The rationale for this assignment lies in both: my personal interest and questions raised by substantive research in the area of the role of paraprofessionals (TA's) within the wider framework of inclusive education. Therefore, the aim of this essay is to understand and analyse the role of TA's in greater depth and evaluate the aspects of inclusive classroom and the effectiveness of TA's working with less experienced and/or children with Special Educational Needs (SEN).
The essay is structured in a way that it begins by defining the term of inclusive education followed by analysis on the effectiveness of TA's support on children within the inclusive practice. Throughout this essay, I am going to critically analyse and evaluate the role and expectations set out for TA's in light of current research and literature available.
In the last few decades, there has been a significant shift from special education to inclusive education around the globe (Mittler, 2000). Inclusive education can be described as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through
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Since the Warnock Report (DfES, 1978) which suggested that children with disabilities should be included in mainstream education rather than segregated into a special school, the Education Act (1981) has been introduced. This has radically changed the conceptualisation of SEN. This act introduced the idea of SEN and an inclusive approach, based on common educational goals for all children regardless of their abilities. The ideology of integration and inclusion has been further confirmed by Norwich (1994). He emphasised the relation between successful integration and inclusion and teacher's attitudes towards the inclusive practice as well as the factors that may facilitate or impede the