Constructing Knowledge in Inclusive Classrooms: What Students Know and Teachers Need to Know

As our nation’s schools move full speed toward the inclusion of students with learning disabilities (LD) into the general education classrooms, one cannot help but reflect on the question raised by Frederick Erickson (chap. 6, this volume): “Inclusion into what?” A previous chapter by Vaughn and Schumm (chap. 7) and the chapter by Erickson address that question by examining the interactions within classroom environments from the teachers’ perspective (Vaughn & Schumm) and from the students’ perspective (Erickson; Vaughn & Schumm). In this chapter I first synthesize and then compare those perspectives for the purpose of identifying components of classroom interactions that could assist students with LD to be successful and learn along with their peers in general education classrooms.