Special and Inclusive Education: Perspectives, Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promotes an inclusive vision, but in practise, this vision is not fully realised in education systems across the globe. First, there is a dearth of data supporting the advantages of inclusive education over conventional special education services, but the leadership of important senior academics in the area of special education has been criticised for pushing a vision of full inclusion instead. Many advocates of inclusion have been critical of special education in the 20th century for its failure to meet the needs of students with disabilities, but this failure has roots in a long and complicated history. They argue that special education is problematic because it necessitates the identification, labelling, and categorization of students. Finally, educators have been urged to consider an education system without boundaries, one in which all students with special needs are integrated into regular classrooms. This is due to the expectation that, in the future, general education classrooms would become so adaptable that they will be able to accommodate children with impairments of any kind and degree. The fourth problem is that determining a student's educational placement is inherently subjective, and hence prone to mistake because of the inherent fallibility of human judgement. Fifth, many advocates of complete inclusion have failed to take into account the real-world ramifications of their ideals, yet such consideration is essential for educators committed to inclusion.