Toward Inclusive Education: A reflection

“You cannot give what you cannot have”, a familiar maxim known
throughout the teaching profession. While this maxim has become cliché, it
still stands true and just. This is specifically true for practitioners with
specific expertise and interests. A more loaded topic of discussion can be
brought to the fore when regular teachers are faced with the reality of
teaching learners with special educational needs (LSENs) and learners
with disabilities (LWDs), despite their not being properly trained or oriented.

One particular policy reconfiguration that made this adjustment is

Republic Act 11650, also known as the Inclusive Education Act of 2021,
which aims to promote and equip all schools and learning centers into
becoming inclusive schools and learning centers (ILRC). This
transformation aligns with the agenda if the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

Former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has signed a law mandating

all schools nationwide to ensure inclusive education for learners with
disabilities. RA 11650, provides that no learner shall be denied admission
based on their disability. The implementing rules and regulations of RA
11560 must be included in the admission systems policies of all schools.
According to the law, RA 11650 shall include the provision of assistive
devices, facilities and infrastructure in the admission process, and other
forms of reasonable accommodation.

How politicians and staff in schools understand the values of inclusive

education influences how these values are translated into policy and
practice. Shared understanding of the vision of inclusive education is
identified as necessary for improvement in the school system. A shared
vision helps to encourage and facilitate learning and inclusive education
throughout all levels of the school organization.
 Inclusion is often connected to people with disabilities and this is
rooted in the present-day rhetoric on inclusion that stresses a long history
of segregation and social oppression, and the exclusion of disabled
populations. Accordingly, disability was claimed to be social oppression
and not a medical condition that can be treated or cured.

The importance of understanding policies and practices and acquiring

knowledge in the field of inclusive education. In the attempt to implement
inclusive education, teachers in regular schools have to make considerable
adjustments in terms of delivery, content and class organization.
Specifically, they make adjustments in order to meet the needs of learners
with special educational needs. Differentiated instruction is one approach
that adapts the teaching compared to the pupils learning abilities and
potentials.

As teachers we have the ability to significantly influence the attitudes

of our students and model positive attitudes towards accepting difference. It
is understood that to accomplish this we need to be aware of the existing
attitudes of our students in the classroom. By creating a welcoming,
accepting and supportive atmosphere, it is believed that students will mirror
the same attitude. I believe it is also imperative that teachers foster the
understanding that the diversity of students can beneficially provide
learning opportunities and experiences that might not otherwise be part of
the curriculum.

We need to constantly educate our students that difference should be

valued, provide opportunities for all students to succeed and develop
relationships and model an understanding of how to accept difference. I
have gained further insight into the underlying values of inclusive
education and have experienced personal and professional growth as a
result. I personally believe that inclusive education has the potential to
ultimately shape society and their attitudes towards difference.