PSY 1110: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION GUIDE NOTES

LECTURERS: DR. JANET NABISWA

DR. ELIZABETH MABELE
MS. EVERLINE MANG’ULA

LESSON TWO: COMPONENTS OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

There are three major components that must be addressed for successful inclusive
education. They include;
 School Factors
 Support Services and Resources
 Collaboration and Community Involvement

1. SCHOOL FACTORS

There are various school factors that are necessary for the achievement of inclusive
education.
These include;
 Classroom Factors
 Student factors
 Teacher Factors
 Curriculum

1. Classroom Factors
Assessment
In assessment you will need to identify the learners who may be experiencing difficulties. One
should be able to recognize the barriers within the child and in the environment that may hinder
learning. This will enable one to plan for each learner appropriately.
Barriers to learning and development are likely to come across among learners in a
classroom

Barrier Indicator(s)

visual difficulties – learner holding the book too close or

too near the face or missing parts
of words when reading.
hearing difficulties – learner cocking the head on one

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 side or cupping the ear as he/she listens.
physical difficulties – posture and motor co-ordination
difficulties.
learning difficulties – learner experiencing difficulties
in specific subjects like reading,
writing and arithmetic.
communication difficulties – learner stammering or unable
to communicate with others.
emotional and behaviour – Learner withdrawn or aggressive.
difficulties

Keeping records
It is important that you keep records for each learner. This will enable you to monitor their
progress. The records should include family background, medical information as well as
individualized educational plans and progress records. The individualized, Educational
Programme (IEP) needs to be updated and reviewed periodically.
Organizing Space
The learner’s needs met at designated areas in the classroom. This requires you to plan and
organize the available space in your classroom. For example you may have the following
learning centres:
 nature centre
 garden
 shop corner
 post office
 subject centers for example; Music, Mathematic
Some of the considerations you will take in organizing space for learners with diverse needs
 A learner using a wheel-chair will require more space for free movement.
 Learners with low vision may have to be placed near the chalkboard, window or sour
 Those with hearing problems to be seated infront or at an appropriate position to enable them
see the teachers’ face.
 Those with behaviour difficulties who are constantly out of their seats should be seated
between two children to bar them from getting out unnecessarily.
 You may teach learners as a whole class, in groups, in pairs or individually. When grouping
learners, you need to consider their diversities. For example, ability grouping should aim at
learners with same needs progressing together, while mixed ability grouping should aim at
creating and encouraging environment where those experiencing problems gain as they learn
alongside those with higher abilities. Pairing should aim at having the gifted learners
supporting those with learning difficulties.
Planning the learning experience
 When planning learning experiences you should consider the individual learner’s needs.
You can do this by:-
 Organizing the classroom to address the learner’s difficulties, for example having the
learner sit close to the teacher or away from too much light
 Modifying the teaching style to incorporate more group activities where each learner
participates.

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  Encouraging learners to help each other rather than competing.
 Organizing learning activities for learners with diversities.

Establishing Classroom Rules

An environment that is consistent, supportive, encourages and promotes learning. An inclusive
classroom with a diversity of learners requires simple rules to enhance positive behavior and
minimize distraction.

Effective classroom rules should be:-

 few in number.
 positively and simply stated.
 easy to enforce.
 developed and owned by the learners.
 placed on the wall as reminder to all learners.
The table below gives examples of negatively and positively stated classroom rules
No. Negatively stated Positively
1 Do not make noise Work quietly stated
2 Do not litter the class Keep the classroom tidy
3 Do not give random answers Put up your hand to answer
4 Do not dress like a raffian Be smart

Interactive relationships
All children need a close, sensitive and loving relationship with those they spend time with. This
is the basis for the development of the child’s sense of security, confidence and the ability to
cope with others and the world.
As the class teacher, you can create interactive relationships among the learners by:
 Encouraging learners who finish their work early to work with others experiencing learning
difficulties as peer tutors and note-takers.
 Encouraging learners to interact and share tasks and responsibilities with each other.
 Working to develop positive attitudes among pupils, teachers, and parents about learners with
special needs.
 Setting class activities to be completed by groups.
 Encouraging learners to befriend peers with special needs and assist those with mobility
problems during break time and games time.

Organizing play activities

As the children grow, they need the freedom to explore and play. Play is very important for the
child’s learning and development.
Importance of play in the childs growth and development?
 mental development
 social skills
 physical development
 creativity
 curiosity
 confidence to move and manipulate the environment.

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N/B: As a teacher, you need to encourage use of play in learning activities. Play forms the
basis for handling school work and life issues.
Preventing Behaviour difficulties
Even in a well-organized inclusive classroom, behaviour problems may occur. As a teacher, you
should strive to make the learners feel good and reinforce desirable behaviour. However, when
you detect a learner is experiencing a behaviour problem that may interfere with the learning, try
to communicate your displeasure in a manner that will not disrupt the learning. You should avoid
drawing attention to the learner or demoralizing him/her. In some cases the learner may be
seeking attention and your harsh response may be reinforcing the behaviour.

2. Student Factors
Every child is unique therefore recognize the following;
 The learners’ level of ability
 Area of Special needs
 Learning process
 Learning styles
The Learners level of ability
learners have different abilities such that some could be slow and others fast, some are neat and
others careless, some are organized while other are disorganized, some are good at some
activities and otherspoor in others, some are friendly and others are aggressive while some are
playful others are withdrawn.

Area of Special Need

These are barriers that pose unique needs for individual learner e.g.

 Learners with difficulties in communicating through spoken may require sign language
and written language
 Learners with visual problems may require tactile materials and listening skills while
those with hearing problems will need to see teachers’ actions as they speak in the
learning experiences.
 Learners with physical problems may require adaptive devices and modified physical
environment for easy movement.
 Learners with EBD may require more counseling and positive reinforcement in their
learning experience.
 Those with Hearing Impairments (HI) may need preferential sitting and alternative modes
of communication.
 Learners with Specific learning difficulties may need remedial work
 Learners with Mental Disabilities (MD) may require the use of real objects in order to
develop concepts.

Learning Process

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Learning is the permanent change of behaviour due experience of practice, it takes place in any
environment. The learner is exposed to and through a process. All learners including those with
Special needs learn through six learning processes. These include;

 Cognitive Abilities- this enables a learner to understand, think, reason, pay attention,
criticize, store, retrieve , interpret, organize and categorize information among others.
Learners with SNE may have different cognitive abilities and therefore differences in
their learning. some of these abilities may include
a) Attention- the learner should be able to concentrate on a task at hand. Some of the
SNE have short attention span e.g. mental disabilities, EBD etc.
b) Recognition-you should present the material in an interesting manners
considering the learners’ ability
c) Perception- the ability to tell differences between objects shapes and sounds etc.
d) Classification – ability to tell similarities and differences in objects, numbers, letters,
sounds etc.
e) Sensory integration- learning through the integration of sense such as seeing,
modeling and saying numbers.
f) Concept formation- refers to a mental picture of an idea or object. In the absence of
senses the brain will have no sensory input hence the learner will miss vital information
from the environment
 Visual sense- the eye plays a vital role in taking information from the environment to the
brain. for a learner to utilize this sense then the learner should be able to develop the
following skills
a) visual skills- this involves the use of eyes in the environment
b) Visual Perception- this is awareness and attention which involves interpretation of
what one sees. Those with SNE may have visual perception problems therefore
teachers must provide activities that develop this skill e.g. use of real objects.
 Auditory sense- a lot is learnt through the sense of hearing. The teacher should therefore
strive at developing auditory skills that may enhance the use of auditory sense. these may
include
a) environmental sounds-it is important for a learner to be aware and attend to
environmental sounds.
b) sound recognition and association –this helps a learner to attach meaning to
words.
c) Auditory discrimination-identifying specific sounds heard. The learner should be
able to name sources of sound for example sounds of different animals.
d) Interpreting Verbal Instruction-learners need to be guided to attend to speech
that provides directions and instructions.
e) Auditory skills and listening in learning- this involves attending keenly to auditory
input, locating the source of sound and attaching meaning tio what he/she hears.
Listening is a skill that should be taught particularly to learners with SNE such as
those with hearing problems.
f) Auditory memory- for learning to take place, learners should be able to store
auditory experiences, retrieve and relate them when it is desirable. The learner needs
tp remember, discriminate, relate sounds to meaning and blend speech sounds such as
house, ha/u/s.

COMPLETE PSY 1110 NOTES FOR 2024/2025 COHORT. COURSE LECTURERS:

DR. NABISWA, DR. MABELE AND MS. MANG’ULA
 Tactile sense
It involves touching and feeling of objects through manipulation using fingers, hands or
other parts of the body. The following aspects are developed through the sense of touch;
a) Awareness and attention is marked by touching and feeling and models which
enhances the identification of texture.
b) Structure and shape – this is learnt by moving the hands along objects, grasping and
manipulating.
c) Relationship of parts of the whole e.g. in case of Jigsaw puzzles where pieces are
separated and joined together to make a whole object
d) Graphic representation which involves making an object to represent the actual
form of the object giving a mental image
e) Braille symbols for learners who cannot read or write print.
 Sensory motor
This refers to the input from senses and output through motor activity. Perceptual
development occurs through sensory motor activities and corresponds to sensory
feedback. The foundation of learning is established through the integration of sensory
feedback to the brain expressed in sensory motor activities such as; eye hand
coordination, gross motor and fine motor skills.
 Speech and language
There are two aspects of language mainly;
a) Receptive language
This is concerned with receiving information and reacting to it. a learner with
respective difficulties is likely to miss out a lot of information in class hence
experience academic and social problems.
Learners with receptive language problems have difficulties in listening, carrying out
instructions , responding appropriately to information either spoken, written or signed
or communicated by any other means like reading , interpreting signs, gestures etc.

b) Expressive language
This is concerned with production or formulating and using spoken written signed or
brailed language. Learners with expressive language problems have difficulties in
speaking, signing, writing or brailing information. in class these learners are likely to
be withdrawn, or reserved making it difficult for the teacher to evaluate whether
he/she has understood or not.

Learning Style
This refers to the way that learner will receive information for example

 listening to it repeatedly
 writing it

3. Teacher Factors
The teacher is the most important person in the process of including a learner with special
needs in a regular classroom. The teacher may make it possible for the learner to be
accepted by other learners through demonstrating positive and supportive attitude to the

COMPLETE PSY 1110 NOTES FOR 2024/2025 COHORT. COURSE LECTURERS:

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 learner. Having negative attitude towards a learner with SNE may block any chances of
learning in a regular class.
How would you enhance the inclusion of a learner with Special Needs in your class?
At classroom level the following actions are key;
 Making the learner feel welcome and an important member of the class for
example talking to him and encouraging him to participate in the class activities.
 encouraging other learners to support the one with SNE
 providing appropriate materials and learning experiences to the learner
 talking to other teachers about the needs of the learner
 Working closely with learners parents to assist in and out of school egg helping in
homework.

Ways of enhancing Inclusive Education include;

1. Diversifying teaching methods
2. Differentiating curriculum
3. Promoting collaborative learning
4. Enhancing communication

Diversifying Teaching Methods

The teacher should use appropriate teaching methods in order to help a learner with SNE.
Some of the approaches may include
 Peer tutoring- this is where other children are used to assist those learners
experiencing difficulties in learning activities. It is on the basis that children
understand each other‘s language better than anyone else.
 Group teaching- this is where learners are placed in small groups of between 4
and 8 and the teacher teaches the groups. It allows learners to participate actively.
 Individualized Instruction- the teacher initiates individualized Education
Programme (IEP) where parents are involved. this allows adaptations in the
learning activities for a learner with SNE
 Team Teaching- this refers to teachers conducting lessons together so that they
can share their expertise to assist learners’ experiencing difficulties in the school.
in team teaching members may assist one another by; planning together ,teaching
together, evaluating the results together, modifying the learning goals regularly
together

Promoting collaborative learning

This is also referred to as co-operative learning. It is based on the idea that children learn from
one another by doing activities together
Learning is organized in such a way that learners work with their peers towards a common goal
rather than competing with one another. it enhances the spirit of pulling together in learners
which promotes the skill of sharing ideas, and responsibilities, listening to each other and
working together in order to succeed. They learn to control their emotions, make decisions, and
develop tolerance in each other.

Enhancing Communication

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In communication there is a sender, the message, receiver and the feedback. It about
understanding what has been said and being understood. if there is break in the chain of
communication then it leads to breakdown e.g. when the sender uses mode of communication
which the receiver does not understand then there will be no feedback because the receiver did
not understand the message.

4. Curriculum Factors
Curriculum refers to the subject matter that is planned to be taught to learners at any level of
education. it provides guidelines on the content, sequence of activities, teaching methods,
educational resources, time schedules and evaluation procedures. This is meant for an average
learner hence learners with SNE may require modifications and flexibility which results in a
differentiated curriculum. Differentiated curriculum is a modified curriculum with intention of
meeting the needs of learners with SNE. This may be done through;

 Manipulating the environmental factors

 Adapting teaching approaches and time schedules
 modifying the content
 Adapting the exam questions and assessment procedures.
 providing appropriate learning materials to meet the learner’s individual needs
 Including other lifelong subjects such as independent living skills
 Sign Language
 Braille
 Orientation and mobility.

COMPLETE PSY 1110 NOTES FOR 2024/2025 COHORT. COURSE LECTURERS:

DR. NABISWA, DR. MABELE AND MS. MANG’ULA