Inclusive Pedagogy

-

TESL 0100
Unit 7 Reflection
In this unit we were focusing on how to build inclusive classrooms and it reminded me of something. During an Inclusive Education course that I took this summer at the U of M I watched a video on Inclusive Pedagogy by Kristine Black-Hawkins. In this video, Black-Hawkins shares the key ideas she has been exploring in her research on Inclusive Pedagogy. She outlines what she calls a “fundamental shift in thinking,” in which teachers are moving away from a more traditional approach to inclusion that is individualized, towards a more inclusive pedagogical approach that starts with the class as a whole. In the more traditional approach a teacher would think of “most” of their class as being “okay” and having to do something “different” for “some” students who have special educational needs. In inclusive pedagogy a teacher starts with everybody; it is a way of approaching teaching and learning that extends what is available to everybody in the class, regardless of their special educational needs.
In today’s classrooms and schools there is a diverse range of students; everyone is different in one way or another, whether it be related to culture, language, ethnicity, poverty status, disability or another area. Providing all students with the same opportunities and including activities, resources and supports that allow all students to be successful and make progress is they key idea in an inclusive pedagogical approach.

  Inclusive pedagogy does not require teachers to reinvent the wheel or completely redesign the curriculum or their practice. Instead, they just have to change their way of thinking to focus on all learners rather than most and some. Providing students with choice, as well as a variety of resources and supports, will allow all students to reach their potential. I believe that these ideas apply to all classrooms, including the language classroom. It is a teacher's job to make learning accessible for all, so that all students can succeed. 
To learn more, check out Kristine Black-Hawkins' video on YouTube:

There are also two visuals that I have come across, one in a previous course and one from my own research, that I think represent the idea of fostering inclusion quite clearly. The first focuses on the idea that fair isn't always equal. What one person needs in order to succeed may be quite different from what another person needs, and that's okay. The second illustrates the idea of creating opportunities where everyone can succeed. It builds on the idea of "ramps for learning," both physically and metaphorically. See below:


 Picture retrieved from: http://www.chartnc.com/2015/08/fair-vs-equal.html

Picture retrieved from: http://learningnetwork.setbc.org/udlsd71/sample-page/




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Continued Professional Development Report

-
Image
TESL 0170 Practicum in Teaching ESL The professional development resource that I selected to engage with and analyze is the free online CLB Bootcamp provided by the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. The CLB Bootcamp is a 10-hour self-directed online training course that introduces and explains the CLB’s, as well as how to use the CLB’s for lesson planning and student assessment. The CLB Bootcamp is divided into three modules: CLB Basics , Planning and the CLB and Classroom Assessment and the CLB . Each module is then broken down into three to four sections. The material is presented in a format similar to a PowerPoint presentation, with links to resources, documents and example materials. There are also optional short quizzes throughout that can be taken more than once. It is not necessary to complete the sections or modules in order, or even to complete them all. You can pick and choose which areas you want to learn more about. If you do complete all of the modules
Read more

My Classroom Community

-
Image
TESL 0100 So I kind of overlooked this assignment, or maybe I was procrastinating it and avoiding it because I am not much of an artist and was not really looking forward to attempting to draw my classroom. :) I tried to do some of the parts in 3D, but other parts are much more basic. It's kind of a mix of both. Attempting to draw a couch was the trickiest part! Anyways, I like to think of my classroom as a community of learners, which is why I used a circular table with me, the teacher (the one with the speech bubble), as part of the circle. When needed, everyone can turn their chairs toward the whiteboard for direct instruction, or to read sentence stems or discussion prompts. I would put our agenda on the board so the students would know what was in store for the day. There would also be a word wall bulletin board with high frequency words and words we had learned in previous lessons. The classroom would have a bookshelf with a wide variety of reading materials and games/
Read more

21st Century Learners

-
Image
TESL 0100 Unit 9 Reflection As we begin to think about the language classroom that we may be teaching in, we need need to also take a step back and consider what teaching and learning looks like in the twenty-first century. We were asked to think about the skills, tasks and technologies that our students would need to have an understanding of in order to be successful in today's world, and to create an infographic to represent our ideas. Below is the infographic that I created. It includes the skills and strategies that I believe are needed by all students, including language students. In order to succeed in today's ever-changing world, students need to be taught more than just the basic knowledge and skills that were taught in traditional classroom. The four key skills that I have highlighted - communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, often referred to as the four C's, should be an important component to any classroom. In university, the workp
Read more