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The English Language Teachers’ Perception Of Inclusive Education
[A CASE STUDY OF THE UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION IN KWARA STATE]
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Inclusive education therefore demands a need for teacher educators to support pre-service teachers to develop knowledge and skills in developing classroom environments that support learning for all children. For example, the consideration of seven best practices identified by De Jong (2005) in pre-service teacher education programmes could support the development of inclusive learning environments. These practices include:
 A culture that promotes health and well-being;
 A relevant, engaging and stimulating curriculum;
 Effective pedagogy;
 A clearly articulated and comprehensive behavior management policy:
 A democratic, empowering and positive classroom management approach;
 Well established internal and external support structures and partnerships; and
 An alternative flexible learning environment, (De Jong, 2005, pp-359-363).
Ideally, teacher educators should have a clear understanding of these and other practices and well developed skills in supporting pre-service teachers to develop knowledge and abilities in these practices because, teacher’s actions have a direct link with students. Inclusion or inclusive education can be interpreted as the philosophy and practice for educating students with disabilities in general education settings (Bryant, Smith, & Bryant, 2008; Lipsky & Gartner, 1997; Rogers, 1993; Salend, 2001). The practice anchors on the notion that every child should be an equally valued member of the school culture. In other words, children with disabilities benefit from learning in a regular classroom, while their peers without disabilities gain from being exposed to children with diverse characteristics, talents and temperaments. According to (Ajuwon, 2008), supporters of inclusion use the term to refer to the commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attends. It involves bringing the ancillary services to the child, and requires only that the child will benefit from being in the class (rather than having to keep up with the other students). This is a salient aspect of inclusion, and requires a commitment to move essential resources to the child with a disability rather than placing the child in an isolated setting where services are located (Smith, 2007). For the child with a disability to benefit optimally from inclusion, it is imperative for general education teachers to be able to teach a wider array of children, including those with varying disabilities, and to collaborate and plan effectively with special educators.
Many countries (both developed and developing) have adopted and inculcated the policy of inclusion in their education policies. Nigeria for example, adopts the policy of inclusion in her National Policy on Education (1998). The policy stipulates the integration of special needs students into regular classrooms, and free education for exceptional students at all levels. In practice however, it is only one state out of over thirty states that has actually started the implementation of the inclusive education at the primary school levels, other states of the federation in Nigeria are just starting up by creating a unit in each of the schools for their inclusive classrooms.
According to Green (2001, P. 4), the term inclusive education is used to describe educational policies that uphold the rights of students with disabilities to belong within mainstream education. Lewis and Door lag (1995, pp. 5-7), on other hand, postulate that inclusion is sometimes used to describe the mainstrearning process, and they highlight that the advocates of full inclusion maintain that the general education classroom is the most appropriate full-time placement for all students with disabilities including those with severe disabilities. They further postulate that support, in this model, is provided within regular classroom setting. They are also aware that other special education professionals do not concur with the assumption that full-time inclusion is the appropriate placement for students with disabilities. Their strong contention is that professionals who are opposed to full-time inclusion advocate that other options, like resource rooms, should be available so that educational programmes could be tailored down to the specific needs of individual students. Inclusion or mainstrearning discourses, in their view, tend to be biased towards students with disabilities that negatively affect their school performance and they propose that the concept should be expanded to include other groups whose learning needs are salient in such a way that they warrant special consideration. In their illustration, for instance, they included gifted and talented students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and students at risk for school failure that have special needs that could he accommodated within the regular classroom.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACT IS COMING SOON ... Continue reading---
QUESTIONNAIRE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]QUESTIONNAIRE ON ATTITUDE OF TEACHERS ON INCLUSIVEEDUCATIONInstructionsThe purpose of this questionnaire is to obtain information relating to what you think about inclusive education of students with disabilities. All information in this questionnaire is provided anonymously and will be treated then analyzed under the framework of this research only. This is not a test. Thus, there is no right or wrong answer. All you have to do is to tick the option as applicable to you.SECTION A: GENERAL INFOR ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]In order for inclusion to work in practice, teachers in regular schools in Nigeria must accept its philosophies and demands. According to Salend and Duhaney (1999), educators have varying attitudes towards inclusion, their responses being shaped by a range of variables such as their success in implementing inclusion, student characteristics, training and levels of support. Some studies reported positive outcomes for general teachers, including increased skills in meeting the needs of all their s ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER THREERESEARCH METHODOLOGY3.0 This chapter presents the research method that would be used to carry out the study which is on the perception of the English language teachers of Inclusive education in the Universal Basic Education in Kwara State. The discussion on the methods will include:a. Research typeb. Population, sample and sampling techniqueC. Instrumentationd. Procedure for data collection ande. Data analysis technique f. Research type3.1 Research TypeThis research would use ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]REFERENCES Ajuwon, P. M. (2008). Inclusive education for students with disabilities in Nigeria: Benefits and challenges and policy implications. International Journal of Special Education, 23(3), 11-16.Ali, M.M., Mustapha, R. and Jelas, Z. M. (2006). An empirical study on teachers’ perceptions towards inclusive education in Malaysia. International Journal of special Education, Vol. 21 (3).Allan, J. (1995) How are we doing? Teacher's views on the effectiveness of co-operative teaching. Sup ... Continue reading---
