Education is a must for everyone, either for the rich-economical people or poor-economical people. In the reality, people are not only divided into economy-categorical but also another categorical, for instance normal and abnormal. Normal people come to the normal school, such as a government school and a non-government school. A normal school provides a normal education too. It is set to educate the normal students. It’s started from the elementary school (or even the play group), and then it’s continued to the junior high school, and then to the senior high school, and etc.
However, how
about the abnormal people? Do they come to the normal school? I think, if they
come to the normal school, they will get hard to adapt the normal education
because every single abnormal people have a different disability. That’s why
the abnormal people come to the special school. In the special school, they
will be educated as well. Each abnormal people will get a special treatment
depends on their disability. Is that fair?
Talking about the
fairness, it’s quite fair to differentiate the normal and abnormal students
through education. However, how about the result will be? The abnormal students
could be left behind, and the possibility is yes. Next, what is the possible
solution to answer the question? Inclusive education is the proposed solution
for this problem. In my opinion, inclusive education is the thing which
provides the abnormal students to feel and to receive the same education level
through differentiated instructions. So that, neither the abnormal students are
not 100% get differently education, nor 100% get similarly education. It makes
an “equal” education between the normal and the abnormal students.
Michael Farrell
(2009) defines eighteen types of disabilities/disorder, they are profound
cognitive impairment, moderate to severe cognitive impairment, mild cognitive
impairment, hearing impairment, visual impairment, deafblindness, orthopaedic
impairment and motor disorder, health impairment, traumatic brain injury,
disruptive behavior disorders (including conduct disorder), anxiety disorders
and depressive disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
communication disorders (speech, grammar, comprehension, semantics, and
pragmatics), autism, developmental coordination disorder, reading disorder,
disorder of written expression, and the last is mathematics disorder.
Unfortunately,
the inclusive education cannot be implemented for all disabilities. For example
for hearing impairment, visual impairment, and deafblindness which cannot
implement it. Just imagine if there is some deaf or blind students within the
normal class, the deaf and blind students will learn nothing. So, the special
schools are needed to provide the special students with the special disabilities.
By considering
the disabilities (for my case is the hearing impairment), we realize that the
students’ abilities are less than the normal students. They cannot hear
anything, so that their vocabulary is limited. Their “deafness” impacts on
their speaking, so that their speaking is disorder too.
The experience to
meet the low-hearing students is gotten by visiting “Santi Rama” School, which
is a special school for the hearing impairment students. It opened my eyes to
realize that even their academic is slower, but their opportunity to maximize
their skills is opened widely. Deafness doesn’t mean they can do nothing. They
still can communicate with their peer with the special ways, either by “special
signal” or by “fingers language”.
In Santi Rama
School, they are mostly using “special signal” because the students are forced
to speak orally, rather than using “fingers language” only. If they only use
“fingers language”, it doesn’t train their speaking. That’s why one of the
strength of this school is the “bercakap method”. By using this method, all of the
lessons are started by having a small conversation to enter the core materials.
This method is also useful to give the clear meaning of students’ thought. For
the low-hearing students, usually they know the words without knowing the
meaning of those words. So, by starting the lesson with “bercakap method” it helps students to make sure the meaning of the
words on their thought.
During my
observation, teachers’ role in this special education is as the resources of
everything for the students. Students depend on the teachers. The teachers’
explanation builds-up students understanding, so if the teachers make the
mistakes, the students will get the wrong concept which will make disadvantages
to them. Being a teacher for them is not merely easy. Not only mastering the
“special signal” but also should be expressive. One of the students’ tools to
learn is theis eyes, through the teachers’ expression. That’s why to be their
teacher, we have to minimize as least as our mistake.
More in depth,
teachers’ role is forcing the students to improve and develop their skills to
be as normal as well. Moreover, the teacher must maximize the students’ skills
because their academic usually is not as well as the normal students. In the
Senior High School of Santi Rama School, the students are shaped and are forced
to have special skills. Their academic-classes are only 40%, and their
skill-classes are 60%, so that after they graduate from this school, they are
expected to have a skill and they can use that skill to work as well.
In Santi Rama
School, they are two types of skill-class, mandatory and elective. For the
mandatory skill-class is sewing class (it is separated between the male and
female students), while for the elective skill-classes are embroider,
automotive, silk-screening, and computer. Teachers’ role in shaping students’
skills is very important. The teacher should be creative in conveying the
materials to be understood easier by the students in considering their
disabilities. Another role is shaping the students’ attitude to be the
independent person, not always depend on someone’s help. They have to show that
even they have disability, but they are powerful enough to live in the real
world.
The life of
special education doesn’t always run smoothly. There are so many challenges
that have to be faced at present and for the future. One of challenge for Santi
Rama School nowadays is lacking of the human resources to be the teacher. This
happened because some of the teachers were transferred to the
government-special-school. So, the existence of Santi Rama School is in danger.
The principle said that this school can be closed someday because of no
teachers provided any longer.
Another challenge
for the future is the technology. Nowadays, technology has been developed to
help human to be easier for doing something. I’m afraid that the developmental
of technology could hamper the low-hearing students.
Reflecting on
Santi Rama School, they still use the black board and the chalk. They have not
used the whiteboard and the markers yet, whereas todays’ technology such as the
projector, the computer is often used. I’m just afraid that if the technology
is getting greater and greater, they would leave behind or they will face the
difficulty to deal with it.
By stating those
statements, I did not mean that the low-hearing students are low-technology.
They are following the technological development such as Android, BlackBerry,
and etc. However, off course they still have a limited uses to develop their
understanding. So, technology can be a challenge in the future for this special
education.
All in all,
people have the same right to get the education. However, it’s limited by
someone’s disability, so that there should be a normal education and a special
education. For some disabilities, they can gather with the normal students in
normal school which is inclusive education. However, for some disabilities they
cannot be forced to gather with the normal students in the normal school, so
they should learn in special school. Even they have disabilities, they still
have opportunities to develop their skills, and the special school can provide
it, so that they can maximize their skill to get work or developing it more and
more. Teachers are the main role of the successive of the students; they are
responsible in sharping the students to be the good one. The special and
inclusive education also has challenges at present and future. It could be the
human resources to be the teacher, or also the technology. Today’s technology
helps us to do something easier, but the technology also can be an obstacle for
the future. Let’s prepare for the future without leaving the special and
inclusive education behind us. Education is for all.
