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Teacher Education
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Search results for: Inclusion assistant
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The inclusion assistant (IA) is a fairly new position in the education system and is the outcome of current ideological and legislative steps to include students with special needs into the general educational system. The IA's function is to personally accompany students with severe disabilities - autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental disorders - in the general class. This paper reviews the roles and characteristics of this challenging position and offers a model of an easy-to-implement, in-service, professional development program with minimal time demands that can serve to increase the IA's skills.
Published: 2017
Updated: Feb. 22, 2017
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Following the almost worldwide implementation of policies giving all students – including those with special education needs – the right to learn within the general education system, there has been a sharp increase in the number of inclusion assistants (IA). IAs provide special-needs students one-to-one accompaniment, allowing them to function in the general education classroom and reducing the onus on the classroom teacher in such cases. Unfortunately, many, if not most, of IAs enter the system without suitable training or special qualifications and often neither they nor the teachers have a clear idea of how they should fulfill their role. This exploratory study used a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to identify and compare how 30 classroom teachers and IAs define the IA’s role. It also studied how eight IAs changed their perception of their roles after attending an IA training course and what the implications of such courses may be.
Published: 2016
Updated: Jan. 17, 2017