CHAPTER 3

MAKING SCHOOLS
INCLUSIVE
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Lenie Rose B. Noval BEEd II - C

 This chapter aims for you to develop the
following competencies:

1. the ability to respond effectively to educational needs of

students with additional needs; and

2. the ability to create safe, inclusive, and culturally responsive

learning environments for students with additional needs
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 Booth and Ainscow came up with an Index for Inclusion,
which aims to direct educational institutions toward developing
their own next steps and action plans if they want to restructure
into becoming more inclusive.

“It takes on the social model of disability as its starting point,

builds on good practice, and then organizes the index work around
a cycle of activities which guide schools through stages of
preparation, investigation, development, and review” (UNESCO
2005:30)
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CREATING INCLUSIVE CULTURES

Figure 3.1. Three dimensions of the Index (Booth and Ainscow 2002:7).
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 Booth and Ainscow (2002) explained that these three dimensions
are interconnected and “chosen to direct thinking about school
change” (2002:7). Considered as backbone of the framework is
the laying down and establishing of an inclusive culture.

A non-supportive culture would most likely result in resistance

from the school’s direct stakeholders. They explain that three
dimensions also branch out into sections to further guide schools
into implementing more direct steps toward this paradigm shift.
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 The Dimensions and Sections in the Index

Dimension A Creating Inclusive Cultures

Section A.1 Building community
Section A.2 Establishing inclusive values

This dimension creates a secure, accepting, collaborating, and

stimulating community, in which everyone is valued as the foundation for
the highest achievements of all. It develops shared inclusive values that
are conveyed to all new staff, students, governors, and parents/carers. The
principles and values, in inclusive school cultures, guide decisions about
policies and moment to moment practice in classrooms, so that school
development becomes a continuous process.
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 The Dimensions and Sections in the Index

Dimension B Producing Inclusive Policies

Section B.1 Developing the school for all
Section B.2 Organizing support for diversity

This dimension makes sure that inclusion permeates all school plans.
Policies encourage the participation of students and staff from the
moment they join the school, reach out to all students in the locality, and
minimize exclusionary pressures. All policies involve clear strategies for
change. Support is considered to be all activities which increase the
capacity of a school to respond to student diversity. All forms of support
are developed according to inclusive principles and are brought together
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within a single framework.

 The Dimensions and Sections in the Index

Dimension C Evolving Inclusive Practices

Section C.1 Orchestrating learning
Section C.2 Mobilizing resources

This dimension develops school practices which reflect the inclusive

cultures and policies of the school. Lessons are made responsive to
student diversity. Students are encouraged to be actively involved in all
aspects of their education, which draws on their knowledge and
experience outside school. Staff identify material resources and resources
within each other, students, parents/carers, and local communities which
can be mobilized to support learning and participation.
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 I. CREATING INCLUSIVE
CULTURES

In this chapter, we shall learn that inclusive education is an ongoing collaborative

process that needs to be dynamically revisited. For it to truly work, its essence has to
resonate to all stakeholders of education.

In educational reform, stakeholders are those who are “invested in the welfare and
success of a school and its students” (www.edglossary.org). They may also be collective
entities like local businesses, advocacy groups, the media, sociocultural institutions, and
other organizations that may be directly or indirectly involved in education. Stakeholders
are important because they play a major role in “connecting what being taught in a
school to its surrounding community” (www.edglossary.org).
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 I. CREATING INCLUSIVE
CULTURES
1. What Stakeholders Can Do

The rights-based approach to educational programming “insists that no right

can exist without a corresponding governmental obligation” (Van den Brule-
Balescut & Sandkull 2005). Thus, governments and communities are starting to
understand how they are accountable to children with additional needs in fulfilling
their right to education and providing access to quality education that is also safe,
welcoming, and inclusive.
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 I. CREATING INCLUSIVE
CULTURES
Some steps stakeholders can take to create inclusive cultures:

● Set the parameters for inclusion

● Build key people
● Identify and eradicate barriers
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 • Set the parameters for inclusion.

The government has identified key people and professions, and

highlighted important factors leading to the success of inclusive education—
i.e., placement process, committees, staffing and responsibilities, teacher
training and compensation, incentives for private sector participation, and
collaboration of the Department of Education with other branches of
government. These clearly show not just an attempt to centralize inclusive
practices, but an initiative to make the welfare and development of children
with additional needs the responsibility of all. These are also consistent with
what the UNESCO pushes for in terms of getting every stakeholder involved.
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 • Build key people.

The government recognizes the need for teacher training, both in the
special needs education and general education levels. It also pushes for the use
of evidence-based teaching frameworks, provision of student assistance, and
access to instructional materials. Most importantly, calls are made for
continuing research and forming of policies to be initiated by agencies such as
the Department of Education so as to further refine the inclusive process and
have it tailored to fit to the needs of children with additional needs. UNESCO
(2005) states that clarity of purpose, realistic goals, motivation, support,
resources, and an evaluation of policies and practices all contribute to a
successful shift toward inclusion.
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 • Identify and eradicate barriers.

UNESCO's Guide for Inclusion (2005) advocates for the identification

and removal of obstacles that have do with transforming prevailing attitudes
and values on a systemic level. The Philippine government seems to be in
consonance with this aspect in the light of its existing legislative policies that
ground the undeniable importance of inclusion. It is also continuously
reorganizing structures in education and implementing programs that highlight
the need for primary stakeholders like the school, the parents, and other policy
makers, to acquire more understanding and capacity-building to manage an
inclusive environment.
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 Common Barriers to Inclusion

• Attitudes, values systems, misconceptions, and societal norms — can lead to prejudices
and/or actual resistance to implement inclusive practices (UNESCO 2005).

• Physical barriers — the lack of building, facility, transportation, or road accessibility are
types of physical barriers that can literally affect one's mobility.

• Curriculum — a rigid "one size fits all" type of curriculum that does not allow room for
individual differences can significantly stunt one's learning and opportunity for growth.

• Lack of teacher training and low teacher efficacy— whether training in teaching
strategies, using curriculum frameworks, or behavior and classroom management, lack of
training as well as low confidence in one's own skills can directly affect how inclusive
practices are implemented.
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 Common Barriers to Inclusion

• Poor language and communication - language barriers may also directly have implications
on how well inclusive practices are implemented.

• Lack of funding - lack of funds can be limiting and debilitating to schools.

• Lack of policies - policies have the ability to unify beliefs and mobilize resources;
unfortunately, lack of it can become a convenient justification for inaction.

• Organization of educational systems - centralized systems may have some type of

detachment in terms of implementing policies and seeing the reality of how such policies
are affecting learners and other stakeholders.

• Too much focus on performance-based standards - schools have also reportedly refused
inclusion because of fear that the presence of learners with additional needs will pull down
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their rankings in standardized tests.

 I. CREATING INCLUSIVE
CULTURES
2. Special Education vs. Mainstreaming vs. Inclusive Education

Part of what needs to occur when creating cultures is to also determine

distinctions among frameworks and practices. Most important in this scenario is to
understand how different special education, mainstreaming, and inclusive education
are from each other.
Mainstreaming shares more similarities with inclusion than with special
education. Both look at integrating the child with additional needs into a general
education setting. There are, however, nuances between the two as well.
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 Table 3.1 Comparing special education, inclusion, and mainstreaming
Special Education
Learners Students who are not part of the
classroom norm
Curriculum Strengths-based and needs-based
individualized curriculum
Assessment and Mostly strengths-based but is
Evaluation sometimes is also standards-based
Learning Placement All services happen inside the
and Delivery of special education classroom but
Services other services such as therapeutic
interventions may be integrated into
this setting or delivered separately
Philosophy Learner-centered: Some learners
have very specific needs that may
not be appropriately addressed in a
general education classroom
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Inclusion Mainstreaming
All same-aged Selected learners are included in
peers/learners are in a general education class based
one class regardless of on their readiness instead of their
ability age.
General education Learner may have access to both
curriculum general education curriculum and
a more individualized curriculum
Norm-referenced Both norm-referenced and
strengths-based
All services happen Receives services in both the
inside the general general education classroom and
education classroom outside through the use of
resource rooms and therapeutic
programs
Rights-based: All Preparatory and Integrative:
learners have a right to Learners are given access to
access quality general education but will need
education that is to catch up on skills first
available to others
 II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE
POLICIES

UNESCO (2005) realistically acknowledges that a societal change in

attitude need not be initially present in a community before inclusion can be
fully practiced. Rather, it must be viewed as a perspective or an ideal to work
toward. Without this realization, differences in standards and quality of
education may surface as potential problems. Just very recently, the pre-service
education curriculum was restructured so that special needs education units are
not only given to special needs education majors but to other education majors
as well. This is a huge step for teachers and a nod to inclusive education.
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 II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE
POLICIES

Steps that educators can take to facilitate the much-needed

societal shift and inform policy:

● Involve other sectors of society

● Collaborate
● Recognize the shift in roles of the teachers
● Include transitions in planning
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 II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE
POLICIES
● Involve other sectors of society.
Current training and awareness campaigns seem to limit the movement of
inclusion to a mere home-school relationship. At most, these are extended to the
departments for social welfare and health. However, for an inclusive set-up to truly be
successful, active involvement of the entire community must be ensured.
At the same time, they must be specific enough to reach the local churches, the
subdivision playgrounds, and the village stores. In recent years, students in the tertiary
level from various programs have been showing growing interest in the PWD
community. The more aware a community is, the more it will be able to help.
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 II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE
POLICIES
● Collaborate.
Whether creating an academic program specific to a child with additional needs or
creating a new legislative bill for the PWD community, collaboration is crucial. Each
member of the inclusive education team would have their own strengths and
weaknesses, and these have to be used wisely to benefit the child with additional needs.
Del Corro-Tiangco (2014) states that general education teachers are trained in the
general curriculum but would not know how to teach and manage children with
additional needs; while a special needs education teacher would be equipped to handle
atypical behaviors but would not know much about the general education curriculum.
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 II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE
POLICIES
● Recognize the shift in roles of the teachers.

With the shift to inclusive education, the role of special education (SPED) teachers
suddenly seems to be reduced to only "as needed." As a result, the SPED teacher's role
no longer becomes that of an implementer but that of a consultative nature instead. It
also becomes the responsibility of the general education teacher to know what to do
when faced with a learner with additional needs in his or her classroom.
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 II. PRODUCING INCLUSIVE
POLICIES
● Include transitions in planning.

An abrupt systemic change that is not well-planned or that disregards practices—

whether existing or implied—may hinder the shift to inclusion and cause resentment
from all stakeholders. Instead, current practices have to be respected and honored so as
to facilitate a gradual shift to inclusive education.
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 A move that would greatly help in informing policy
would be to examine different aspects of the school and the
delivery of its services. Specifically, schools may look at the
following:

• Student admissions
• Accessibility to utilities and facilities
• Supports available to students, parents, and school
personnel
• Learner accommodations
• Exclusionary or discriminatory incidents
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THANK YOU!
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