Inclusive education for students with intellectual disability

Abstract

This paper traces briefly the evolution of Inclusive Education for students with special education needs (SEN) and discusses some significant challenges in its implementation. While the aim of Inclusive Education is to include all children with SEN in mainstream schools, there are many challenges that have to be overcome for their education to be meaningful. This paper focuses primarily on the inclusion of students with intellectual disability, since they are likely to be the largest number with special education needs in 'inclusive' schools. It offers the outline of a curriculum that may be derived from the mainstream one in use, and suggests a model that emphasises the replacement of age / grade placement, as is the present practice, with experience and maturity underpinning learning in persons with intellectual disability. The proposed model needs, of course, to be field-tested.