SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS WITHIN A SECONDARY SCHOOL SETTING

Special education students within a secondary school setting

Special education students within a secondary school setting

Introduction

Special schools have existed in Australia since the 1880s and special education classes were established in regular schools during the 1930s (Ashman & Elkins, 1998). State governments, however, only assumed responsibility for teaching all students, including those with severe intellectual disabilities, in the 1970s (Ashman & Elkins, 1998). Education systems offered a continuum of services ranging from special classes and units in regular schools to special education centers and schools which were built on separate grounds. Since then, there have been major changes to the provision of special education services. Based on the principle of normalization (Wolfensberger, 2000), integration of students with disabilities into regular classes became popular in Australia in the 1980s (Forlin, 1997; Gow, Ward, Balla, & Snow, 1988; Loreman, 1999)}. When integrated, students from special education classes in secondary schools would spend part of their school week in regular classes with their peers. Students tended to be integrated in more practical subjects such as art, music, industrial arts or home science.

The impact of the 1992 Disability Discrimination Act (Commonwealth Government of Australia, 1992) on the numbers of students with disabilities enrolled in regular classes in regular schools has been dramatic (Productivity Commission, 2003). An increasing number of parents exercise their rights to send their children with disabilities to regular schools and expect them to be included in all aspects of school life (Senate Employment Education and Training Reference Committee, 2002). The Disability Standards for Education (2005) (Commonwealth of Australia, 2005) clearly state that students with disabilities must not only have physical access to regular schools, but must be able to access the curriculum as well. Although the majority of teachers were not prepared for inclusion during their preservice training, they have taught or are teaching students with disabilities (Forlin, 2001; Productivity Commission, 2003).

Defining “inclusion”

“Inclusion” refers to all people being valued, accepted and respected regardless of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, socio-economic circumstances, abilities, gender, age, religion, beliefs and behaviours (Forlin, 2004; United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, 1994). Inclusion is a human rights or social justice principle which embodies values such as equity and fairness (Ainscow, 2005). In an inclusive school, children are not treated equally but are given equitable support to enable every child to be able to participate physically, socially and academically with their peers. This means that the environment, curriculum, teaching methods, assessment and reporting could all need to be adjusted or differentiated. A child in a wheelchair may need ramps to adapt the physical environment. Teaching may need to cater for a student's learning needs in the same way. A child with a learning disability may need more assistance with reading or to be able to present knowledge verbally rather than in written form. A child who has difficulty concentrating may need the amount of work to be reduced, to have tasks presented one at a time and to be shown how ...