inclusion

INCLUSION
Inclusive Education is the main initiative policy with respect to children who have special educational needs, disabilities to remove barriers, improve outcomes and remove discrimination (DfES, 2001). According to the Salamonca statement (UNSECO, 1994) every child has a fundamental right to education and must be given an opportunity to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of learning. Every child is unique with their own characteristics, interests’ abilities and learning needs. Therefore the education system should be designed and implemented to take into account a wide diversity of children’s differences

Children have the right to access an inclusive curriculum and teachers have the responsibility to be prepared to teach children with a range of needs. Effective inclusion requires a positive school ethos towards those children who have more difficulties in school. (Biddulph 1998) states that “effective inclusive schools require clear inclusion policies and ongoing professional development for staff”. Teachers should not be expected to know how to support children with additional learning needs without the necessary training beforehand; a lack of knowledge on behalf of the teacher can be an unintentional barrier to successful inclusion of an individual. (Cougher 1997) suggests that inclusion is not a fixed state and that it is a process that will take time to be achieved. Teachers and children need to become accustomed to the changes.

The practical test of labelling the classroom can help the children to start to recognise common words and it might help in children becoming fluent readers.

2. Differences of boys and girls educational achievement were discussed as early as 1867 in a School Inquiry Commission in the U.K (Duke and Smith 2007).Debates about the kind of education were still going on until 1987. The questions associated with the education of boys were raised by feminist Madeline Arnot. Attention was drawn to classroom practices which disadvantaged girls. They included a number of reasons, such as allowing boys to dominate the classroom as well as setting different and low standards for girls. Teachers had lower expectations for girls for example directing them into nursing while boys were encouraged into medicine. The situation has now come to be the opposite. Boys are now underachieving than girls or maybe that boys are working to their level, but the level is lower than the girls.

There are many proposed causes of boys’ underachievement. Girls are thought to be more motivated than boys within school and may be more willing to complete tasks given to them. Also, it is believed that boys are more influenced by peer pressure. Literacy, for example, is seen as a feminine subject. Boys are more likely to try to “protect their macho image” (DfEE, 2001) and not produce work they are capable of in order to be socially accepted. It has been suggested that teachers tend to use different language between the genders; boys are usually being reprimanded, whereas girls are being asked questions and encouraged to express their opinions about the topic. This may lead to the children having a different view of the importance of Literacy and how to value their ideas.

There are also different biological factors that contribute to boys’ underachievement. The first reason offered by Smith and Dukes (2007) is genetic. They argue that there is evidence that females have a predisposition to be better communicators than males. Women have a much greater part of the brain which is greater than the male
In order for inclusion to be successful, it needs to have the support of the whole school. Teachers need to feel that they are supported in their efforts to include all children, even the most disruptive of pupils. Training needs to be available, and there needs to be the opportunity to share strategies between teachers in a school. If all of this is done then it is likely that a school will be able to operate a successful policy of inclusion, which will have a positive effect on the education of all children in the school. There has been much research and debate on the merit of strategies that improve the learning of children with Learning Difficulties. The main point that has been highlighted throughout the research is the importance of inclusion in supporting and improving all children’s education. It has been found that although teaching strategies are important, teachers and schools must consider that the ethnicity, culture, religion precious experiences and social background play an important role as well when approaching inclusion.