H&S Ch. 6 Separation and Inclusion

Separation and inclusion is a sensitive topic that can challenge the American Dream for education. Most schools use inclusion and enroll students with disabilities into a mainstream classroom. Some people agree with this and others do not. I see both sides. I do agree with the idea that young people will appreciate people who are different from them and that inclusion supports the notion of equal education for all. While I do agree with this, there are many problems that can occur with inclusion. Students with different impairments, such as language, emotional, learning, mental and physical abilities are often places into classrooms with regular students and teachers. I have many students in my classroom with these types of disabilities. While many of them do a great job and are learning so much, I find that the attention and one-on-one instruction they can truly use is nearly impossible for me to give them. Not only do I have 25 other students who need my help and attention, these particular students usually cannot continue on with an assignment unless I am standing behind them and walking them through everything. Often I do help these individual students more because I take the idea that the regular students do not need my help as much and this is nt fair to them. They do deserve my attention and time just as much as students with disabilities. They too are learning and when I am ignoring their needs, I am depriving them of the education they should be receiving. I think it is very important that all students are given the opportunity to learn the same subjects and be able to choose the courses they want, but in some instances I think they should be separated by ability. In the end, it is only benefiting everyone. All the students will be receiving the best education. The students who are emotionally, mentally or language impaired can be in a class that moves slower and walks them through every step, while regular ed. students can be together and move at a more rapid pace with some independent study.

No matter what happens, there will always be a parent who fight the public education system because they believe that their child is not receiving the best education. But this is America and we are all entitled to our opinion and have freedom of speech. Because of this, there will always be challenges and disagreements. There will never be a consensus in America about what is the best education for our children.