Site: | OpenLearn Create |
Course: | Inclusive Teaching and Learning |
Book: | Week 3: Everyone can do something |
Printed by: | Guest user |
Date: | Thursday, 18 April 2024, 6:28 AM |
Welcome to Week 3.
In classrooms all over the world educators face challenges as they work out how to teach to include every child. This week you will be focusing on this statement: Everyone can do something to support excluded children, even without specialist training.
Despite all the challenges of large classes and limited resources, many teachers keep finding new creative strategies to overcome these barriers and provide quality education, often with active teaching and learning.
“The question that needs to be addressed is not whether to include children, but how to do it effectively and in a timely fashion.
UNICEF (view source)
The ‘Wave model of intervention’ theory you met in Week 1 highlights the importance of all teachers taking responsibility for making all classrooms inclusive. You are here because you too want to take responsibility for supporting inclusive teaching.
This week builds on Weeks 1 and 2, where you learned about the big picture at global and national levels about why inclusion is an important policy and part of quality education. This week you are going to focus on the how by considering what happens in the inclusive classroom as part of quality education, for example how active teaching and learning and learner-centred attitudes can be put into practice.
This week you will:
Activity number |
Title |
Details |
Time |
3.1 |
What does active teaching look like? |
Reflecting on what active teaching looks like. |
1 hour |
3.2 |
Observing teaching |
Review the World Bank ‘tool’ for observing teaching |
30 mins |
3.3 |
‘Involving All’ in action |
Watch two video clips and look for evidence of the principles of involving all |
30 mins |
3.4 |
Using the minimum criteria to improve teaching |
Analysing an example of a lesson and suggesting how to make it more inclusive |
30 mins |
3.5 |
Minimum criteria and learner-centred teaching |
Analyse a video using the criteria and apply them to your own teaching |
30 mins |
3.6 |
Challenges in inclusive teaching and learning |
Film clip of Lydia reflecting on the challenges in Kenya |
15 mins |
3.7 |
Inclusivity challenges |
Consider a list from lecturers at KISE and analyse a case study |
45 mins |
3.8 |
Supporting learners with specific needs |
Analyse a video clip |
30 mins |
3.9 |
Reviewing your learning |
Write a blog post |
30 mins |
Everyone can do something to support excluded children, even without specialised training. You may be thinking about your own classroom support or supporting others to become inclusive teachers. One way to do this is with active teaching, which engages all learners and gives them the opportunity to talk about their learning. Active teaching is part of learner-centered education (LCE), which you considered in Week 2 as you developed your own list of minimum criteria.
Perhaps you have experience of supporting colleagues to make their teaching more active, or you may have only begun to think about how you would make a change? The first activity this week will deepen your understanding of active teaching strategies before you go on to consider the reasons why change is challenging.
Activity 3.1 What does active teaching look like?Allow approximately 1 hour in total for the 3 parts of this activity. What does an active classroom look like? Part 1 Imagine you step into a classroom in a new school and you walk around looking and listening. For each of the following statements write ‘yes’ (active, learner-centred teaching) or ‘no’ in your notebook. If you are unsure, write ‘maybe’. Reveal response
These examples of active teaching and learning are just a sample, and you will experience many more. There is no one right way because everyone is different and it depends on your learners. Part 2 Now think about this list. Make notes in your study notebook on:
Part 3 Choose two of the ‘wrong’ behaviours (i.e. 1,4,5,7,8,10). What advice would you give to a teacher who persistently uses those approaches for long periods of time? For example – instead of dictating from a textbook or having students copy from the chalkboard, a teacher could write a passage with missing words that students have to fill in; draw a diagram that students have to label; write a set of questions about the topic for students to answer (if they have a textbook available). If students work in pairs they can talk about the answers and learn from each other. Write your suggestion in the Week 3 forum. If you are a secondary school teacher try and give a subject-specific answer which will help others. |
When you observe teaching, you can tell a great deal from what the learners are doing: their demeanour, their involvement and how the teacher and learners relate to each other. It is important to remember that the nature of the task is important as well. Just because students are working in groups the lesson is not necessarily ‘learner-centred’ – the task may be too easy or too hard and may not support learning.
It is more difficult to detect a teacher’s underlying attitudes. Teachers have to make all sorts of rapid, ‘in the moment’ decisions during a lesson. Sometimes, after observing teaching, it is helpful to be able to ask the teacher why they did certain things.
The World Bank has produced a classroom observation tool ‘Teach’, which draws on a growing body of evidence of what constitutes effective teaching practices in a primary school (Molina et al., 2018).
In the next activity you will review the tool in the context of the ideas discussed so far and apply it to your own situation.
Activity 3.2 Observing teachingAllow approximately 30 mins for this activity. The observation tool is summarised here Reflect on the following questions in your notebook, and then be prepared to make a forum post.
For each one use the summary to write down in your study notebook what sorts of things you might expect to see in an inclusive classroom in your secondary subject, or for the primary age group that you teach . For example (secondary science): lesson facilitation clear instructions for practical work, activities for students to do which stretch and challenge their understanding, the teacher providing support and challenge as necessary by moving around the room. Critical thinking – open questions that extend thinking, opportunities for discussion, choice for students about what to do and how to do it, meta-cognition (students being asked why they chose something, or what they found hard).
In a critique of the tool, Rafael Mitchell (2019) argues that inclusive education requires teachers to pay attention to how students are organised, and recognises the fact that peer support is important in supporting disadvantaged students. He says that the ‘tool’ should include this aspect of classroom organisation. Drawing on your own experience:
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If you are interested in learning more about the tool, you can read the original paper, and Mitchell’s critique.
The original paper: : https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/30929/WPS8656.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Rafael Mitchell’s (2019) critique of the tool, arguing that it does not take account of evidence from classroom in sub-Saharan Africa: https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/208234804/Student_organisation_in_SSA_evidence_to_inform_the_World_Bank_s_Teach_observation_instrument_Mitchell_2019_.pdf
This blog explains how it was used in Rwanda, and the importance of training researchers to use the tool so that the findings were consistent across a number of different people:
https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/using-the-teach-classroom-observations-tool-in-rwanda/
Being observant, flexible and focusing on self-esteem, you will now think about other ways of supporting learning for all and involving all. Some of these are not as easy to spot as active teaching because they are about teacher attitudes towards learners
and teacher skills. Do you know teachers who are:
Figure 1 Three skills to look out for in an active teacher
Observant
Effective teachers are observant, perceptive and sensitive; they notice changes in their students. If you are observant, you will notice when a student does something well, when they need help and how they relate to others. For example, you might notice a change in a student’s mood which could be because of home problems, or you might notice a new pupil is having difficulty concentrating or listening because of language or hearing problems. There is always a reason for a student’s behaviour. Involving all requires that you notice your students on a daily basis, paying particular attention to students who may feel marginalised or unable to participate. In the following example notice how Rachel creates opportunities to observe Martha so that she can work out how to help her.
Examples from practice Social studies teacher Rachel took on a new Form 6 class at the beginning of the school year. After a few days, she noticed that Martha often gave strange, sometimes irrelevant answers to questions and that the other children laughed at her. She asked some of the other teachers about Martha and they told her that she was ‘mad and badly behaved’. Rachel set pair work and group work for her class so that she could observe Martha and talk to her while she was working. Rachel noticed that Martha was often excluded when in a group but worked very well with Joseph and Precious in a pair. She realised that Martha had a speech impediment and found it difficult to formulate sentences before she spoke. She asked Martha which activities she enjoyed the most and discovered that she was very talented in music and dancing. Rachel created an opportunity for her class to prepare a dance to illustrate a historical event. Martha had a starring role and her confidence improved. As she became more relaxed and earned the respect of her peers, her speech began to improve as well. |
Flexible
Inclusive teachers are flexible and responsive. They notice things that aren’t working in their classrooms for specific students, groups or individuals, and they are prepared to change their teaching style or even stop a specific activity if necessary. Flexible teachers build variety into their teaching because they recognise that students learn in different ways: some by reading and writing, some through talking about their ideas, others learn by drawing. A flexible teacher offers choices and different ways to learn and achieve. You can even use everyday examples from your students’ lives to give them a feeling of personal involvement in their own learning and help keep them interested.
Raising self esteem
Inclusive teachers also show respect for the children in their care and focus on making the student feel valued and cared for. You have the power to build or destroy the self-esteem of every student you teach. Self-esteem is what helps students build positive relationships and become comfortable with themselves.
In the next activity you will see examples of all three inclusive teaching approaches in action
Activity 3.3 ‘Involving All’ in actionAllow approximately 30 minutes for this activity. Watch one of the the video clips and record examples for these three principles in action, or any other ways in which the teacher involves all students. Record your ideas on the Week 3 forum and comment on two other posts. Shows a lower primary maths lesson Shows a secondary English lesson |
Inclusive teachers are observant, flexible and nourishing. They will also plan engaging lessons, which meet the needs of learners. The minimum criteria which you met in the previous section, provide guidance on this – things that all teachers can do to support inclusion.
Here are the minimum criteria again:
Lessons or training sessions which actively engage learners
Mutual respect between teacher and learner (adult and child, or adult and adult)
The next activity will show how relatively small changes can make a big difference. You will need to use your responses to Activity 2.5 in which you converted these statements into questions in the next activity.
Activity 3.4 Using the minimum criteria to improve teachingAllow approximately 30 mins for this activity. Read this account of Kevin’s biology lesson in a secondary school and then respond to the questions which follow in your study notebook. Kevin was a student teacher. His tutor had come to observe his lesson to Form 2 on the structure of the leaf. Kevin started the lesson by doing the register. He then explained that they were going to learn about the structure of the leaf. There was one textbook between every two students. He wrote the title on the chalkboard and started to dictate some notes. Due to his inexperience, he was not very good at dictation and went too fast. The students realised that what he was saying was in the textbook, so they just copied that instead. After ten minutes, Kevin paused and asked a few closed questions. Only a few students put their hands up, as the rest were still copying.
He dictated a bit more. When he reached the end of the passage, he pointed to a poster on the wall which showed a diagram of the structure of a leaf. The same diagram was in the textbook and he asked them to copy it down. He stood at the front and watched them. Kevin’s tutor looked out of the classroom window and was able to identify 5 different types of leaf in the school grounds. When most had finished copying the diagram, Kevin asked some more closed questions. The answers were all on the diagram, so a few more students put their hands up. At the end he asked the class, ’Do you understand?’ and they chorused the reply – ‘YYes, we understand’.
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In his lesson, Kevin could have:
Reflection point Are there any small changes such as these that you could make in your own teaching? |
In this course, you are being encouraged to focus on ways in which all teachers can support a range of learners in the classroom. In the next activity, you have the opportunity to apply the minimum criteria to your own teaching.
Activity 3.5 Minimum criteria and learner-centred teachingAllow approximately 30 minutes on each part of this activity
Part A Part B Choose your best idea and share it on the Week 3 forum. Also comment on two other posts. |
In your responses, you perhaps suggested things like open questions that learners discuss in pairs, group work, using local resources or organising a role-play or a debate. Next week you will be introduced to resources that will help teachers plan classroom activities to actively engage learners.
In Week 1 you heard Daniel explain his vision for inclusive teaching. Implementing this vision is demanding, but hopefully by breaking the problem down and thinking in terms of the continua introduced in Week 2, you can see ways in which you can make progress along the continua by introducing small changes in your practice. This could include open questioning, more group work and pair work, organising peer support and so on – strategies that have been exemplified this week. In the next activity you will hear Lydia talking about the challenges in implementing inclusive education.
Activity 3.6 The challenges of inclusive educationAllow approximately 15 mins for this activity. View transcript / Download PDF Listen to Lydia talking about the challenges of inclusive education in Kenya. As you listen, summarise the four points that she makes in your study notebook. Reflecting on your own context, to what extent would you agree with Lydia? |
This course is designed to highlight the skills, attitudes and values all teachers need to develop as effective, empathetic and encouraging practitioners, able to help all learners learn. In the second course in this series there will be more information on assessment and information sharing, and on organising on-going school-based training for inclusive teaching and learning. In the next section, however, the focus is on the specific inclusivity challenges that teachers face.
Inclusivity is more important than it ever has been in today’s ever-increasingly global, multicultural and politicially sensitive times, yet including everyone can be challenging. During a workshop on inclusive education, lecturers at the Kenyan Institute for Special Education identified some of the common inclusivity challenges that teachers face. They are:
Activity 3.7 Inclusivity challengesAllow approximately 45 mins for this two-part activity. Part 1: Thinking about your context
For example, for a visually impaired child, the teacher could write larger, identify a ‘buddy’, and ensure they are sitting at the front. For a physically disabled child a teacher could review the lay-out of the classroom to ensure they can move about safely. Part 2: Case study Read Case study 2: Difficult home circumstances. Identify the ways in which the teacher is inclusive and supports Mogas and write them in your study notebook. |
In part 2 of Activity 3.7, waves 1 and 2 of the Wave model were in evidence:
Mogas was excluded from learning; he lost his parents (he was an orphan), lacked resources and was displaced.
Inclusive teaching requires practice and careful planning. In this section you have been introduced to some key principles and concepts that will help you to develop as an inclusive practitioner and to help others do so. In the final activity below, you will watch a film taken in South Africa. This teacher has four learners with ADHD. This is an invisible condition in that the children have no obvious physical issues, but they find it difficult to concentrate and can get frustrated very easily.
The teacher in the film refers to the fact that she collaborates with colleagues to help her support these children (Wave 2 in the model), but as you will see from the film, there is also a great deal that she can do on her own in her classroom to support the learning of these children.
Activity 3.8 Supporting learners with specific needs in a mainstream classroomAllow approximately 30 mins for this activity.
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In this section the focus has been on what inclusive teaching looks like. You have considered some of the common inclusivity challenges and what can be done to support all learners. You have applied the principle of being observant, flexible and focusing on self-esteem alongside the minimum criteria for inclusive teaching in order to recognise and support inclusive teaching. Next week you will be introduced to more resources that will support you in developing active learning and teaching approaches.
Activity 3.9 Reviewing your learningAllow approximately 30 minutes for this activity. Instead of the weekly quiz, for this week’s summative activity write a short paragraph (about 200 words) summarising what you have learned this week about inclusive teaching following ‘Wave 1’ of the Wave model for ‘inclusive, quality-first
teaching for all’. |
There are many inclusivity challenges facing teachers, some of which involve students with a physical disability or specific learning difficulty, some of which arise from teachers’ working conditions (large classes, lack of resources), and some of which arise from a learners’ home environments. This week you were introduced to three principles for inclusive teaching: being observant, being flexible and being nourishing (supporting self-esteem). You have also used the ‘minimum criteria’ for learner-centred education in order to analyse teaching and identify possible improvements. Often the changes required are very small – like moving away from the front of the room or enabling learners to talk in pairs – but over time, they can have a significant impact. Next week you will have the opportunity to expand your ‘toolkit’ even further.
References
Mitchell, R. (2019) ‘Student organisation as a facet of teaching quality in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence to inform the World Bank’s Teach observation instrument’. Paper presented at UKFIET 2019, Oxford, United Kingdom [Online]. Available at https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/208234804/Student_organisation_in_SSA_evidence_to_inform_the_World_Bank_s_Teach_observation_instrument_Mitchell_2019_.pdf (Accessed 9 January 2021).
Molina, E., Pushparatnam, A., Rimm-Kaufman, S.,Ka-Yee Wong, K. Teach Classroom Observation Tool: Evidence-Based Teaching Effective Teaching Practices in Primary School Classrooms. World Bank Group Policy Research Working Paper 8656 Downloaded from Accessed on 12/01/2021 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/30929/WPS8656.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
TESS-India ‘Involving all: lower primary maths’ (2015) YouTube video [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV7fILQPTxg&list=PLLjfVZ89nnNI7lEZRdanOTVxzuosUW0Bp&index=14&t=177s (Accessed 9 January 2021).
TESS-India ‘Involving all: secondary English’ (2015) YouTube video [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm2hp-hNEI4&list=PLLjfVZ89nnNI7lEZRdanOTVxzuosUW0Bp&index=16&t=82s (Accessed 9 January 2021).
UKFIET (2020) Using the Teach classrooms observation tool in Rwanda [online]. Available at https://www.ukfiet.org/2020/using-the-teach-classroom-observations-tool-in-rwanda/ (Accessed 9 January 2021). Posted by Laterite | Oct 2, 2020
UNICEF : Sarton, E. and Smith, M. (2018). The challenge of inclusion for children with disabilities – experiences and implementation in Eastern and Southern Africa Chapter 7 in Chakera, E. Tao, S. (Eds) (The UNICEF Think Piece Series: Innovative Thinking for complex Educational Challenges in the SDG4 Era. UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, Nairobi. P2 https://www.unicef.org/esa/sites/unicef.org.esa/files/2019-04/EducationThinkPieces_7_DisabilityInclusion.pdf (Accessed 12/02/20121)
World Bank Group (2018) ‘Measuring teaching practices at scale: results from the development and validation of the TEACH classroom observation tool’, by Molina, E., Farwa, S. F., Ho, A., Hurtado, C.M., Wilichowksi, T. and Pushparatnam, A. Policy research Working Paper, Teach classroom observation tool [Online]. Available at http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/464361543244734516/pdf/WPS8653.pdf (Accessed 9 January 2021).
World of Inclusion (2017) ‘Developing inclusive education in South Africa: Teaching’ YouTube video, added by World of Inclusion [Online]. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsP7fpeTUHk (Accessed 9 January 2021).