This paper examines how special education curricula can be made more inclusive and meaningful for elementary-age students with disabilities. Drawing on scholars such as Margaret King-Sears, Tracey Chappell, and James Banks, the paper argues that students with disabilities benefit from general education environments and flexible, universally designed instruction. It surveys international perspectives on curriculum gaps in special education, outlines Banks' four-stage multicultural curriculum reform model, and applies those principles to practical classroom contexts. The paper also presents a hands-on science unit on acid rain as a concrete example of inquiry-based, literacy-accessible instruction for students with learning disabilities.
Making special education experiences more inclusive means making those experiences more meaningful as well. For a child at the elementary level who faces significant emotional, intellectual, and/or physical challenges, it is imperative that interesting, inspiring, and even entertaining curricula be presented, and that a multicultural approach be the goal of schools and teachers. This vision goes well beyond federal law — specifically, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) — which applies to children with learning disabilities. There are approximately five million such children with varying disabilities currently enrolled in public and private schools in the United States.
Margaret E. King-Sears asserts that it is a "fallacy" that students with disabilities are incapable of benefiting from general education classes — an environment where they have the opportunity to participate alongside students who differ from them physically, mentally, and culturally or ethnically (King-Sears, 2008). King-Sears insists that students with disabilities can learn in general education classes when the curriculum is presented using techniques "that promote their learning" (King-Sears, 2008). Lesson plans that utilize a "universal design for learning (UDL) paradigm" and provide flexibility for diverse learners should be the goal of instructors in both the special education and general education fields when working with children with disabilities (King-Sears, 2008).
An article in the Journal of Research in Childhood Education (JRCE) posits that a learning disability "may mask a student's gifted abilities," and that curricula should be geared toward understanding "the importance of adaptation strategies, compensation strategies, and enrichment" in order to allow the student to "expand beyond the remedial approach" typically employed in attempts to correct the learning disability (JRCE, 2008). "Vast numbers" of learning disabled (LD) students "are not being properly served," the article concludes.
Tracey Chappell, the principal of Bundaberg Special School in Queensland, Australia, has a passion directed toward curriculum for students with disabilities and toward strategies for inclusiveness for those students. Special educators need to ensure that students with disabilities "are offered the opportunity to learn and be challenged in ways that are meaningful to them in the global world" of the 21st century, Chappell writes (2008). In that regard, Chappell insists that learning for students with disabilities should be "contextualized within systemic curriculum frameworks." In other words, instead of serving students with disabilities as though they are "users of resources" requiring support and assistance, they should be approached as "learners" in an inclusive environment who will become "active citizens" with "capacity and capabilities" (Chappell, 2008).
In New Zealand, as in other countries, the special education literature tends to have "significant absences and silences around curriculum" (Millar et al., 2007). Perhaps this silence exists because the "two apparently separate worlds" of curriculum and special education have not been fully integrated. However, as Millar argues, failure to explore "more fully the diverse curriculum needs of children with disabilities can only lead to their continued disadvantage in an educational world that is endeavoring to be inclusive" (Millar, p. 164).
"Banks' four-stage model for multicultural curriculum transformation"
"Hands-on acid rain unit avoids textbook-based literacy barriers"
The cycle of production, pollution, and consumption is an easy one to teach in a science class — especially if the instructor eschews textbooks and avoids having students tackle literacy and science simultaneously. More broadly, the principles examined throughout this paper — from universal design for learning and international curriculum reform to Banks' multicultural framework — all point in the same direction: students with disabilities deserve curricula that are intellectually challenging, culturally rich, and practically engaging. When special education and general education are bridged through thoughtful curriculum design, students with disabilities are better positioned to become informed, empowered, and active citizens in the 21st century.
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