Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Implementing a Systemic Approach of an Inclusive School Practice

Simona Tancig, Marija Kavkler, Suzana Pulec
UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA, Faculty of Education, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Simona.Tancig@guest.arnes.si

1.0 Introduction

In Slovenia, the Law on Primary Education (1996) legalized the integration of children with special needs into mainstream schools. The Law defines children with special needs as children who have a disorder in mental development, are blind or weak sighted, deaf and hard of hearing, children with speech and language disorders, motor handicapped children, children with long-term illnesses and children with behavioral disorders, who either need adapted implementation of educational programs with additional professional assistance, or adapted educational programs, or a special educational program. The list also includes students with learning difficulties and gifted students. For the latter two groups, the methods of instruction and forms of work in class are being adapted. They can be included in extra lessons or offered additional instruction, as well as receive various other forms of individual or group support.

The Law on Directing Children with Special Educational Needs was adopted in 2000 and started to be implemented in 2001. This Law also includes the children with severe specific learning difficulties, who will receive additional adaptations of educational programs and professional support.

Until now, the children with mild special educational needs have been assisted by the class teacher, or received remedial instruction once a week, where they were given additional explanation and exercises. In addition to the assistance for the children with mild educational needs, the children with moderate special educational needs also get additional individual or group assistance from school counselors (psychologist, special teacher, pedagogue, youth care worker, social worker), volunteers and other assistants. As a rule, this support is carried out outside the classroom. For children with moderate educational needs, the treatment of outreach special teachers (who come from special institutions) can be organized, who can also provide counseling for the teacher. Some children, especially those with severe specific learning difficulties, receive intensive individual special treatment (5 - 10 hours weekly). Children with severe and profound special educational needs are as a rule placed in special institutions.

However, a systematic and efficient inclusion of children with distinctive special needs into regular schools has been very slow. The principles of inclusion should be taken more seriously into account, and we have to insure that the environment will adapt to the children with special needs.

An appropriate framework must be provided in order to guide the change effort so that schools would become inclusive for children with special needs.

Nowadays we have a lot of guidelines on approaches to developing effective policies and practices for children with special needs (e.g.   Farrel & Ainscow, 2002; Mittler, 2000).

For our research we chose a systemic approach to support inclusive education. A systemic perspective examines the whole school, interrelations between its components,   the school district and the wider environment. Thus, applying a systemic framework to inclusive education helps to structure change efforts at the district, school and classroom level in a way that leads to improved outcomes.

2.0 Research aims

In recent years there has been in some countries a gradual increase in the number of pupils with Down's Syndrome who are being educated in mainstream primary schools. This trend is, of course, in the line with the progress of an inclusive culture in democratic societies.

Our investigation deals with inclusive schooling of pupils with Down's Syndrome. The aim of the study was to implement a systemic approach to an inclusive school practice and to develop a model of good inclusive practice.

Practical introduction of an inclusive school is a systemic process, which needs to identify individual components of the inclusive school's complex system and offer a choice of strategies on different levels. Taking into consideration Slovenian conditions, a four level systemic model of an inclusive school ( Picture 1) was chosen based on the systemic change framework (Ferguson, Kozlevski and Smith, 2001). In this model various factors interweave: the student, his abilities, capabilities and personal characteristics; the teacher and the teaching environment; the school and its policy, the flexibility of teaching, professional and material resources, the capability of adapting the process of teaching to the child's special needs and the wider environment, including national authorities, other schools, parents, volunteers, non-governmental organizations, etc. The success of including children with special educational needs into regular educational institutions depends on the efficiency of all four systems and their relationships.

Picture 1 : F our level systemic model of an inclusive school

3.0 Methods

A qualitative research design was applied mainly using the observation with and without participation and case studies. The research project started in 2002 and has been lasting 2 school years.

3.1 Instruments

Observational data were combined with interviews, reports, documents of consultations  and team supervisions.

3.2 Participants

The participants in the action research have been two six years old girls with the Down's Syndrome, teachers, the headmaster, parents, school counsellors and the research team including two students of special pedagogy.

The systemic model of an inclusive school has been tested by means of including two girls with Down's Syndrome in the first grade of primary school. The two girls have limited intellectual capabilities, their general performance is noticed to be that of a slow learner, while they come from a very stimulative environment. The girls were placed in a mainstream school educational program on full time basis, which offers them five hours of additional professional help and the adaptation of teaching techniques, but not the adaptation of the curriculum. They are offered help with learning by the school's professional team, composed by two teachers, two childcare workers, a special pedagogue and two students of special education. The girls were not placed in the same class. They differ in learning need and personality traits. The school had no previous experience of including a child with Down's syndrome.

4.0 Results

Research finding indicate the two pupils with the Down's Syndrome have been effectively included in the mainstream school. Both girls made good progress in the cognitive and psycho-social development. Children's progress in language and numeracy has been evident.

The IEPs for both girls were developed by teachers and other professionals – school counsellors (special educator and language therapist) and members of the research team.

The following elements were defined in the IEP :

• The pupil’s present levels of performance
• Adaptations and modifications in the program delivery /of the instruction
• Goals and objectives on the developmental areas that are not specified in the national curriculum
• Roles and responsibilities of all involved in the educational process of both pupils
• Criterions and terms for progress reporting
• Cooperation with parents  

The developmental areas that were specified within the IEP were:

• social skills, fine motor skills, organizational skills and speech for girl A
• social relations with peers, verbal communication, organizational skills, speech and behavior management for girl B.

In the teaching process the recommended modifications were provided for both girls; they were further individualised by the teachers, when needed. The most important subject for modifications of learning process is mathematics (the strategies of calculation are being considered, the complexity of mathematical problems is being reduced, the accessories are being modified and timings for solving problems much extended). A couple of skilled students of special education were present daily for two school hours, helping the teachers in the classroom.

The external professional collaborators also reported sizeable progress for both girls in the fields of socialization, self-dependence, productivity and learning skills.

The girls felt good in the classroom; they made contacts with their schoolmates and the fact that they attended the camp was another sign of their achievement. They became an adequate, integral part of the class. Indeed a little more control and help was needed to make them feel equal, but they were sufficiently independent and active.

Our conclusion is very simple: it's not just good grades that are important in the integration process, it's also the development of a child as a whole in form of a complex unity (social, organisational skills and stimulation of independency) to make a child feel as an equal part of the society and to grow and integrate into it.

Teachers had positive attitude regarding the desirability and feasibility of adapting their teaching for the two girls with the Down's Syndrome. Using the help and support of the research team they developed efficient strategies of teaching and successful coping with problems. Parents of both girls were very cooperative with teachers, counsellors and the research team. Parents of other (not disabled) children were very positive about the mainstream placement of the two girls.

On the whole, school staff and parents of not disabled pupils saw the inclusion of the pupils with the Down's Syndrome as good for developing a positive attitude towards people with special needs. Teachers and school counsellors expressed their conviction that they have broadened their strategies of teaching and working.

With adaptations of teaching process and additional professional help of 10 hours per week by special teachers, speech therapists and teachers the girls have made progress in all areas and have adopted minimal required standards of curriculum in ordinary primary schools. A school team has developed through systematic education prepared by the research team (seminars, literature and consultations) new knowledge and strategies for an effective education for the girls. Organised time for consultations and team supervision has proved to be significant as it enables harmonization and synchronization of goals to which specific knowledge of every member of the team contributes.

It seemed that the way in which the support was managed in the whole school, particularly in terms of roles and accountability, led to effective team work, enhanced collaboration among staff, more efficient communication, and sharing of practice.

The school and its policy were very positive towards the project. The principal has encouraged and stimulated the professional team, provided material sources and enabled additional education help and time for meetings.

Taken as a whole, our findings offer some evidence that the key factor of a successful inclusion is a carefully designed systemic framework on all four above mentioned levels, which provided a coordinated, cooperative and supportive work environment for all participant engaged in the inclusion.

5.0 Discussion and conclusions

It has been confirmed in practice that a planned and systematic effect on all inclusive school model systems enables successful inclusion of children with special needs into primary school.

Systemic model of inclusive education of children with Down’s syndrome has been efficiently implemented into praxis. The girls with Down’s syndrome have been successfully included in the first grade of primary school nevertheless their limited intellectual capabilities and general performance of a slow learner. In Slovenia the medicine model is still predominating therefore the professional public has been under the influence of the diagnosis “Down’s syndrome” convinced that the girls could not achieve minimal standards of ordinary primary schools curriculum.

Inclusive education of children with special educational needs will be more effective when implemented by a systemic approach. It is also important to offer school workers support through the inclusive team (psychologist, special teacher, teacher, social pedagogue) which will help with the development of inclusive climate in the school. The inclusive team will also help to organise a team of professional workers, qualify professional workers for solving problems connected with special educational needs, asses strengths and special needs   of children, prepare individualised program, etc.

In the next school year we plan to modify the inclusive school system model by integrating a network of schools, which shall include children with special needs, by the cooperation of regular and special schools and an inclusive team support.

References

• Ferguson, D.L., Kozlevski, E.B., Smith, A. (2001). Transformed, Inclusive Schools: A Framework to Guide Fundamental Change in urban Schools. National Institute for Urban School Improvement. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. University of Colorado at Denver.
• Mittler, P. (2000). Working toward Inclusive Education – Social Contexts.   David Fulton Publishers

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