Changing models in Todays Classrooms

The education models, in regards to students with exceptionalities, is greatly changing in regards to how it has dealt with these difficulties in the past. It had long been believed that the best way to educate students with disabilities was to segregate them from the mainstream classes and provide them with specific plan to teach them; the relative isolation model. Within the last 30 years there has started to be a move from this model to one that integrates students in mainstream classes part-time and eventually to where students with excetionalities are completely included.

The change of models from relative isolation to integration, and integration to inclusion will result in a greater need for myself, as a teacher, to be better prepared for differentiating my teaching to reach all the students in the class. Diversity in the classroom will be far greater then it has been in the past. With the students not only being from different individual homes they each will have different religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds. And with this change of models the range of learning abilities is being increased, placing a greater demand on teachers to be better trained and prepared to teacher in these diverse settings.

In my opinion I believe that these are some very positives changes both for students with exceptionalities as well as for mainstream students and teachers. Students with exceptionalities in the past had been segregated from mainstream classes and so missed learning how to deal with there exceptionality in the rest of the world. Every aspect of there classes was catered around there exceptionality resulting in an integral part of there education being missed, how to operate in the world outside of school. Now with being included into the mainstream classes these students have this opportunity while at the same time still being educated.

By having students with exceptionalities included in mainstream classrooms typical students are also being given a fuller education. Now there are also being given first hand experience in being sensitive to individuals with exceptionalities and that they really aren't much different from themselves. This should hopefully help bring around deeper understandings in students of being sensitive and respectful to the differences of all people.

As for teachers this inclusion requires that they be better trained and instructed in a variety of learning strategies and techniques in order to effectively teach students of all abilities. Through this students should be provided with a more rounded, varied, and deeper education. The teacher will be better trained to meet the specific needs of each child, so that each childs educational needs will be more fully met. It is for this reasoning that I myself will need to seek any opportunities I can to acquire instruction in new strategies for teaching students with exceptionalities. As I train to be become a teacher it is now my job to do the best I can to be prepared for the classroom challenges I will come to face and learn all I can that I will be able to provide my future students the best education I can provide them.