My key take home points are firstly, the rich diversity of experience shared. This in itself is a tool I find very useful in understanding the different ethos that exists and ways to help address them. Secondly, the course content was quite comprehensive and stood out to me as i was able to apply it to the Systems Theory. The Systems Theory is one of the grounded theories that govern the basis of School Social Work. This theory tell us that a person (student) does not operate in isolation, however there is the micro (parents and siblings) Mezzo (school and peers) and the Macro (the community) systems that make up the student's life. All these entities come together to make the child's learning a successful one. Thank you to the founders and delivers of this course it was quite enlighening. 

Florence the discussions have been rich and informative. I have learned so much.  One of my take home point; 

An inclusive ethos and culture are visible in the actions of individual teachers.  A positive ethos towards inclusion is also created and supported by a range of roles and systems that support everyone in the school

Two key points I have learnt and will take, and which I believe are very important for creating an inclusive ethos and culture are: A) I will reflect a positive attitude in any role I am given to work in my school. B) I will use the resources  available; knowledge from this workshop, selected resources/documents from the COL website, resources available at school, resources from stakeholders, etc, and try to put up a resource room in my school.

1. Positive Attitude- a positive attitude coming from the administration, teachers and students is very important. Even if a teacher is not fully prepared to deal with special students, a positive attitude on their part will be the motivator to deal with the situation and want to prepare to better serve all children.

2. Resources – the availability of resources is a must. Having resources at school for this purpose gives the school an opportunity to welcome all students, regardless of their disabilities. The special students will feel welcomed and being part of the school.

What I would take away from this course is a better understanding of how inclusion can be developed in the classroom, school and wider community. Also how I as an educator can create an atmosphere within my classroom that would make all my students feel welcomed and accepted.  It has opened my eyes on what must be done to include children (not integrate) into our school environment; and the role we play as educators in ensuring we are open to change for the betterment of our students and society.

Learning environment can't reach target in isolation. My take home lessons learnt is how inclusion can be develop in schools.

Thank you all facilitators and participants.

What I learnt

1. Creating an Inclusive School is creating a community of cooperation, constant learning, innovation, empathy, accountability, gathering expertise an much more to create a wholistic and meaningful education and most importantly a meaningful reason to live in a community as a person. Creating a strong inclusive ethos.

2. Personally I live with a child who had to be removed from school because the school was not prepared to receive my child who was special, and ever since I have become an advocate of special and inclusive education in my school. I am ready to share with my administration to help cultivate a community where more parent and teacher attitude needs to be changed and implement activities and teams to foster the needs of our special children. A resource center and weekly teacher meetings to discuss creative activities will be the first recommendation from me.

Thank You ALL for your contribution and for the facilitators!

This course content provided useful information it was quite comprehensive. The methods, strategies and ideas identified was very impressive. Two things that stood out for me was, firstly, the "soft thing" which simply means the teachers attitude. I learnt how important a teachers attitude is when creating an inclusive ethos. A teachers attitude determines a learners outcome. A positive attitude will result to exceptional change with the environment, parents, children and staff. The TESSA Inclusive Education Toolkit listed the 12 attitudes and behaviour an inclusive teacher should have, I will adapt this in my setting.

Secondly, UNICEF booklet spoke about the different levels of collaboration and partnership. I learnt that building a partnership with the stakeholders, parents, teachers and children will encourage learners to reach their highest potential. All parties must be comfortable in order for collaboration to be constructive and efficient. I will encourage these relationships in my environment to enhance the teaching and learning. 

I found this course to be quite interesting and very informative as it relates to creating and the functioning of an inclusive school.  Inclusivity covers so much more than what it originally sounded like to me.  I learnt that it is much more than infrastructure and materials.  The importance of creating a good ethos in the school is just as important as creating a safe environment.   A teacher's attitude has such a wide impact and can actually help or cause problems for children and a school.  Just being able to share and collaborate as a staff can make all the difference in the life of a child.  I especially liked the 12 steps as outlined in the TESSA toolkit where it focusses on the attitudes of the teacher, and the manner in which we speak .  It surely made me reflect on my personal teaching style and on how I can improve.  This course has definitely created a stirring within me to strive to become a better inclusive teacher. Thank you all so much for this opportunity.

This course content provided useful information that was very detail and easy to understand. two things that stool out for me was the 12 attitudes and behaviour from the TESSA IE toolkit. I learnt that the teachers attitude is the first and most important factor to an inclusive ethos. Secondly, The network of people that is needed to accommodate and engage learners such as district personnel, administrators, teachers, parents and children. I will take these strategies back to the classroom to create an environment that is comfortable for everyone.

The course have been very interesting and informative. My two key take home points is: Firstly, positive attitude because, a teacher's attitude determine the learners outcome. The (TESSA toolkit) was geared towards the attitude of the teacher and the manner in which they speak this is of paramount importance in creating an inclusive ethos. Secondly, working in collaboration with families, the community and other organizations in order to assist with inclusion (The System Theory) focused on this factor. I will definitely reflect on practice daily and implement these strategies.

My two key take home points are:

The school needs the community, family and other stakeholders to help the child to develop holistically.

Being very observant helps a teacher to understand and help students.

1. By raising awareness of how important it is to establish the programme of Inclusivity is so that equal opportunity is granted to all students. Awareness helps the school to be better equipped to deal with the challenges of all learning types so that none feels left out. Therefore, when you raise the level of awareness to Teachers and Students, you are helping to develop a positive ethos of the school. 

2. Championing the cause for special equipment in the school to accommodate wheelchairs and other types of physical impairment necessities

Take home lesson;

 As teachers it is important for us to create an inclusive environment for all our students.

This course has helped me to more of a reflective ECCE educator, especially as school is locked down and teaching and learning is blended into synchronous and asynchronous. Everyday I take some time and examine the effectiveness of my teaching, how am I motivating the children while taking into account their individual differences so that all feel included , am I well organized and preparing appropriate samples and how well are my technical skills developing, more so, as drastic changes are impacting the educational settings worldwide. I intend to use the questionnaire, 'Auditing an Inclusive Teacher's behavior ' adapted from TESSA Resources to assist me in becoming better in my teaching practice.

"Disability is not inability." I'm also more conscious of using appropriate terms to speak about disabilities and persons with disabilities. According to the National Disability Authority in Ireland (NDA), "When writing or speaking with people with disabilities it is important to put the person first. Catch-all phrases such as 'the blind,' 'the deaf' or 'the disabled,' do not reflect the individuality, equality or dignity of people with disabilities. In our ever changing world, the language used to talk about disabilities is ever modifying. We are duty bound as educators to be conscientious to change and to adapt accordingly. This course has inspired me to continue to do research and to keep informed with updated terms used when speaking about persons with disabilities and also non-disabled persons ('normal'  is a term no longer used- NDA).

Two things that I will take forward from this course into my practice are

1.  Ways to support all students to learn, so they can contribute to society as productive and caring adults.

2.  The creation of inclusive policies whereby students with disabilities are accepted and treated fairly.

This course has been a great eye opener for me. It has thought me so much about the inclusive school and all that goes into place to make it a success. My key take away points are that of creating an inclusive ethos and creating positive attitudes as a teacher. Which will be for the betterment of my classroom and my learners.

In creating an inclusive ethos, my learners would all feel welcomed and a sense of belonging. I now have a better understanding of what must be done to include every child in my classroom and to ensure that learning takes place. Also, having a positive attitude to changes that may arise, will be a great asset to my learners and myself. This will intern bring awareness to the school environment and all those that are involved in the development of the school.

I look forward to putting into practice all that I have learnt and to see the changes and developments in my students.

My key takeaways:

I will include the School Based Professional Development model in all my upcoming training. This continuous method of training and providing support will help teachers see that the trainers are invested the programme and isn't left up to them.  This will done through a series of weekly virtual visits (Covid-19 Pandemic) where teachers can e mentored and given support where needed. Opportunities can be created to show teachers how to incorporate learners of varied abilities and or disabilities within the classroom.

Further to this, I would try to inculcate in to my schools a greater understanding of Inclusivity, Diversity and Equity- providing for each learner what they need. With this level of understanding and through the use of Teacher Group Meetings I hope to change the attitudes of all stakeholders in turn improving the ethos and culture of the school.

My key take homes are the importance of an inclusive ethos or culture in schools. This must be shared by all staff members and reflected in policy and practice. Also networking with the community is important as the 'village raising a child' will improve the child's odds of being a functional, accepted member of said village.

My two take home lessons:

1) Finding ways in my daily practice to increase my students and their families 'social capital.' 

2) Greater use of the community as a stakeholder to support creating a more inclusive school

My two main take away points from the course is that inclusion is everywhere and it affects everyone. As we strive to have inclusive classrooms, we must be willing to adjust our teaching and learning strategies to met our students needs. Teamwork makes the dream work and everyone from stake holders to students have their part to play yo ensure that no child is truly left behind.

This course presented a lot of things to try out after the completion. One of the things I learnt is creating a learning organisation. To create a learning organisation, all stakeholders will be involved: Administrators, teachers, parents/caregivers, children/students, specialists

Others are:

Handling of students with disruptive behaviour

How to keep individual record for students and what is expected to be in the format or what it should entail

I also learnt about some efforts made in some country towards making their school inclusive- South Africa, Tanzania and Sierra Leone

The availability of resources on OER from TESSA.COL among others that can be adapted for teaching and learning.

My Key Takeaways:

(1) The intense need for focused collaboration among the stakeholders in education, to facilitate true inclusion.

(2) Teachers can be their own resources as they plan learning opportunities together, for the students.

Some key take away point that will stay with me after doing this course are as follows:

Becoming inclusive is a process and it starts with the soft skills we as educators can have to make children feel comfortable in their learning and environment. A school should feel inclusive with the way it looks and interacts with all stakeholders in education. Team work is a big part of inclusivity, so much that I think if neglected can break down the goal of being an inclusive school. There are many ideas that I encountered on this course that I have used in my classroom which worked and it was good to realize that I was on the right path to being an inclusive teacher without even knowing it. The forum also was effective in sharing these ideas with my peers as well as gaining some ideas to try or suggest at my school.

For me personally this course was very informative and educational, the information was well presented and I was able to relate to most of the questions presented. What I have learnt from this course and would definitely help me along the way in moving forward will be the information shared on:

1. Schools policies to support inclusive education (putting policies in place is crucial to help create an inclusive school, without a policy a school and all its stakeholders would not grow as it should, the school would be lacking in various areas. 

2. Teacher being a role model (includes showing students how to make sense of the world, expressing ideas in a peaceful manner and also by displaying positive attitudes. Also encouraging interaction by giving the students opportunities to interact with each other so they can develop friendships and a sense of community. 

My key take away points are                                                                         1 The "buddy system"  I like the use of the buddy system, I think its a very good strategy to encourage children with disabilities to become  engaged in activities so that they will not feel excluded, their self-esteem will develop thus making them a productive learners who are supported.                                                                                               My second take away point is the table of Possible Actions for Positive Behavior  Management, too often we come across children with behavior issues using these guidelines will aide managing behavioral issues that may occur.                                                           Overall Inclusive Education seems the way forward, getting this done will require a lot of consultations and a new vision in education. Hopefully we will get it right.

My key take away points from this course are:

1) Policies for an inclusive ethos and culture- I especially liked this because it spoke about inclusion of everyone in the school from teachers, parents and especially students. I will try my best to implement this policy in schools that I work with because I believe that an open-book policy can lead too a better run school and everyone involved will feel more comfortable to express themselves without fear of judgement.

2) I like the idea of involving stakeholders in the school committee as well, this will encourage participation from everyone to help to make the school a better and more productive environment.

Agreed!

A big thank you to the course facilitators  and our tutors for this course. it was very educating and uplifting. Learning about the inclusive school, creating an inclusive ethos and culture, creating a learning organization and working with communities, families and stakeholders; I gained a lot of new knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed content on inclusivity of diverse children, being an effective teacher, professional development and importance of reflection. 

I am really grateful for the opportunity to participate in this course. It has been informative and concepts have been well explained with the use of a variety of case studies and videos. I have learnt many things from this course. I have learnt the importance of the community, external organizations, parents/caregivers, teachers and administration working together to create and inclusive institution for all students as it cannot be solely done by one element. With this being said, It is important to create an inclusive ethos and culture. This is possible when teachers are able to reflect and modify teaching strategies to support individual learners. This includes being mindful of building students self esteem and self confidence in the classroom. Another important point is creating a learning organization in which not only are teachers supported in professional development but where the relationship between the parents and the staff is constantly being managed for the benefit of all students. 

I must say this was not what I had expected, but still kept an open-mind and I am ever grateful for this opportunity.

I appreciated the videos, examples and everyone that put these pieces together to make it happen.  There is a lot to reflect on take away points, namely:

1. Teacher's attitude - This has reminded me that as teachers/educators our attitude has a huge role to play in child's education.  The love for children and to see them grow, develop and help them on their educational journey is what should drive teachers to maintain positive attitudes towards our children.

2. Another take away was Unit 4.  I enjoyed this topic and it reiterated the importance of external organizations.  As stated below our schools cannot live in isolation and we cannot do it on our own.  We need support from our peers, parents, stakeholders and even further external organizations to make our schools a comfortable learning environment for all children. 

Activity 4. 10

I must say I truly enjoyed this course and gained a lot of information and increase my knowledge, for this I say a heart felt thanks to all the planners, producers, lead facilitators, other facilitators and my fellow participants for all their lively discussions and varied ideas and experiences.

There are so many take home lessons from the course that can be listed but the two to me is of vital importance for an inclusive school is;

1. Teacher's attitude. I think the inclusiveness of any school is dependent on the attitude of the teacher. How does the teacher sees his/ her role, how they see the children, what are they willing to do to ensure that all learners need are met, how do they view team work and continued professional development. My attitude towards the success of the school.

2. Working with other organizations. To truly accomplished  school inclusion you need the help of all stakeholders. The Proverb "It takes a village to raise a child" still holds true today and we saw it as we when through this course. working with other organization will benefit the school, the teachers and the learners in many ways, by providing much needed materials and resources. For example linking with social services can provide, financial, social and emotional help to children and parents alike. 

For our schools to accomplish inclusion and see all our children reach their full potential disabled or not, we all have to have that desire and attitude and be willing to work together using every available resources .

Thank you so much for letting me complete this course, although it took me longer than anticipated due to the current pandemic situation.

There are so many, all the information are so valuable and could be applied to everyday inclusive teaching. 

1) positive mindset within the school. I would try to create a system where teachers along with students have buddies to work with. 

2) Resources. we lack resources in our school. I will try to work with stakeholders to get fund to design and create a resource room in the school so that all materials and resources are accessible to all the teachers which will give access to learners with different disabilities to understand the learning outcomes and content.

Two things I would take from this course are:

1) The teacher's attitude, personal belief and values can reflect on the students ability to learn. It can either help or hinder students learning.

2) Partnership with staff, parents and the wider community plays an important role in a child's growth and development. By collaborating, common goals can be put in effect to facilitate the best educational experience possible for students.

The course was really resourceful. In my context, I can help to implement SBPD and the help the school to build a trustful relationship with stakeholders through the adaptation of this course to my context. The course will be available on moodle plateforme for teachers. 

Two things that I will definitely take away from this course and use will be the Individualized plan and the teacher development handbook. This course reminded me of the importance of inclusion and how differentiated instruction should be practiced in the classroom. 

My take away from this course is monitoring inclusivity. This also provide a resource for monitor, and it is inclusion. I often got carried away with work in inclusive education but often miss out monitoring to see whether I am on track or not. But from this course I learn it is crucial to monitor.

1. Being observant in order to identify and meet the diverse needs of my students 

2. Making my classroom learner-centred where all learners have an opportunity to participate without feeling excluded