SECTION 1
Introduction to
Special and
Inclusive
Education
Chapter 1
Basic Concepts on Special and Inclusive
Education
What is inclusive Education?
Inclusive Education (IE) is about putting the right to education into
action by including all learners, respecting their diverse needs,
abilities and characteristics and eliminating all forms of
discrimination in the learning environment (UN ESCO, 2009).
Inclusive Education is also highlighted in the recent DepEd Order
21, series of 2019, also known as the Policy Guidelines on the K to 12
Basic Education Program. Inclusive Education, according to the
policy, is the key standard and core principle of the K to 12
curriculum, and as an inclusive curriculum, it is learner-centered,
developmently. appropriate, culture-sensitive, relevant, gender-
responsive, and contextualized.
WHAT IS SOCIAL
EDUCATION?
Sp ecial Ed ucation (Sp Ed ) is d efined
as classes or instruction d esigned for
stud ents with d isab ilities, gifted ness,
and talents.
Mainstreaming- is the practice of educating students w ith learning
challenges in regular classes, in the least restrictive environment,
based on their skills,
integration according to Franklin (1996) refers to the creation of spaces
such as regular classrooms, special education classrooms or pull-out
services for diverse learners.
Inclusion is about welcoming diversity by providing varied responses to the diverse needs of learners in the formal
and informal education settings. It provides opportunities for equal participation of persons with disabilities
(physical, social, and/or emotional) whenever possible into general education, but leaves open the possibility of
personal choice and options for special assistance and facilities to those who need it (UNESCO, 2005).
The diagram below presents the
concepts on both settings
SpEd involves with planning,
implementing, monitoring, and
evaluating a specially designed
and coordinated set of services
through an Individualized
Education Plan/Program (IEP)
tailored to identify and address the
specific strengths and limitation
towards their educational, social,
behavioral, and physical
development.
Learners with special education
needs (LSEN) are also referred to
as students with additional needs
(SWAN), children with special
needs (CSN), students with special
education needs (SEN), or children
with special education needs and
disabilities (SEND), but it is
preferable, according to Bustos
(2018).
The diagram below present the differences between
special, integrated, and inclusive education.
The term disability is often
confused with impairment.
The precondition to
completely understand its
definition is by becoming
acquainted with its two major
disability models, medical and
social model.
The medical model of disability presents a traditional view of looking
at persons with disabilities (PWDs) as the problem that needs fixing
The medical model of disability sees that the part of his body that is
impaired needs to be fixed first for him to get to the next floor.
The social model, disability is
seen to be caused by the
barriers in society.
These barriers include inaccessible
environments (e.g. no ramps in buildings, no
subtitles in movie houses for persons with
hearing impairments, and no sound
signals for persons with visual
Impairments in crossing the streets),
negative attitudes (e.g. fear, over-protective
families, stigma, negative media, and
labeling), and inflexible organizations (e.g.
segregated or poor education, housing
problems, discrimination in employment).
The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011 has pointed out
that disability should be viewed neither as purely medical nor
purely social, since neither is better model than the other,
instead, they promoted the conceptual framework of the national
Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health also known as ICF-
The biopsychosocial model - In this
framework, disability refers to the
difficulties encountered in the
connected areas- impairments,
activity limitations and participation
restriction
Impairments are problems in body function or
alterations in body structure (eg, deafness
paraplegia or strabismus).
Activity limitations are difficulties in executing
activities te walking, writing or eating).
Participation restrictions are defined as problem with
involvement in any area of life (e.g. admission to
school, employment ce access to buildings)
As a pre-service teacher, it is important to avoid discriminatory behavior and
language towards learners with disabilities, to be sensitive enough not to make the
feel different from caber students in the school, and also to avoid name-calling (i,.e,
using the term SpEd to denote poor performance and misbehavior regardless of the
person condition when SpEd early refers to a program, and not individual
Another way to Model non- discriminatory behavior is by being sensitive to the
words used to address people with disabilities.
People First Policy, where the word people or person is used followed by their
condition or impairment.
CHAPTER 2
Historical, Philosophical, Theoretical, and
Legal Foundations of Special and Inclusive
Education
SPECIAL EDUCATION
which the unique needs and abilities of
learners are considered by designing
specialized instructions;
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
in which the educational system caters for all learners
with diverse needs, abilities, and characteristics, can
be considered relatively new.
During the Greek and Roman Era,
people held such negative views
about disability that it was regarded
as a punishment from God,
ERA OF
something that signifies being bad or
evil.
EXTERMINATION
With the need for military
superiority, individuals with
disability were labelled as
"defectives".
The same discriminatory treatment
was also apparent during the early
Christian era.
Later, though, this perspective
changed as the New Testament
presented Jesus being helpful to
persons with disability.
ERA OF RIDICULE
During the Middle Ages, people
lived in rigid caste systems that
discrimination of individuals who
were different from the majority in
the society became apparent.
ERA OF ASYLUM
During the Renaissance Period, the
Catholic Church began accepting
persons with disabilities as wards
of state.
PEDRO PONCE DE
LEON (1578)
who provided
education to deaf
PERSPECTIVE ON
children from
nobility. EDUCABILITY IN THE EARLY
ABBE CHARLES MICHEL
DE L'EPEE (1960)
BEGINNINGS OF SPECIAL
who put up an
institute for the EDUCATION
deaf.
LOUIS BRAILLE
to reinforce equal treatment among all
(1829) humans, one should have the right to
who invented the education regardless of his or her
Braille script to disability.
allow the blind to
read.
Table 2.1 A Timeline of Events, Persons, and Ideas that Shaped
the Early History of Special and Inclusive Education
Table 2.1 A Timeline of Events, Persons, and Ideas that Shaped the
Early History of Special and Inclusive Education
Table 2.1 A Timeline of Events, Persons, and Ideas that Shaped the
Early History of Special and Inclusive Education
RECENT LEGISLATIONS
IN THE PHILIPPINES 1.Gifted and Talented
SUPPORTING INCLUSIVE Learners
EDUCATION 2.Learners with
Disabilities
Section 8, DepEd Order 4.Indigenous
No.43, Series of 2013: IRR People 5.Learners
of RA 10533 or The Under Difficult
Enhanced Basic Education Circumstances
Act of 2013 3. Muslim Learners
Senate Bill 1414: Bill of the Inclusive
Education for Children and Youth
with Special Needs CHED Memo 74-77, Series of 2017
Policies, Standards and Guidelines
for Bachelor of Early Childhood
Senate Bill 1298: The Individuals Education (BEEd), Bachelor of
with Disabilities Education Act of Secondary Education (BSEd),
2016 (IDEA Bachelor of Early Childhood
Education (BECEd) and Bachelor
of Special Needs Education
Senate Bill 996: Inclusive
(BSNEd)
Education for Children and Youth
with Special Needs Act of 2016
The DepEd Order 21, Series of
2019 or The Policy Guidelines on
DepEd Order No.42, Series of the K to 12 Basic Education
2017, National Adoption and Program
Implementation of the Philippines
Professional Standards for
Teachers (PPST)
