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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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They also believe that special students differ, some may learn faster and easily while others may learn with difficulty. Another important issue they highlight is that students’ behavior may be beyond reproach and frequently inappropriate, while others may have problems emanating from their speech, language or culture. The concept of inclusive education programming, for BaneIji and Dailey (1995, p. 511), is based on the premise that children of exceptional abilities and backgrounds benefit both academically and socially in a learning environment where they are served alongside normally achieving students as opposed to being segregated from them. In this regard Sailor (Banelji & Dailey, 1995, p. 512) defines the full inclusion programme as a model of service delivery being characterized by six criteria:
• All students attend schools to which they would go if they had no disability.
• A natural proportion of students with disabilities occur at each school site.
• A zero rejection philosophy exists so that typically no student would be excluded on the basis of type and extent of disability.
• School and general education placement are age and grade appropriate with no self- contained special education classes operative at school site.
• Cooperative learning and peer instructional methods receive significant use in general instructional practice.
• Special education supports are provided within the context of the general education class.
From a quality, Farrell (2000, pp. 153-154) sees inclusion as the more accurate way of discerning the quality of education offered to students “1th special needs within an integrated setting. He argues that to be regarded as fully included students with special needs should take a full and active part in the life of the mainstream school and they need to be valued as members of the community and be perceived as internal part thereof The frame of equality, according to Corbet (1999, pp. 57-58), is about a genuine commitment to inclusion which includes among other things, changing culture of the institution to make it more responsive to differences, receptive to change and sensitive to language imagery and the presentation of ideas. She also contends that inclusion is about creating culture which welcomes; supports and nurtures diverse needs as well as accepting people as they are, not expecting them to struggle to be “normal. This concurs with Wang and Reynolds (Leeman & Volman, 2001, p. 368) who believe that education is inclusive if schooling is organized in such a way that all learners can be educated together even if they are different.
In addition to school change to improve the education system for all students, inclusion has academic and social benefits for both students with and without disabilities and their teachers and families as well (Grenot-Scheyer; Jubala; Bishop & Coots, 1996, pp. 1-4). This entails increased communication and social interaction opportunities; age appropriate models of behavior skills; more active participation in the life of school community; individualized education goals as well as access to the rich core curriculum. Grenot-Scheyer et al. (1996, p. 9) further assert that inclusive model of education requires the establishment of a collaborative ethic as well as shared ownership of all students. They also maintain that through collaborative team effort, specialized support can follow students to general education classrooms and allow all students to develop and earn. For them such kind of support may include, among other things. Assistance from a specialist to adapt activities from the core curriculum to meet the individual needs of the diverse learners in the general education classroom. Inclusion therefore, should be regarded as a shared responsibility for both generalist and specialist teachers in providing a full continuum of services delivery options to all students with special educational needs within the school context as well as responding to diversity and being open to new ideas, all members of community and celebrating differences in dignified way (Barton in Carrington, 1999, p. 259 & Monahan et a/., 1996, p. 317).
Ballard (Carrington, 1999, p. 259) has identified four factors that are embodying inclusive education. These factors are:
• Non-discriminatory education in terms of disability, culture and gender.
• Involvement of all students in a community with no expectations.
• Equal rights for students to access culturally valued curriculum as full-time members of age appropriate regular classroom.
• Emphasis on diversity rather than assimilation.
Putting inclusive education within the African context, Green (2001, p. 6) contended that the challenge facing educational authorities is to conceptualize, develop and fund systems that are flexible enough to accommodate the learning requirements of all students and to adapt to a variety of contexts. Then, the author maintained, the schools will become learning communities that foster a sense of belonging and recognize what children have in common, while at the same time taking diversity and welcoming it for the different perspective it brings. The author also argued that a commitment to inclusion challenges education system and communities to make and support changes to their assumptions, attitudes, policies and curricula.
2.2 Teachers’ Attitude and Perceptions on Inclusive Education
Literature (Gorily, 1992, p. 456; Freedman & Peplau, 1985, p. 135) defines attitude as an internal state that moderates the choices of personal action made by an individual and as such it is an expression of a person’s feelings about a thing or situation. This includes a total subjective sum of a person’s fears, inclinations, wishes, prejudices, preconceived notions, ideas and convictions. This is said to be a result from the impact of the environment, past and present, acting upon the personality of a person. Literature further differentiates attitude from an opinion, a belief or a point of view on the bases that attitude has an evaluative or emotional component that a belief in facts does not have. Unlike attitudes, beliefs, opinions or point of view do not have a dynamic motivational impact. Beliefs and opinions become attitudes when they are emotionally triggered; they involve the existing situation and make people to respond in a certain way towards particular thing or situation.
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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---
