The Importance of Inclusive Education in Australia Essay -- Special Ed

As a child It was constantly stated to me by my family and teachers â€Å"If everyone was the same, what a boring place the world would be† a famous quote by an unknown author about celebrating individual differences. Difference is defined by Ashman and Elkins; as varying levels of social, emotional, physical and intellectual qualities that make us all different from other people (Ashman & Elkins, 2009). In today’s world this is viewed as society’s version of normality (Ashman & Elkins, 2009). Inclusion involves the incorporation of all types of differences into a mainstream classroom (Ashman & Elkins, 2009). It is unfortunate that even in the 21st century that the policies and legislations related to inclusive education are different between all the different states and territories of Australia as well as between the public and private school systems. These current differences in policies in legislation between the states and different school structures in my opinion don’t encourage the students’ with diverse needs. As a nation Australian authorities do promote and encourage inclusion into their mainstream classrooms (Campbell, Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2003). But this promotion cannot and does not ensure that this as a policy will be accepted by all individual classroom teachers (Campbell, Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2003). As a whole teachers with bad attitudes towards inclusion impact their own views onto their pupils and onto their students general level of educational outcome (Campbell, Gilmore & Cuskelly, 2003). As time moves forward more and more schools are becoming involved with the idea of inclusive education (Ashman & Elkins, 2009). One of the negatives or variations as seen by a school with inclusion is that if the child has high... ...ther diverse the new generations will become. Works Cited Ashman, A & Elkins, J. (2009). Education for Inclusion and Diversity (3rd ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Campbell, J., Gilmore, L., & Cuskelly, M. (2003). Changing student teachers’ attitudes towards disability and inclusion. Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, 28, 369-379. Carpenter, L. (2010, March 4). Developing an Inclusive Curriculum 4030EPS. Lecture presented for the Griffith Education Lectures in Inclusive Curriculum, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD. Lachlan, F., & Boyle, C. (2007). Labels and Special Education: Is the use of labels in special education helpful?. Support for Learning, 22, 36-42. Queensland Government. (2005). Inclusive Education Statement (Reference Information paper ). Queensland Government Department of Education.