2.6 An inclusive teacher acknowledges the contribution of each child

Developing (or restoring) self-confidence and self-esteem in children also entails recognising their contributions, however small they may be. How can the teacher do this? Have a look at the exercise Mr Attikou gave his class.

Case study 2: When mistakes give the best grades

At the Safo School in Niger, Mr Attikou asked his pupils to take a piece of paper for a spelling test. He specified that they should not write their names on the piece of paper. After the test, Mr Attikou gathered the papers and distributed them again making sure that no child received her/his own work. Then, he wrote the correct spellings on the board and asked the children to mark the test they had received. He also asked them to write their names on the paper they were correcting. If they found all the mistakes, they would score 10 out of 10. If a mistake was left out, they would earn 9 out of 10 and so forth. That day, all of Mr Attikou’s pupils got 10 out of 10 in the spelling test. It was a great success and never had Mr Attikou’s class been so joyful.

This way to carry out the exercise allowed Mr Attikou to give a good grade to all pupils in class even to those who were weaker in spelling, while putting them all to work, in a relaxed atmosphere. It is important that all children are winners occasionally. This helps them to build their confidence in their ability and motivates them to strive to do better. A while later, Mr Attikou gave the same test to the whole class and the weaker pupils did better.

Collect your ideas:

Consider changing the usual way in which you present class activities in order to have all pupils experience success once in a while.

Write down your ideas on a sheet of paper and add them to your lesson plans.

2.5 An inclusive teacher helps pupils to feel included in the learning community

2.7 An inclusive teacher contributes to the emotional well-being of all children