Chapter 9 The general education classroom: This is not where students with disabilities should be placed

Abstract

Before discussing educational placement issues related to learners with special needs, definitions related to inclusion need to be presented. It is important to note there is no universally accepted definition of inclusion; thus, this term holds different meanings to different individuals (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1994). Furthermore, the terminology has also changed over the decades (McLeskey, 2007). During the 1960s through the early 1980s, the term mainstreaming was used. The terms of integration and regular education initiative were used throughout the 1980s. From the late 1980s through the present, the preferable term has been inclusion. Schwartz (2005) optimistically stated that an inclusive program is “one that provides educational intervention to students with and without disabilities in a common setting and provides appropriate levels of instruction and support to meet the needs of all students” (p. 240). Others have defined inclusion “as the practice of educating students with disabilities in the general education classroom setting” (Zinkil & Gilbert, 2000, p. 225). The meaning of inclusion has been defined differently from the term mainstreaming, which has been defined as “when students…earn their way into the general educational classroom…with minimal, if any, special education assistance” (Zinkil & Gilbert, 2000, p. 225). For the purposes of this chapter, the definition of inclusion provided by Zinkil and Gilbert (2000) will be used.

Citation

Bakken, J.P. (2010), "Chapter 9 The general education classroom: This is not where students with disabilities should be placed", Obiakor, F.E., Bakken, J.P. and Rotatori, A.F. (Ed.) Current Issues and Trends in Special Education: Identification, Assessment and Instruction (Advances in Special Education, Vol. 19), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 129-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0270-4013(2010)0000019012