Expectation in Inclusive Classroom - the Most Difficult to be Defined
Of the nine expectations in an inclusive classroom, the most difficult to be defined is AUTONOMY
1. Autonomy – may be chaotic
Creating opportunities for students to take ownership of their own learning, (i.e., provide students with the opportunities to make their own meaningful choices) (e.g., establishing classroom rules, choosing assignment deadlines; allowing students to choose their own paths toward a solution, justifying their claims with evidence, establishing their own personal learning goals; and allowing students to have some choice in how they present their work (e.g., preparing a written report versus a brochure, choosing materials to use in an assignment); provide students with opportunities to take on roles in the classroom such as cleaning up after an activity or leading the students in some aspect of a lesson, taking attendance; At the secondary education level, teachers can also assign roles that relate to real school problems that need resolving (e.g., peer mediation to deal with school bullying); establish a supportive classroom environment in which all students are comfortable and willing to generally volunteer their answers in class.
The caveat of MEANINGFUL choice makes Autonomy to be chaotic. Who determines what is meaningful - the teacher or the student? If the teacher does not guide the student in making their choice, the choice made by the students may be meaningless and ineffective. Moreover, there may be divergence of choices among the students which may necessitate consensus building. Without the teacher's intervention, it may end up breeding enmity among the students which is contrary to the notion of the 'autonomy'.
Since the teacher has to be involved in the making of choice at one point of the other, the autonomy is already compromised.
Thank you for your input
I looked up the word Autonomy in the Teach Framework document to review how it is described. I noticed that it refers to autonomy-support, which is defined as
"the instructional effort to involve, nurture, and develop students' inner motivational resources and capacity and responsibility for self-motivation".
Which is very much in agreement with your contribution. That choices are meaningful to students is very relevant. In fact, what we can look at to determine whether our teaching promotes active learning is whether students volunteer to participate in the classroom. And on the other hand, as far as the role of the teacher is concerned, whether it provides students with choices or with opportunities to take on roles in the classroom.
Therefore the teacher acts as a facilitator in this context, providing opportunities to choose between options or to take on roles proposed by the teacher, and to volunteer. This determines or facilitates the most meaningful choice for the student. What I sometimes find surprising, and sometimes frustrating, is that what is meaningful to me as a teacher when I design the activity is not always meaningful to the student. Noting their choices allows me to better decide on the next activity.
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Thank you and Julia very much for the exposition.
I agree that Autonomy is really difficult to define and operationalise. The fact that the intepretation is highly subject lays credence to its difficulty. To me, Autonomy borders closely with Critical Thinking which provides a more robust intepretation.
All required is to appreciate and encourage students to exhibit and demonstrate scholarship.
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Activity 3.2 Observing taechng
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Olalusi i agree that students should be given autonomy in form of giving them opportunity to take ownership of their learning, make learning their own and make own meaningful choices. But i think they will need facilitation by a teacher who has learner centred skills.
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I must agree with you Florence giving students autonomy is allowing them to take responsibility for heir own learning.
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