Interview Report: Inclusion

Interview Report: Inclusion

Introduction

Inclusion involves making one part of a particular group of people or structures; for instance, a student with special needs being included in a school with typical students. Often, such inclusion requires an intervention of specialized professionals. The school leaders should also ensure a conducive environment and other special measures for such students. The paper is a report of an interview conducted with a special needs teacher (Spec teacher) a general educator (GenEd teacher) student with special needs (Spec Student) and a school admin (Sch admin). It presents the viewpoints of the four interviewees chronologically.

Interviewee information

A GenEd teacher holds the position of a senior teacher. He has twelve years of experience in providing the standard education that a developing student needs. His subject is science and all areas that relate to science. Sch admin, on the other hand, has five years of experience in the teaching field. Besides, he assesses the work of teachers as well as the well-being of students. Spec teacher has fourteen years’ experience in handling children in special needs. His subject areas are languages and physical education. Student X is aged thirteen and has a grade level of D. Besides; he has dyslexia, a disorder that makes him have difficulties in reading and comprehending text.

Data collected

To deal with inclusion, school admin views students with special needs as one with a right to learn in conducive environments. This perspective enables schools to implement ways to assist them (Mikelsteins & Ryan, 2019, p. 379Therefore, he ensures improved instruction for them. Besides, Sch admin ensures that the school has experienced personnel to deal with the students and retains them, which enables the students to acquire the best knowledge (Campbell, 2019, p. 56). Spec teacher understands the learning capacity of the student. He views the student as one with a bright future if well-taken care. Besides, he can tell when the student is ready to learn something new. The genEd teacher is aware of the teaching that special children require. However, the views are a hard task for a teacher. Student X, on the other hand, says he gets specialized training like a one-on-one interaction with the teacher to help in better comprehension..

Analysis of viewpoints

According to Sch admin, some of the adaptations that the school makes to ensure that special needs children learn in a better way include new toys in classes. The teachers have the knowledge to teach special needs students with compassion. The children also get more time to play and to express themselves in class (Edwards et al., 2019 p. 310). Student X views the school as the best since the teachers and school leaders take care of him well, changing the whole learning perspective for the better. Besides, Sch admin says that the school has 25% of special needs students. Some of the challenges associates with special needs students’ handling, according to the teacher and school admin include dealing with multiple disabilities.

The budget problem is also an issue since the child with special needs requires more resources (Liu et al., 2019 p.80). The teachers also have to allow more time for the students to grasp concepts. The students also face the challenge of stigma (Wang, 2019, p. 251). Sch admin, Gene teacher and the Spec teacher all view the same idea that handling a unique student is challenging. The challenges hinder the educators from teaching the special needs’ children appropriately (Possi, 2019 p. 47). However, GenEd teacher seems to have more fears of handling special students compared to the school admin and the special needs teacher.

Conclusion

While the inclusion of special needs children may seem hard, the school admin and the special needs teacher in the interview make it seem easier. According to the interview, the student agrees that he gets enough support from the parent and the school fraternity. The special needs teacher, the school admin, and the general education teacher all work hand in hand to ensure that the student learns and acquires the necessary knowledge. Including toys and give time allowance for the student are some of the adaptations implemented in the school to make special learning easier.

Recommendations

The school admin should aim at developing the school in search of a way that special needs’ children acquire more practical skills. Besides, the teacher should take responsibility and be accountable for the performance of the student; thus helping them put more effort and implement better ways of teaching such students. The general education teacher should also ensure that he has the required knowledge to handle special needs students when the need arises. To handle multiple special needs patients appropriately, the school admin should provide different adaptations for different kinds of needs. The student should also take responsibility for practising the things taught in class and outside class to better his understanding.

References

Campbell, P. (2019). Inclusion in early childhood education settings in Philadelphia.

Edwards, B. M., Cameron, D., King, G., & McPherson, A. C. (2019). How students without special needs perceive social inclusion of children with physical impairments in mainstream schools: a scoping review. International Journal of Disability, Development, and Education, 66(3), 298-324.

Liu, Y., Bessudnov, A., Black, A., & Norwich, B. (2019). School autonomy and educational inclusion of children with special needs: Evidence from England.

Mikelsteins, Z., & Ryan, T. G. (2019). Increasing Inclusion and Reducing the Stigma of Special Needs in Latvia. IJER Vol 27-N4, 379.

Possi, M. K. (2019). Inclusion and Equity in Education for People with Special Educational Needs in Tanzania: A Critical Dimension to Economic Development. Education in Tanzania in the Era of Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities, 47.

Wang, L. (2019). Perspectives of Students With Special Needs on Inclusion in General Physical Education: A Social-Relational Model of Disability. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 36(2), 242-263.