EST302 Researching Classroom Practice

Introduction

Special needs are individuals that are different from other individuals and require special attention and intervention in every sphere of their lives starting from their daily chores to their cognitive learning, and many more (Dowker, 2019). They can include individuals who face challenges in learning, have certain physical or mental disabilities, or have specific health conditions that prevent them from leading a regular life. Disability can take various forms in them like mental health issues like anxiety disorders, down syndrome, obsessive syndromes, and autism, physically disabled or have certain physical and health conditions that make their daily lives different, visual impairment, auditory impairment, or certain learning disorders like dyslexia.

In the context of the research, that focuses on special needs education in Australia, the education system for this part of the student population requires the incorporation of unique and special techniques to cater to their learning requirements and help them gain adequate knowledge (Saggers et al., 2019). The present scenario in this context has changed drastically over the years as according to history this was a weak concern in past Australia. However, the need for incorporating special needs education has been growing, and the contemporary era calls for immediate modifications to be made in policies and strategies to incorporate education for special children. This research paper will conduct extensive research using quantitative analysis of data collected from secondary sources on special needs education in Australia in terms of its prevalence, responsiveness in mainstream classroom education, and future prospects.

A Brief Literature Review

Special needs education opens the scope for incorporating special intervention and unique techniques to cater to the learning requirements of specially-abled students (Roman & Mehta, 2019). In order to achieve this, specific changes have to be done in the mainstream classroom setting that provides students with special abilities that specialized intervention and intensive care. Ideally, engaging in proper communication and instructing them conveniently according to their requirements are the main strategies that can be utilized by teachers and professors to enhance the teaching-learning process for students with special needs. Special needs instructors are also required to possess specific abilities and skills so that they are able to adopt these strategies easily and provide specialized intervention to the students (Dawson & Guare, 2018). Some of the strategies that can be used include teaching in small, personalized groups, the establishment of classroom centers to address specialized areas, interconnecting the various teaching techniques, carrying out rotational instructions, single-themed teaching, and provision of a huge number of study materials to the students.

Special needs education should always take an all-inclusive approach in which the inclusion should not only be in making their course curriculum at par with that of the other students but also creating an environment where all groups of students, whether requiring special needs education or not would study together through coordination and collaboration. The special needs children have to be accepted as a part of society, their disabilities and difficulties must be acknowledged and respected, as well as all the stereotypes associated with them shall be erased (Kenny et al., 2016). Primary teaching provided to these students should contribute to making them more confident as well as help them in developing their abilities to direct assistance (Cordingley, 2015). The concept of inclusive classrooms has been popularised in recent years that opens up future prospects for this kind of education and fulfills the requirements of the special needs children in their learning procedure.

Research Methodology

An efficient research methodology design has been formulated to carry out this research study. The positivism research philosophy is used for assessing various theories and conceptions and linking them with the issues of the contemporary times, that is, the problem statement of the research to find out the logical findings and interpret them to frame the conclusion. The research design for this paper is decided to be analytical that will make use of descriptive analysis and understanding to logically prove the themes established in the literature review (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). Data for this research has been collected with the help of secondary sources. This includes surveying various online and offline journal databases, peer-reviewed articles, and reports related to the contemporary situation of Australia in the context of special needs education and their incorporation in the mainstream classrooms. The qualitative data analysis technique has been used in this study for establishing the various themes, analyzing and interpreting them, and framing the outcomes (Nowell et al., 2017).

Research Findings

In Australia, special needs children are considered as those that are born with certain physical and mental disabilities or have developed certain health conditions and learning difficulties over the course of their lives. This can include language disorders, visual and hearing impairment, physical and intellectual disability, and certain mental health conditions (Marrus & Hall, 2017). Special needs education in this context is defined as specialized teaching provision to the students with different learning requirements to cater to them differently, that can not otherwise be met by the standard teaching-learning strategies and curriculum provided by the Australian education system. This includes specialized exercises, appropriate teaching techniques, and appropriate subject topics and materials to meet the needs of the children.

Evolution of Education for the Special Needs Children in Australia

Australia saw some of the earliest schools that cater to the learning requirements of special needs children to be established in the early 1860s. These schools majorly provide education to the students who were blind or deaf. Significant progress was made in the nation from the early 1920s, where Australia saw establishments of schools and institutions for students that had other disabilities (Davis et al., 2020). In the early 20th century, several voluntary and charitable organizations supported the schools that provided special needs education. As early as the 1970s, even the state government started to take responsibility to establish more schools that provided special needs education as well as support the existing ones.

They also established special needs sections and curriculum in the regular schools, which was the first step to incorporate special needs education in the mainstream classroom setting. In the contemporary scenario, a majority of the mainstream schools provide special needs education in collaboration with specialized support services. The nation also consists of several special needs schools for those that require intensive care.

The Disability Standards for Education 2005 aimed at providing disabled children equal rights as the other students (Hornby, 2015). According to the standards, each and every student of the nation are entitled to receiving an education and must enjoy this right and be treated with respect and dignity. The purpose of this standard is to remove the prevalent stereotypes and their discrimination based on them in the society regarding special needs children and to enhance the abilities and confidence of the special needs students. The current focus of Australian special needs education is gradually shifting towards improving the quality of the education as well as the support and the intervention provided to them (Baas, 2019). This shift has a long-term vision to identify the importance and compare between the use of special needs schools and incorporation of special needs education in mainstream schools. This is to ensure that all the students receive the best education that they can avail and afford.

Special Needs Education Approach

Education for special needs in Australia incorporates an approach that is inclusive in nature, that is, a special needs child can attend mainstream schools frequently or on a permanent basis. It is the duty of the government and the education providers to define policies and legislations for making reasonable modifications to permit a special needs child to receive the same education as received by other students. Several techniques are used to deliver special needs education to the students like modifying course curriculum in regular classrooms, providing extra intervention by the teachers in mainstream classrooms, small and special classrooms for the special needs, to provide personalized teaching in small groups within a regular school, and placing the special needs students in special schools (Bryant, Bryant & Smith, 2019). Further assistance is also provided to make learning feasible for the special needs in Australia. This includes providing them with convenient transport facilities, constructing special needs infrastructure, and provision of enhanced technology. The main aim is to cater to the learning requirements of both the special needs children and the other children by providing an environment in the mainstream classrooms where both groups can learn equally by the course curriculum, teachers' instructions, and peer learning.

Enrollment

Special needs students' enrollment in Australian schools is carried out through consultations. The parents of the special needs child are required to communicate with their desired school principal regarding their child's requirements. The school must further interact and consult with the student for understanding the learning requirements and examine and analyze the required changes that the school has to make to incorporate the child in the school (Crispel & Kasperski, 2019). These consultation sessions include the identification of the student's disability through therapist and medical reports, assessment of the modifications required if any, a discussion on the techniques to overturn the obstacles to the concerned child's learning, and assessment on the reasonability of the factor of these modifications.

Research Analysis

Social inclusion refers to the procedure of enhancing the terms and environments for individuals as well as groups to enable them to become a part of society (Trauth, 2017). It can also be described as the procedure of enhancing the opportunities, abilities, and esteem of the individuals that are in a disadvantageous position in the society based on their identity, or their capabilities to participate or become a part of the society. According to the theory, inclusion is not only about enhancing the situations for participation as it would otherwise be detrimental for the excluded individuals and would result in exploitation but also it has to be noted that inclusion and exclusion are binary opposites to each other. The concept of social inclusion multifaceted as it revolves around several dimensions like the social, cultural, political, and economic, as well as functions at several social levels. It is dynamic and impacts individuals in manners and might differ in the extent of the inclusion. It critically relies on and directs individuals' opportunity, capability, and esteem that are unequally disseminated between various social groups (Fisher et al., 2020). The central focus of this theory is on the procedure and on the relations and it stands against the notion of inequality that identifies disparities between individuals from various categories of people and on the basis of various factors like authority, identity, culture, ethnicity, religion, and many more.

Special Needs Education Prevalence

The prevalence of special needs education in Australia is best understood by analyzing the improvement in the education system from the past to the present. In the history of Australia, there has been little or no evidence of special needs education schools or systems. There were only a few ones that incorporated the deaf and the blind. However, the transformation is clearly visible in the contemporary era whether the nation has not only established several schools for the special needs but has also incorporated special needs education in the mainstream classrooms. The contemporary era has also seen the incorporation of all types of disability and special needs without discriminating between one or two types of disabilities on the basis of their degree. The prevalence can also be understood why the incorporation of various techniques like admission consultation, teaching in small personalized groups, provision of expert teaching intervention, and making constant changes in policies and strategies to cater to the special needs students' learning requirements (Nario‐Redmond, Kemerling & Silverman, 2019). This can be explained by the social inclusion theory, as not only the special needs children are incorporated more within the society, but also a variety of disabilities are catered to, both through separate schools and within mainstream classrooms

Mainstream Classroom Responsiveness

This can be best understood through the consultation conducted by schools to incorporate special needs children. As presented in the findings section, that consultation is carried out by schools in the context of making specific modifications within their operations to fulfill the learning requirement of the new student to be admitted and to measure whether these modifications are reasonable and feasible for the student (Orfield, 2018). This explains how responsible mainstream schools are in providing enhanced learning experiences to the special needs children in Australia. This can also be explained through the social inclusion theory as the schools are making efforts to include the special needs child in their school and are in fact going out of their way to make modifications within them to create opportunities for the child.

Potential Developments

Based on the history and the contemporary scenario, as well as the readiness of the government and the charitable organizations, it is estimated that the countries working towards making special needs education a priority in the mainstream schools as well as opening up various opportunities for the same. This is not only creating opportunities for the students to enhance their learning experience but is also creating opportunities for teachers to improve their skills in this regard. The inclusive approach and the inclusive classrooms have provided an environment for both the teachers and the students to feel comfortable and develop their teaching-learning experience collaboratively (Gargiulo & Metcalf, 2016). This has opened up the scope for the students to pursue higher education and secure high-paying jobs, harness constructive relationships, and develop their cognitive and receptive abilities. As mentioned by the Disability Standards for Education 2005, it is evident that special needs education is only going to rise in Australia.

Discussion

The social inclusion theory has formed the base of this research that explains the broader concept that is the inclusion of special needs education within the realm of mainstream education (Hodkinson, 2015). This is clearly evident from the analysis as the nation is undertaking several strategies like inclusive classrooms, enhanced technology, infrastructure to support the special needs students, skilled teachers, peer learning environments, and many more for enhancing holistically the special needs education sector in the country.

Conclusion

Contemporary educational thinking strictly stands against discrimination on the basis of identity and capabilities, which further explains the social inclusion theory which framed the basis of this research. It can be said, that Australian classrooms are working towards incorporating special needs education more and more within the mainstream education system. In order to achieve this, the nation has incorporated several techniques, technologies, infrastructure, and has established several policies and legislation to support this cause. The special needs students have tremendously benefitted from these modifications. Peer learning has helped them grow confidence and instilled in them a feeling of belongingness in the society, inclusive classrooms have equalized their capability with the other students by making the course curriculum similar and teacher instructions similar for both the groups of students.

Further improvements can be made to incorporate special needs in the realm of co-curricular activities apart from education. Schools must focus on the holistic development of a special needs student and must also cater to all types of disabilities, either in small groups or individually. This research provides the further scope of research to explore more into the holistic development of a special needs child in Australia.

References

Baas, M. (2019). The Education‐Migration Industry: International Students, Migration Policy and the Question of Skills. International Migration, 57(3), 222-234.

Bryant, D. P., Bryant, B. R., & Smith, D. D. (2019). Teaching students with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Sage Publications.

Cordingley, P. (2015). The contribution of research to teachers’ professional learning and development. Oxford review of education, 41(2), 234-252.

Crispel, O., & Kasperski, R. (2019). The impact of teacher training in special education on the implementation of inclusion in mainstream classrooms. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 1-12.

Davis, J., Gillett-Swan, J., Graham, L. J., & Malaquias, C. (2020). Inclusive education as a human right. In Inclusive education for the 21st century (pp. 79-99). Routledge.

Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2018). Executive skills in children and adolescents: A practical guide to assessment and intervention. Guilford Publications.

Dowker, A. (2019). Individual differences in arithmetic: Implications for psychology, neuroscience and education. Routledge.

Fisher, M. H., Athamanah, L. S., Sung, C., & Josol, C. K. (2020). Applying the self‐determination theory to develop a school‐to‐work peer mentoring programme to promote social inclusion. Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities, 33(2), 296-309.

Gargiulo, R. M., & Metcalf, D. (2016). Teaching in today's inclusive classrooms: A universal design for learning approach. Cengage Learning.

Hodkinson, A. (2015). Key issues in special educational needs and inclusion. Sage.

Hornby, G. (2015). Inclusive special education: development of a new theory for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities. British Journal of Special Education, 42(3), 234-256.

Kenny, L., Hattersley, C., Molins, B., Buckley, C., Povey, C., & Pellicano, E. (2016). Which terms should be used to describe autism? Perspectives from the UK autism community. Autism, 20(4), 442-462.

Marrus, N., & Hall, L. (2017). Intellectual disability and language disorder. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 26(3), 539-554.

Nario‐Redmond, M. R., Kemerling, A. A., & Silverman, A. (2019). Hostile, benevolent, and ambivalent ableism: Contemporary manifestations. Journal of Social Issues, 75(3), 726-756.

Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International journal of qualitative methods, 16(1), 1609406917733847.

Orfield, G. (2018). How to make desegregation work: The adaptation of schools to their newly-integrated student bodies (pp. 314-340). Routledge.

Roman, J., & Mehta, D. (2019). Intelligent content sequencing through preferences and feedback of special need learner.

Saggers, B., Tones, M., Dunne, J., Trembath, D., Bruck, S., Webster, A., ... & Wang, S. (2019). Promoting a collective voice from parents, educators and allied health professionals on the educational needs of students on the autism spectrum. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 49(9), 3845-3865.

Trauth, E. (2017). A research agenda for social inclusion in information systems. ACM SIGMIS Database: the Database for Advances in Information Systems, 48(2), 9-20.

Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., & Snelgrove, S. (2016). Theme development in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis.

Are you seeking reliable essay help from academic experts in the UK? At Myassignmenthelp.co.uk, we have searched high and low to recruit the top paper writers in the UK who can provide you with the best assignment help. Most of these professionals have completed their PhDs from top universities in the UK. Therefore, they’re the best at resolving every "Who can do my assignment for me?" query.

These professionals undergo intense training to provide coursework help services within strict deadlines. Hence, you don’t have to waste precious seconds wondering, “Can your experts write my assignment within the deadline?" Instead, rest assured that our experts will consistently deliver top-quality work within the due date.