Disability Related to Human Rights and Social Justice in the Educational Context

The paper discusses the complex nature of diversity in student learning and the support that is required from the teacher. The values are respected in terms of attitude that is established towards the students who are disabled especially in terms of reflecting human behaviour and supporting them (Twagirimana, 2016). For teachers, it is significant to state the educational rights for students with disability especially when there are implications in terms of the empowerment of active citizenship and social actions are motivated.

The educational rights of students with disability must be inclusive of the acquisition of knowledge as well as skills leading to effective cooperation, evaluation, sharing and value integration by authorities of schools. Positive management and behavioural integration from the perspective of the students in the form of the way disabled students are treated. In Australia, the rights of the students with disabilities are identified in terms of the children who are 6 years old and above have a right to go the school (Hornby, 2015). According to ACECQA A6, the focus on children who are refugees, deaf, in a wheelchair, autistic, psychological disorders, foetal alcohol syndrome, epilepsy and others have every right to be in a school be it a catholic, a mainstream government or an independent school. The disability of the students is not regarded especially in terms of the students’ educational rights as well as social justice (Blodget & Lanigan, 2018). Based on the educational context of According to ACECQA B1, the values that are considered when pedagogy and content of the classroom is used and embedded in relevance to improving the quality of the students. The emotional wellbeing of the students is taken into account when disability of the students is considered in relation to the human rights of the children (Rubagiza, Umutoni & Kaleeba, 2016).

According to Graduate Attributes 2, the principles of inclusive schooling of students are influenced by human rights and social justice legislation in terms of fulfilling the diverse needs of disabled students such as their learning difficulties, challenging behaviour and disability. The legislation such as Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Disability Standards for Education 2005, Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for Students with Disability (NCCD) guidelines are significant legislation that helps Australian disabled students to access Australian curriculum. According to Picard (2015), there are 63% of all students with speech or sensory disability experience difficulty in school therefore, it is the responsibility of NCCD which contributes to the way students receive educational support adjustments. As an individual with trauma from war-torn Rwanda, the focus student being a male must receive educational setting that makes him feel safe and secure. The students’ guidelines that have been established by NCCD contributes to the way schools have obligations towards students with cognitive, social emotional, sensory, physical and other disabilities (Spratt & Florian, 2015).

Human Rights and Social Justice Legislation Informed the Principles of Inclusive Schooling

The two government and educational sites that refer to inclusive schooling especially referring to their key principles in the state school system are education council National Consistency Collection of Data on School Students with Disability 2019 guidelines document and Australian curriculum Meeting the needs of students with disability site. According to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, “It is unlawful for a principal to discriminate against a person on the ground of the person’s disability.” which can be analysed in terms of unethical behaviour on the part of the principal (Australian Government, 2020). According to NCCD, “To be counted in the NCCD, students must have identified educational needs that are directly related to their disability…” which is analysed as specific participation and inclusive educational support is necessary. According to Graduate Attributes 5, the implications of both these identified sentences on the focus student, a male student who ran away from war-torn Rwanda is effective considering he must not be treated differently by the principal of school as well as he must be identified as a student in need of support for his learning disabilities (Navarro et al., 2016).

Stakeholders that have been identified in the inclusion practices in the mainstream educational settings are students, parents, teachers, peers and principal (Lawrie et al., 2017). The different perspectives of the stakeholders can be discussed and evaluated in terms of the possible and probable educational issues are as follows:

• Lack of information to prospective students or families
• Lack of information of procedures in terms of the students getting involved in the inclusive learning
• Lack of available options that helps the students as well as communication problems
• Gap of coordination between ancillary, departments and services

Students who have completely or partially lost their mental or bodily functions, a part of their body, suffering from chronological illness and disease, malfunction, disfigurement of a body’s part, malformation, illness or disorder related to emotion, reality or judgement and others are identified as disabled. These considerations have been made in terms of identifying disability among students according to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Altemueller & Lindquist, 2017). The legislation contributes to the addressing of the emotional disturbances and social compatibility that students experience especially in terms of curriculum implementation. The non-conducive environment in the classroom is observed in terms of communication problems, absence of specific teaching aids as well as low cognitive levels therefore, the coordination among students is necessary in terms of growth (McGrath & Hughes, 2018). The low cognitive level among students is evaluated in terms of their inconsistency thus, it is important for the stakeholders to implement strategies where difficulties and barriers are faced.

The resources and websites that can be identified in terms of effective evaluation of the stakeholders in developing inclusive schooling for students for satisfying their diverse needs are as follows:

1. https://www.nccd.edu.au/sites/default/files/nccd_guidelines.pdf – Education Council Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability 2019
2. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00125 – Disability Discrimination Act 1992 document
3. Hornby, G. (2015). Inclusive special education: Development of a new theory for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities. British Journal of special education, 42(3), 234-256. https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8578.12101
4. Blodgett, C., & Lanigan, J. D. (2018). The association between adverse childhood experience (ACE) and school success in elementary school children. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(1), 137. https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2101/2019/12/Association-between-ACEs-and-School-Success-in-Elementary-School-Children-2018.pdf
5. https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/education/publications/human-rights-education-national-school-curriculum-position-paper – Australian Human Rights Commission

Principles of Inclusive Schooling Evidence and their Implications

Students with diverse needs – listening to their voice and supporting them

1. https://www.nccd.edu.au/sites/default/files/nccd_guidelines.pdf – Education Council Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability 2019
2. https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00125 – Disability Discrimination Act 1992 document
3. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/disabilities/ – Teaching students with disabilities by Danielle Picard
4. Rubagiza, J., Umutoni, J., & Kaleeba, A. (2016). Teachers as agents of change: Promoting peacebuilding and social cohesion in schools in Rwanda. Education as Change, 20(3), 202-224. https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1947-94172016000300011
5. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/education-and-skills/engagement-in-education – People with disability in Australia

The evidence based academic sources exist to inform teachers are Education Council Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability 2019, Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, The Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority curriculum and Disability Discrimination Act 1992. The educational commitments observed in terms of Australian values considers the capability of the students informing of the specific learning experience for the diverse requirements. The one peer-reviewed journal article that has been identified is called “Strategies of Early interventions on Academic Performance of Learners…” by J.E.A.N. Twagirimana in 2016. This journal contributes to the way academic performance of learners can be evaluated in terms of support provided to the students who are physically disabled in primary and secondary schools. Educational development is observed in terms of helping students with disabilities brings to the forefront where teaching, procedures and policies strategies must interact effectively facilitating quality of teaching and learning.

The focus students are taught effectively to contribute to professional learning environment where the way the focus student having post traumatic experience are supported in terms of addressing their disability (Spratt & Florian, 2015). The focus students are supported in terms of practicing anti-discrimination in the learning environment especially when diverse learning is observed. Multiple perspective of the teaching context reflects the human rights education which is significant in supporting and guiding students with diverse needs with national curriculum (Rubagiza, Umutoni & Kaleeba, 2016).

The diverse needs of the students require pedagogical support from the educators as well as awareness in the form of respect and effective attitude towards the different types of disability among principal, educators and parents. The Australian Human Rights Commission contributes to the way human rights of students can be evaluated in terms of values and principles which should be supportive towards disabled students. The learning and the acquisition of students can be evaluated in terms of range of resources, engagement of the disabled students as well as information and communication technology are integrated in verbal and nonverbal communication (Lawrie et al., 2017). The identification of support and the teaching that is necessary to integrate diverse learning and effectively contribute to the curriculum framework implementation. The practice contributes to the way diverse disabilities of the students are evaluated and accordingly planning responsive differentiated teaching, learning and assessment. The purpose is therefore to explain the relevance of policies, legal and curriculum frameworks effectively supporting diverse learners as well as fulfilling professional learning needs (Australian Government, 2020). 

Different Perspectives of the Stakeholders Involved in Inclusion Schooling For Diverse Needs

The teaching strategies are evaluated in terms of using content development through effective teaching and learning to integrate and develop an inclusive learning environment. The range of strategies that are implemented in terms of identifying background of the students especially belonging to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island as well as other indigenous groups who face linguistic, cultural, religious and other aspects (Satsangi et al., 2016). The background of students is also taken into account especially in terms of knowledge integration when there is an issue of participation and engagement in classroom activities. The range of abilities of the teachers that contributes to the way education among focus disabled students reflects that it is not only about understanding the learning style of the students but also their elements of diversity (McGrath & Hughes, 2018).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the professional learning is supported by teachers whose focus is to develop strategies that contributes to the learning strengths and needs of the students in relevance to their socio-economic backgrounds, religious, cultural and linguistic diversity.

References

Altemueller, L., & Lindquist, C. (2017). Flipped classroom instruction for inclusive learning. British Journal of Special Education, 44(3), 341-358. https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8578.12177

Australian Government. (2020). People with disability in Australia, Summary – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved 9 March 2022, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/summary.

Blodgett, C., & Lanigan, J. D. (2018). The association between adverse childhood experience (ACE) and school success in elementary school children. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(1), 137. https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/2101/2019/12/Association-between-ACEs-and-School-Success-in-Elementary-School-Children-2018.pdf

Buli-Holmberg, J., & Jeyaprathaban, S. (2016). Effective practice in inclusive and special needs education. International journal of special education, 31(1), 119-134. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1099986

Hornby, G. (2015). Inclusive special education: Development of a new theory for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities. British Journal of special education, 42(3), 234-256. https://nasenjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8578.12101

Lawrie, G., Marquis, E., Fuller, E., Newman, T., Qiu, M., Nomikoudis, M., … & Van Dam, L. (2017). Moving towards inclusive learning and teaching: A synthesis of recent literature. Teaching & learning inquiry, 5(1), 9-21. https://cdm.ucalgary.ca/index.php/TLI/article/view/57469

McGrath, A. L., & Hughes, M. T. (2018). Students with learning disabilities in inquiry-based science classrooms: A cross-case analysis. Learning Disability Quarterly, 41(3), 131-143. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0731948714550204

Navarro, S., Zervas, P., Gesa, R., & Sampson, D. (2016). Developing teachers’ competences for designing inclusive learning experiences. Educational Technology and Society, 19(1), 17-27. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/jeductechsoci.19.1.17.pdf

Picard, D. (2015). Teaching Students with Disabilities. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved 9 March 2022, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/disabilities/.

Rubagiza, J., Umutoni, J., & Kaleeba, A. (2016). Teachers as agents of change: Promoting peacebuilding and social cohesion in schools in Rwanda. Education as Change, 20(3), 202-224. https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1947-94172016000300011

Satsangi, R., & Bouck, E. C. (2015). Using virtual manipulative instruction to teach the concepts of area and perimeter to secondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 38(3), 174-186. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0731948714550101

Satsangi, R., Bouck, E. C., Taber-Doughty, T., Bofferding, L., & Roberts, C. A. (2016). Comparing the effectiveness of virtual and concrete manipulatives to teach algebra to secondary students with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 39(4), 240-253. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0731948716649754

Spratt, J., & Florian, L. (2015). Inclusive pedagogy: From learning to action. Supporting each individual in the context of ‘everybody’. Teaching and Teacher Education, 49, 89-96. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X15000566

Strnadová, I., Hájková, V., & Kv?to?ová, L. (2015). Voices of university students with disabilities: Inclusive education on the tertiary level–A reality or a distant dream?. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(10), 1080-1095. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603116.2015.1037868

Thomas, L. (2016). Developing inclusive learning to improve the engagement, belonging, retention, and success of students from diverse groups. In Widening higher education participation (pp. 135-159). Chandos Publishing. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780081002131000093

Twagirimana, J. E. A. N. (2016). Strategies Of Early Interventions on Academic Performance Of Learners with Physical Disabilities in Primary and Secondary Schools in Two Selected Districts, Rwanda. Unpublished Thesis: Kenyatta University. https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/bitstream/handle/123456789/15016/Strategies%20of%20early%20interventions%20on%20academic%20performance……..pdf?sequence=1