In the context of inclusive classrooms, normal kids are a marginalized group
A short article in the newspaper spoke of a conflict between some local school’s children’s parents, and several parents of disabled kids in that school. The article was about the insertion of the disabled kids into the classroom as part of an “inclusive classroom” doctrine in that school, and the main points were the benefits for the disabled kids and the worry of the other parents regarding the quality of education for other kids.
I have decided, prior to having an opinion, to google up the topic a little bit. Having typed some words into google I found article after article about how good inclusive classrooms are for disabled kids... and nothing on the other perspective.
duck duck go was a lot better: the same search phrases fished out some articles in newspapers and forum posts about the worry that the parents of the normative kids have.
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That being said, this is what i I found:
- many many articles about the benefits to the disabled kids. Many scientific studies and newspaper articles discussing whether disabled kids benefit, and what special consideration should be taken in their integration, and in what cases is there an advantage to the disabled child in being integrated and in what other cases is it a bad thing for that kid.
- Many articles and discussions about the effort and labor educators face in the tasks surrounding inclusive classrooms, about the help needed from the system in bringing in special needs kids into classrooms et cetera.
- Scarcely any discussion about the impact that these action have on the quality of education and socialization that the non special needs kids in an inclusive classroom receive. Very little is said about whether they is gain or sacrifice anything, outside of presenting the special needs kid having friends in the classroom as some special benefit to the classroom as a whole.
And then it struck me. In this context, These “normal” kids are a silenced group. They have no advocacy behind them. No science devoted to their needs. No systemic effort to ascertain whether there is harm to them, and then make sure it is minimized.
In this context they have no interests and are not cared for by the system, who is only attentive to the limit of their tolerance to the extent that it needs that attentiveness to ascertain what is the “least restrictive environment” which is the disabled child’s right.
The educators are committed to helping other people at their expense, the journalists are committed to sounding other people at their expense: The entire issue is framed exclusively in the light of the benefit to special needs children, and the normal kids are brush aside.
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Even if they are not special needs children, they are still children, dependent on us adults; And we as adults have a duty to them also, not just to the needy.
If their education and future is sacrificed by us adults to the benefit of others, we ought to at least strive to understand what exactly and how much of it is sacrificed; And then have a real discussion about whether it is worth it.
