The book, Collaborative Teaming, in my opinion is geared toward those beginning inclusion and teaming. My thoughts are that we have inclusion in various forms, and that we do team, but not 100% in an academic way due to a lack of time.
I value inclusion for a number of different reasons. First, that is how I “grew up” as an educator. In Montgomery County it was thrust upon us with little input from the staff. However, I was most fortunate as I had great support and absolutely wonderful students – except for one very unstable parent. I feel (don’t really know why) that most people believe I am for 100% inclusion. So, for clarity, I will offer you my beliefs of inclusion.
I feel inclusion is a way to set up the “real world” in your classroom. ALL PEOPLE need to learn to be patient, tolerant, understanding, compassionate, and helpful if we are going to create a world that doesn’t discriminate against, but understands and appreciates our differences.
I feel inclusion helps those with disabilities live in the “real world” and feel accepted and valued. All of us have disabilities! Those who are “identified” in the schools, have disabilities challenging their success in school. My challenges may not be school related, but may be relationship or socially challenging.
We need to support persons with identified disabilities by identifying their needs (as we do with non-identified students) setting expectations (as we do with non-identified students) and finding ways to prepare them academically so they can compete with all students in an academic setting (as we do with non-identified students). Hmmm…so basically our job is to expect from, teach to, and learn from all children in our midst.
So how do we do this in our school? My belief about inclusion is to examine each child and determine what academic setting is best for him or her. The settings may look different for each child and each subject. Inclusion may be appropriate for a student in regards to math, but not for language arts. If we can support that decision with data and experience then I feel we have chosen the right educational setting.
I think I truly love inclusion because it provides an environment that is appreciative, respectful, and dedicated to all of its members – students, teachers, parents, community. We are extremely fortunate in that we have such great teachers who, when placed together to do a job, produces over the top results. We must always respect one another and believe in our hearts and head, that each of us brings to the table professionalism, wisdom, insight, and creativity. I learn from you each day! Without all or your knowledge, experience, insight, ideas, our school would not be the wonderful place it is!
So, in a nutshell, I believe that inclusion should happen as much as possible. A number of teachers working collaboratively in a classroom, in an effort to propel all students, is always more powerful than one. We can move mountains if we move them together! But again, student needs must be examined and met in the best way possible! And I respect the decisions we make as professionals in regard to our students’ individual needs if they are well thought out, discussed and agreed upon by all stake holders.
I have been on both sides of the fence with this one. I agree with what you have said, especially when working collaboratively. One of the things that I see us doing very well is teaching developmentally. I believe that is HUGE for inclusion to be successful. There was a time in our history when teachers taught and students caught (or not). It was frustrating to me as a SpEd teacher. Now, I believe we ALL realize the importance of allowing for developmental differences in our instruction and meeting kids where they are. Keeping kids in the zone of proximal development(Vygotsky) ... It is powerful. We are powerful. I am excited to be part of such a cutting edge, forward thinking group of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ellen's description of inclusion and believe in it. I haven't always though. Before teaching Transitional First Grade, I thought IEP students needed to be pulled and taught in a different way and get more one on one. (That's the way "I was raised".)Then after teaching Transitional First, I realized those folks had no role models for behavior as well as academics.
ReplyDeleteAnd that would be me Blenna is talking about when she said teachers taught and students got it or not. When I came to McHarg and taught half day Kg. I taught whole group and said they either got it or didn't. I didn't know what else to do in that short amount of time. Surely I would do it differently now.
Again, these team meetings every six days are going to be the foundation for our change. That's when ya'll will try to teach me about teaming. I look forward to it!
I am excited about the new changes we are making and anxious to see what we can accomplish when we work toward collaborating in our planning and teaching. I, too have seen many variations of inclusion throughout my teaching career. I believe that every child has the right to learn and our teaching should be geared to meet all student's needs. But I also believe that if a student is keeping other students from learning because of inappropriate behavior, then they should not be allowed to remain in the classroom to take that right away from others. I think this takes a village and we are moving in that direction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Debbie. Every student in a classroom has the right to learn. So in my mind there are some important considerations with inclusion. First, is a student being disruptive and denying other students their rights to learn? Second, is the classroom teacher given the needed support so that learning is not interrupted? Perhaps teaming would be the solution.
ReplyDelete"Hmmm…so basically our job is to expect from, teach to, and learn from all children in our midst." I love this sentence in your post Ellen.
ReplyDeleteI've been teaching special ed. a long time and have seen lots of changes...self contained, resource, mainstream, inclusion and now "reverse inclusion". The reverse inclusion model is our description of what is happening in our preschool right now. The DOE says that in order to be a reverse mainstream program, we have to have a ratio of at least 50/50 for children with IEPs and children without. These same guidelines say we can have 8 preschoolers with disabilities in a class and that means 8 more children without disabilities. 16 three or four year olds!!! Needless to say, initially those numbers made me want to run for the hills.
In addition to my reservations about my abilities to reach them all, teach them all, love them all, I wasn't convinced it was what was best for the children. I was afraid my little darlings would feel like they didn't fit in, and would lose their sense of community and their feelings of safety,comfort, and self confidence. In reality, that hasn't happened at all. They have simply become part of a larger community, have learned appropriate language and behaviors and have formed sweet and real friendships.
If it can happen with preschoolers, it can happen in the other classrooms at McHarg. We just have to put aside our reservations and be willing to share our children, our ideas, our possessions and our expertise.
And even though, I won't really be directly involved with others in this new journey, I wish you well. Travel safely and have a great time!
I know you do a wonderful job, Jonnie. You have my utmost respect, and you have certainly shown how well it can work. I'm just going to be honest here, and I hope it won't be held against me. In the pre-school setting, there are no tested standards of learning you are responsible for teaching. Also, I assume that parents know going in that it is a 50/50 inclusion setting and they make that choice.
ReplyDeleteBy now, I guess everyone knows that I have a fear of inclusion. It's not so much the students with learning differences because I am more than willing to modify curriculum. It's the behavioral problems with impulsive, disruptive, sometimes violent actions that make me feel at a loss. I have had absolutely no special ed classes or training. Sometimes I just plain do not feel qualified.
I absolutely understand the fear of inclusion, as related to the worry of if/when a behavioral outburst is going to disrupt the classroom learning environment. It is vital to have a support team in place with a plan for this. It is also important for each member of the team to "be on the same page". Communication is key! It can be exhausting (and frustrating!) dealing with these behaviorial outbursts daily, but it is also rewarding to see those peer relationships build/strengthen throughout the year. It really does take a village (and a really strong team!) to do this!
ReplyDeleteBlenna, explain your Russian word to me!
ReplyDelete