This paper presents three brief essays, each of which is an answer to one of the following three questions:
1. What are the major differences between inclusion and mainstreaming?
2. What are the pros and cons of inclusion?
3. How has inclusion impacted the general education settings throughout the United States, and how will understanding the history of inclusion help you as an educator?
Essay 1: Differences Between Inclusion and Mainstreaming
According to Fink (2004) the inclusive classroom is a classroom that has been given the responsibility of mainstreaming special education students into the population of general education students. In order to fully understand, this sentence, the terms 'inclusion' and 'mainstreaming' needed to be defined and distinguished.
With respect to the foregoing, Powell (2007) states that mainstreaming is really an older term that refers to a process (usually a gradual or part-time process) involving the placement of the special student in a regular classroom. For example, students who are mainstreamed may attend separate classes within the regular school but they will also attend one or two regular classes such as gym or art.
One of the key assumptions of mainstreaming is that certain special education students can be placed in regular classrooms because their disabilities are few and it can be expected that they will perform at or near grade level with few or no accommodations or modifications (Powell, 2007). However, according to Powell (2007)inclusion does more than merely place special students who are able to 'fit in' in the regular classroom.
Instead, inclusion is based on the perspective that it is a child's right to be treated equally and accorded all services required in any classroom. Thus, inclusion (whether it be partial or full-time) places the child in the regular classroom in conjunction with a planned system of training and supports; it doe...