Phenomenon of Inclusive Education in Pedagogy of the United States of America and the United Kingdom

In the 50s — 70s of the 20th century, the idea «Education for All», based on the inclusion of children with disabilities into the education process, gradually began to penetrate and take root in society. This innovation is called «inclusive education», and for decades it has offered more and more innovative approaches to teaching children with special educational needs.

Keywords: inclusive education, SEN, disabilities, inclusion.

In recent years, the concept and practice of inclusive education have gained importance. Internationally, the term is increasingly understood more broadly as a reform that supports and welcomes diversity amongst all learners [11, p. 4].

The National Centre for Educational Restructuring and Inclusion developed a definition of inclusion in education in 1995: ‘Providing to all students, including those with significant disabilities, equitable opportunities to receive effective educational services, with the needed supplementary aids and support services, in age appropriate classrooms in their neighbourhood schools, in order to prepare students for productive lives as full members of society.’ Although the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) does not specifically mention inclusion, it mandates that US schools must be held accountable for education outcomes for all students, including those within any category of disability. In this respect all students must have access to the general education classroom setting with a common curriculum if they are to successfully meet education standards. Further, each and every student must be actively involved in curricular and co-curricular activities and included in district- and state-wide assessment [15].

According to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, inclusive education means:

— a fundamental right to education;

— a principle that values students’ wellbeing, dignity, autonomy, and contribution to society;

— a continuing process to eliminate barriers to education and promote reform in the culture, policy, and practice in schools to include all students.

Further, inclusion is not just a place or classroom setting either; it is a philosophy of education that integrates children with disabilities into educational settings in which meaningful learning occurs [10, p. 166]. Inclusion means that all students, regardless of disability are included in the school community as valued members of the school. As valued members of the school, students with disabilities actively participate in the academic and extra-curricular activities of the school community; and they are given the instructional and behavioral support to succeed [9, p. 367–368].

The U. S. inclusive and special education supports and services are designed to meet the needs of all these students. Every general education classroom in the country has one or more students with disabilities. All public schools in the United States are responsible for instructing students with disabilities and other special needs [5, p. 104]. Intensity, structure, curriculum, collaboration, and monitoring/assessment have made the special education “special” in the United States [8, p. 23]. Now, about 75 % of the students with disabilities spend all or part of their school day in the general education classrooms with their non-disabled peers.

Inclusive Education is considered as continuous from the beginning of a child’s education and is based on the principles of justice, equity and human rights. The diversity of disability is acknowledged. [16, p. 270]. However, depending on which context, systems and situations of education the term «Inclusive education» is analysed in different ways.

The promotion of a more inclusive education system must be welcomed for the opportunities that are being afforded to pupils who in previous years might have been denied effective teaching or the chance to interact with their peers. There is now an increased imperative for all teachers to ensure that they develop their professional skills, knowledge and understanding in a way that enhances the learning opportunities for all pupils [13, p. 5].

The concept of inclusion is expanded to include not only students with disabilities and functional disorders but also those facing difficulties due to differences resulting from their linguistic, cultural or social conditions. However, the conception of this education strategy, methodologies, and ways of its implementation to a great extent depend on the political, experiential, and cultural context of the country and are in the constant process of transformations [7, p. 4].

As the British professor Roger Slee notes, inclusive education is not about the issue of placement, in which all students with disabilities and / or Special Educational Needs (SEN) are sent to regular schools; rather, it includes improvement of contexts, attitudes, policies, curricula, and pedagogies towards inclusion of these students [14, p. 63].

In opposition to Professor Slee, Professor Ainscow’s definition of inclusive education in terms of physical placement, academic participation, social participation/belonging and achievement. Though this is not a definitive definition of the aspects of what has been called inclusive education, it illustrates that inclusion can be about physical location (where a pupil is placed), while it can also be about academic engagement in a curriculum as well as social interaction with other learners, involving social acceptance and a sense of belonging with others. The fourth aspect of this definition is that inclusive education involves learning and achievement. But, the second question above indicates that the term inclusive also relates to different levels in the system. Not only can classes be inclusive of pupils with diverse characteristics, but so can schools and at higher levels of organization, local areas and even nations [2, p. 17].

In addition he claims that a culture of inclusion in education requires a shared set of assumptions and beliefs amongst policy-makers and senior staff at the national, district and school level that value differences, believe in collaboration, and are committed to offering educational opportunities to all students [1].

The degree of inclusion has also been discussed. Haug identified four elements that he described as the degrees of inclusion: increasing the community, increasing participation, increasing democratisation, and increasing dividends. Inclusion has also been described as a program that helps schools adapt to the diversity of children [6]. Children should be placed, received, or allowed to participate in a regular school setting, and the school, as much as possible, should realise the whole set of its objectives for all groups of students. One could hardly talk about inclusion if this is not the claim [12].

This is confirmed by a study conducted by a number of Latvian PhDs, as well as the researcher from the University of Manchester, Susan Jones, who researched Pupils’ special needs in the context of inclusive education: UK’s experience. They claim, that inclusive education in the UK is considered as the priority value of the education system, which encompasses: individual approaches to the education of all pupils, not distinguishing those with special education needs; flexibility of school systems taking into account the diversity of needs; solving all stakeholder problems through cooperation; differentiated assessments of pupils’ achievements; using a social approach to problems, emphasizing the reduction of learning barriers at school [4, p. 4].

After studying and analyzing various scientific works, we came to the conclusion that American interpretations of inclusive education are not associated with the place, physical placement, equivalently, like many British scientists. American scientists consider inclusive education as a kind of philosophy that integrates children with special educational needs into educational settings in which meaningful learning occurs. In turn, British scientists also argue that inclusive education is more than just a place, it includes improvement of contexts, attitudes, policies, curricula, and pedagogies.

References:

1. Ainscow, M. Promoting inclusion and equity in education: lessons from international experiences [Electronic resource]. –– Informa, 2020. — Mode of access: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20020317.2020.1729587#:~:text=A %20culture %20of %20inclusion %20in,Ainscow %2C %20Chapman %2C %20 %26 %20Hadfield %2C. –– Date of access: 29.03.2022.
2. Ainscow, M. Towards a More Inclusive Education System. Where Next for Special Schools? Included Or Excluded? The Challenge of the Mainstream for Some SEN Children / M. Ainscow; ed.: R. Cigman. –– London: Routledge, 2007. –– 224 p.
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4. Alisauskas, A. Meeting of Pupils’ Special Needs in the Context of InclusiveEducation: UK Experience / A. Alisauskas, S. Alisauskiene, D. Kairienė, S. Jones // Special Education. –– 2011. –– No. 1 (24). –– P. 91 –– 104.
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