Theories and Frameworks for Teaching Disabled Learners (Essay Sample)

UNDERSTANDING THEORIES AND FRAMEWORKS FOR TEACHING DISABLED LEARNERS
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THEORIES AND FRAMEWORKS FOR TEACHING DISABLED LEARNERS
As knowledge about learning among disabled people grows, assumptions and limitations of present theories are tested, challenged, and substituted by new understandings. So far, beliefs about learners with disabilities in learning have a higher probability of influencing decisions concerning how to teach, and the types of approaches to using compared to new knowledge and insights (Badyal, D. and Singh, T. 2017). The focus is to assess the underlying reasons for providing education to disabled people. It helps make decisions concerning which businesses to undertake, strategies to adopt in the business field, and elements that lead to their fulfillment. The review of the literature identifies the underlying theoretical viewpoints which reflect or indicate effective teaching and training approaches for disabled people.
TASK A: LITERATURE REVIEW
Disabled people have a right to learn, and it is essential to understand the frameworks involved in the development of learning and teaching opportunities for them. There is a need for research to be conducted to explain the available opportunities that disabled people can explore in the quest to achieve their goals in life (Woolfolk, A., Davis, H., and Anderman, E. 2014). Unfortunately, some people still hide their children and family members with disabilities. They fail to expose them to the world to allow them to develop knowledge and skills in different fields that can help them become self-reliant. Some of these family members engage in such actions because they are not aware of the learning and teaching opportunities for disabled young and adults. It is consistent with sentiments shared by Perry (2015) that both disabled people and their guardians desire to find something constructive to make them independent and earn a living. Essentially, it is always a burden to the families to take care of their disabled people until old age. However, if they find something constructive for the disabled young people, they can enroll them and enable them to gain knowledge and skills for their future endeavors. Therefore, it is crucial for further research to be conducted to allow disabled individuals to gain experience and become empowered to work independently and earn a living.
Theories of Learning
The underlying theoretical perspectives that form the basis of effective teaching strategies and methods for learners with disabilities are behaviorism, cognitivism/constructivism, and socio-cultural models (Deustua, S. et al. 2019). These are families of ideas that are not mutually limited and have influenced and been influenced by the insight of one another into how individuals generally learn best. The effectiveness of specific teaching approaches depends mostly on their underlying purposes. For example, behaviorism or simply behavioral psychology is a theory centered on the notion that all comportments are attained through conditioning when people interact with the environment (Deustua, S. et al. 2019).
In other words, people’s responses to environmental stimuli determine their actions. According to Badyal and Singh (2017), behavior can be learned in a systematic and observable way regardless of internal mental states which means only observable behaviors such as emotions, cognitions, and moods should be considered. It means that any person can potentially be taught to undertake any duty irrespective of their personalities, internal thoughts, and genetic backgrounds (Badyal, D. and Singh, T. 2017). For this reason, disabled young and adults can be trained to become credible business managers to run some of the biggest corporations in the world because their actions are determined by their responses to environmental stimuli. If their actions are instigated by proper business strategies and approaches, their responses to competition in the market would be spot on to make them as competitive as normal individuals. Therefore, behaviorism, cognitive, and socio-cultural models are critical in helping disabled people learn and be trained as business managers.
The Social Model of Disability
The social model of disability is a school of thought that holds to the idea that disability is caused by the manner in which the society is organized as opposed to a person’s difference or impairment (Beaucham-Pryor, K. 2016). This model sees disability as an outcome of the interaction between individuals living with impairments and the surrounding full of attitudinal, physical, communication, and social barriers. The social model of disability believes that the attitudinal, physical, social environment and communication must change to make it possible for individuals living with disability to engage in societal activities equivalently with others (Beaucham-Pryor, K. 2016). Such an understanding is crucial to teaching disabled learners because it gives the teacher the courage to be the difference in the society and environment that holds the mentioned barriers.
Social model perspective gives teachers of disabled people the desire and courage to challenge the attitudinal, physical, communication, and social, environmental barriers to accommodate disability as an anticipated event of human diversity. Therefore, the social model of disability has a significant influence on all-encompassing learning prospects for disabled individuals because it brings a new understanding to the society and enables teachers to embrace a positive attitude as they take on the role of transforming the lives of disabled people in the society.
Effect of Attitudes to Disability on Learning Opportunities for Disabled People
In teaching practice, beliefs, and views concerning the learners with disability are likely to play a role in decisions concerning how to teach and the best approaches to embrace. These views and beliefs are largely influenced by cultural practices, societal belief systems, and general environmental attitudes about disabled people in society. It means that instead of being directed by fresh knowledge and intuitions concerning learning, judgments on best approach to educate the disabled will largely be manipulated by the same belief systems and attitudes concerning these people, their disabilities, and their place and status in the society (Maia, E. Pagliuca, L. and de Almeida, P. 2014). Consequently, such attitudes and beliefs influence ideas concerning the types of establishments that meet their special or mainstream. The good news is that clear understanding of theories for teaching disabled learners to transform the beliefs and attitudes of teachers and enable them to make sober decisions on which conceptual and practical strategies to employ that would suit the fulfillment of the disabled students.
Definition and Significance of Inclusive Learning for Disabled Learners
Inclusive learning can be defined as a learning process that recognizes all learners as primary stakeholders who are entitled to learning experiences that facilitate participation for all, respects diversity, eliminates barriers, and expects and considers learning needs and preferences of all students. Inclusive learning takes into consideration all students irrespective of their backgrounds, economic status, ethnicity, or physical state. Inclusive learning is essential for developing and upholding learning set up where all students are entirely respected and engaged (Leo, J. et al. 2018). They also create a serene environment where all students are open to outlooks, notions, and ways of thinking that are different from theirs. Inclusive learning is extremely significant in facilitating education for disabled people. It forms the basis for policies to be made that favor disabled learners. This is because inclusive learning depicts education as a human right where all humanity has the right to it. For this reason, inclusive learning is significant in understanding and promoting frameworks for teaching disabled learners.
Challenges of Implementing Inclusive Learning
Even though inclusive learning has numerous benefits, it still faces some obstacles to its implementation. The first one is the issue of attitude where many people still hold the old attitude that students with disability should not be mixed with normal students. A whole organization approach requires that one institution hosts and offers quality education to both normal and disabled learners. However, that has been difficult to realize given that people hold the traditional attitude that disabled children should not be educated and if it is a must that they go to school, then they should have their separate schools (Leo, J. et al. 2018). This has been a major challenge coupled with the issue of minority cultures where both normal and disabled children from minority groups cannot be allowed to schools of the majority culture. This impunity has to stop if the country wants to realize the level playing field for normal and disabled people in society.
The second issue is physical barriers whereby several schools do not have facilities to accommodate learners with special needs adequately. Local governments lack funds to facilitate the accommodation of these learners, and even when the funds are available, some do not feel like offering financial help. Other major challenges include curriculum differences, the inadequacy of teachers who can teach both normal and disabled children, and poor organization of the education system, among other issues. There is a need to integrate various approaches t...