Rand Schubin’s career in special education spans more than 15 years. Before earning his MA in special education with an emphasis in cognitive disabilities from the University of Saint Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, Rand Schubin completed his master’s thesis on inclusion for secondary-level students with severe cognitive disabilities.
Before the 1990s, terms like “integration” and “mainstreaming” were used to describe placing students with special education needs (SEN) in traditional, mainstream schools on a part-time or full-time basis. As a response to various criticisms of this process as it functioned then, a group of educators at the Frontier College in Toronto, Canada coined the term “inclusive education” to reflect a growing emphasis on comprehensive inclusive participation.
Contemporary education specialists such as Thomas and Loxley continue to embrace the term “inclusion” as a representation of “the acceptance of diversity” and the struggle to provide “equity for all members within a system.” Many agree that, while considerable progress has been made toward the scholastic inclusion for SEN students within the general education system, considerable work still remains. Current recommended inclusion practices include the presumption of competence, positive behavior support, strong family involvement, and self-determination training.
