Excerpted from Curriculum and Instruction for All Learners: Blending Systematic and Constructivist Approaches in Inclusive Elementary Schools, by Beverly Rainforth, Ph.D., & Judy W. Kugelmass, Ph.D.

Copyright © 2003 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

The knowledge gained during the 20th century regarding children’s learning and development has combined with a growing understanding of the links among democracy, human rights, and publicly supported schools that serve all children. These insights are leading to recognition of the need for significant educational reforms that go beyond meeting academic standards. These kinds of systemic reforms must consider the diverse resources and concerns of every child and support a vision of inclusive education.

Inclusive education ensures children’s basic human right to an individually, culturally, and developmentally appropriate education and eliminates social exclusion. Inclusive schools do more than provide educational experiences for students whose cultures, social classes, learning styles, languages, intelligences, and physical and sensory capacities are different from one another. These kinds of schools also offer possibilities for enriching the experiences of every child while preparing them to live in an inclusive society. The practices described in this book offer examples of approaches that have been used by elementary school teachers in the development of classrooms that reflect this definition of inclusion. Their practices are built on the best of what is known about teaching and learning. These practices provide equal opportunities for excellence and support the participation of all children in their respective classrooms, schools, and communities. Inclusion means no child is excluded physically, psychologically, intellectually, academically, culturally, or socially. In an inclusive environment, the unique resources and concerns of every child in a classroom and a teacher’s unconditional love of children are what guide instructional practice, rather than strict adherence to any one curricular model, specific theory, or ideology.

These underlying beliefs permeate all aspects of the culture in a truly inclusive school. Although some teachers may not be able to articulate or consciously acknowledge the way these beliefs guide their practices, these beliefs can be seen in patterns of interactions, verbal and nonverbal language, arrangements of the classroom’s physical environment, and approaches to teaching and learning. These patterns will reveal the hidden, primary levels of classroom culture that reflect deeply held beliefs in the value of each child’s contribution to the classroom community (Hall, 1983).

Certainly, inclusive schools present unique challenges to both teachers and students. How can a teacher be expected to meet every child’s needs in the face of such diversity, given the current political climate calling for accountability? To do this requires embracing an evolutionary model of curriculum and instruction that is designed to support the diversity found in American elementary schools. This will not be found in any one, new, quick-fix solution but rather requires a continually evolving approach to curriculum and instruction that integrates knowledge about how children learn into the ways teachers teach.