Significant Concepts for General Educators in Inclusive Secondary Schools in Malaysia

Abstract

The change in practices and policies in the education system internationally demands more efficiency and commitment from teachers involved in inclusive practices. This concept paper observes that the paradigm shift in educational thinking towards inclusion, will materialize only if there are supplementary in-service courses to provide general educators with significant information about inclusive education and disabilities that cause learning disorders. This paper proposes that in-service courses could deal with concepts such as human development, social development and social learning, changes in thinking and teacher proficiency. These concepts acquired from the literature review of theories and models contributed by prominent authors, are explained in detail in this paper. The general educator is obliged to apprehend how impairments cause learning disabilities which can be categorized as specific or pragmatic. Furthermore it is critical that the general educator comprehends the rationale for implementing inclusion and its philosophy. The paper also gives some essential information on learning disabilities as this knowledge is crucial for general educators in their critical role and their effort to educate a diverse population of students, which is on the increase presently and is expected to do so immensely in the future.