ETH302S - Inclusive Education A latest summary.

ETH302S - Inclusive Education A latest summary. Scope of this presentation • A brief review of the module ETH302S • Discussion of Assignment 1 • Discussion of Assignment 2 • Any other business Expected outcomes • Students will understand what inclusive education is about and why it is important • Students will be able to identify barriers to learning and development • Students will be able to explain the role or value of support in inclusive education • Students will get a chance to ask clarity questions about their assignments What is inclusive education? • Inclusion: what do you understand by this concept? When a person says we practice inclusion, what do they mean? • Can you give other examples of how one can practice inclusion in everyday life? • Inclusive education. In education, when we say we are inclusive what do we mean? • Can you give a few examples of how we can practice inclusive education? Why inclusive education? • Think of education in South Africa before 1994. • How was it organised? • Who benefitted? • Who was left out? • How were they left out? • Why were they left out? • This way of organising services is said to be influenced by the medical model What is the medical or deficit model? • In medicine, they are mainly concerned with diagnosing what is wrong with the patient (what is the deficit, how can it be cured? ) • This way of thinking (paradigm) influenced education and we began to be focused on what some learners could not do (what is wrong with them) • As a result, we developed special schools where learners who are different (had special needs) were schooled • The assumption was that the rest of the learners benefited from regular schooling In the medical model we say this learner is unable to: • Read • Walk • See • Do mathematics • Talk • Etc, etc • As a result, they do not belong to this school/class. • When we consider what the child is unable to do without looking at other factors, we operate in the medical model. What is the socio-ecological model • This is a new paradigm challenging the medical model. • Its focus is on person and environmental factors. • If a learner is using a wheelchair, how does the environment prevent her from participating in social activities? • Is it the wheelchair or inaccessible buildings that is a problem? • This model is linked to normalisation: the right of those with disabilities to lead “normal” lives.