Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for the Teacher - Essay Example

Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for the Teacher 2006 Introduction In a public school environment, there are often clashes amongst children due to differing personality traits, physical challenges, belief and value systems, and cultural identities. Sadly, there are many issues surrounding the problem with multicultural and racial harmony in the classroom and this is often left to the teacher to find a resolution. Quite often, the problem stems from a lack of knowledge about another culture and when this is the core problem it is easier for the teacher to introduce ideas about another culture into the classroom. Besides, the classroom may be composed of students with different levels of physical and mental abilities and the teacher must be capable of handling them differently. What most students can learn may be extremely difficult for a student with learning disabilities. The inability of the teacher to achieve inclusion of all students – whether they belong to cultural minority groups or are differently abled physically or have learning disabilities – make such students feel isolated and alienated. It is not uncommon for students like Luke, then, to find a situation when ‘Luke said that going to school was like being an alien, where there was this species that tormented him.’ (Sunday Times 12.06.05). In this paper, I will discuss some alternate situations where the teacher should adopt steps for inclusion in classrooms. Then, I will adopt why such steps are necessary for the society at large. Ways for Inclusion of Differently abled Students The world over, the school systems are increasingly moving towards “inclusive” teaching whereby regular teachers need to undertake strategies that have traditionally been used by special educators. Instead of the earlier practice of “mainstreaming”, by which differently abled students were taught in exclusive classrooms most of the times and included in the combined “mainstream” class only for some time, it is now believed that an inclusive strategy is more helpful. However, it is seen that while most teachers are convinced about the superiority of inclusive teaching in principle, they do not have the confidence for such teaching. In reality, however, it is the attitude and behaviour, rather than financial resources that hinder inclusive teaching since in most cases, inclusive teaching is imposed on the regular school system. Teachers typically relate to the class as a whole rather than to individual students. But, with students with different levels of learning abilities, the class cannot be considered as a homogenous group. Demands of students will need to be prioritised, incorporated and put into practice. Most importantly, teachers need to develop a positive learning climate such that individual students grow responsible for a collaborative learning process. The basic guiding principle in this should be to recognize each student individually – not simply the different levels of abilities but also their differing personality traits, their inner choices and attitude – and not as a generic number. The teacher should develop the students’ sense of identity on the whole and not just as a learner in the classroom (Paterson, 2000). Interviewing teachers from junior high school in Australia and Canada, Paterson found that many teachers relate to individual students by their personality traits: “Laurie, a teacher from western Canada, for example, thought about student ability to perform different learning tasks "Nigel impresses me. Whoa, you can really peel the layers off the onion!" as well as displaying a sensitivity to student affect, personal experiences beyond the immediate lesson, and personality; "I've got to make sure Paul realises that we weren't laughing at him but with him." (Paterson, 2000). Typically, students feel comfortable when teachers behave in a predictable manner and show evidence of their awareness of the problems and strengths of individual students. However, teachers often face the dilemma between the individual student needs and the group needs. It is but natural for teachers to have cursory thoughts about students with special needs but such categorization should not make a difference to group teaching. Inclusion of special students with the general class does not only mean education under similar conditions but providing special treatment as needed by each student, which might include physical or mental disabilities. Angelides (2005) found that although teachers in general accept the concept of inclusion, they still fail to give attention to many details classroom practices in dealing with special students, thereby often marginalizing them and hence affecting education standards. Angelides (2005) recommend teacher education programs, particularly on treatment of students with special needs. Teachers’ attitude towards students and interaction with them improve if they have sufficient knowledge about their disability (Graham & English, 2001; Leyser, Vogel & Wyland, 1998, Askemit et al, 1987 cited in Disability Factsheet Handbook). Leyser et al (1998) found that 34.3% of the faculty they surveyed wanted training on test accommodation, 24% wanted classroom training and 31.7% wanted more written information at the time of enrolment. Students open up on their problems and improve the teaching process when they interact sufficiently with the teachers. Many teachers are not involved in the planning of curriculum, resulting in a situation in which the plan is thrust upon them. Typically, science is taught with the aid of textbooks. But this may not be an effective strategy and modified for special students (Haskell, 2000). Haskell recommends a four-stage plan for teaching science to special students: 1) collaboration between science and special education teachers, 2) development of effective instructional practices, 3) implementation of lessons with provisions agreed upon by both teachers, 4) review the lesson and make necessary changes. Ways to Achieve Multicultural Harmony in Classroom Once children are educated on the differences among various ethnic groups, and culturally oriented societies, the problem that previously existed normally reverses itself. Obviously there are a number of approaches to overcoming adversity in the classroom, due to these types of sociological issues. A teacher can introduce the theory of cultural democracy into the classroom in order to be able to answer students questions concerning moral and ethical issues of other cultures, as well as incorporate a historic relevance of multiple cultures in order for students to be able to appreciate one another’s personal identity’s and belief systems better. However, Dardy states that this type of philosophy is hard for teachers to do unless they utilize an intensive study program meant for themselves as well (Dardy 1991, p.99). Once a teacher studies the diversity found within his or her classroom then they will be able to provide a better interpretation to all of the students with a self-assuredness that they are coming across with a strong knowledge of the different ethnicities themselves. Furthermore, it is almost impossible for a teacher to follow along the strict guidelines of a set curriculum when it comes down to find a natural peace and balance among students of different ethnicities. It is best to allow for an exploration into this area so that the learning experience for all the students in the classroom can be kept in with the focus of real life activities, in the real environment so that the students have a true and fundamental sense of the various aspects different cultural identities represent (Dardy 1991, p.100). A teacher cannot really bring a true sense of rationalization into the concept of multicultural harmony in the classroom by simply using textbooks. It takes more communication amongst each other and an effort to try and understand one another’s differences, rather than simply reading about different cultures in a history book. Another way in which a teacher can bring harmony into the presence of a multicultural classroom is by performing a fun but experimental exercise using blanketing statements. What the blanketing statements will do is show the youth’s how making inaccurate judgments, about another group of people is harsh and often inaccurate. By performing an exercise such as this, students can thoroughly talk with one another and come to an understanding of how ideas about other ethnicities are really misconstrued and nine times out of ten don’t hold any validity to them whatsoever. It is a good idea to start processes like this at an early age in the public class room because it has been determined that children are more open to learning about multicultural ideas in their younger years. They are more open to the theorization of it and willing to take it into account in their interactions among other students of different backgrounds (Manning 1999, p.82). It has been found that educators have the ability of teaching new attitudes and ideals to their students, in relation to ethnic groups that might be from the Middle East, or even Japan. Teachers can use the idea of role-playing to exemplify on what they are trying to relate to their students. They can show how the wrong interpretation is gained about a person simply by how they dress, their skin color, hair texture, and their assumed belief system. By interacting with one another in the classroom through role-playing, it gives deeper insight into how the victim of racial abuse feels. It also allows the other students to see how their ideas could be all wrong and therefore allows them to have the opportunity to learn the truth about their other classmates and their individual culture and ethnic beliefs (Manning 1999, p.82). Manning’s article details that issues of fairness, equality, and justice can be introduced by using an exercise titled, “a can of worms” (Manning 1999, p.82). How this works is the teacher places controversial statements into a can that the students draw from. From this, the students can choose to begin a discussion on the statement or simply write in their personal journals about how they view the topic at hand. This also allows students to see that some statements expressed are the sole idea of the person who wrote them and not necessarily true at all. This exercise brings harmony because it allows for various interpretations to be acknowledged so that a clearer understanding of one another can develop. These exercises that have been mentioned thus far urge the students to delve deeper into the cultural history of one another. It is good because they don’t feel forced or coerced into doing so, it is strictly voluntary and of their own choosing. Some of the exploratory topics that come to light through these types of learning experiences in the classroom are, a culture’s history, traditions, and customs; an exploration into various challenges facing those of different cultural backgrounds in foreign countries (such as African Americans in Britain, etc), immigration patterns, and art and dance of multiple cultures (Manning 1999, p.82). It all becomes very interesting and exciting for the students to learn so many things that they thought they knew but really had the wrong idea all along. This whole philosophy promotes true harmony among races in the classroom and prevents a student from feeling isolated or picked on due to their ethnicity and cultural background. Importance of Inclusion of Differently Abled Students in Classrooms Students with special needs require special education, not just in terms of the method of teaching and a differentiated curriculum. Teachers need to have a special attitude for such students as well. At the same time, it should be recognized that special students have the right to receive the same support and facilities that normal students have. It has been a matter of debate as to whether special students should be educated in separate facilities or they should be educated along with other students. This debate has been particularly vociferous with regard to pre-secondary education, where in many cases teachers are reported to find it difficult to handle special and normal students together. Although education experts believe that it is to the benefit to the special students for their social development, many educationists and schools believe that special students should be educated in separate premises, with some amount of ‘mainstreaming’. For post-secondary education, it is assumed that students who reach this level of academics are capable of handling the general curriculum although some special attention is needed for them to deal with their physical or mental disabilities (UNESCO, 1994). The principle of educating students with special needs in completely separate facilities has almost become defunct, equating it with racial segregation. The point now is whether to provide segregated services to such students most of the time while allowing them to join the mainstream student community for some time or whether to educate them in the general environment. At one extreme, some educators feel that such students should be taught in special classrooms and made to interact with the mainstream by attending one or some general classrooms. Inclusion of students with special needs in the general classrooms would require special attention to such students, thereby reducing the standard of teaching for general students to the same level, according to this school of thought. On the other extreme, a school of educators believe that all students should be taught together and effectiveness of teaching should be judged on the basis of how well the teachers accommodate those with special needs. From this aspect, inclusion as a principle of education, not only reduces cost of providing students separate facilities for special needs, it is an effective way to improve their self-esteem. Piuma (1989, cited in weac.org) found that not only are the costs of inclusion lower than that in segregate environment, the employability of students educated in general environment is higher (73%) than those educated in segregated environment (53%). Importance of Cultural Inclusion in Classrooms Multicultural educational experiences promote positivism to diverseness in society. It promotes acceptance of one another regardless of race, sex, color, cultural orientation, etc. It is definitely a process that the whole of society would do well to participate in, to provide not just harmony in a multicultural context inside of the classroom, but in society as well. As Banks and Banks (1995, quoted in North Central Regional Education Laboratory) say, "Multicultural education not only draws content, concepts, paradigms, and theories from specialized interdisciplinary fields such as ethnic studies and women studies (and from history and the social and behavioral sciences), it also interrogates, challenges, and reinterprets content, concepts, and paradigms from the established disciplines. Multicultural education applies content from these fields and disciplines to pedagogy and curriculum development in educational settings”. Hence, such education should essentially incorporate concepts and ideas from a variety of histories, backgrounds, ethnic and cultural studies. Ultimately, the goal of multicultural education is to impart a sense of equity and justice to all students from various cultural backgrounds. Teaching should be student-centric and collaborative by which all students are involved in the learning process. Traditional teaching methods like tracking and emphasis should be laid on creative thinking. Conclusion On the whole, inclusive teaching implies that the voice of the student be heard – whether they are students with special physical and mental needs or they are from different cultural background than the majority. In either case, segregating special students or those from ethnic groups amount to racism, which no modern society allows for. However, the inclusive teaching paradigm requires greater responsibility from the teachers. They should be adequately trained to handle special students as also to handle multicultural classes. For this, most essential is the understanding that the student is not a generic number but an individual with particular traits, needs and characteristics. A collaborative teaching process, in which the student is included in the learning process, goes a long way to an inclusive teaching practice. In particular, the teacher should be ready to learn from the cultural diversity as well. Works Cited Angelides, P. (2005). The Missing Piece of the Puzzle Called ‘Provision of Equal Participation in Teaching and Learning’?, The International Journal of Special Education, Vol 20, No.2. Darder, Antonia (1991). “Culture and Power in the Classroom: A Critical Foundation for Bicultural Education”. Bergin-Garvey Publications, New York Westport, Connecticut London Disability Fact Sheet Handbook, Attitudes Towards Disabilities and Reasonable Accommodations and a Workable Communication Solution Haskell, Deborah H (2000), Building Bridges Between Science and Special Education: Inclusion in the Science Classroom, Electronic Journal of Science Education, V 4 No 3, March Manning, Lee (1999).Developmentally Responsive Multicultural Education for Young Adolescents. Childhood Education. Volume72, Issue2, pg.82 North Central Regional Education Laboratory, Multicultural Education, available at http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/presrvce/pe3lk1.htm Paterson, David, Inclusive Teaching from the Inside: What the Teachers Think, Presented at ISEC 2000, University of Manchester, ISEC 2000 available at http://www.isec2000.org.uk/abstracts/papers_p/paterson_1.htm Piuma, Mary F. Benefits and Costs of Integrating Students With Severe Disabilities Into Regular Public School Programs: A Study Summary of Money Well Spent. San Francisco: San Francisco State University, 1989. Read More