Disabilities In Mainstream Settings Research Articles

Who am I with others?: Selfhood and shuwa among mainstream educated deaf and hard-of-hearing Japanese youth

ABSTRACT Drawing upon long-term ethnographic research, this article examines the interlinking processes of “self-searching” (jibun sagashi) and sign language acquisition among deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) Japanese youth, together with the role of friendships. At the center of this study are self-identified “inte” (short for “integration”): DHH youth ages 18 to 24 who were educated in mainstream schools. Schools for the deaf have been positioned as one of the “pillars” of deaf communities around the world, playing an important role in transmitting language and culture while providing spaces for belonging. These schools are perceived by many DHH people as sites of inclusion, sameness, and mutually intelligible communication. Japan is part of an international trend toward educating children with disabilities in mainstream settings. Despite being the norm in Japan, the long-term effects of educating DHH in mainstream schools are poorly understood. This study reveals that these spaces are often marked by isolation, difference, and barriers. By focusing on tōjisha (the person in question) rather than gatekeepers (educators, parents, policy makers), this article illustrates how Sign language (shuwa) and DHH peers are essential factors in the formation of positive deaf youth selfhood. As inte move between the hearing, spoken-language world they were raised in, and a new deaf world with an unknown visual-spatial language, they work to reconcile internalized stigma with a desire to create social bonds through friendships as they (re)negotiate selfhood and redefine deafness. Friendships based on “shared difference” are shown to help mitigate the assimilative pressures facing marginalized youth in Japan.

The value of differentiated instruction in the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream schools

The aim of this presentation is to analyse the current international policies on inclusion and to discuss the value and use of differentiated instruction as a means to the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream settings. The movement to inclusion requires teachers to create inclusive learning environments, which would encourage the use of practices that would benefit all students. In this respect, differentiated instruction has rapidly evolved as a teaching approach to meet the diverse and heterogeneous needs of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Modifying and adjusting instruction to allow all students in a classroom to access the general education curriculum is at the heart of inclusive education. In this presentation, I shall discuss the development of differentiated instruction as a means to inclusion for students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Information will be provided with regard to the main principles of DI as well as the basic criteria in designing individualized adaptations for these students. In addition to this, I will review the factors which influence the development of differentiated instruction based on research findings. Finally, I will argue that differentiated instruction provides a learning environment which takes into consideration the individual characteristics of students and, as such, is a useful approach for the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream settings.

To include or not to include—This is the question: Attitudes of inclusive teachers toward the inclusion of pupils with intellectual disabilities in elementary schools

Numerous studies have emphasized the relationship between success of policies of inclusion and acceptance and accommodation of students with intellectual disabilities in mainstream settings and teachers’ positive attitudes toward them. Using semi-structured interviews and interpretive and constructivist strategies, the present study qualitatively analyzes the attitudes of 40 inclusive teachers regarding the inclusion of pupils with intellectual disabilities in mainstream elementary school settings in Israel. We find that most inclusive teachers assert that the inclusion policy has failed mainly, due to insufficient inclusion hours and limited abilities of mainstream teachers to assist pupils with intellectual disabilities, and that inclusive teachers unofficially employ various strategies in an attempt to improve the inclusion process. We conclude that more emphasis and resources should be invested in increasing the number of inclusive hours in mainstream elementary schools and improving mainstream and inclusive teachers’ education curriculum, and that an inclusive strategy that involves various education and special education techniques and is based on the professional collaboration between mainstream teachers, inclusive teachers, and experts in the field of inclusion, should be implemented.

Dis/ability, Agency, and Context: A Differential Consciousness for Doing Inclusive Education

In any sociocultural context, efforts to promote inclusive education may evoke trajectories of change that are as unpredictable as they are inexhaustible, stimulating the production of a range of disability subjectivities, performances, and constructions. This article unearths such local constructions by focusing on the experiences of nongovernmental organization educators and families of students with disabilities in Chennai, India, as they collectively engaged in inclusive education activity. Using the framework of differential consciousness (Sandoval, 2000) I explore the oppositional agency of participants in securing equitable opportunities for students with disabilities in mainstream settings. My aim in doing thus is to animate the links between local practices and global concepts of inclusive education. Even though the narratives of participants index “place” as the predominant signifier of inclusion, their decision making within hugely inaccessible contexts discloses their compulsory movement through multiple, sometimes contradictory, positions to achieve equitable schooling. I subsequently draw on these narratives and more broadly on U.S. third world feminist scholarship to suggest a few lines of inquiry that can serve a transnational theory of inclusive education.

Determinants of inclusive education of 8–12 year-old children with cerebral palsy in 9 European regions

The principle of inclusive education has been increasingly recognised over recent decades and most countries officially support schooling of children with disabilities in mainstream settings. The SPARCLE study offers the opportunity to report on the schooling practices for children with cerebral palsy according to the nature and severity of their impairments and the schooling policy in European regions. The aim of this paper is to describe the type of schooling of children with cerebral palsy in various European regions after controlling for relevant individual factors. Children aged 8-12 years with cerebral palsy from 9 European regions and their families were interviewed. Our findings support the hypothesis that between-region variations in the type of schooling are still significant after adjustment for individual factors; and that motor function and intellectual ability have different effects on inclusion in mainstream school, depending on the region.

EXAMING CURRENT PROVISION, PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE OF INITIAL TEACHER TRAINING PROVIDERS IN IRELAND PREPARING PRE SERVICE TEACHERS FOR THE INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION CLASSES

Research from an international perspective in relation to the preparation of pre service teachers in physical education and special educational needs indicates that initial teacher training providers are inconsistent in the amount of time spent addressing the issue and the nature of curricular content (Vickerman, 2007). In Ireland, research of Meegan and MacPhail (2005) and Crawford (2011) indicates that physical education teachers do not feel adequately prepared to accommodate students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in physical education classes. This study examined initial teacher training provision in Ireland in the training of pre service physical education teachers in SEN. The methodology used was qualitative and included questionnaires and interviews (n=4). Findings indicated that time allocation (semester long modules), working with children with disabilities in mainstream settings (school or leisure centre based), lack of collaboration with other PETE providers (n=4) and a need for continued professional development were themes in need of address. Using a combined approach where the recently designed European Inclusive Physical Education Training (Kudlacěk, Jesina, & Flanagan, 2010) model is infused through the undergraduate degree programme is proposed. Further, the accommodation of hands on experience for undergraduates in mainstream settings and the establishment of inter institutional communities of practice, with a national disability research initiative, is essential to ensure quality adapted physical activity training can be accommodated throughout Ireland.

Attitudes of pre-service mainstream teachers in Singapore towards people with disabilities and inclusive education

2004 has come to be seen by many in Singapore as a watershed year with the shift in the position of the government towards encouraging greater integration of students with disabilities in mainstream settings. This study investigated the attitudes of 1538 mainstream pre-service teachers towards disability and inclusive education during this period of policy change. Analysis of the data indicated that the pre-service teachers had little or no knowledge and experience with disability, and generally possessed negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. They evinced ambivalent feelings towards inclusive education, and expressed a preference for special school placements for students with disabilities. While they were open to the inclusion of students with social or communication difficulties, they were not favourable to including students with physical disabilities, sensory impairment, learning disabilities and behavioural problems in mainstream settings. Implications of these findings were discussed and recommendations were made for the inclusion of training in special education at both pre-service and in-service levels.

Early Childhood Teachers' Knowledge of Teaching Children with Disabilities

In recent years an educational practice has been to increasingly promote the inclusion of students with disabilities into mainstream schools. This trend relies on early childhood teachers utilising their knowledge and skills to successfully induct children with disabilities into the education system. This paper describes early childhood teachers' knowledge of children with disabilities, focusing on their sources of knowledge and experiences in teaching children with disabilities in mainstream settings. Utilising qualitative methodology the study disclosed common factors teachers considered crucial to effective inclusion, including sources and forms of knowledge, teachers' attitudes and expectations, types of support and changes in teaching practices. In addition, the process of inclusion caused early childhood teachers to question their self-efficacy and the adequacy of their practical teaching knowledge.

Physical Education and Sport for the Deaf: Rethinking the Least Restrictive Environment

Efforts to include children with disabilities in mainstream settings often raise questions as to what constitutes “least restrictive.” This paper addresses educational placement of deaf children, especially as it pertains to physical education and sport. Many leaders in deaf education hold that placement of deaf children in public schools often occurs without regard to their socioemotional/cultural/language needs. This paper provides a rationale for the residential school as a viable and legitimate placement option for deaf children. Also included in the paper is a brief historical overview of deaf education including the contributions of residential schools to deaf sport and deaf culture.