An inclusive education is the right of every child in Australia, but a lack of understanding puts children at risk. So, if you work in education, our Introduction to Inclusive Education is ideal professional development for you.
What is inclusive education?
An inclusive education ensures that every child learns, grows and flourishes together in general education settings. It means that schools need to adapt their environment and teaching approaches to suit the needs of individual children. At its heart, inclusive education embraces diversity and welcomes everyone as part of a school community.
The Department of Social Services defines inclusive education as one that:
- Values and supports the full participation of all children together within mainstream educational settings
- creates a situation where all children and young people can be valued, experience a sense of belonging and where they are encouraged to reach their full potential in all areas of development
- is free from discriminatory beliefs, attitudes and practices
- welcomes and values diversity as a resource rather than a problem and recognises impairment as one of many forms of human diversity
- requires the transformation of educational systems, settings, policies and practices to provide the best possible education for all
- involves an ongoing process of removing barriers to active involvement and shared learning
- requires recognising that we are all equally human and putting this into action in everyday, practical ways
- is also about engaging inclusively with families.
An inclusive education is not:
- changing children and young people to fit within current exclusionary systems
- an ‘added extra’ or ‘special effort’ born out of kindness or charity
- simply being present in a mainstream classroom – this is only a starting point
Will special schools become obsolete?
Disability and advocacy group Children and Young People with Disability Australia (CYDA) calls for special schools to be phased out and a more inclusive education system to be developed in Australia that caters to students with and without a disability.
CYDA states, ‘Research evidence overwhelmingly supports inclusive education. As well as positive outcomes for social justice and sense of community and belonging, there are benefits for learning outcomes and for the social, behavioural and physical development of children and young people who do and do not experience disability.’
Similarly, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability says inclusive education is when students with and without a disability are educated together.
Italy’s inclusive education policy
In Italy, there have been no special schools since 1977! Instead, their inclusive education policy ensures that all children are educated in mainstream schools. Additional support is provided to mainstream schools through special-needs teachers and reduced class sizes. Italy has one of the highest inclusion of people with support needs in mainstream schools, believing that children with and without disabilities learn from each other.
Overcome barriers to learning
If schools are to truly deliver an inclusive education for all children, intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning must be overcome. The following are some barriers to learning that children may experience in mainstream schooling.
- Anxiety
- Autism
- ADHD
- Auditory processing disorders
- Cerebral palsy
- Epilepsy
- Expressive language disorder
- Giftedness
- Hearing or vision impairment
- Oppositional defiant disorder
- Sensory integration dysfunction
- Trauma or abuse
- Visual processing disorder
Introduction to Inclusive Education
In this online professional development course, you’ll discover the common barriers to learning and how to support inclusion and diversity in an educational setting.
What you’ll learn:
- Reflect on values and biases
- Interactions and relationships with people from different backgrounds
- Self-awareness of your behaviours
- Inclusive practices
- Different aspects of diversity and inclusion
- Policies and the NQF
- Communication techniques
- Modelling appropriate behaviours
- Ethical and inclusive interactions
- Engagement and participation
- Encourage and promote participation
- Inclusive work practices
- Supporting cultural, gender, ability and other forms of safety
- Building on diverse backgrounds of children and families
- Teaching children about similarities and differences
- EYLF principles
- Engaging children in collaborative discussions
- Respectful and equal relations
- Observe children’s interactions and participation
- Identify and communicate needs for additional support
- Supporting children’s specific needs
- Curriculum decisions that promote inclusion
- National Quality Framework (NQF)
- Belief in children’s capacity to succeed
- Positive expectations and challenging bias
- Interacting with families and children
- Understanding inclusive practice at a leadership level
- Practical, pedagogical, legal and ethical considerations
- Support all children to participate meaningfully
- Role modelling inclusion and respect for diversity
- Pro-active communication
- Reflecting on practices
- Recognising and investigating barriers to learning
- Intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning
- Barriers to learning (Autism, ADHD, anxiety, auditory processing disorder, cerebral palsy, giftedness, epilepsy, oppositional defiant disorder, sensory integration dysfunction, trauma, visual processing disorder, hearing/vision impairment).
- Using data to understand learning barriers
- Developing a holistic understanding of each child’s needs
- Develop individual support and inclusion plans
- Adaptations to facilitate inclusion
- Adapting the curriculum
- Additional support
- Adapting indoor and outdoor equipment
- Adapting routines
- Implementing adaptions
- Supporting the child’s and family’s entry into the service
- Preparing other staff, children and other families
- Supporting child on arrival
- Regularly assess and adjust the level of support
- Adjusting support and inclusion plans
- Implement agreed strategies
- Supporting colleagues, other children and families
- Exchanging information with others regarding a child’s needs
- Responding to children’s daily need
- Seeking assistance when required
- Specialist equipment
- Monitoring each child’s progress
- Identifying barriers
- Trialling alternative strategies
- Issues of concern
- Gain family permission before consulting others
- Incorporating strategies proposed by others
- Ensure communication is culturally and linguistically responsive
- Monitoring new strategies and impact on child
- Evaluation outcomes
If you’re interested in this course, or any other professional development course, contact one of our Course Consultants today on Live Chat or call 1300 76 2221.
