Teachers who have taught in an inclusive classroom say the philosophy of inclusion hinges on helping students and teachers become better members of a community by creating new visions for communities and for schools. Inclusion is about membership and belonging to a community.

Here’s what some teachers say about the philosophy of inclusion:

        "Inclusion involves all kinds of practices that are ultimately practices of good teaching. What good teachers do is to think thoughtfully about children and develop ways to reach all children.
        "Ultimately good teaching is a relationship between two people; teachers get good results because they enter into that relationship. Inclusion is providing more options for children as ways to learn. It’s structuring schools as community where all children can learn. But there’s no recipe for becoming an inclusive teacher or an inclusive school. It’s not a mechanized format."  --  Dr. Chris Kliewer, Associate Professor of Special Education, University of Northern Iowa, (taught second grade in an inclusive school in Syracuse, NY, for four years).

        "Inclusion is based on the belief that people/adults work in inclusive communities, work with people of different races, religions, aspirations, disabilities. In the same vein, children of all ages should learn and grow in environments that resemble the environments that they will eventually work in."  --  Dr. Susan Etscheidt, Professor of Special Education, UNI

        "When good inclusion is in place, the child who needs the inclusion does not stand out. The inclusive curriculum includes strong parental involvement, students making choices, and a lot of hands-on and heads-on involvement."  --  Dr. Melissa Heston, Associate Professor of Education, University of Northern Iowa

        "If you run a school like a business or with a factory model, you automatically exclude about one-third of the people because they don’t fit that model. Under the factory model, schools set standards for grade levels; this emphasizes producing a standard product with a focus on mentality. If students are not up to the standards, then you have to put them aside. But inclusion is not just about ‘where’ children are educated; it’s a philosophy that includes a whole school and it’s everyone’s responsibility. Compare that to the one-room school house that had multi-grades 1-8 and one teacher. Kids learned from one another, and the teacher was expected to teach all kids who entered the class."  --  Dr. Barry Wilson, Department Head, Educational Psychology and Foundations, UNI

        "After my son is out of public school, he’ll be living and working with a diverse population of people. I want him to be accepted after he’s out of school as much as when he’s in school. For me, that’s why inclusion is a key while he’s in school."  --  Parent of child with disabilities who attends Waverly Public Schools, Waverly, Iowa

        "Inclusive education means teachers working with students in a context that is suitable to a diverse population of students. It also means the teacher may need alternative expectations and goals for students, and it’s difficult to get teachers to do this."  --  Dr. Kathy East, Support Services Coordinator, Price Laboratory School, UNI

        "Inclusive education operates from the assumption that almost all students should start in a general classroom, and then, depending on their needs, move into more restrictive environments. Research shows that inclusive education helps the development of all children in different ways. Students with specific challenges make gains in cognitive and social development and physical motor skills. They do well when the general environment is adjusted to meet their needs. Children with more typical development gain higher levels of tolerance for people with differences. They learn to make the most of whoever they’re playing with. When we exclude people, it ultimately costs more than the original effort to include them."  --  Dr. Melissa Heston, Associate Professor, UNI

         "If you view schools as inclusive and are looking for ways to educate that benefit all students, then that’s inclusive."  --  Dr. Barry Wilson, head, Dept. of Ed Psych and Foundations, UNI

        "The millions of nondisabled students currently enrolled in schools are future firefighters, nurses, store clerks, teachers, job coaches, legislators, secretaries, physicians, school board members, employers, voters, doctors, lawyers, budget determiners, policy analysts, co-workers, police officers, and taxpayers. Approximately 15% of them will become parents of children with disabilities. A larger proportion will have a friend, neighbor, or relative who is the parent of a child with a disability and many others will be paid to provide services to people with disabilities." Lou Brown, University of Wisconsin, Madison

        "...This perspective seems to reflect a relatively widespread belief that students with disabilities should be returned to the general education classroom only if their disabilities are ‘cured.’ If this belief prevails, most persons with disabilities will never be included?  --  McLeskey & Waldron, Phi Delta Kappan, October, 1996

        "You could just see the difference in him; he had done like a 180 degree turnaround. He was just so happy - and he talked about kids in school all the time."

        "She’s done wonderfully and every year she’s made great gains and I have every belief that she’s made great gains because she’s in an inclusive setting."  --  Parents of children in inclusive settings

For a summary of research on inclusive education, go to the web site for the Western Regional Resource Center at the University of Oregon.  --  http://interact.uoregon.edu/wrrc/AKInclusion.html

General education and special education teachers both will find information and materials on inclusion, curriculum adaptations and more at The Council on Exceptional Children web site.   --  http://www.cec.sped.org/bk-menu.htm