Inclusion in the Classroom

Advantages and disadvantages of inclusion in the classroom.

I think that there are many advantages and disadvantages of inclusion in the regular classroom. Some of the advantages are that the child has a feeling of belonging among his classmates and teachers, and it can also help the disabled child develop socially. The special education child can learn age-appropriate behaviors from his peers that he might not learn in a self-contained special education environment. It can also help the typically developing child learn some compassion for the kids that have developmental differences, which may generalize into the understanding that people are all important and valuable, even if they are not “just like me.” Also it makes sure that all students are granted an equal education. To make sure that inclusion works and that the learning disabled child does not fall behind in his work, an IEP, individualized education program, is set up. This is a plan that describes the educational program that has been designed to meet the disabled child’s unique needs.

Some of the disadvantages of full-time inclusion in the regular education classroom are that the disabled student can be disruptive to the other students, and the disabled student may feel bad if he cannot comprehend the material as fast as his peers, which can lead to low self esteem. Another problem that I think can happen is that the teacher can talk above the disabled child’s head, thus leading him to feel frustrated and bored. On the flip side, the teacher could slow down to teach the disabled child, thus creating boredom for the other