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Post-Philosophy Paper

Post-Philosophy Paper
Lindsay Paul
East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

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Post-Philosophy Paper
Inclusion within the Classroom
Teaching in a 3rd grade classroom for the past two semesters in the Bethlehem Area
School District was a great opportunity for me this year; especially because this district
understands the importance of inclusion within the classroom. Although I am not going to be
receiving any kind of degree in Special Education, as a general education teacher, the
understanding of inclusion is really important for me. Some people do not agree with inclusion
and think its a bad idea, and some people are all for itIm on the fence. My beliefs are that full
inclusion is not completely possible, and those students who need the extra help should get that
help away from the general education classroom, because if they are always in the general
classroom all of the time, they will not be helped the way they need.
After reading an article on the question of whether or not inclusion in the classroom has
gone too far, has brought up several good points for both sides of the issue. Something from the
article though stood out to me on the negative side of inclusion, it said, parents fear losing
special-education services they have fought for and believe their children will be "dumped" into
regular classrooms without appropriate support. (Inclusion In The Classroom). My thoughts
were that this was crucial to the thinking that full inclusion could be a bad thing. Parents have
every right to be afraid that their students could be losing services if schools go into fullinclusion practices; Taken from some of my experiences, getting students in a general classroom
for the most part is great, but its still important for those students to occasionally be pulled out of
class to receive aid in the areas required for their growth.
At Lincoln Elementary, I have seen students get pulled out of their general education
classroom for help with their IEPs. Some get pulled out of class for Language Arts class, some
for math, and some of them even get pulled out for both. These students are getting the help they

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Post-Philosophy Paper
need, as well as given the opportunity to not isolate themselves socially. They are in a class that
does not judge them for needing the extra help; when in the general education classroom, they
are just regular students who are busy learning and making friends, and in other rooms they are
receiving more of the education that they deserve.
An inclusion class often brings in reading specialists and other service providers. These
professionals may have particular insight into whats challenging for your child and how he can
be helped. (Rosen). Having this teacher in the general education classroom with its regular
teacher is a really good way to describe the term: Least Restrictive Environment. This concept
was created to require schools to educate students with disabilities as much as possible with
their peers who do not have disabilities (Salend). On most days, a special education teacher will
come into my classroom to watch her students during math, and help them when and if they need
it. For the students to learn in a LRE is significant because it helps them to be in their classroom
with friends, and not feel like outsiders. This could really effect the students self-esteem and/or
social interactions.
As I continued to read up on LREs, I began to understand the concept better, and apply it
to what Ive experienced in a 3rd grade classroom. There is so much more to the concept than just
to generalize it; the way that one resource described it was by saying that your child should be
with kids in general education to the maximum extent that is appropriate. (Morin). As
important as inclusion in the classroom is, we want to make sure that we are not over-including
students who struggle with particular abilities. We want them included as much as they possibly
can be, but not to the point where they are unable to do their work correctly. The extent of which
certain students help is appropriate falls right under the components of a Free and Appropriate

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Post-Philosophy Paper
Public Education (FAPE). As mentioned before, we want to help students as much as possible,
but helping students with certain disabilities sometimes may be over-compensating.
Additionally, individuals have different abilities; for example, students whom have
language issues such as deafness or speech issues, require different services than those students
with learning disabilities. Meeting the unique communication needs of a student who is deaf is a
fundamental part of providing a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) to the child.
(National Association of the Deaf). This is a topic that I personally hear less about not majoring
in special education. I am definitely glad that I have some special education experience under my
belt with students that have IEPs, but know that students with more severe issues will mostlikely not be in my classroom one dayalthough its possible. I know that I need to be ready for
anything.
These past two semesters have been an eye-opening experience not to just teaching a
general education class, but also the amount of different abilities could be in just one classroom.
Being that inclusion is a great, big part of classrooms in todays society, I realize how important
it is when I always just assumed it was happening. As a student before the college level, I dont
think I really considered any of this. I knew that students were in different classes for different
kinds of class help, but did not pay attention to the fact that its a frequently debated issue. I
always thought the concept was just a normal thing. Working in my classroom this year with a
class full of different abilities, I discovered how much of a rewarding feeling it is to get a
positive result from students who learn differently. Prior to this experience, I understood
inclusion as a good thing for students to experience so that they are not left out, but after much
research, and teaching in a real classroom, I see how much more there is to it. There are so many
ways that inclusion can happen that will benefit students of all kinds.

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Post-Philosophy Paper
References
Inclusion In The Classroom: Has It Gone Too Far? (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2016, from
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr034.shtml
Morin, A. (2014, May 16). Least Restrictive Environment (LRE): What You Need to Know.
Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/special-services/specialeducation-basics/least-restrictive-environment-lre-what-you-need-to-know
National Association of the Deaf. (2002, January 26). Retrieved from
https://nad.org/issues/education/k-12/inclusion
Rosen, P. (2014, July 08). 5 Benefits of Inclusion Classrooms. Retrieved from
https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/evaluations/choosing-not-to-have-childevaluated/5-benefits-of-inclusion-classrooms
Salend, Spencer J. (2015). Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Effective, Differentiated and
Reflective Practices. Pearson Education; 8th Edition. Pgs. 8-9.