1. The context of our work: the Flemish speaking part of Belgium.
In Flanders , one of the regions of Belgium which itself is a small country in Europe, inclusive education was put forward as the educational model for the future at the beginning of the new school year in september 1998. Despite this official discourse , an extensive special education system in Flanders, consisting of eight types of school programs (on primary school level), has been solidly entrenched since the early 1970s and continues to operate. Numerous projects have been initiated, however, that try to retain children with special needs in the regular schoolsystem as long as possible (projects of care-broadening), and to reintegrate children with special needs in regular schools. Reintegration is often accomplished by granting special statutes, such as reintegration-projects.
Despite these efforts to integrate the two separate schoolsystems on a gradual basis, some families choose inclusive education now. They do not use the special education system nor the special statutes that make integration possible. At this moment we are allowed to follow about 10 different children in kindergarten and primary school age. All of them got the label of 'mental retardation' . Most of the children combine this label with other labels and syndromes as autism, physical disability, Down Syndrome,…
This paper deals with the complexity of the reality of these projects. We have the intention to start with a theoretical statement about inclusive education. We will try to analyse some elements that play a role in this complex process, and we will give some cases-tudy material to illustrate our point of view.
2. A very short theoretical statement about our work: what is inclusive education?
If we are very honest we have to say that we can't give a straight answer on this question. We believe that inclusion is a process we have to work upon every day. Sometimes we are confronted with brilliant moments of inclusion, some- times we get lost: we think about inclusion as a very complex process. Theoretically we agree with collegues as e.g. GIANGRECO when he states that children with and without special needs should go to the same school, preferably as close as possible to their homes. All children should get the opportunity to follow the same curriculum under the guidance of the same teacher. For some children, those who need extra-suppport, the curriculum itself and the ways it is implemented might be adapted. We consider inclusion as a 'relational concept': this means that through inclusion these children will become someone for their classmates and others.
While trying to understand the complex process that starts from this theoretical point of view, we were forced to analyse it in small elements. This analysis has to be considered with great care, we don't want to give the impression that the elements are not interrelated. We really see them in a holistic process of analysis and synthesis. A process that sometimes can be compared with the Procession of Echternach: two steps ahead, one step backwards.
3. What could we learn from the families and their children we try to follow?
3.1. Parents play a fundamental role by the choice they are making.
Till some years ago parents were seen as passive recipients of care. They had to be grateful for all the support the professionals were organising for their children. If they diden't follow the proposals it was seen as if they couldn't accept the problems of their child. Some professionals try to compare this situation with a process of mourning.
We learned from the discussions with 'our parents' that they choose very actively and consequently for regular schools because they believe in the relationship between inclusive education and Quality of Life.
3.2. The teachers are the managers of the whole process.
We know teachers who are actively involved in processes of inclusion without seeing them as pilot/special projects; it just happens. Let's look at the following example.
We got a leaflet from a school that was made to inform parents about a schooltrip of children in the fifth and sixth year of a primary school. Beside information about the things children were planning to do on this camping trip and beside an urgent appeal to the parents to help with the practical things we found next little sentence: "…the programme of the trip is so organised that every child can participate in all activities…"
Most of the teachers think positive about inclusive education in general, as a theoretical principle. But,… We learned that a lot of teachers are hesitating when they are asked to get involved. They tell us that they are affraid because they are not trained to work with children with special needs. They are affraid that they won't get the support they think the children need. (…Please don't leave me alone with this child …) They are also affraid that they will get criticism of other parents; these parents think that their children won't get enough attention.
Some of the teachers find that they have already to much responsabilities: they get the impression that schools are seen as places children have to learn everything (prevention programmes against drug abuse, prevention programmes against eating disorders, programmes to become a good participant in the traffic,…) Finally some teachers are affraid to get involved in such a project because they are not used to share their classgroup, they still live with the idea that they are the 'King or Queen in their own little paradise'. Despite of all this fear and resistance we learned to know some wonderfull teachers who once they decided 'to jump', turn out to become real promoters of inclusion. They learn to work together with collegues that are involved in the supportprocess of children with special needs . (The request 'don't leave me alone' becomes reality. Some of the teachers report that they are very glad to get support in e.g. adapting the curriculum or in adapting specific tests or exercises, or in thinking about the participation of the children with special needs in all activities)
They even mention that this extra-support gives a lot of opportunities for all the children (some of the extra-staff members we know are real experts in linking the things they do for the children with special needs to the demands of the other children. In one of the class-situations we can follow we even saw that parents of children without special needs asked the mother of S. - a girl with the label of 'complex multiple disabilities'- if S. could pass to the next group. They were very pleased with he positive answer of S's mother because they were convinced that their child gets extra input from this specific situation)
We learned to know real 'magicians', teachers without extra training who turn out to become real experts in the management of a complex class-situation. (Some of the teachers told us that they learned to see extra possibilities for working in different small groups, for working with projects that are linked with the children with special needs - e.g. working about 'differences' or about 'bullying'- and so on)
We also get the impression that our 'teachers-magicians' are people who show a relation between: 'satisfaction about their training', 'satisfaction about the support they get', 'their idea about their competence as teacher' at one hand and their attitude concerning inclusion on the other hand.
3.3. The principals can play a central role: about the relation between schoolculture and inclusion.
Principals can be seen as the one who has to spread the 'schoolculture'. They can do al ot e.g. by:
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showing how 'inclusive leadership' can work. Inclusive leadership can be translated as a leadership that is driven by specific values (e.g. democratic idea's, idea's about belonging, idea's about cooperation and shared responsabilities,…) |
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organising a school that gives attention to more than just cognitive development |
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managing a school that is not an isolated organisation but shows his links to the community, and allows community-members to play an active role in the everyday schoolpractice |
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organising a communication with the outside world that shows that inclusion is more than a freak of fashion. |
"…In one of the schools we were involved the pricipal decided to reduce the number of children (from 20 to 19) in the classgroup of Y. a boy with Down Syndrome. He told the teacher that he knew that she would have a tough job with this classgroup. This symbolic action was his little sign to Y's teacher; this teacher really appreciated this decision. She told us to get the feeling that she was welcome to talk about her class-with-Y…"
3.4. The children as important actors.
Inclusion has mainly to do with working on relationships .'Belonging' and 'connectedness' are central concepts, everyone should get the opportunity to contribute.
The children with special needs show us how important it is for them to be a real member of the classgroup. "… S. asks her mother for a case to collect pencils, scissors,…It took her mother some time to understand why someone who can't use her hands wants to have such a case. Everything became clear when S. entered the classroom with her new case: from this moment on she was able to lend her scissors like the other children do. It gave her also the possibility to refuse it to children she doesn't like…"
"…S. became a member of the 'girls-gang' in the classgroup. With her wheelchair she is the pronounced person for the other girls to hide themselves for the 'boys-gang' if they have to change clothes before the sportsclass…"
"… While sitting together with his classgroup to talk about the things they have done in the weekend, K. changes position in the circle. He takes his chair and decides to become the neighbour of E. - his favorite classassistent- . L. his former neighbour in the circle looks down in the mouth. The classassistent whispers in K'' ear that L. looks unhappy. K. takes his chair and takes up his former position, he pats L. on his shoulder to comfort his classmate…"(K. got the label of autism and mental retardation)
Research shows that children with special needs - if we take the time to observe them carefully - possess a lot of strategies to show that they want to belong. E.g. imitating other children, following other children with their eyes, taking a role in games, telling stories about other children, sharing, touching, telling stories to their parents,…
The peers play an important role to. They can become a guide into the classroomculture, or the assistant who gives support in a process of cooperative learning, or the defender of the rights of children with special needs, or… just a friend.
"… G. and I. two friends of S. are waiting for S's mother at four o'clock. They know that the classroomassistant couldn't wait for her. They decided to take over the role while telling S's mother what they have done in the classroom…"
"…S's teacher organises a system whereby the children without special needs can take on a voluntary basis the role of buddy in the classroom. Some of the children really enjoy this opportunity: they like to become 'the voice of S. while they speak in her speech computer; some of them like to take her to different places in the school; it even becomes a kind of reward for some children to stay in the classroom with S. in the free moments if it's to cold outside (they are allowed within these moments to write on the blackbord)…"
"…In a drama session children were playing as if they were teacher and children. The "teacher" became angry and decided that the name of the naughty child was deleted from the list of children that were involved in S's budy-system…"
3.5. About support and a 'good education' for all children.
Support is a hot item these days. Everyone talks about it. We learned that it is one of the most difficult parts of the inclusion process. It's important to find the balance between the things the teacher knows and can do by herself at one hand and the things they really need support for. "… We asked P., S's teacher to stay alone with her - despite of his fear- the first day of the schoolyear. We really wanted him to tell us where he needed support; we also asked him under what conditions the support could be organised…"
It is important to make clear that the assistents shouldn't feel forced to stay in the classroom all the time. "…Some of the assistants are working on the adaptation of learning materials, on the refinement of goals…"
Classroom-assistents need to work in a very flexible system. Altough the package of support-hours is fixed it has to be possible to reorganise the schemes so that there is support when it's needed.
"…It's clear that a schooltrip with a pupil in a wheelchair takes a lot of energy. If a school decides to work with inclusion projects it has to be organised that there is full-time assistance on the day of the schooltrip…"
Good support can shift the focus of attention from the children with special needs in a first period to the total classgroup."In an interview with an assistant she told us that in the beginning the assistants really had to take up a 'modeling function'. In a next step she saw that some of the children took over or shared the assistance; this was the moment to decide to focus on children who could use some extra support to…"
It is very important that the different teammembers that are involved in the support process are able to work together on a 'participation plan' for the children with special needs. I helps everybody to get 'tuned' to the children, the collegue-aasistants and the teachers.
In some of the schools this almost chemical process of support works. It offers possibilities to ameliorate the quality of the education for all the children. We learned that there are more questions than answers: inclusive education is a daily battle without standard solutions. We also learned that the concept 'team' means that we have to consider a large group of persons included: the children, the parents, the teacher, the assistants,… We also learned that the learning process can be 'fun', that friendship can become the motorfunction, that teachers assistants, parents and children can help each other to become 'good citizens'
4. The Echternach Procession: some conclusions.
At this moment - although there are still no official regulations - we are confronted with a growing group of parents that make a choice for inclusion. If we are asked for help we try to bring them into contact with other parents who are trying to set up a parallel process. We learned that there are four different elements that play a main role in the whole process:
Because of the fact that there are no standard solutions, we see a lot of problems and failures in parallel with victories and joyfull activities. It takes us to the point of view that we can only speak about 'moments of inclusion' within a process of inclusion.
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