Developing Inclusive School Communities: An Expanded Role for School-Based Occupational Therapy

PURPOSE: Current school inclusion practices often emphasize physical inclusion but limit social and academic inclusion, leading to decreased self-esteem, poor psychosocial adjustment, and a feeling of alienation. These emotional and physiological influences affect students’ successful participation at school and add to the occupational marginalization of students with special needs. Researchers describe the importance of studying school experiences of students with special needs as a means of facilitating the development of effective inclusion practices. Exploring students’ experiences with inclusion practices can empower students to live with dignity, effectively develop within their capacity, and fully participate in developing a meaningful life.

Working as part of the educational team, school-based occupational therapy practitioners are distinctly qualified to support both academic performance and enhance social participation. This study explored the experiences of students with special needs participating in traditional inclusive settings in an effort to identify a role for occupational therapy in advancing inclusion practices. The research question of this study looked at the experiences of students with special needs in traditional included classrooms to learn more about inclusion practices.

DESIGN: Investigators of this phenomenological, qualitative study conducted semistructured interviews with students to explore their experiences at school. A convenience sample was used to recruit five students who had an individualized education plan and were between Grades 6 and 9. An extensive literature review was conducted to develop relevant interview questions. These questions used language appropriate for the varied cognitive level of the participants. At times, questions were rephrased to facilitate student understanding.

METHOD: Student interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Transcribed data were coded and analyzed for recurring categories and themes. Themes identified in existing literature were reviewed during data analysis, which led to the development of final categories and helped to triangulate the data. Peer debriefing also added trustworthiness to the results of this study.

RESULTS: Students consistently reported feeling overwhelmed by increased workloads in both self-contained and inclusive classrooms when they had one or two tests in a day. Strategies that they used to manage stress varied from relying on sensory techniques to relying on rest in order to achieve life balance. One of the unexpected themes that evolved in the data was that students did not recognize teachers as a resource for helping them learn to the best of their ability. Rather, they relied on paraprofessionals or identified things that they could do themselves to be more successful in class. Current literature suggests that training provided to general education teachers and paraprofessionals to prepare them to work with students with special needs is insufficient and needs to improve to support improved inclusion practices and participation at school.

CONCLUSION: Conclusions support an expanded role for occupational therapy practitioners in teacher and paraprofessional training as well as leadership roles to help shift current inclusion practices toward more inclusive school communities. The distinct training of occupational therapy practitioners also qualifies them to support students in increasing academic and social participation.

IMPACT STATEMENT: Taking on leadership roles in schools to support development of inclusive communities will expand the role of school-based occupational therapy while decreasing marginalization of students and improving their participation at school.

References

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