Teaching strategies and classroom implementation approaches

Teaching Strategies

Mainstreaming involves placing special education students in regular classrooms as much as possible, and using resource rooms where the student receives special tutoring, review and instruction. Inclusion, which is considered a goal of mainstreaming is the total integration of special education students and services into the general education classroom where special education teachers collaborate with general education teachers to teach the entire class. There is still debate in education about the pros and cons of total inclusion of special education students as opposed to having them in special classes. Full inclusion of special education students would require restructuring several traditional educational policies. It also necessitates extensive collaboration between special education teachers, general education teachers, and support paraprofessionals. And it requires restructuring of the curriculum and lessons. One of the critical issues in mainstreaming and inclusion is the training of the teachers involved. This perhaps decides, more than other factors, the success of the program.

Philosophy.

The issue of mainstreaming and inclusion need a lot of thought and preparation. Students however learn best when they are among their peers and when they feel safe and comfortable. Usually being included in a regular classroom provides such safety and comfort better than being segregated in a special classroom. The stigma attached to being a special education student takes away that safety and adds some embarrassment to the difficulties the student already faces. However, to successfully include special education students into the regular classroom I would want to make sure some factors are considered. According to Brucker (2000) three important factors are the attitudes of the teachers, parents and students, having an adequate support system and professional skills and knowledge. The atmosphere in the classroom must be a positive one for special education students to feel welcomed and accepted. This atmosphere is created by all involved- the teachers and how they conduct the classes and include the students in events and activities, the parents and how they support what is happening in the classroom, and the students and how they feel about themselves. For inclusion to work, the teachers must have the professional skills and knowledge about how to deal with and provide a curriculum suited to the special needs of each child. Without the support of the administration, and even the community (the school community and the wider community), the special education child will still feel excluded or not completely a part of the system.

Instructional Strategies.

There are many strategies for including all students in the classroom. In general, programs should focus on the individual needs of the children. Having children in the same group who are developmentally matched rather than chronologically matched was found to work well. When the children were of the same size and developmental level they had the same interests generally and it helped with their interaction with each other. The instructional strategies that have been successful include playing games which include the whole class, having pets in the class for the students to care for, art projects, science projects. Another strategy is to include the students as class helpers; passing out materials, helping to set up and clean areas and assisting other children. These activities help the students to learn additional skills such as taking turns, sharing and cooperation, following directions. The teacher's role must include modeling appropriate responses to situations, giving praise and encouragement.

Behavior management strategies.

One common behavior management strategy is the system of rewards in which appropriate behavior is reinforced with points that are exchangeable for tangible rewards at the end of the day. Problem behaviors result in a loss of points or removal from the classroom for a brief period of time.

Kohler and Strain (1999) emphasize the importance of peer-mediated processes in integrated classrooms. They described the process in the following way, "First, each procedure entailed a process of peer-mediated exchanges (e.g., taking turns, sharing) that was designed to affect a range of skills for children with disabilities (e.g., follow directions, make predictions) the teacher's role was to incorporate the peer-mediated process into the context of a naturally occurring activity, such as snack, games, pet care, and so forth. The teacher then invited several children to join the activity and looked for naturally occurring opportunities to facilitate their social exchanges (peer mediation process) through the use of models, suggestions, prompts, praise, or other strategies."

The Circle of Friends approach has also been found to be helpful in mainstreaming students into a regular classroom. Frederickson and Turner (2003) state that "This approach has also been adapted to support children experiencing emotional, behavioral, and social difficulties in an educational setting by enlisting the help of the other children in their classes and setting up in each class a special group or "circle" of friends."

The class, led by a professional, discusses the focal child's strengths and weaknesses and comes up with suggestions for helping that child and forming a support group of students for him or her.

Conclusion

It is clear from the literature that the issues of inclusion and mainstreaming are complex ones. It is not simply a matter of placing a special needs child into a regular classroom and assuming that he or she will function well. It is not easy either to adjust the curriculum and the day's activities to include special needs students, (especially when there is a variety of special needs in the one classroom) and still have the 'regular' students move forward with their learning at their required pace.