Inclusion in the Middle School Setting

Firstly, general education teachers are the most knowledgeable people when it comes to knowing a student and their needs in the classroom daily.  General education teachers play an integral role in the everyday life of any student. Therefore, general education teachers are the ones most likely to bring any special needs or disabilities to the attention of others who may provide important support. Furthermore, current and up-to-date legislation supports including students with disabilities in the general education classroom; this concept or belief is known as inclusion (Hines, 1). Students in inclusion settings are firstly members of their general education classroom, not a special education classroom. Inclusion is defined as “a professional belief that students with disabilities should be integrated into general education classrooms whether or not they can meet traditional curricular standards and should be full members of those classrooms” (Friend & Bursuck, 4). All students have the right to be in a general education classroom and services and support are brought to that classroom as needed to ensure success. In 1993, the Oberti v. Board of Education of Clementon School District, the U.S. Federal Court found that “just because a student learns differently from other students does not necessarily warrant exclusion from general education” (Friend & Bursuck, 9). That being said, inclusion is a right for all students.

I felt that exploring inclusion in this middle school band is important because there is not much research on the topic, but ultimately inclusion will be dealt with in all public middle school classrooms. It may not be something we, as teacher candidates, explore daily, but we will have students with disabilities in our classrooms. Current research remains to be inconclusive of whether students with and without disabilities benefit from inclusion in general education classrooms. Proponents rightly argue that the integration of students with disabilities is essentially right; conversely, opponents argue there are three manifested barriers: organizational, attitudinal, and knowledgeable. These barriers are said to hold teachers back from being able to teach in inclusion classrooms, but when push comes to shove, it comes down to the preparedness of the teacher.

In 1985, Lieberman stated, “We have thrown a wedding a neglected to invite the bride” (Lieberman, 513). Although teachers may not feel prepared, it is of utmost importance to adapt and seek outside resources for their classroom. The job of a teacher is to teach, whether it be to a student with or without disabilities. “Inclusion is no longer an option, and it is essential that schools find ways to implement it effectively” (Santoli, Sachs & Romey, 2) “Teachers may feel challenged, hopeful, and desirous of what can be accomplished, but they may also feel frustration, burden, fear, lack of support and inadequacies about their ability to teach children with different kinds of problems (Santoli, Sachs & Romey, 2). That being said, administrative support is crucial to the success of the teacher and further, the able success of a student. Accepting new ideas about teaching, learning, and learning styles is essential, but not always embraced by teachers (Hines, 2). If a teacher is not able to adequately teach a student and do so with a positive attitude, the student is not able to learn. From Geneva Gay’s teacher expectations, we must remember that “Students internalize teachers’ expectations, and those affect their self-concepts, achievement motivations, levels of aspirations, classroom conduct, and interactions with teachers” (Class notes, 9/13/2011).

Middle school is the perfect place to explore inclusion. The diversity of a middle school classrooms gives all students the chance to fit-in physically, socially, and academically.

Middle schoolers range from child-like to adult-like, from socially awkward to socially adept, from emotionally insecure to brimming with confidence, and from concrete to abstract in thinking—sometimes seemingly all in the same student on the same day.

    (Tomlinson, Moon and Callahan, 1998)

Middle school is a melting pot of learners, hence the perfect school setting to foster inclusion. When students interact, they are given the possibility to appreciate abilities, interests, and differences that will exist within students who have disabilities and those who do not. 

Further, the structure of the middle school also fosters inclusion practices. “Because of the interdisciplinary structure of many middle schools, time for collaboration and planning is often available” (Santoli, Sachs & Romey, 3). Middle schools educate adolescents who are in search of a sense of belonging and this holds true to students with and without disabilities. Middle school students with disabilities are simply an example of diversity that exists within the social, physical, and academic setting that is middle school.

Not only do students with disabilities seek a sense of belonging in terms of their classroom setting, they seek social and academic belonging (Bulter & Hodge, 1). They want to be equal; therefore, instruction should be based on students’ abilities, not their disabilities. Within middle level students, positive outcomes have been increased self-confidence, camaraderie, support from their teachers, and the idea that students are held to higher expectations. As for the opponents of inclusion in general education classrooms, they must be missing these main points. Time management and classroom management may need to be dealt with differently, but it is important that all teachers remain flexible and open to new ideas in their classrooms. If teachers did not change, classrooms would be the same as they had been fifty years ago and we would not have come as far as we have.

Works Cited

Butler, R., & Hodge, S. (2004). Social Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Middle School Physical Education Classes. Research in Middle Level Education, 21(1), 1-10.

Hines, R. (2001). Inclusion in Middle Schools. Education Resources Information Center, 1(13), 1-2.

Impact of Inclusion. (n.d.). North Carolina Middle School Association. Retrieved September 14, 2011, from http://www.ncmsa.net/ressum14.htm

Lieberman, L. (1985). Special Education and Regular Education: A Merger Made in Heaven?. Exceptional Children, 51(6), 513-516.

Santoli, S., Sachs, J., & Romey, E. (2008). A Successful Formula for Middle School Inclusion: Collaboration, Time, and Administrative Support. Research in Middle Level Education, 32(2), 1-13.

Tomlinson, C., Moon, T., & Callahan, C. (1998). How well are we addressing academic diversity in the middle school?. Middle School Journal, 29(3), 3-11.