Permission to use picture thanks to Inclusive Services, City of St. Johns: www.stjohns.ca
EVOLUTION OF INCLUSION Overview:
From the Early History of Ontario, students with special needs were, before the 1800's, excluded from society, and in the 1800's-1950's were sent to institutions and segregated schools. There were no school Boards and special education was mostly the responsibility of small township boards who had limited resources (A Brief History of Education in Canada). In 1969, the government of Ontario created county boards and gave funding and resources to those boards. This money was to help develop special education programmes where students were able to access specialized classrooms within a school (Morgan, C.). In the 1970's programmes continued to be offered in separate special education classes, but there was a large parent and advocacy movement for more integration that the government could not ignore (Morgan, C.). 1980 brought the passing of Bill 82. It required that each school board establish special education programmes and services for exceptional students. It meant that children who had never had the opportunity to go to school could now access the school system. This, in turn, meant that the school boards, school administration and teachers would have to provide education to students who they had no experience teaching. After many negotiations, specialized education for the teachers was addressed, teacher's helpers (EAs) were implimented, and funding was given to make schools accessible to all (Morgan, C.). In the early to mid 1990's education was stripped of $2.3 billion and most of the losses were in special education. Parents and advocacy groups were calling out for inclusion, not only in the schools, but also into the regular classroom. With this in mind the government brought in 'student focused funding', Special Education per Pupil Amount (SEPA) and Intensive Support Amount (ISA). This funding would allocate special education dollars to supports and services needed. Unfortunately, this funding was inadequate and regular classrooms were faced with identified students who had limited or no necessary supports or programmes (Morgan, C.). The government announced, in 2000, that they would put money back into the special education program to try to address the issues faced in the classroom. The money would help to address the difficulties in the special education programmes. Difficulties such as accessing specialized programming, specialized education for teachers, speech pathologists, psychologists and other professionals (Morgan, C). Since then there has been some more money and resources put forward by the government to help students with special needs in the classroom, but teachers and schools are still in need of continued growth of services for students with special needs. As we look ahead, there is and will be a growing need for more ESL teachers, EAs, and specialized teachers. How to get this money is of great debate and worry, but it must be seen as a priority (Morgan, C.; A Brief History of Education in Canada.). The students we teach today will be the leaders of tomorrow.