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Inclusive Education
A film about Jack Powell, a
healthy ten year old boy
enters fifth grade with the
appearance of a forty year
old man due to an unusual
aging disorder.
Jack
An aspect of inclusion is evident when his social learning
environment consisting of his teacher and classmates provide
him with a sense of belonging.
Jack gets to engage in many activities with his friends be it to
play basketball or have sleep over sessions.
With an optimal learning environment both at home and in
school, Jack takes the opportunity to acquire more knowledge
and skills and does not let his condition hinder achieve his
desire.
Jack
Special Education and Mainstream schools.
Integrated Childcare Centre Programme (ICCP)
Special Schools
Mainstream Schools
Conditions that Children with Disabilities are Educated in Singapore
Integrated Childcare Centre Programme (ICCP)Child care centers that run ICCP are funded by the Ministry of
Community Development, Youth and Sports
Catered for children aged 2 to 6, mild to moderate hearing,
visual, physical /speech impairments /developmental delays
Maximize potential of these children who can benefit from an
education in a mainstream setting by learning and playing with
their peers at the centers
Conditions that Children with Disabilities are Educated in Singapore
Integrated Childcare Centre Programme (ICCP)Prepare children with special educational needs to enter primary
education at a later stage with a natural environment for them to
learn, play, socialize and grow up in.
Conditions that Children with Disabilities are Educated in Singapore
Special SchoolsIndividualized Educational Plan (IEP) is drawn up for every pupil
Provide educational programmes for children and young adults
with disabilities between the ages of 6 to 16 years
In a number of these schools, younger children are provided with
preschool programmes
Conditions that Children with Disabilities are Educated in Singapore
Special SchoolsIn the case of some special schools, children who join the Early
Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) can be
admitted almost immediately after birth when their disability is
diagnosed.
e.g. Balestier Special School and Margaret Drive Special School
and Asian Women’s Welfare Association
Conditions that Children with Disabilities are Educated in Singapore
Mainstream SchoolsAllied Educators (Learning and Behavioral Support) [AEDs(LBS)],
previously known as Special Needs Officers, are deployed to
support children with mild special needs
In order to support students with mild special needs, AEDs(LBS)
work with teachers and other school personnel such as Allied
Educators for Counseling
Every primary school has been staffed with at least one AED(LBS).
Conditions that Children with Disabilities are Educated in Singapore
• inadequate support in mainstream schools for children with
disabilities
• effective inclusion could be made possible when there are
sufficient support and resources
• still depends on the child whether he/she is able to cope in a
mainstream setting
• giving more training to special education teachers in mainstream
schools
• Singapore still requires some time to ensure inclusion practices
are being carried out effectively
Public Views’ on Inclusive Education
What is Inclusion? National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC)
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
(MCYS)
Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE)
• Exemplifies values, policies, and practices
• advocate every child’s right to play a part in most activities and contexts
• Opportunities provided for people with disabilities
• become active and “contributing members of society” (MCYS Enabling Masterplan, 2012)
• Effective Early Intervention and education for children with special needs
• and eventually have equal opportunities to work and be “contributing members of society” in future
• advocates that every learner is provided opportunities
• to acquire “knowledge, skills and attitudes to live healthily” (MOE Holistic Health Framework, 2012)
• strengthen teachers’ and para-educators’ competencies
o Exhibit increased positive reception and diversity
o Develop better communication and social skills
o Show greater development in moral and ethical principles
o Create warm and caring friendships
o Enhance self-respect and esteem o Children model good behaviour of one another
Benefits of Inclusion for ALL children
o Portray acceptance for diverse learners in class
o Gain apt knowledge about using different resources to meet the needs of all learners
o Maximise capabilities to plan lessons for all learners and as they grow in experience, they get better in it
Benefits of Inclusion for Teachers
1. Universal Design for Learning: Curriculum Development that give all individuals equal opportunities to learn.
Source: National Center on Universal Design for Learning, CAST 2012
2. Differentiated Instruction: the practice of modifying and adapting instruction, materials, content, student projects and products, and assessment to meet the learning needs of individual students
Source: Differentiated Instruction, Curriculum, Assessment by DR Susan Allan
3. Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Using a multi cultural approach notion to teach all learners
Source: National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems
4. Understanding by Design: Focusing on the process to design an effective and holistic learning environment
Source: http://www.grantwiggins.org/documents/mtuniontalk.pdf by Grant Wiggins & Jay McTighe, 2004
4 Pedagogies / Principles / Practice: Towards Inclusion
Teachers’ lack of trainings and professionalism to implement inclusion effectively.
Efforts towards inclusion but concurrently more to integration in the local pre schools.
No specific law or policy as a tool to change education of children with special needs.
Singapore schools focus more on elitism (Schools ranking) despite the strategy "Teach Less Learn more”. With that, schools are still focusing on standardized education system.
Typically developing children may or may not be able to see the significance and benefits of inclusion due to the lack of exposure and awareness.
Society’s perception: differences becomes a form of handicap when they identify difference as a problem.
Problems / Challenges towards Inclusion in Singapore
Early Intervention starts at an older age (6-7) in Singapore and thus preschool teachers could not accommodate to a child's needs that includes the resources, lessons and strategies used in teaching.
Government initiated the funding for special education but it is not apparent as of yet.
The structure of preschool education in Singapore has high student teachers ratio, teachers lack of resources, support and time to meet the needs of children with special needs.
There is no fixed statistical figure on children with specific special needs and people in the pre schools sectors have difficulty identifying and seeing the notion of the high increasing problem(disabilities in Singapore) thus they have lack of awareness about inclusion
Problems / Challenges towards Inclusion in Singapore (cont’d)
1. Acceptance Social: stigmatism causes an individual with special needs to have less opportunities to
make friends
Educational: unequal opportunities for children who are not in mainstream school thus limits their potential to learn
cost for intervention or therapy are unaffordable for many average income families thus unable to acquire the capabilities to learn. (For instance if the child cannot acquire the basic skills to write, it will create a barrier for him or her to learn)
Food for thought – “What about children that comes from a low income family? How can the government advocate this?”
Moral: Due to lack of acceptance & empathy amongst society, child feels inadequate in many ways which results to low self esteem
Issues
2. More of integration than inclusion in Singapore
Social: child isolates himself/herself as no accommodation to child's needs
Educational: academic performance is affected as child could not afford to accommodate to the learning system.
difficulty to participate actively in learning due to specific disabilitiesHOWEVER, Allied Educators in schools are evident examples of the effort MOE to work moving towards inclusive education.
Moral: Child gain a sense of guilt because of the ‘gaps’ between child’s performance and peers’.
Issues
We gained some insights about a child’s, Raihan, by his pseudonym, current experience.
Click ‘play’ to listen
Narrative
Name of Child: Raihan (pseudonym) Age: 5
In-Class ObservationsThe child has been observed to...
• display positive enthusiasm in all the activities he does
•need a longer time in digesting and understanding the instructions he has been given
•practice independence while trying out the activities
•resist any form of external help or guidance
•require instructions that are specific and explicitly detailed
•take a longer time to complete the given tasks and activities
•able to learn quickly and follow routines very wellbe relaxed and easy-going amongst his peers
A Child with Autism and His Experience at School
ChallengesPresently, the child has been facing difficulty in his...
• Social Development
No direct interaction with classmates Has difficulty in verbally expressing his needs and wants • Fine Motor Development
Adopts the Palmer Grasp in writing Finds certain tasks challenging, such as buttoning or unbuttoning a shirt
A Child with Autism and His Experience at School (Cont’d)
What does the school do to help him?
Teachers use visual schedules or the Picture Exchange Communication System in the classroom
This assists the child when he wants to express or communicate something to others but has difficulty in doing so
They do this to minimize any anxiety that the child might have in experiencing sudden changes in the day
Recommended the child for the Early Intervention Programme in the school, of which the child is now attending
Recommended the parent and guardians of the child in application of financial schemes the school has
A Child with Autism and His Experience at School
What does the school do to help him?
The school keeps Raihan's parent and guardians updated on his progress through phone conferences and the communication book.
The school also invites Raihan's parent and guardians to a parent-teacher meeting at the beginning and end of each semester.
At the parent-teacher meeting at the start of each semester, the teachers and Raihan's parents discuss about setting certain goals for Raihan while at the end, they discuss Raihan's learning development and advancement in meeting those goals.
A Child with Autism and His Experience at School (Cont’d)
Our Views on how Singaporeans view Individuals with Disabilities
• Society of Singapore has negative views on individuals with disabilities
• These views stem from lack of knowledge on the matter
• We imagine that these collective experiences will evoke emotions of awe, respect, understanding and acceptance
amongst Singaporeans
How do we image the collective experiences of individuals with disabilities will impact Singapore in the long run?
How We think the Collective Experiences of Individuals with Disabilities will Impact Singapore
• Encourage Singapore to make an effort and work together in building a whole new, positive perception of individuals with disabilities
• How? Through own efforts e.g. online research, conducting surveys and interviews with individuals with disabilities
• Conclusion: The desire to make this change in Singapore starts with us, the future educators
How do we image the collective experiences of individuals with disabilities will impact Singapore in the long run?
Antia, S.D., Stinson, M.S. & Gaustad, M.G. (2002). Developing membership in the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in inclusive settings. Journalof Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 7, 214-229.
Berg, S.L. (2004). The Advantages and Disadvantages of the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular education classrooms. Retrieved on July 24, 2012 from www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2005/2005bergs.pdf
Centre for Enabled Living (2009). Integrated Child Care Centre Programme Retrieved July 22, 2012, from http://www.cel.sg/Services_Child_Integrated-Child-Care-Programme.aspx
References
Lim, L., & Quah, M. M. (2004). Educating learners with diverse abilities. Singapore: McGraw Hil.
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS). (2012). Enabling Masterplan 2012–2016. Retrieved July 24, 2012 from http://app1.mcys.gov.sg/Portals/0/Topic/Issues/EDGD/Enabling%20Masterplan%202012-2016%20Full%20Report.pdf
Ministry of Education, Singapore (2012). Support for Children with Special Needs. Retrieved July 22, 2012, from http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/programmes/support-for-children-special-needs/
References
National Association Education for Young Children (2009). Early Childhood Inclusion. Retrieved on July 24, 2012 from http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/ DEC_NAEYC_EC_updatedKS.pdf
Sharma, U., Ee, J., & Desai, I. (2003). A comparison of Australian and Singaporean pre-service teachers’ attitudes and concerns about inclusive education. Teaching and Learning, 24 (2), 207-217. Retrieved July 24, 2012, fromhttp://repository.nie.edu.sg/jspui/bitstream/10497/322/1/TL-24-2-207.pdf
References
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