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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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However, UNESCO (1994) citing in Ajuwon (2008) emphasized that for inclusion to achieve its objectives, education practices must be child-centred. This means that teachers must find out where each of their students are academically, socially, and culturally to determine how best to facilitate learning (Gildner, 2001). A logical consequence of this realization is that these teachers will need to acquire skills in curriculum-based assessment, team teaching, mastery learning, assessing learning styles, cooperative learning strategies, facilitating peer tutoring, or social skills training. Given that children have varied learning styles or multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1991); both general and special education teachers must plan and coordinate classroom instruction to capitalize on each child’s needs, interests and aptitudes.
The decade 1970-1980 could be rightly described as the golden period for the special needs children in Nigeria because, it was in the latter half of the decade that the Federal Military Government of Nigeria released the National Policy on Education in 1977. (In this document, issues relating to inclusive education and equality were elaborated, especially as it concerns the right to education of both the special needs children and the nondisabled children).
Prior to this period, the attitude of the society, government and citizens on special needs children had been highly negative and degrading, where the disabled were thought to be Incapable of contributing anything meaningful to the society. One important aspect of the Individual called teacher is “attitudeâ€. His attitude to himself, his work, his or her students and many other things depends on a number of variables which in turn influences his productivity.
The above judgment, stated by a teacher who may either be reacting to the new inclusion policy in his school, or dealing with students in his classroom who have identified disabilities. Reflects a common stance of modern educators towards this paradigm shift in educational policy. His statement conveys a strong attitude about, first, the ability level of the students with special needs in his class, and second, an attitude about what effort he is willing to make for these students as a teacher. Both of these attitudes can have an enormous impact on teaching style and make the incorporation of traditionally segregated students into general education classroom a failed endeavor from the outset.
The essence of this teacher’s views of his class is embodied in his classification of the students in the class into two groups, those who “can really learn somethingâ€, and, implicitly. “Those who cannotâ€. This particular judgment is not original, but has been regularly iterated during the past and even present century by Nigerian teachers and administrators as a reason for denying education opportunities to the “in educableâ€, due perhaps to their negative attitude towards the exceptional children. In another similar judgment, a student was denied access to a school because he was classified as “mentally retarded†and thus unable to be taught. The Nigerian teachers of that period deemed providing schooling for this particular group of people a complete waste of time, simply because the disability made it impossible for the special needs children to fit into the standard system and learn with only the methods and supports offered to the “normal†children. Thus, many similar judgments by teachers have negatively influenced the education of the special needs students; thus creating a problem in their academics.
2.5 Theoretical Framework
The inclusion of individuals with disabilities in mainstream educational, occupational and societal frameworks has become an accepted concept in western countries in the last two decades (Neiman, 2004). The inclusion policy specified attendance at mainstreamed schools and also dealt with different models of implementing the inclusion and with teachers? Needs in terms of practical and theoretical training. Research has shown the many positive effects of placement in inclusive classes and the different benefits for students with disabilities.
According to Heiman (2004), there are four different models of inclusion: (a) in-and-out, (b) Two- teachers, (c) full inclusion and (d) rejection of inclusion. In her study of inclusive education in United. Kingdom and Israel, Heiman (2004) found that most of the teachers in United Kingdom and Israel thought that an in-and-out model would be more effective for the students with learning disabilities. These teachers believe that this approach would enable students with disabilities to benefit from two worlds: the special instruction they needed together with regular lessons and interactions with their peers in regular settings. The Iwo-teacher model was somewhat popular in Israel and less so in Britain. According to this model, two teachers teach simultaneously in the classroom with one of them, who has had training in special education, concentrating on the students with disabilities. Small percentages of teachers in both countries thought that full inclusion is the right model to apply within the regular classroom. They thought that with additional support and cooperation between teachers and with the services of the educational system, full inclusion could succeed and be the most beneficial for all. Some teachers in both countries rejected inclusion completely. The teachers in this group thought that it would be better for students with disabilities to study in separate classes, according to special programs, so they could progress at their own pace. They felt that such model is more effective since special needs students in inclusive class would never be able to reach the academic level of the mainstream students. Similar models were observed in Malaysia. Form our observation, full inclusion is the least method used. Most teachers would apply hybrid models such as two-teacher arid in-and-out approaches.
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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---
