Increasing Opportunities in Physical Education for Students with Disabilities

Thailand's National Education Act (Ratchakitchanubeksa, 1999; 2002; 2010) states that all students at all levels of compulsory education - K to 12, including those with disabilities, must have equal opportunity to fulfill all basic education core curriculum requirements. Students with disabilities must receive special education services with careful consideration to their limitations and special needs. Therefore, basic education teachers at all grade levels are responsible for appropriately adjusting their teaching content, activities and physical environment to serve each student's academic and life skill needs. By doing so, they endeavor to attain the ultimate goal of education, which is to provide all students with an equal opportunity to learn. Physical Education is one of the areas that should receive special attention and specific curriculum design, and should be made available to every student with any disability. Physical Education enables the students to develop physical fitness and fundamental motor skills and patterns as well as acquire the skills essential to participating in aquatics, dance, individual and group games, and sports in general (including intramural and lifetime sports). To meet the aforementioned educational goals for students with disabilities, proper preparation for all Physical Education teachers is necessary. This study examined the National Curriculum for Physical Education, a requirement for all students in Thailand, and three Physical Education curricula for teacher training of the Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai University; the Faculty of Education, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University; and the Institute of Physical Education, Chiang Mai Campus, in order to analyze: (1) the content and objectives of the National Curriculum for Physical Education as it relates to students with or without disabilities; (2) the content and objectives of major courses in each curriculum that are targeted to students, both with and without disabilities; (3) views and experiences of specialists in a focus group providing services to students with disabilities in PE classes and (4) the relevant laws in Thailand and the United States that mandate Physical Education at all levels of compulsory education - K to 12. Based on this background, the study then proposes ways to manage constraints and increase opportunities in physical education for students with disabilities, based on research findings and a focus group of educators, school administrators, special education teachers and paraprofessionals.