Unveiling Special Education: Understanding Its Essence
Studies conducted on the most appropriate way to care for early childhood children with special educational disabilities favor the inclusion of children with most categories of disability in the standard educational setting. In what is special education essay this topic will be considered. This approach is heavily leveraged by regulations and polices that have in the last 20 years improved the endorsement of inclusion and can be found in this essay. Inclusions in this context is understood to be accommodated within the established early childhood and primary school systems for children with reported emotional, physical, or psychological disadvantages. Within this assignment topics such as policies, professional collaboration, models of inclusion, Aim program, anti-bias approach, barriers faced and the importance of an inclusive practitioner, parent partnership and environment will be explored.
Inclusive education is so important as it enhances learning for all children, including those with and without disabilities. It encourages understanding, reduces prejudices and enhances social inclusion. It implies that children with disabilities are prepared to work and make an economic and social contribution to their societies. When preparing an ECCE setting certain policies should be introduced to help and guide teachers to learn how to care for children with difficulties, such as how for schools to educate all children together they will have to implement teaching approaches that lead to individual differences and thus serve all children. This is great policy as schools that include inclusion in their classrooms tend to boost children's confidence and are built to transform attitudes towards diversity by educating all children together and form the foundation for an equal and non-discriminatory community. “Іnclusive education is a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners”. An “inclusive” education system can only be created if ordinary schools become more inclusive, in other words, if they become better at educating all children in their communities.
One system to follow when creating certain polices is the policy review framework where inclusion in practice is seen to fit into the four sections - concepts of conclusion, policy statements, structures, systems, and practice. This can be used to make sure that the policies are not just statements but that they can incorporate and be used in the practice and fit in the school systems etc. The European agency of provision introduced many policies to include in the ECE settings to form an inclusive environment. Principles such as Widening participation to increase educational opportunity for all learners, Education and training in inclusive education for all teachers, Organizational culture and ethos that promotes inclusion, Policies and Legislations that promote inclusion, and more were included in these policies and should be introduced in each classroom to provide inclusion between all children in the setting. There are many models that show how children can be observed using these certain polices that have been enforced in their ece setting. This can be seen when children are encouraged to recognize their unique qualities and characteristics which they share with their peers, when the practitioners and ECEC are seen working with and communicating with the children's family. It can also be seen when the practitioners and staff realize and understand how different children learn and develop at different rates and have individual needs, views, cultures, and beliefs that must be regarded with respect and reflected in the early childhood programs and classrooms and how adjustable curriculums are formed with the needs of children in mind. By forming these regulations and connecting them with and building on from what you already know on the Aistear and Siolta guidelines it can support inclusive practices and by doing this you will be continuing to move for a more inclusive community for all people, starting with our youngest citizens.
The Aim (access and inclusive model) was a program introduced to ensure that children with disabilities can access and engage meaningfully in the Early Childhood Care and Education curriculum in conventional pre-school environments. This program aims to Empowers early years services to provide inclusive experiences, that ensures all children can participate meaningfully in the ECCE program and enjoy the benefits of consistent early years care and education. Aim is a child centered focused model with Seven stages of reformist help, moving from the all-inclusive to the more focused. For some children, the all-inclusive backings offered under the model will be adequate While for some, a specific discreet assistance can be needed to allow participation in the ECCE scheme, such as access to a piece of specialized equipment. An important curriculum is the anti-bias approach which is an ideology to early childhood education that lays out values-based concepts and strategies to foster respect for and acceptance of diversity and to act against prejudice and discrimination. In this approach practitioner are seen to observe children and adult play and interactions to detect any misinformation, discrimination or prejudice, and then establish strategies for coping with problems that occur. There are many goals that the approach aims towards disabilities some examples are Providing an inclusive education environment in which all children can succeed, enabling children with disabilities to develop autonomy, independence, confidence and pride, show children with disabilities how to handle and challenge name-calling, stereotypical attitudes and physical barriers, and many more. “The heart of anti-bias work is a vision of a world in which all children are able to blossom, and each child's particular abilities and gifts are able to flourish.”
There are many children in the world with different rages of disabilities, whether it is a learning disability or not who seek access to an excellent quality early years education. However, to reach this form of education, there are still certain difficulties for these children such as the environment they are present in is not inclusive and the staff and practitioners do not have the resources and knowledge to meet the children's diverse needs. Funding to hire specialist of teachers and practitioners with the right qualification and materials is also a great barrier faced towards education for children with extra needs. These inadequate funding will obstruct continuing professional growth, which brings both professionals and schoolteachers up to date with best inclusive practices. Accessibility should also be made available throughout the school for children who may need wheelchairs or other technical assistance. Many schools do not have ramps or accessible ways for a child to even enters their classroom. Accessibility however can go beyond just trying to get into halls, rooms, stairs, ramps etc., for example if a child has cerebral palsy and does not have the capacity to open a typical door handle, certain changes should be made to accommodate students in the classrooms with additional needs. One of the biggest barries faced is the negative attitudes by practitioners. These behaviors and stereotypes are mostly caused by a lack of awareness and knowledge. Although, by looking at these problems it may offer ideas for how early childhood teachers can help meet the needs of children with disabilities and how they can support them in the early childhood environment. It is seen how children learn and perform better in a developmentally effective curriculum that provides them with the resources they need to engage positively alongside their peers. Basic modifications and improvements help many children with disabilities, while some children will require more specialized, individualized assistance offered by special education practitioners. As a practitioner you should look out and observe the children and make the necessary decisions towards these problems and take into accountant you may need professionals in this area to come in and work with you, the children, and their families to help the child learn and develop in a way that suits their needs.
Two of the main factors involved in forming an all-inclusive early year's setting is:
- good reflective early childhood practitioner and the parent relationship
- the physical environment.
To ensure the meaningful inclusion of children with SEN in ECEC, it is important to ensure a culture of inclusion within the setting and partitioners are one of the main people that can model this for children. As adults, we are influenced by our own qualities and mentalities, by our social conditions, and by our characteristics. Our life conditions educate all that we do and illuminate what we believe is significant. Significant commitment with variety ideas, different personalities, and assets of information will be educated by our knowledge base, however in particular by fundamentally considering our attitudes. This is an important part in turning into an intelligent inclusive and reflective practitioner. Children can notice contrasts and similarities as a feature of their natural development and absorb positive and negative, messages about the differences. These impacts are essential for the children's advancement of self and group identity, just as confidence. Children learn and have their perspectives strengthened by attitudes they experience through relationships with parents, practitioners, and the more extensive community. The role of the adult is one of the most important aspect in creating a safe and inclusive place where children feel their needs are met thoroughly. Modelling certain behaviors will them to show children how we engage in their world and how they should not treat children who may have any type of disability differently to how they would like to be treated. A good activity to show this is having all children decorate an egg, when they have finished each child will then drop the egg to find it has smashed. The reasoning behind this activity is to show how the eggs are like people and even though we are all different on the outside were all the same in the inside.
The Practitioners should constantly be thinking of new ways to enhance their curriculum to fit all children and new ways to work. They should also perform regularly critical reflective practice and question and review the process of equality and inclusion in the classroom. An example of a practitioner using their knowledge on diverse disabilities of different children can be seen for instance when settings show their confidence in all children and make sure that accomplishment is made conceivable by arrangement of the right individual help. Reading books like 'Just Imagine' assist the kids with expressing their expectations. Practitioners can also give an assortment of materials and learning experiences that guarantee that all children are supported to participate and engage fully. Supporting the parents in the service is also particularly important and can result in positive outcomes including how the parents will continue to use what they have learnt in the setting at home and support their children beyond their early years.
The Parent partnership is especially important as it seen how the parent is the primary educator of the child and that talking regularly with parents and listening to their ideas and concerns is a primary factor for encouraging respect for diversity and introducing inclusive exercises. Creating a meaningful relationship with parents will help close the divide within home culture and early childhood service. Valuing and engaging parents and families in the service requires a proactive partnership approach that illustrates a range of clearly defined, accessible and implemented processes, policies, and practices. Although some parents may be hesitant shy or may take time to build a trust to get involved, with a little encouragement and showing you want to hear their ideas will encourage them to share insights on how the setting can be improved or adjusted for them. Parental and family involvement is so important and will help increase children's academic experiences and development by ensuring that they will have all the resources they need to thrive. This can also be a key component in preparing the environment. The physical environment is also a main contributor to an inclusive setting as if the setting is not safe, welcoming, and inclusive children will not want to participate and try to communicate with you. The environment is one of the first contributor families and children see and has a vital role in building individual and group identity within children and can show how diversity is accepted and valued in the classroom. Practitioners should adjust and create a physical environment that is suitable for all children in the classroom. It is important to display images of inclusion in the room and that negative stereotypes are never expressed in the material and imagery in the environment. An example is if there is a deaf child present in the class not only should the practitioner learn certain sign language to communicate with the child but, having posters up of genral sign language around the classroom to encourage other children to learn from can have a profound impact of inclusion within the school environment. Another example of social model is adjusting shelves that having material and books on them low down so that a child who is in a wheelchair can have just as much access to them as other children and will not always have to ask for help.
In conclusion, it is seen that inclusive or special education is very important as it provides all children with a chance of a proper education and that there are many important contributing factors such as the polices, aims, how to overcome certain challenges faced, relationships between families, practitioner's and children and the environment to provide inclusion for all children with learning differences or disabilities in the ELC sector.
