When inclusion really works

I have been an Eden Foundation facilitator at San Andrea School since 1999 and I would like to share my experiences and praise the school for its work in the Special Needs unit.

Having been through most of the grades within early and middle school, I have found co-operation, support and acceptance from teachers and heads alike.

San Andrea caters for mixed ability students, that is, in each class one can find a range of students varying from high achievers to those who need help in achieving desired targets, as well as students with different learning difficulties or disabilities.

I am very grateful to Eden for giving me the opportunity to work in this environment and observe the positive ways in which inclusion works and benefits all the students within this schooling system.

Inclusion is catered for in various ways. Each class has students with various learning ability levels. In my opinion, this is extremely beneficial, in the sense that all children will mutually learn to understand each other's needs and that we should all respect each other no matter what differences there are.

Children are in the long run, better off in mixed ability classes, as at times streaming may also give rise to labelling. However, teachers have a difficult task at hand to find the right balance to further motivate students while helping the disabled achieve specific skills.

As a facilitator, my work is classroom based and therefore I can often see the ability of the teacher to cater his/her explanations, targeting all students in a class, using a variety of materials and carrying out activities in a visual, tangible way guaranteed to raise each child's level of interest. This enables the concepts to be easier to understand and learning to be fun.

I find that in San Andrea Early School there is the general mentality that teachers and facilitators work as a team rather than with clear cut solitary roles. This is a great asset for all children who now have two adults helping them out in their difficulties, giving them more individual attention and therefore contributing to a more efficient, well-run classroom environment.

Even the child with a disability, benefits from an organised, balanced and efficient environment where she/he is involved and helped by both teacher and facilitator, decreasing isolation, segregation and labelling while increasing participation and inclusion.

Areas such as Sports and Music are also given great importance and lessons are organised to perfection. Activities are explained prior to their commencement and the teachers also explain to the children the various reasons for which each activity is being carried out. Lessons are simple yet extraordinarily creative, especially physical education which targets skills such as balance, co-ordination and other psychomotor skills that need to be acquired by a child according to their age level. These activities are beneficial to all children, especially to those with disabilities, who often have difficulty in achieving psychomotor skills and have a lower sense of body awareness than their peers.

Having observed the positive change in the educational system, where schools like San Andrea manage to cater for disabled children appropriately and accept facilitators with open arms. I can only say well done to these schools and well done to the Eden Foundation who was among the first organisations to pioneer inclusive education. Eden's persistence in including children with special needs in mainstream classes has contributed to enhancing the learning of children with disabilities and has also sensitised children towards accepting disabled children as part of present and future society with no limitations.

Ms Briffa is a psychologist specialising in Special Education Needs.