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