The term "inclusive education" comes from the French word inclusif, which translates as "includes" and means the joint training of people with special needs and conditionally healthy, that is, who do not have health restrictions. In this case, the educational process is organized in such a way that people who are different from each other, possessing intellectual, physical, mental characteristics, receive the necessary knowledge and skills together with their peers who have no special needs.
Inclusive education has its pros and cons. The environment and tools should be adapted to special children, and other students and teachers should understand and accept the individual needs of each child.
People with special needs
The category of persons with special needs includes people with disabilities or diseases that are not considered disabilities, but do not allow you to get a general education in a regular school that is not equipped with special equipment. For example, children with vision problems should be provided with audio tutorials.
Principles of Inclusive Education
Education in a secondary school is designed for a standard level of intellectual and physical health of students. Those who do not fit into the framework of standards are forced to study in specialized schools. For this reason, people with special needs are isolated, less competitive in later life. Although inclusive education has its drawbacks, its advantages are obvious: joint education allows special children to get a school certificate, and in the future to master a profession and integrate into society.
The principles of inclusion are as follows:
- each person is valuable, regardless of abilities and physical abilities;
- building high-quality relationships between a child with special needs, teachers and other students will help to get a real education;
- coeducation paves the way for a tolerant society where people with special needs have equal rights with others.
The benefits of inclusive education
Like other forms of learning, inclusive education has advantages and disadvantages. The benefits of this type of training include:
- Interaction with a wide range of people, including those who have no health restrictions, that is, ordinary people. Before the advent of inclusive education, the possibility of such communication among people with special needs was practically absent. In most people with various disabilities, the circle of contacts was limited to immediate relatives and other visitors to rehabilitation centers.
- The ability to integrate into society on an equal basis with other children. People with special needs can also attend cultural events, such as exhibitions, museums, and theater shows. However, they must be equipped with a so-called accessible barrier-free environment, adapted to their needs.
- Obtaining corrective, psychological, social support during the period of study and further life. Such support is provided by teachers specially trained for teaching on an inclusive type.
- Development of communication and socialization skills. Interaction with society takes place with the help of a tutor: an intermediary between a person with special needs and people who do not have them. At all stages of education, a special student is accompanied by a tutor.
disadvantages
Weighing all the pros and cons of inclusive education, it is necessary to take into account the disadvantages of this type of education. The cons include:
- Lack of qualified personnel - educators, teachers, psychologists, defectologists, speech therapists trained to accompany children with special needs.
- Teaching staff are often condescending to students with special needs, so evaluating their knowledge is biased.
- A national curriculum often prevents some students from continuing their education from a certain stage.
- Parents of children who need inclusive education often do not have enough information. As a result, children receive only secondary education and are not able to continue their education.
- Not only inclusive, but also ordinary school education needs to improve the quality of education.
Pros and cons of inclusive education on the table
| Benefits | disadvantages |
| Equal rights for all students, regardless of their abilities and capabilities | Lack of material and technical base for the introduction of inclusion |
| Individual tutor assistance in the learning process | Lack of trained teachers, psychologists and other specialists needed by children with special needs |
| Acquiring social and communication skills for children with special needs | The standard curriculum is not suitable for some children with special needs, therefore, it requires refinement and modernization |
| Getting a quality education, and in the future - the opportunity to study at a university, learn the profession, become a full and independent member of society | Teachers biased assess the knowledge of children with special needs, so the assessment of knowledge is often not true |
| Ordinary children get the opportunity to develop such human qualities as empathy, patience, tolerance | Unfriendly, and often hostile, attitude towards disabled people by healthy children and their parents |
Features
Joint training of healthy children and those with special educational needs is necessary in order to ensure the social adaptation of the latter. An inclusive preschool education allows you to cultivate tolerance for people with disabilities, as babies do not yet have hostile prejudices against peers born not like everyone else. World experience confirms that preschoolers studying in joint groups show better results. This applies to healthy children and those who have special needs.
Although the advantages of inclusive education at school are obvious, the minuses are significant and so far difficult to overcome. The lack of a financial base for the purchase of the necessary equipment, the redevelopment of educational facilities, the training of teachers and psychologists make this type of training practically impossible. However, every year the situation, although not too fast, is improving.
Problems
Highlighting the main pros and cons of inclusive education, it is necessary to dwell on the problems. Although the world experience of such training has not revealed any negative consequences for students with special needs or for their classmates, there are a number of objective and subjective obstacles to the full implementation of inclusion in domestic realities.
- Firstly, teachers who are accustomed to traditional teaching methods are not ready to change their principles.
- Secondly, conservative parents of healthy children often oppose children with disabilities studying with their child.
- Thirdly, the financial issue is extremely acute: most schools do not have the appropriate equipment and do not have the means to purchase the necessary materials, both educational and domestic.
At the state level, there are no legal and economic norms that are necessary for the implementation of inclusive education. The officials know about the pros and cons of this method of training, the direction is considered a priority, but in practice it is still difficult to implement.
Learning stages
Despite the disadvantages, inclusive education has much more advantages. Such a training system includes kindergartens and other institutions for preschool children, secondary schools, as well as secondary vocational and higher professional education. The main objective of inclusion is to create a barrier-free environment for people with disabilities.