CHAPTER V

EMBRACING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

OBJECTIVES
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of the concepts,
importance, and basic elements inclusive education;
• Discuss the Inclusive Education in the Philippines; and
• Examine recent trends and issues in inclusive education in the
Philippines.

What is Inclusive Education?

According to UNICEF, every child has the right to education. That includes children
with disabilities. The CRPD goes further to stress that inclusive education is a fundamental
human right for every child with a disability. An inclusive education system is one that
accommodates all students whatever their abilities or requirements, and at all levels – pre-
school, primary, secondary, tertiary, vocational and life-long learning.
It is important to understand what is and is not inclusive education:

• Exclusion: students with disabilities are denied access to education in any form.
• Segregation: education of students with disabilities is provided in separate
environments designed for specific, and in isolation from students without
disabilities.
• Integration: placing students with disabilities in mainstream educational
institutions without adaptation and requiring the student to fit in.
• Inclusion: education environments that adapt the design and physical structures,
teaching methods, and curriculum as well as the culture, policy and practice of
education environments so that they are accessible to all students without
discrimination. Placing students with disabilities within mainstream classes without
these adaptations does not constitute inclusion.
 According to Open Society Foundations, Inclusive education values diversity and the
unique contributions each student brings to the classroom. In a truly inclusive setting, every
child feels safe and has a sense of belonging. Students and their parents participate in setting
learning goals and take part in decisions that affect them. And school staff have the training,
support, flexibility, and resources to nurture, encourage, and respond to the needs of all
students.
Successful inclusive education happens primarily through accepting, understanding, and
attending to student differences and diversity, which can include physical, cognitive,
academic, social, and emotional. This is not to say that students never need to spend time out
of regular education classes, because sometimes they do for a very particular purpose — for
instance, for speech or occupational therapy. But the goal is this should be the exception.
Basic Elements of Inclusive Education
As cited in the article The Value of Inclusive Education (2019), the following are the basic
elements of inclusive education:

1. Use of teaching assistants or specialists: These staff have the potential to be

inclusive or divisive. For instance, a specialist who helps teachers address the needs
of all students is working inclusively. A specialist who pulls students out of class to
work with them individually on a regular basis is not.
2. Inclusive curriculum: An inclusive curriculum includes locally relevant themes and
contributions by marginalized and minority groups. It avoids binary narratives of
good and bad, and allows adapting the curriculum to the learning styles of child ren
with special education needs.
3. Parental involvement: Most schools strive for some level of parental involvement,
but it is often limited to emails home and occasional parent–teacher conferences. In
a diverse school system, inclusion means thinking about multiple ways to reach out
to parents on their own terms.

Inclusive Education in the Philippines

According to Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation (2010), Inclusive
Education is a learning environment where children with and without disabilities are taught
together, as equals. This approach is different to more traditional approaches to the
education of children with disabilities that involve segregating Children with Disabilities
(CWDs) into separate classes or even separate schools.
Inclusive Education is recognized by teachers, families and policy makers to be a more
beneficial way of ensuring that children with and without disabilities achieve their full
educational potential, and it is included in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD) Article 24.
Inclusive Education: The Philippine Perspective
In the Philippines the inclusive education programs aim to cater children with
disabilities, street children, abused children, child laborers, children of indigenous peoples
and the Muslim children.
As presented by Quijano, Y. (2017), the inclusive education program is being strengthen in
the country because of the following reasons:
 Children with disabilities who are in school are about 101, 762 (2011-2011);
 Children with disabilities are still combating educational exclusion;
 97.3 % of them are still unreached;
 About 5,916 are mainstreamed in regular classes;
 Children of Indigenous people number about 12-15 million across the country;
 These are spread in seven ethnographic areas with 117 ethno-linguistic groups;
 Those in the elementary schools total 639, 483 while 158, 550 are in the secondary
schools (2010-2011);
 140, 570 Muslim elementary and secondary pupils are attending Arabic Language
and Islamic Values Education (ALIVE) in public schools;
 Street children are about 246, 000 thousand;
- 75% are children on the streets;
- 25% are children of the streets;
- 70 % are boys;
 Working children are growing in number; and
 Number of abused children is being tracked down
Philippine Model of Inclusion

1. Partial mainstreaming towards inclusion

 students are educated in regular classes at least half the day

 receive additional help or specialized services
 pull-out

2. Full mainstreaming or inclusion

 complete regular instruction

 receive all special services in general classroom
Benefits of Inclusive Education
According to Leonard Cheshire Disability Philippines Foundation (2010), the following
are the benefits of Inclusive Education:

1. Achievement

Children with disabilities achieve better results when they are educated in an inclusive
environment. They can learn at their own pace, with peers at the same stage as themselves,
and they respond well to the higher expectations placed on them in a mainstream learning
environment. They will better learn to overcome the challenges their disability can bring
because they will be supported to participate fully in activities alongside able-bodied
children.

2. Confidence

Isolating disabled children from their non-disabled peers puts an emphasis on their
disability – this can lead to feelings of insecurity and worry when interacting with able -
bodied people. By educating children with disabilities in an inclusive environment they will
become more confident of their abilities and better able to make strong friendships with
their peers. They will learn to be positive about themselves and what they can achieve.

3. Learning for All

Inclusive Education isn’t just good for children with disabilities. Able -bodied children in
their class will also learn about the challenges faced by people with disabilities and make
lasting friendships. They will develop a strong sense of equality and fairness, an
understanding of acceptance and diversity, and will be less likely to discriminate or bully
later in life.
Current Issues in the Philippines

1. Increasing the holding power of schools over these children;

2. Making existing resources and other support systems adaptable and suitable to the
needs of inclusive education;

3. Mobilizing parents and other duty bearers in supporting inclusive education; and
4. Providing post-school support to fully integrate and enable disadvantaged children
to participate in gainful employment or productive work.
Challenges in Inclusive Education in the Philippines
In the Philippines, what every school child must learn and why it must be learned,
regardless of his or her abilities or lack thereof, are issues that have yet to undergo intense
debate. Rich and sustained argumentative discussions surrounding Inclusive Education and
special education in the Philippines must be encouraged to discern what is best for all
Filipino schoolchildren. Whether the Philippines should adopt the inclusion policy and
specific approaches to Inclusive Education practiced in other countries and which
adjustments to make according to the demands of the country’s own cultural, economic, and
social realities—these are serious matters that need immediate attention, for high-quality
education is an entitlement all school-aged Filipino children must enjoy, regardless of what
they have or lack.
Some Problems of Inclusive Education Here and Overseas the Inclusive Education
movement encourages inclusive schools to establish a continuum of support and services to
match the needs of children who require special attention (Salamanca Statement, 1994).
Since the institutionalization of Inclusive Education in different countries, nearly all public
schools have been morally or legally stripped of their option to turn away exceptional
children whose parents or guardians seek for them to be schooled in a general education
setting. This development was further facilitated by many organizations’ aggressive call for
a satisfactory implementation of Inclusive Education in the Philippines.
In a research by Muega and Echavia (2011), 87 in-service teachers said they are
willing to handle and work with professionals for the inclusion of children with special needs
(CSN) in general education classrooms, but their overall response indicates they are not
prepared to take on the challenge of handling students with disorders or disabilities. This
problem is further aggravated by the difficulty of meeting other vital requirements of sound
IE. At this point, teachers in the Philippines, whether trained or otherwise, will have to accept
that they will be spread too thinly in an inclusionary setting because the presence of students
with special needs in an oversized group of students, if taken seriously, requires the
preparation of more than one lesson plan.
Another research by Muega (2016), found that participants in his study made it
apparent that one of the major problems is the lack of teacher training in IE. Such training
should begin at the pre-service level of teacher training and education. This may sound easy,
but high-quality training may only be realized if the teacher education institution has the
necessary resources to fully equip inclusive schoolteachers. It has been observed that the
participants are worried about the lack of IE knowledge and training among many teachers
of inclusive schools. The lack of IE training among general education teachers is indicated by
their admission that they are wanting in competence to facilitate high level inclusion of CSN.
At present, the entire Philippine education system is lacking in the knowledge and
resources required for high-quality inclusion. This research presents an evidence-based
picture of how IE is practiced in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, to give stakeholders
in IE an idea of how inclusion is conceptualized and practiced in the Philippines. Since this
study identifies important challenges to IE as practiced in Quezon City, having knowledge of
such problems can help IE stakeholders, especially in similar developing countries, to decide
where to begin and which specific practices to promote and make available if they wish to
facilitate the development of a just and durable IE. This study gives the parents of children
with special needs (CSN) a broader and deeper picture of where a developing country such
as the Philippines might be in terms of IE practice.
Such vital information is crucial in aiding parents in their attempt to maximize the
learning opportunities of their children with special needs (CSN) despite the limited external
support system for IE. General education teachers will likewise benefit from this study in
that the research suggests inclusionary procedures that may be implemented in the
Philippines, even if a significant majority of these schools are burdened with very limited
resources. Findings from this study can also be used to inform those tasked to revise
Philippine Senate Bill 3002 or to institutionalize inclusionary procedures in schools
throughout the country.
Group Activity:
Create a three (3) minute advocacy video to promote Inclusive Education in the Philippines
and upload it in the class FB group. Be creative and make sure that your word choice is
descriptive and interesting.

Rubrics:

CRITERION EXEMPLARY PROFICIENT BASIC IN PROGRESS

The content does not
Supporting concepts Details are logical present a clearly The content lacks a central
in the video are and persuasive stated theme, is theme, clear point of view
Content and clearly shown in the information is vague, and some of and logical sequence of
Substance progression of the effectively used. The the supporting information. Much of the
(40 %) presentation. Events content includes a information does not supporting information in
and messages are point of view with a seem to fit the main the video is irrelevant to
presented in a clear, progression of ideas idea or appears as a the overall message.
concise, and logical and supporting disconnected series Information is incomplete,
order. Includes information. of scenes with no out of date and/or
properly cited Includes properly unifying main idea. incorrect. No citations are
Score: sources. cited sources. Includes few citations included.
and few facts.
Video runs smoothly
from shot to shot. A Video is stable,
smooth movements Video is of poor quality
Creativity/ variety of transitions
and pans. A variety Video has good and is unedited. There are
Production are used to assist in
of transitions are pacing. Transitions no transitions added or
Quality communicating the
used and most are used often that transitions are used so
(20%) main idea. Shots and
transitions help tell they detract from the frequently that they
scenes work well
the story. Graphics video. Background detract from the video.
together. Graphics
are used track is louder than There are no graphics.
explain and reinforce
appropriately. the voiceover. Audio is difficult to hear
key points in the
Score: Audio is clear and and understand.
video. Audio is clear
understandable
and understandable.
The video
Sustain the interest of Keep the attention
presentation is
Originality the audience in clever of the audience the the audience's attention
somewhat interesting
(20%) and innovative ways whole time and the showed disinterest and the
and keep the
and achieve the purpose of the purpose for the
attention for the most
purpose of the presentation was presentation was achieved
part. The purpose
Score: was mainly achieved
presentation. achieved.

The group
Teamwork/ The group documents Some individuals
documents show
Participation show members document show there
members divided One person documents
(20% brainstormed, was poor
tasks, assigned that problems were not
discussed, and solved communication,
roles based on the managed in a way that
problems. The group unresolved conflict,
skills/talents of advanced the group goal.
documents division of or failure to
individual Few people contributed
responsibilities and collaborate on
members, shared their fair share of work, or
Score: describes how the important aspects of
the workload and the project was created by
individual efforts the work. The group
managed problems one student doing most of
capitalized on required teacher
in a way that the work.
strengths of each assistance to resolve
advanced the group
team member. differences.
goal.

Score: TOTAL
Group Activity:
Directions: You will be grouped into 4. Each group must have 8-10 members. First, create
your own acrostic poem with the words INCLUSIVE EDUCATION. Then, create a two-minute
(2 min) video on your poem. Upload your video output in the class FB group. You will be
graded on the following criteria.
Rubrics:
CRITERION EXEMPLARY PROFICIENT BASIC IN PROGRESS
Has met all
Each letter is
Content and expectations and
followed by a
Originality demonstrated use Very basic or simple
thoughtful phras e Some thoughtful
(40 %) of poetic device. information about
and/or sentence phrases, including
The final poem you is included,
that describes the some good
thematically often only one word.
topic. Most words descriptions.
connects ALL Many
are clear and vivid, Content of the poem
Score: aspects of the words/phrases are
through some are is not striking.
activity through vague and misused.
repetitive and
the use of proper
overdone.
words and terms.
Creativity/ Video runs
Production smoothly from
Quality shot to shot. A Video is of poor
Video is stable,
variety of quality and is
smooth movements
transitions are Video has good unedited. There are
and pans. A variety
used to assist in pacing. Transitions no transitions added
of transitions are
communicating are used often that or transitions are
used and most
the main idea. they detract from used so frequently
transitions help tell
Shots and scenes the video. that they detract
the story. Graphics
Score: work well Background track is from the video.
are used
together. Graphics louder than the There are no
appropriately.
explain and voiceover. graphics. Audio is
Audio is clear and
reinforce key difficult to hear and
understandable
points in the video. understand.
Audio is clear and
understandable.
Conventions Correct usage of About halfway
ALL spelling, Mostly correct. there. A number of
Spelling errors are
grammar, There are a few bothersome
Score: common.
capitalization, and errors. mistakes need
punctuation. cleaning up.
The group
Teamwork/ documents show
Participation members The group Some individuals One person
20% brainstormed, documents show document show documents that
discussed, and members divided there was poor problems were not
solved problems. tasks, assigned roles communication, managed in a way
The group based on the unresolved conflict, that advanced the
documents skills/talents of or failure to group goal. Few
division of individual members, collaborate on people contributed
Score: responsibilities shared the workload important aspects of their fair share of
and describes how and managed the work. The group work, or the project
the individual problems in a way required teacher was created by one
efforts capitalized that advanced the assistance to resolve student doing most
on strengths of group goal. differences. of the work.
each team
member.

Score: Total: