SPED CENTER AS RESOURCE CENTER FOR INCLUSION:

PHILIPPINE MODEL

By

Yolanda S. Quijano
Chief, Special Education Division,
Bureau of Elementary Education, Dept. of Education
Philippines
The Child with Special Needs: The Vision
The State, community and the family hold a common vision for the Filipino child
with special needs. By the 21st century, it is envisioned that he/she could be adequately
provided with Basic Education. This education should fully realize his/her own potentials
for development and productivity as well as being capable of self-expression of his/her
rights in the society. More importantly, he/she is God-loving and proud of being a
Filipino.
It is envisioned that the child with special needs will get full parental and
community support for his/her education without discrimination of any kind. This special
child should also be provided with a healthy environment along with leisure and
recreational and social security measures.
In its effort to pursue this vision, the Department of Education has adopted the
policy of Inclusive Education which provides that " all children and youth with special
needs must receive an appropriate education and everything within the system and they
should get education along with other children regardless of human differences". This
requires fundamental changes in philosophy, curriculum, teaching strategies and
structural organization and above all changes in human attitudes and behaviors of all
those involved in the education of the children with special needs. These changes need
to be advocated by an institution with competent staff in special education who have the
highest commitment to enrich the lives of these children.
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The SPECIAL EDUCATION (SPED) CENTER As Resource Center for Inclusion
The SPED Center is a Philippine innovation in the delivery of educational
services to children with special needs. This is a "school within a school" since it is
established in a regular school, administered by a principal and operated according to
the rules and regulations that govern a regular school. It provides a range of educational
services, namely, resource room teaching, itinerant teaching, special and cooperative
classes that promote mainstreaming or integration of children with special needs into
regular classes. It is staffed by trained SPED teachers for the gifted and children with
disabilities.
DECS Order No.26, s. 1997, "Institutionalization of SPED Programs in All
Schools" has identified the SPED Center as the resource center for inclusion. It is
expected to provide access to Basic Education among children with special needs in
collaboration with the regular schools. It is specifically tasked to do the following:
conduct continuous assessment of children with special needs in the school
division where it is located;
provide in-service training to school personnel on the "why" and "how" of creating
inclusive school as well as other educational trends and practices relevant to
children with special needs;
provide these children with appropriate equipment and produce appropriate
teaching materials;
support children with special needs included in the regular classroom in
collaboration with the regular teachers; and
provide educational services that promote inclusion.

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All school divisions in the country are urged to establish at least one SPED Center
for the smaller division and four SPED Centers in a big division. As of SY 2001 -2002,
there are 124 SPED Centers, representing 88 school divisions (out of the 141 total
school divisions) in the 16 regions of the country. For the divisions which have not
organized their SPED Centers, the following guidelines are set:
The Center should be organized within a regular school;
It shall provide educational services to at least three (3) types of children with
special needs and will expand its services to other special children;
The teachers should have undergone training in the education of these children;
and
The recognition for the SPED Center shall be sought by the School Principal
from the Regional Director (thru channels) submitting the following documents:
1. Brief description of the proposed SPED Center: its goals and objectives and
programs and services offered;
2. Enrolment of Children with Special Needs for the Current Year; and
3. List of SPED teachers and their qualifications.
SUPPORTING THE SPED CENTERS FOR ITS TASK ON INCLUSION
The Special Education Division of the Bureau of Elementary Education has
initiated projects to enhance the competence of the staff in the SPED Centers in its task
to promote inclusive education in all schools. The first phase was the Training
Workshop for Administrators and Teachers which provided them with working
knowledge on inclusion. In this workshop, they also developed models of educational
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programs that foster inclusive education. The second phase which is scheduled this
year and next year is Training of Trainers on Inclusive Education which develops a core
of trainers who will be responsible in designing and conducting school-based training for
schools that enroll or will enroll children with special needs. Christoffel Blindenmission
(CBM), an international non-government organization provided financial support to
these training. Likewise, CBM supports the regular summer training of teachers for the
visually impaired, the hearing impaired and for the mentally retarded. Priority is given to
the teachers assigned in the SPED Centers.
To compliment the training activities, the SPED Division developed materials
which re as basic references. These are Handbook on Inclusive Education and
Modules for Training School Staff on Inclusive Education.
Incentives and awards are being put in place to inspire administrators and
teachers. s is done through the reclassification of their items to SPED teachers and
SPED administrators which gave them higher salary grades than their regular
counterparts. Teachers are also encouraged to participate in the Search of Outstanding
SPED Teachers conducted once every two years. On the finalization stage, is the
Search for the Outstanding SPED Centers which will be conducted next year .
GLIMPSE ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE SPED CENTERS THAT PROMOTE
CLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH MENTAL RETARDATION
Preparing the School Staff for Inclusion
The SPED teachers discuss with the administrators and the regular teachers the
basic les on inclusion proper classroom setting and modifications of classroom
instruction.
Provision of Support Services to Regular Teachers
The SPED teachers share information on the characteristics of children with
mental retardation and work collaboratively with the regular teachers in planning
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instruction and utilizing strategies appropriate to the learning needs and potentials of
these children.
Working with Parents as Instructional Assistants
The SPED teachers visit the parents or call them to a meeting to discuss the
specific activities that they can do to assist their children in their school activities.
Organization of transition programs for independent and productive life
The SPED teachers plan and implement sheltered workshops to train the
mentally retarded in specific work activities in coordination with parents and non-
government organizations.
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