So, here's my question for this week. Obviously, there's a lot of debate over whether or not inclusion is beneficial or not for the student who is being mainstreamed. But, what about the other students in the classroom that the child will be included into? Do they benefit from it? Or does it hurt them? Basically, if a student is mainstreamed, will his or her peers be helped or hindered by it? If a student who has disabilities is put in a mainstream classroom, what affects will that have on his/her classmates?
I guess the best way to start looking at this question would be to define inclusion. So, what is inclusion? It's essentially when students of varying intellectual and developmental levels are in one mainstream classroom. The way I'm talking about it, it means that a student with disabilities is placed in a mainstream classroom, where most other students do no have disabilities.
Now what does that do to the other students? That can depend on a few factors. Is the students disability mild, moderate, or severe? If the students disability is mild, it's likely that the teacher can run their classroom in relatively the same manner as they would if the student was not in it. The student won't require additional staff, resources, or extended amounts of time from the teacher. The other students won't miss out on anything. If the student's disability is moderate, that could require extra staff, resources, and teacher's time. The other students may not get as much time and attention from the teacher, and some topics may not be discussed as in depth. If the students disability is severe, that could be detrimental to the other student's learning and successful outcomes. The student will without a doubt need additional resources, and the teacher may need to spend an extended amount of time with the student. However, if the teacher has another staff member in the classroom to help her, then it may not be as big of a problem. That's another factor that can affect what mainstreaming does to other students. If the teacher is alone they may be require to spend extra time and attention on the student with the disability, which will be time and attention taken away from the other students. However, if the teacher has an additional staff member in his/her classroom to assist the student with the disability, then very little of his/her time and attention will be taken away from the other students.
Sometimes things like language and culture can cause barriers between a student who is being placed in a mainstream classroom and the teacher and other students of that room. If there is no way to translate or communicate between the student, teacher, and peers, then how can the student be expected to learn? And how can the other students be expected to interact with them? If the barrier of language and culture are not severe, and communication can be made among the student, teacher, and peers, then that can become a great situation for everyone involved. The students can all learn about each other, and it gives them an opportunity to learn about people who are different from themselves.
So, there can also be a lot of debate over whether or not mainstreaming a student will benefit his/her classmates. There are some situations in which it will only hinder the classmates learning and progression. Other times, it can only benefit all those involved. There are clearly many factors that can affect this. I think this is another thing about inclusion that needs to be considered on a case by case basis.
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