The general educator: Applying constructivism to inclusive classrooms

Many teachers are frightened by the idea of inclusion of children with spec ial needs, especially when those children have very difficult behavior prob lems. Traditional approaches can be labor intensive and can further isolate children. A constructivist perspective offers an alternative to the tradit ional behavioral approach by capitalizing on the social context and social activity in a classroom to teach children how to manage their own behavior and be responsible members of a community. The authors explore-from this un ique perspective-strategies for managing classroom behavior.