regular classroom. In a survey which was compiled by Scruggs and Mastropieri (1996), where they undertook a study from countries like USA, Australia and Canada, they agreed that although the teachers willingness to include disabled children in regular classroom depended on the level of disability, they, however, noted that both the disabled children and the ones without any limitation could benefit from inclusion. During the survey, the teachers were to answer the questions if the disabled children distracted the other children in the classroom and 30% of the teachers said yes and that they were a negative influence on the other children. The teachers went ahead and said that they did not want extra responsibilities that come with educating the disabled children or didn't have the time to deal with the disabled children (Scruggs and Mastropieri 1996). In the study of Scruggs and Mastropieri (1996), they came to support the findings of Hudson et al. (1979) that the teachers would do well with the aid of proper training which will help them to teach the disabled children. It is essential to know the attitude of the teachers towards having disabled children in regular classrooms as well as the response of the normal and the disabled children who are in the regular class. There is an agreement from both the teachers, parents that full inclusion of education is the best way for the disabled children to improve their social lives. Even as countries embrace the use of integration in the education systems for the disabl...