Schools need to be open to inclusion

Dubai: The Swiss school I used to work for at one point had a dubious claim to fame – it had rejected Albert Einstein’s application for the post of a maths teacher!

Here in the UAE, on more than one occasion, I have had to ask this question to schools: Do you want to be famous as the school that turned away a genius? It is possible for a school to reject children with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) if they choose to?

The advent of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has impressed upon schools in the UAE the need to look more closely at Special Educational Needs and take measures to include as many children as possible into the mainstream. This has resulted in more children with learning disabilities being admitted to mainstream classrooms, which is certainly a step in the right direction. However, inclusion in its real sense needs to happen more.

Inclusion is the practice of placing children with learning disabilities in classrooms with other, “typically developing” children. When it comes to SLD, this implies that schools provide children with differentiated support within the classroom, additional help from a learning support teacher from within the school, and outside support in the form of visiting therapists or experts – the classic three-tier system, which is precisely where more efforts need to be made.

When it comes to awareness about learning disabilities, there is more that needs to be done. To put things in perspective, what we are now discussing are aspects of SLD that were discussed a decade ago in Australia, the US or UK. This need for more awareness is not restricted to Specific Learning Disabilities alone, but pertains generally to all Special Educational Needs.

Even in instances where a child is enrolled in a mainstream school, the support he gets needs to be strengthened. In most schools, children with any kind of special educational needs – including the needs that arise from physical, developmental or psychological issues – are grouped together under one umbrella. This in itself creates problems, as I had mentioned earlier, because the educational needs of two children in a classroom are never the same.

As the cause of the disability varies, so do the support needs, something that is not considered by most schools. As a result, children do not get the kind of support they need, and it is a no-win situation for all concerned.

The route to true inclusion

One of the major obstacles to real inclusion is the fact that most schools are not yet equipped with the facilities needed to deal with SLD. Intervention for SLD calls for trained personnel and various other resources in the form of space and technology which are expensive, and very few schools are willing to allocate the necessary funds towards this cause.

While many have basic learning support departments and the first two levels of intervention do take place, these need to be done in a more structured or scientific way.

Teachers are often unclear about their function, and there are not enough trained personnel to provide the necessary support.

The biggest concern, however, is the fact that most schools have no provision for the third level of intervention, which is remediation through one-on-one sessions or homogenised group sessions with therapists or experts in SLD.

In an ideal situation, schools will have a clear policy in place regarding inclusion. This would involve a well-thought out assessment system to identify SLD, and developing an effective three-tier support system where necessary.

I know of a couple of schools that do have such a system in place and they are doing a great job. Such schools have a special needs department with trained personnel and adequate facilities to provide the necessary assessment and intervention.

Pushing for a change

Things are changing, albeit slowly. We ae currently working closely with some schools to develop such a system, one that ensures clear decisions and policies regarding SLD - a quantum leap when it comes to ensuring inclusion.

According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), an international organisation that tackles the complex issues of dyslexia. (http://www.interdys.org), “The competence and expertise of teachers can be nourished with training that emphasises the study of reading development, language, and individual differences. In addition, teachers need supervised practice opportunities to be successful, especially if they are responsible for students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.”

The IDA categorically states that the impact of learning difficulties will be much less in students if the teachers involved are more aware of SLD and better prepared to deal with them.

Learning differences do not prevent achieving full potential.

I would like to end this series by emphasising that although Specific Learning Disabilities are a lifelong condition, they need not prevent an individual from achieving his highest potential. The SLD is just one part of him. Awareness about SLD, combined with the right kind of support from parents, school and the community in general will ensure that the child overcomes these obstacles and leads a successful and productive life. Remember, SLD is not a debilitating condition — it is the environment that makes it so.