At my current working place University of Kabianga there are ramps in  most of the buildings and the labeling of the doors has braille  alphabets to cater for visually impaired students. There is a policy on inclusion. Evidence of inclusion is that I have taught a student with visual impairment in one of my classes and I never had challenges handling is work because there are provisions even in exams where someone converts the exam into braille alphabets for him and converts the responses in normal alphabet for marking.

Unfortunately, most of the schools I know  have done little to contribute to inclusivity. This is evidenced by the negative  attitude of the teachers towards the learners with special need and lack of basic facilities that would enhance inclusivity such as toilets for physically disabled children and ramps on classroom entrances.

I am aware of certain schools who promote Differentiated Instruction during their lessons. This is to ensure that inclusiveness occurs. This is where they meet the learning needs of students using various approaches. Lessons are differentiated either by content, process, or product. It is effective because the students are provided with activities at their level, and transition upwards as they learn needed skills. The teachers at the school can be seen planning using DI and can be seen executing those plans. 

From my observation, most schools have done little to contribute to inclusivity when it comes to proper infrastructure as a result of lack of resources. I believe that with the right facilities available, inclusivity can occur because teachers and counselors do have the right mindset, but as it stands, lack of resources is a major barrier. A step in the right direction is that there are student aides assigned to some special needs learners, however this department is understaffed.

Unless the school is a Special Needs School, most of the primary schools in my country are not equip with any resource that contributes to inclusivity. Within recent times however, some of the Secondary schools have been re-built and there may be evidence of ramps for children that are using wheelchairs. 

I have seen some schools create special parking and ramps and even bathroom stalls for those with special needs. There are few of them who do this unfortunately in my country as most do not seem to have the proper funding to create such infrastructure. I do hope however that while some schools may lack physical inclusivity, they can have the 'soft skills' as mentioned by Daniel from KISE present within the school's behavior and be pro inclusive in terms of their attitudes toward students with special needs and adapt the curriculum to them as well. 

One feature of a school that I know that contributes to inclusiveness has the physical infrastructure to cater to the needs of ALL children. 

The evidence is the school is outfitted with wheelchair ramps, wide toilets and overall welcoming environment.

One feature of the school that I am attached to that contributes to inclusiveness is a transformational leader.

 It is evident in the intake of diverse students. The professional development that is done by the person as it relates to persons with special needs. At the school different professionals on staff are engaged to meet the needs of students.

The school is inclusivity is reflected in it's intake process. There are students with special needs within the classroom setting with their peers. Their is the utilization of specialist staff to break down barriers to permit learning.

First, All student's bathrooms have ramps and are equipped with special accessories in the bathrooms- students are taught that those facilities are exclusive and should be taken care of, thus our disabled students feel they are respected.

At the beginning of the school year, teachers with special Ed. students have special meetings with the counsellor and are given a list of strategies and examples on how to cope academically with these special students. The counsellor is in constant supervision and monitoring of their academic standings. when it comes to assessments special students are given special attention like for example. Printing large fonts for their assessments.

National Resource Center for Inclusive Education(NARCI) a special unit in the ministry of education does a constant monitoring of these special students.

Majority of the Public Schools in Trinidad and Tobago, I know of do not contribute to inclusivity, but we do have Special Ed schools and NGOs such as National Centre for persons with disabilities (NCPD) which promotes equalization of persons with disabilities through training and information.

 At the Special Education facilities there are resources, ramps and the adaptive washroom in these schools for the disabled students with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Hearing Impairment and disabilities.

He has successfully complete both primary and secondary school with all his passes. Without the help of the school administrator and the teachers aid this would not of been possible for him. 

Hi all

The school I have in mind is in reference to Activity 1.4, where I found that while it did not have the physical provisions such as ramps or assistive signage/resources just yet, one feature it did have was their inclusive ethos. That school really welcomed the child with Cerebral Palsy. Their attitude toward ensuring that he was welcomed and assisted to the best they can, really made a difference. The evidence I will say, via "noticing" and "achievement data", is that he excelled in his work. He smiled often and his peers were so delicate and sensitive toward him.  

Unfortunately I have never been to a school that is fully/truly inclusive, However I am aware of measures that some public and private institutions implement to accommodate learning.

As for their level of effectiveness, It is difficult to measure as these students still have to write the same national exams after their attendance which may not be a true reflection of their progress.

The way in which the curriculum is designed can either support or mitigate student success and satisfaction and  will determine how accessible it is to all students. The whole idea of inclusion for me, is more than just making accommodations. It is about removing all barriers, however, I realize this is a utopian ideal until we can get stakeholders in education to "buy-in" to all that inclusion entails. As it relates to the curriculum fostering inclusion: The methods for delivery, evaluation and assessment contribute to inclusiveness depending on its design and its success will be reflected in the level of student engagement, retention, self-confidence and self-regulation, among students.

I once visited a Primary school during teaching practice that had integrated learners with special needs.  As I look back now I think it was inclusive because it had a resource room with resources for specialised support. All learners irrespective of disability interacted during break time and played together in the field. I think we should have many of such schools. 

I work at an Early Childhood Centre in Trinidad. The teachers  use more participatory approaches in lessons. The evidence that this made a difference children feel to express themselves and they value the observations and experiences of each other. 

I have witnessed inclusivity where a student who was known to be on the autism spectrum but had no other options to receive their education elsewhere. The teacher found ways to ensure the student kept up with work at all times and it was also explained to the other students what the autism spectrum meant and how it affected that particular student. The other students were able to understand on their level what that meant and worked together with the teacher to make the learning experience as smooth as possible for the student who is on the spectrum.

In my school, we work hand in hand with Student Support Services to ensure that students with special needs can be given the assistance they need to ensure that they perform at their best. 

This includes support from a very helpful Guidance officer as well as student aides.  

All classes support inclusive learning. 

Hi all,

The school in which I work over the years have included all students. While we are a mainstream school, our principal and staff have openly welcomed students with a range of disabilities/ needs. We have had students with physical disabilities and even to this day we have a boy who moves around in his wheel chair.

When we admitted him into the school, the school had no ramps or access for him to comfortably use the washrooms, but as a school we  do not turn away any students in our community and so we embarked on a project to ensure he had all the ramps for him to move around the school. The school administration, together with the help of members of the community and his parents and all the physical amenities were sorted out before he had to join us. 

While we are a mainstream school, we have over the years, while not perfect, included and continue to included differently abled kids who seem to fit in and transition smoothly as they are part and parcel of all that happens in our school.

Regards,

Michelle

An approach practiced at my school is to ensure that each activity caters for the various learning styles. The various learning styles include visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, linguistic, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic learning. The various learning styles indicate that children learn in different ways. For example, receiving information using music helps me to understand and remember easily. In contrast, hands on experiences using the body works better for my sister.

As a result of ensuring that our learning activities cater for the various learning styles as much as possible, we have noticed that more children are willing to participate and are able to recall the information taught.

One feature of a school that contributes to inclusiveness is the resource centre that can cater for all category of students. The National Open University of Nigeria where I work, made  provision for those with disabilities in terms of materials. It is still work in progress.