Inclusion is the term we use in education to imply that every student regardless of IQ, physical disability or learning disability should spend as much time as possible (80% or more of their day) in regular education classes.
In theory the idea comes from a good place. By including all children in regular education you allow for socialization with their peers and the opportunity to work "on grade level" in the pursuit of future academic endeavors. I had opinions about it prior to entering the teaching profession but my brief experience in New Orleans has turned my opinions into more informed ones.
While its heart is in the right place, the idea of inclusion hurts students ability to be successful. inclusion tells us that every student should be moving toward the same educational goal - which these days is college. The challenge is that college is not the best end result for many students - special education or not. A student reading on the 3rd grade level is not benefited by sitting through day after day of biology class, in which he can not read the notes on the board and can not complete the independent work because he does not understand what is being taught. More often then not this student excels in other areas where reading does not inhibit them - working on mechanical things, math, or sometimes just an incredible work ethic that will enable them to experience success in their lives.
Rather then trying to fit every child into the same mold, it is time to remove the idea of inclusion and instead focus on the specific needs and talents of our children through trade schools, extensive pullouts to help students overcome deficits and career counseling and training to ensure that once out of high school there is a career path they can follow.
Everyday I am amazed by my 10th grader who can not write a sentence but can re-program my computer while I eat lunch. By my 10th grader who does not understand passages written for a 3rd grader but whose passion and sense of community makes him a better person then I will ever be. By my 9th grader who can not stay awake in science class because he doesn't understand the basic principles but who has the biggest heart and just wants someone to believe that he can be something more then everyone has always assumed he will be.
I teach for these students. To help them reach there goals - even though they are contradictory to the goals of the school and the system in which I teach. It's time we taught the whole student and inclusion does not allow us to do that.
