Kellie Sherrer

Dr. Wiley
Core 101
29 September, 2016

Special Education Reform and Maslows Hierarchy

In the past fifty years, the education system has changed in

unexpected but beneficial ways. It has opened its arms to the disabled and
mentally retarded students; these are the students that make up the
Special Education System in schools across America. Laws and policies have
played a part in all the reforms, as well. Because of inclusion into traditional
classrooms, many students sense of belong and esteem. These are two
levels from Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow is a humanistic
psychologist who believed that a balanced life, including stages in personal
growth, can be depicted as a pyramid where the stages could be moved up
or down based on current life situations. The changes for Special Education
and Maslows hierarchy are intertwined in making students feel included
instead of excluded.

The Special Education system of today did not exist in the 1970s or
even in the 1990s. In the 1970s, many of the disabled, retarded, or
otherwise different, either mentally or physically, men, women, and children
were all abandoned in normally inhumane state-run institutions. The disabled
also did not have equitable and equal access to education. Then, 1975
brought a legal change. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now
known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), guarantee[ed]
equal access to public education for children with disabilities. This act of
legislation specified that every child had a right to education, and mandated
the full inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education
classes, unless a satisfactory level of education could not be achieved due to
the nature of the childs disability (ADL). This gave the children rights of
education and inclusion on a case by case basis. In this instance, the
individuals level of ability is how they would know how far to include you
into the school. This act, or the revised IDEA, focused on the rights of the
parents involvement in the schooling of the students. This allowed the
parents to make the educational decisions for their children, meaning that an
Individual Education Plan had to be made by the teacher with the approval of
the parents. Then, in 1990, a new bill was passed to create the ADA,
Americans with Disabilities Act, stating that the disabled get equal access to
job opportunities and public accommodation. Unfortunately, even in todays
society, the disabled still face prejudice and biases in schools and even in

many other areas of normal life, of which, many abled people have easy
access.
Now, schools must enjoy the benefit of having a wider range of
students and abilities. This is the government mandate for schools because
of ADA and IDEA: only public schools must accept and retain all types of
students, disregarding their race, religion, educational attainment, social
class, family income, special needs, or personal characteristics (Resnick).
Because of this, public schools are not allowed to turn students, or potential
students, away from their doors. Also, the public schools normally get certain
added benefits making it possible for many of the special needs students to
learn in a safe environment for all involved. To bring this into context, a
public school, like Central High School, has to accept all students that come
through their doors. However, Maranatha Baptist Academy, a private school,
does not have to accept all students that come to them wishing to be in their
school.
Many disabled students are still facing problems despite laws
progressing. Some of those problems are because of the expectations and
prejudices that parents, teachers, peers, and staff hold and project to the
students. Another problem is that some students do not have the advanced
cognitive ability to protect themselves from these prejudices and many are
treated as invalids and less than they really are. In fact, many of the
disabled students in any school across the nation is smarter than is
expected of a student in a special education program. Kathleen Minke and
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George Bear researched and tested teachers in three different categories.

They surveyed 185 teachers in traditional classrooms, 71 teachers in regular
education, and 64 special education teachers. These teachers were asked
about their assumptions of inclusion of children with mild disabilities, as well
as the topics of self-efficacy, competence, satisfaction and classroom
adaptations. The results were as follows: the Special Education teachers
gave positive reviews on these topics, the regular teachers in inclusive
classrooms shared similar views as the Special Education teachers, and the
teachers in traditional classrooms had the least positive outlook on inclusion
(Minke and Bear). In other words, most teachers will likely speak about the
lack of resources needed to serve all of the varying levels of special
education students. However, that is where the similarities end. The regular
teachers in traditional classrooms do not have a favorable perception of the
Special Education Program. The teachers working through an inclusion
program were mostly happy with the working system as of now, with for the
one exception formally mentioned, the lack of reasonable resources.
With all of the hard ships of the disabled community, they have come a
long way in the past fifty years. Unfortunately, those hard-ships have
affected their standing with Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. This Hierarchy of
Needs is a way for a humanistic psychologist to understand people and
Maslow theorized that people are motivated to achieve certain needs, and
that some needs take precedence over others (McLeod). This developed
into his pyramid. At the base are the basic needs to live and survive: the
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physiological and biological needs. These are food, shelter, clothing, and
water. The next step up is the safety, the need to feel secure in where one is
and that nothing bad will happen to oneself. The third level is belonging and
acceptance: this is ones way of feeling that they have a place in society. The
fourth level is for esteem. This is for ones need of self, others, and others
opinions of one to be balanced. Then, the last level of Maslows pyramid is
the self-actualization level. This is basically where one becomes above the
pettiness of society. Maslow also theorized that as a pyramid is built is can
also become unstable and have to be fixed from that level, same concept.
So, if one starts to feel unsafe, then that person cannot focus on belonging in
society. This is the rule follows for all steps: without the previous level, one
has cannot go to the next level.
However, there are some that argue that there are other needs based
on philosophy, for example, Thompson, Grace and Cohenstate the most
important needs for children are connection, recognition, and power
(Educational Psychology). While this is argued as different from Maslows
pyramid, these elements can be found in many childrens lives, both the
people with disabilities and abilities. This is particularly true for many
disabled students. Based on level of disability, these students can lack in
social connections, recognition from others, and many do not always have a
level of power in any aspect of their lives. So, to allow these students to be
included in classrooms outside of just the special education programs can
give them a sense of belonging and esteem. They can finally feel that they
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can connect and make friends and relationships with others outside of their
families and one or two teachers in their school careers. It can also give a
feeling of esteem to the students. Including disabled students into a
traditional classroom setting can make them feel that they are worthy of
being normal and that others will not make them feel uncomfortable in
their skin.
Between the overlooked history of disabled children and Special
Education Reform, many disabled students feel a better sense of belonging
and esteem. Special Education Programs and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
are the backbone for a positive and inclusive classroom setting for all.

Works Citied:

"Learning and Teaching." Mapping the Evolution of Special

Education: Reflecting Back, Gazing Forward. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept.
2016.

"A Brief History of the Disability Rights Movement." ADL: AntiDefamation League. N.p., 2005. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

Resnick, Michael A. "An American Imperative: Public Education."

CPE: Center for Public Education. N.p., 27 Apr. 2006. Web. 28 Sept.
2016.

Minke, Kathleen M., and George G. Bear. "Teachers' Experiences with

Inclusive Classrooms: Implications for Special Education Reform."
Journal of Special Education 30.2 (1996): 152-235. Academic Search
Elite. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

McLeod, Saul. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." SimplyPsychology.

N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.

"Educational Psychology Interactive: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs."

Educational Psychology Interactive: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.