What does the term "inclusion" refer to in the realm of special education?

In the realm of special education, the term "inclusion" specifically refers to educating students with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers. This approach emphasizes the importance of integrating all students, regardless of their abilities, into the general education environment. The goal of inclusion is to foster a learning environment that values diversity and promotes the social and academic development of all students.

Inclusion involves providing the necessary support and accommodations to ensure that students with disabilities can participate fully in the classroom. This practice not only benefits students with disabilities by allowing them to interact with their peers and partake in a broader range of experiences, but it also enriches the learning environment for all students by promoting understanding and acceptance of individual differences.

The other options reflect practices that do not align with the inclusive philosophy. Educating students with disabilities in separate classrooms or restricting them to special schools isolates them from their peers and limits their opportunities for social integration and collaborative learning. Concentrating resources only on disabled students also undermines the principles of inclusion, as it fails to create a shared educational experience that involves all learners.