Niamh Arklie
Where Do I Fit In?: How Inclusive is our Education System?
AAD Dissertation Studio 13 2019–20
Extracts from Niamh Arklie, Where Do I Fit In?: How Inclusive is our Education System?
Dissertation Studio 13 ‘If I stay silent nothing will change’: Identity, Politics, Social Change and Creative Culture(s) Tutor: Christina Paine
School of Art, Architecture and Design London Metropolitan University 2020
Where Do I Fit In?: How Inclusive is our Education System? Niamh Arklie
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Preface I have made the text and layout of this dissertation accessible to as many people as possible by using colour, spacing and text that is known to be inclusive of most reading styles.1
L. Rello, J.P. Bigham :Good Background Colors for Readers: A Study of People with and without Dyslexia, ASSETS ’17, October 29-November 1, 2017, Baltimore, MD, USA. 1
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Chapter 1 - Inclusion in schools: What's not working. The idea of inclusion and the phrase Inclusive Education was first recognised in the mid-1990s and has been the subject too much debate since. Although today, what the word inclusion means in an education environment has become muddled. To understand Inclusive Education today, we must look at it in the past. The concept of inclusive education is closely linked with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Up until the 1980's the only main way identifying SEN individuals was following a list of 12 classifications of disabilities. The Warnock Report of 19882, tried to show that children's disabilities didn't fit into one box. This list tended to make broad assumptions about SEN individuals and caused people to form hypotheses without getting to know their specific needs. This report suggested that rather than children just being assigned a disability, they had a detail report of their needs. Children with SEN still have this report allowing teachers to tailor their teaching to support their needs. Due to budget cuts in the education sector, this is becoming harder for teachers to do. Without the support of teaching assistants in the classroom teachers are expected to teach well over 20 children and support each one individually creating an overwhelming environment. After the Warnock Report, the focus on children with SEN moved form separate services to education that was additional to mainstream schools. The Audit Commissions of 19983 showed 'special schools' were the preferred place of education for 48% of SEN children. Many teachers feel children will get their needs better met in a special school; these schools often have smaller class sizes, tailored lessons to support students and more one-on-one teaching for pupils. These schools can be seen as segregation, and often students don't have a real-life view of the outside world. One of the arguments for separate SEN schools is that children will have their education tailored to best suit their needs and teachers are trained in specialist methods and techniques. However researchers frequently challenge Warnock, Mary. Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People. London: H.M.S.O., 1978. 2
Participation, Expert. “Audit Commission Act 1998 (Repealed).� Legislation.gov.uk. Statute Law Database, June 11, 1998. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/18/contents. 3
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this notion, Ann Lewis and Brahm Norwich4 clearly showed they failed to find any evidence this is the case, and they suggest that all teachers should be trained to make education more inclusive for all learners. In 1994 UNESCO5 made a plea to the British government "to adopt the principle of inclusive education, enrolling all children in regular schools unless there are compelling reasons for doing otherwise". The government was therefore committed to looking after the needs of children that would be unmet in the mainstream system. Fredrickson and Cline6 note that it is crucial "wherever possible to return children to the mainstream and to increase the skills and resources available in mainstream schools". This commitment has caused a change in the previous ideas of integration and inclusive education. There is a vast difference between integration and inclusion. The definition of integrate is: “to bring (people or groups with particular characteristics or needs) into equal participation in or membership of a social group or How institution."7 and inclusion: "the practise or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised, such as those who have physical or mental disabilities and members of other minority groups."8 The idea of integration would mean getting rid of the pupil with SEN to create an environment where everyone learns the same way as the majority, the pupil would be expected to change their learning style in-order to fit in with the rest of the students. Inclusion, however, would require a radical change in the current school system. Rethinking the curriculum, teaching methods and learning environments to create an environment that provides for all children. Norwich, Brahm, and Ann Lewis. “How Specialized Is Teaching Children with Disabilities and Difficulties?” Journal of Curriculum Studies 39, no. 2 (2007). https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00220270601161667. 4
“Framework for Action on Special Needs Education.” International Review of Education 40, no. 6 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01102826. UNESO. 5
Norah Fredrickson and Tony Cline, Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Diversity, ed. by Open University Press, Second edn ([n.p.]: Mc Grow Hill, 2009), p. 70-76. 6
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Delahunty, Andrew. Oxford First Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
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Delahunty, Andrew. Oxford First Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Page 4
A common fear among parents is that children without SEN will have less teacher time as the teachers will be preoccupied tending to SEN children, they are also concerned their child will pick up bad behaviour from SEN pupils. Given there is very little research in this field it is hard to comment however Fredrickson and Cline found "none of the studies found any deceleration of academic progress for the mainstream students”, also "teacher time spent attending to mainstream pupils was not found to be affected by the presence of students with severe disabilities and mainstream children did not pick up 'undesirable' behaviour." Various inclusion programs have been studied and reviewed by Genevieve Manset and Melvyn Semmel9, and they have examined the outcomes of students with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) and those without. Their results of SEN students in mainstream education compared to those educated in SEN schools was variable. Neither mainstream or SEN schools came out on top when looking at English and Maths with results not favouring one or the other. All students without SEN needs they compared had improvements in their grades within an inclusive setting compared to those in non-inclusive. They decided based on their research that "efforts to transform the mainstream into an effective environment for students with disabilities may also have a positive impact on normally achieving students, at least on measures of basic skills". The dangers of narrow-minded approaches to SEN has been highlighted in government policies. It is often taught in teacher training that "schools should not automatically assume that children's learning difficulties always results solely or even mainly from problems within the child. The school's practices can make a difference - for good or ill". Similarly, the Code of Practice for SEN10 says "It should be recognised that some difficulties in learning may be caused or exacerbated by the school's learning environment or adult/child relationships."
Manset, Genevieve, and Melvyn I. Semmel. “Are Inclusive Programs For Students With Mild Disabilities Effective? A Comparative Review Of Model Programs.” The Journal of Special Education 31, no. 2 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1177/002246699703100201. 9
Phillips, Sylvia, and Kathleen Kelly. Assessment of Learners with Dyslexic-Type Difficulties. Los Angeles: Sage, 2018.
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Perhaps we should refer to children as having different educational needs as oppose to having SEN. Seeing them as such may encourage a more inviting approach in teaching and the classroom. It would promote a more inclusive environment, the little research there is seems to lend itself to education in an inclusive manner. "we should talk of children who experience difficulties in learning in schools to indicate that such difficulties arise in the context of a relationship between teachers, pupils and the curricula" Frederickson and Cline. Many researchers have mentioned the importance of knowing the difference between children with SEN and people who have needs by circumstances such as language barriers, cultural and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. According to Fredrickson and Cline11, special needs and SEN are often confused in the education environment hindering students learning severely. For example "expecting the same staff to have expertise in teaching reading to children who are making slow progress and in teaching English as a second language" and "low expectations being held of all children from ethnic and linguistic minorities". Many researchers have shown the current UK education system doesn't work for every child equally and often focuses on changing the individual to fit their ideal of a perfect student. Instead of doing this, we should be looking into ways that allow us to accommodate all children's specific needs. In conclusion, we should consider the idea of improving the current school system to be inclusive of all SEN and non-SEN needs. Inclusive education would benefit all students not only academically but also in a way that will help the wider society; this would require the government to overturn the current education system and urge teachers to meet the individual learning needs of all pupils. Encouraging a broad sense of community and understanding others different to us. Inclusion is a constant evolution that will take more than one change in education; it would "require schools to engage in a critical examination of what can be done to increase the learning and participation of the diversity of students within the school and its locality". Fredrickson and Cline define education as a "process of change" and the people they investigated repeated that the best what to improve education Norah Fredrickson and Tony Cline, Special Educational Needs, Inclusion and Diversity, ed. by Open University Press, Second edn ([n.p.]: Mc Grow Hill, 2009). 11
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is for people to start taking responsibility for those that have been excluded from "normal" education. The current Government policy states it is trying to work towards total inclusion in schools; this is currently not strictly practised, causing a hindrance to the process. It is down to the local authorities in each area to make sure this enforced. As a whole, I would say the UK needs to work more on excepting inclusivity and not excluded others because they're different. In the next chapter, I will focus on the factors that are currently preventing the total inclusion of pupils in schools.
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