Genius Hour Blog Post #2

Educators Perspective of Inclusive Education

Inclusive education and having an inclusive classroom is something that I strive to achieve as a future teacher. I believe that it is important for all students to feel accepted and a sense of belonging. Through the exploration of inclusive education and inclusive classrooms, I was interested to examine teachers perspectives on inclusive education. 

The article Making it Work: Teachers Perspectives on Inclusion highlights important themes that teachers from Prince Edward Island, Canada, brought forth in their perspective of implementing inclusion into the classroom. The themes were teacher training, support from students, parents, departments, lack of time, academic adjustment.

Within the article, it was noted that the majority of teachers had a positive attitude towards inclusive education and implementing it into their classrooms. Teachers voiced that there needs to be more adequate training to ensure they are able to integrate all students with exceptionalities into the classroom and that the needs of students are being met. 

Teachers also expressed that support from students, parents, and departments is critical for inclusive education. Interestingly, teachers stated that students are very accepting of their peers with exceptionalities and are very interested in learning about exceptionalities. A major issue with inclusive education is support from departments and education with the lack of support and resources for teachers and students with exceptionalities. Furthermore, teachers expressed a lack of time to attend meetings and professional development days to help them with inclusive education. 

What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

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This is a learning object created using the tool Padlet. Padlet is an easy resource to use and its main function is providing a space to share ideas and resources which are then inputted and displayed in a bulletin board like display. This resource is free making it accessible to all and can be used in and out of a classroom setting.

 "Inclusion is here to stay. The question is how to make inclusion most effective for all students?"

Phyllis E. Horne & Vianne Timmons (2009) 

Strategies for Implementing Inclusion Into the Classroom

Students need to have a sense of belonging within their classrooms. To achieve this have stations or areas within the classroom to allow students to have discussions, socialize, and work together to solve problems. Have seating and a comfortable environment for students to feel safe within the space.

Teachers need to incorporate multiple teaching styles to support the different learning styles of their students. A Universal Design for Learning can be implemented to ensure that teachers are teaching in a way that meet the needs of each student within the classroom.

Create introductory activities to get to know each student. This activity can include students creating a drawing, voice clip/video, etc. to share information about themselves including their interests, learning styles, facts, etc. that can be used to help create lessons and differentiated lesson plans. 

Within class time, make time for breaks in which students can socialize, relax, and take a rest from class tasks. This will help keep them energized and on task throughout the school day. 

These are only a few strategies that I have found that can be used to help foster an inclusive classroom, there are more and some may need modification depending on the students within the classroom. 

https://laout.ultimatecentral.com/e/community-equity-event

Ways to Adapt a Lesson to Create an Inclusive Learning Environment

To create lessons that promote inclusive education and the inclusion of all students within the class, it is important to understand ways to adapt/modify lessons to ensure this expectation is met. With considerate research, I came across the blog The Inclusion Tab by Brooke's Publishing that contains multiple adaptations ideas that can help teachers promote inclusion.

Universal Design for Learning

One way to adapt a lesson is begin with using the Universal Design for Learning. Having this mindset when creating a lesson ensures that the lesson will include aspects that will reach to each student and their learning style. The use of UDL ensures that each child's learning style is met, resulting in success for each individual in the content being taught.

Brandy Antonio (2013). UDL: Reducing Barriers https://youtu.be/xTShQyw3m80

Group Work

The next strategy is to create lessons that incorporate group work. Allowing students to have the choice to work with their peers is important as it provides them with the opportunity to collaborate and build relationships with their peers. Groups can be organized in a variety of ways such as pairs, small groups, larger, groups, etc. Also, when creating groups, a group can contain varying learning abilities that promotes support between each member or a group can contain students who experience more difficulties in which the teacher can focus their assistance on that specific group.

http://werklundresearch.ucalgaryblogs.ca/math-group-dynamics/

Peer Tutors

Although group work is beneficial for students to help build relationships and collaborative skills, peer tutors can also be used to foster inclusive education and lessons. Peer tutors is essentially having stronger peers partnered with students who need the extra help. This strengthens both students within the pair. As the stronger students have the opportunity to build on their peer relationship skills and the students who need more support are learning the content from peers who have a greater understanding of it. 

https://www.schoolplanner.co.uk/blog/pupil-premium-strategies-5-peer-tutoring/

Building a culture of #inclusion is so much more than disability awareness. It's building a culture of kindness and empathy and shared responsibility. ALL students belong to all of us. #LeadInclusion #kidsdeserveit #joyfulleaders pic.twitter.com/zSGFw4E2v6

— Lee Ann Jung (@leeannjung) September 15, 2019

Resources

Phyllis E. Horne & Vianne Timmons (2009). Making it work: teachers' perspectives on inclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 13:3, 273-386, DOI: 10.1080/13603110701433964

https://twitter.com/Inclusive_Class/status/1170373112933703680/photo/1

Morin A (n.d.) Understanding Universal Design for Learning. Retrieved from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/for-educators/universal-design-for-learning/understanding-universal-design-for-learning

Fink J (n.d.) Creating an Inclusive Classroom. Scholastic. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/17-18/creating-an-inclusive-classroom/?eml=Teachers%2Fsmd%2F20190221%2FTwitter%2FTeachersPage%2FINST%2F1750%2Finclusiveclassroom

Brookes Publishing (n.d.) 5 Types of Instructional Adaptations for Your Inclusive Classroom. Retrieved from https://blog.brookespublishing.com/5-types-of-instructional-adaptations-for-your-inclusive-classroom/