More and more today we see and hear about inclusive classrooms. This term refers to a classroom that holds a population of children with and without special needs. During my service hours for SCU 207, here at DePaul Univeristy, I had the honor of working at Courtenay Language Arts Center in a pre-k inclusion classroom. This classroom was comprised of "normal" children, children with special needs ranging from those with down syndrome to severe non-verbal autism, and also was home to a little girl who was exceptionally gifted who had been admitted to a prestigious kindergarten program for gifted children for next year.
Inclusion has been around since the 1970's but has only really been a common occurrence in the United States since the 1990's. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and The Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (DEC) released a joint statement addressing inclusive education. In summary it states,
"the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child and his or her family, regardless of ability to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families and communities, and society. The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships and development and learning to reach their full potential. The defining features of inclusion that can be used to identify high-quality early childhood programs are access, participation, and supports. "(DEC/NAEYC 2009) *
This sounds very nice in theory, but is this statement really coming to life in inclusive classrooms? In my opinion and experience, yes, some parts of it are but in reality I have observed many children's needs (with and without disabilities) being neglected due to sheer incapability of the staff to meet all of the very unique needs.
The staff in this classroom consisted of a special education teacher, and two teacher's aids (not including me). The head special education teacher was retiring after this year so I felt that she really knew what she was doing. The children came for half of the day to participate in this play-based learning program.
Overall I felt that this was a great learning experience for me. However if it were up to me, the way that inclusion classrooms are run, and the children that are suitable for an inclusive classroom would be very different.
*(For full position statement go to NAEYC)
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