Not a great experience with inclusion

I guess I'll be poltically incorrect and say that I am not completely in favor of full inclusion.  I know, it sounds quite harsh, and I admit that my reasons are selfish indeed.  It sounds wonderful in theory, but I speak from the view point of a parent who has had a very disruptive child in her daughter's class for three solid years.  Unfortuantely, the special needs child is extrememly hyper-active, and his parents have  told me he also suffers from anxiety, and a sensory integration disorder.  This poor little boy can hardly sit still.  During various periods of the past few years he has had to sit in a taped off "box" in the classroom to control his unpredictability.  Currently, he has a "cubby" in the classroom which offers more separation from the other students.  I truly feel bad for him and for his parents.  I know his parents worry endlessly about their child, and rightly so.  As badly as I feel for them, I'll be honest....it irritates me to no end that this kid is in my daughter's classroom.  She has come home crying on so many occassions because his disruptions bother her so much.  His behavior is so unpredicatable and disruptive that I feel it has negatively affected the teacher's ability to teach, and the other children's ability to learn.

It's a tough situation, and there is no right answer.  I have always loved the teachers my daughter has had, but have sometimes wondered about their ability to have 22 third graders in a classroom, two of whom have special needs.  It seems like a lot to expect from a general education teacher.  I never came straight out and asked, but I wonder what kind of training was provided to the teacher in order to deal with children with special needs. 

Sadly,  the little boy I speak of now spends most of his time in a special education classroom, joining the regular education classroom only for pullouts and social studies.  I guess the inclusion approach did not have the desired result for him.  It's unfortunate for this little boy and his family, but I think it has enabled the class this year to be more focused and have  less disruptions.  For this, I am relieved.  It doesn't seem fair to ask the twenty or so other kids in the classroom to tolerate such intense disruptions.

what is my philosphy

Like all of you, I met with Jesse last week, thinking I had a pretty good handle on my philosophy paper.  Instead, I was met with questions like "Why do you believe that?" or "How will your teaching practices affect the community in which you work?"  Even worse...."How will your teaching practices affect society at large?"  My gosh....do practicing teacher really think about this stuff?  I suppose most of them did at the beginning of their careers, and I know for certain that only the good ones continue to think about these questions. 

So, I suppose I need to answer theses questions more thoroughly.  I ponder these questions daily it seems, thinking of a way to answer them in the form of a paper.  I have to admit this has been one of the more difficult papers I have written, and I wrote more than you can imagine in graduate school.  The difference is that this paper requires me to think more about what I believe and how I want to implement it in the classroom, instead of reviewing others' work.  The latter is far easier!