[Sacrificing Students’ Comfort for Full Inclusion]
[Author]
[Institutional Affiliation/University]
Summary
In the lesson entitled, “Is Full Inclusion the Least Restrictive Environment?” it compared two opposing cases on inclusion of persons with disabilities in regular schools. The first case tells a story of Ro who has successfully adapted in the education systems of inclusive schools since preparatory school to college. Her story reflects an empowered person despite her disability through the inclusive learning systems of schools she attended. She excelled in her schools especially in communication. She gained many friends from her classmates who learned life lessons from her story. Ro’s parents were ready in case she decided to join the especial classes with her fellow persons with disabilities. However, the said circumstance did not happen as Ro enjoyed mingling with regular students. She did not feel isolated instead; she is one of those who easily gain friends who stick to her until the end.
The second case on the other hand is a story of Ely who pushed for joining the especial education class rather than in regular classes. Ely’s story explains that his case is not yet in the severe stage needing a pull-out from regular classes. However, he exercised his self-determination to choose whom to seat beside with in school. His parents are supportive of inclusion in the learning system that is why Ely was enrolled from kindergarten to elementary in regular schools. They hoped that through including Ely with regular students, he will learn to be independent. They are supportive to the principle that inclusion will foster a least restrictive environment for persons with disabilities. It turned out that their son, Ely was not comfortable with his environment even though his classmates did not do anything discriminatory against him. Ely was searching for an environment where he feels the belongingness. He finds it in the classes with students who have also Down’s syndrome like him.
Full inclusion in learning systems can be beneficial for both the regular students and the students with disabilities. It helps the person with disabilities to feel empowered. Acceptance from the community of regular students uplifts the self-esteem of the physically and mentally challenged students. It motivates them to become optimistic and live their life in the brighter side like what happened to Ro. On the other hand, the regular students at their young age understand, accept, tolerate, and respect people suffering from various disabilities. If at a young age, they are able to respect these kinds of persons, it will have positive ripples of effects if they advocate for the rights of their friends and classmates who are differently abled.
Full inclusion however can have several impacts on the students who cannot find their space in the regular schools. Despite the good intentions of full inclusion, the issue of belongingness still needs to be addressed because it is a basic need of every individual. Once a child cannot feel his or her belongingness at a current environment, he or she will never find happiness. This happened in the case of Ely where he said that he felt lost in his environment. In the story, it revealed that Ely did a good job in mingling and doing study sessions with regular students. However, he still felt different from the rest because he has not built a deeper friendship with them. Interviews with his classmates stated that Ely is a good kid, but they feel that he is not one of the peers that they wanted to belong with. Ely felt that the gap between him and the regular students are growing wider through the years.
Reflection
Full inclusion in learning system is a revolutionary method in the history of education. It is a leap forward to eradicate the rooted discrimination and misrepresentation of the persons with disabilities. On the hindsight however, it may not be suitable for other children who finds confidence and belongingness among the like-minded environment. In this case, options should be flexible for the parents with kids having disabilities. The children should decide for what they think is appropriate for them. Inclusion should not hamper the basic right of children to find belongingness.
