Inclusion Debate

What is inclusion and how does the legislative mandate of IDEIA (Individual with
Disabilities Education Improvement Act, formerly known as IDEA – Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act) support its efforts.

Inclusion refers to allowing children with disabilities to access education in a “least
restrictive environment’ also known as the regular classroom. It implies that regular classroom
teachers teach exceptional children in inclusive classrooms (LeFrançois, 2018). Inclusion is
aimed at decreasing rejection of students living with disabilities by their peers, increasing peer
acceptance, and learning socially appropriate behaviors by students living with disabilities
(LeFrançois, 2018). IDEIA (Individual with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, formerly
known as IDEA – Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), has a legislative mandate to
support inclusion by ensuring that it is implemented. IDEA does this by advocating for zero
rejection and full parent participation. Every child has a right to access educational services
despite the seriousness of his or her disability (LeFrançois, 2018). Also, every parent has a right
to take part in his or her child’s education. It also has a provision that mandates inclusive
education by allowing children to study in the least restrictive environment. They also have a
provision for Individualized education plans (IEPs) that allow for individually designed
education plans for every child to ensure that every child’s learning needs are satisfactorily met.

Reasons Against Inclusion

Inclusion is an ambitious and noble idea; however, it still suffers from a fundamental
flaw as not all students have the same level of disability or educational levels. for example, in an

algebra class, a child who has an intellectual disability such as mental retardation will not be able
to use and access the same educational resources with students living without disabilities. Also, a
varsity basketball team comprising of students without disabilities will not accommodate
students with physical disabilities such as quadriplegia. Another example that shows why
students with different levels of disability cannot fit in one classroom no matter how inclusive it
tries to be is when a student has auditory processing disorders. Such a child may be severely
affected and may not stay in step with a classroom curriculum in spite of the methods or
practices that have been implemented to help him or her rise up to the level of his or her peers.

Inclusion is not the best way to enhance diversity as students with special needs might
find themselves being given a minor classroom role. In an inclusive classroom with a few
students with disabilities, the condition may hinder them from doing certain activities in class at
the same level as other students. For instance, a student with a learning disability may be seen as
having a poor performance when ranked with other students not having a disability. Also, a
student for example who uses a wheelchair may find himself or herself being relegated to a
minor role where he or she is excluded from certain activities being undertaken by other
students. Also, in such classes, teachers who co-lead such classrooms may find themselves in
situations where they have to look from outside as they attempt to put together resources and
necessary accommodations to help every student succeed in spite of their disability or disorder.
In so doing, other students may start getting bored and demotivated as their learning pace is
higher compared to other students in the same class.

The spillover effects of inclusion are felt the most by minority students or those living
with a disability. Inclusive classrooms imply that the teacher handling each class must have an
understanding of each disability. In a regular school, this is often not the case. The lack of

specialized teachers affects students with disabilities as their needs are often unmet. For instance,
a teacher who does not understand Asperger’s syndrome may not understand the behaviour of a
child living with the disorder. As such, the needs of such a child are neglected due to the lack of
a practical understanding of his or her condition. Also, such a teacher lacks the capacity to
provide a safe environment where the learning needs for all the students are met. Without teacher
preparation, then the child often feels left out, and this could lead to huge score gaps. An
inclusive classroom denies special students an alternative learning environment where all their
needs will be taken care of the right way and this tends to affect the child’s interest in education.
Also, when a teacher lacks specialized training, he or she may view students with disabilities as
the ones causing an academic drag in the learning progress of other students. In this case, the
students with disabilities are affected as their needs are overlooked because the teacher has a
curriculum to cover within a specified period of time. Such spillover effects have a huge impact
on students living with disabilities as their needs are rarely met.

References

LeFrançois, G. R. (2018). Psychology for teaching (2nd ed.). Retrieved from
https://content.ashford.edu