Inclusive Practice Cases

Casework Assignment 1: Module 1 - Disability, Ability, and Responsibility

1. My understanding of inclusion before reading Module One was the notion of including every student in your classroom. From learning disabilities to physical disabilities, students below grade level, and gifted or talented students. Inclusion to me meant the teacher reaching out to every student in the classroom.

When I was growing up in my own school, I noticed students who were separated from the class. I noticed during my regular class time, the special needs students would come and take out the recycling paper from each classroom. Usually a special-ed aid would be with them, going from classroom to classroom, finding the paper recycling, emptying it, and leaving. I would always think, “How unfortunate that these students are separated from us, and therefore their differences are exaggerated.” We didn’t even get to interact and be with them because of their differences. They were on their own schedule, doing the care-taking.

I was lucky in my childhood to be introduced to special needs children from an early age. My mom ran a day home at our house where children from around the neighborhood would come and stay with us before and after school, and full time for workdays in the summer. I was able to interact with two boys who lived on our street with varieties of Asperser's Syndrome.

When I was a young student, I thought that the best policy would be to have everyone in the same classroom, doing the same work, at the same level with the same books, same homework and same goals. Now I see that inclusion actually means differentiating for the students with special needs, which may mean taking them out of the classroom for special help with their learning styles or on the subject matter. It means finding what they are best at and adhering to their educational needs so that they may experience success.

2. In my field experience last semester, I was able to see first hand how students were supported to accommodate their special needs. I was asked to take one boy who was struggling on the tuba and work with him separately on clapping rhythms to see if he would be interested in switching to percussion. Another student who had no prerequisite to high school music wanted to join the band, so he was invited to start taking beginner trumpet lessons. Two students were gifted, and seemed bored with the class since they had already received years of lessons on his instrument. These two were offered the opportunity to try a new and challenging piece of music, and given responsibilities such as the role of section leader. One boy was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, and had difficulties keeping up with attending rehearsals. He was excused from the concert, because he had missed too many rehearsals to keep up to the level of playing. These students were given unique opportunities to achieve the provisions of the Supreme Court of Canada because they were taken into account to be included in the classroom experience, adhering to their special needs, skill level, and individuality.

3. In the Interactive Exercise, I scored high teaching efficacy, low teaching efficacy, and high personal efficacy. The only category I didn’t score low in was low personal efficacy. This gives me an idea that I am on the path of knowing where my teaching is. I believe that I have the power to be a strong role model, and I want to be helpful to every student in my class. However, at times I feel that there are barriers in schools that have to accommodate to all the needs in the classroom. I feel that I personally do my very best, or at least I want to do my very best to accommodate all the students in my class. I want to see success in every student. I believe that each student has the ability to learn the subject matter in the curriculum and that every student can be deeply influenced by their teacher. This is who I want to be. I want to have a positive impact on my students so that they may strive to meet their own goals. I must also remember that there must always be a balance in helping students in the classroom. You can always only do your best.

Casework Assignment 2: Module 1: Case 1 - Christopher Melrose

When a student is struggling in a classroom environment, teachers and parents must find a solution to benefit the child and accommodate their learning needs. This is what differentiation and inclusion is all about. A crucial part of teaching is the relationships. This includes relationships between teachers, school administration, students, and parents.

In this particular case, there is a disagreement between Christopher’s mother and the school. It is already very good that there is communication occurring. Christopher has a learning disability, he is in grade 6 and he is falling behind his peers in core subjects.

The dilemma is the disagreement between the mother and the school. Either Christopher stays with the class and falls behind his peers, or he is separated from the class and his mother is upset. This is a parent vs. teacher/school disagreement.

The school may feel that Christopher will benefit more than being left in the classroom if he is put into a specialized class. He may only succeed with some extra help understanding the concepts in Math and Language Arts. Perhaps after being with a support teacher for an hour, he will better understand what he has to do for himself to learn the concepts. It would be better than leaving him alone to struggle all on his own in the classroom.

Mary, the mother, may feel that Christopher will be segregated, and seen as “different” in the eyes of his peers. She may feel he will be bullied in school if the students make fun of him for being “slow”. He might be called names like “stupid”. She is afraid he will not fit in. Mary may also think that Christopher will actually fall further behind if he’s not doing exactly what the other students are doing in the classroom. For example, he will only learn the basics of the grade 6 math concepts, while the other students will be on a path toward learning grade 7 curriculum concepts – which Christopher will not be prepared for when he reaches grade 7.

The factors that must be considered are firstly Christopher’s education. He is the most important part of the scenario. He is in grade six. It is crucial that his teachers put a plan into place for junior high. An IPP needs to be established and his learning team needs to know the exact area in which Christopher has a deficit so that they can provide some specific differentiated instructions to accommodate his need. For example, if the area of need is reading comprehension, he may need some assistive technology (a computer program tailored to read to him at a slower pace and with a built in thesaurus and dictionary), or if it’s Math he may need to have access to a calculator, etc.

Another factor is Mary Melrose’s opinion. She is Christopher’s legal guardian, and ultimately decides what is best for him. A pull out program into a resource room may not be the best option. The boy needs to be learning with his peers in a classroom, which is designed to meet the needs of diverse learners. A rift between the teacher and the parent can be very tricky – and some situations can be very uncivilized at times! A compromise has to be considered.

Removing Christopher from the classroom may be in his best interests if it is proven that he will be in a better area for him to strive. If a log or diary of Christopher’s success rates are recorded, and results are showing that he is growing in the subject areas by being pulled out then perhaps it is best he is pulled out of the class.

When making a decision on this case, I believe that having Christopher remain in the classroom with added support would be the best option. His mother is his guardian, and at this stage, she ultimately decides what is best for him. He can stay in the class with an Individual Personal Plan. Then, if he still struggles, trying to pull him out and seeing what his different results of success are will reveal what he needs. There may be a compromise of pulling him out only for a limited amount of time during the Math and Language Arts classes he is struggling in. Above all, Christopher needs a plan to get started on his success in, and then perhaps out of the class. What is most important is his success. Not his difference. His need must be viewed as inclusion and not exclusion. Taking him out of the classroom may be what needs to happen for inclusion to occur.  Focusing on his ability to succeed and not viewing him as different because he needs differentiated instruction is what his teacher and his mother must consider. If they celebrate his success, his unique learning style and the methods working to adapt to his learning style will not be viewed as a difference, but as inclusion.

Casework Assignment 3: Module 2: Case 1 – Joan Martinez

In this case, Joan feels unprepared to teach. She is being thrown into a new situation, and she doesn’t have the experience of performing as a teacher in the new setting of grade eight. She is unprepared to adhere to all her future learner’s needs, especially those who will need to be differentiated for, such as the IEP students. Her future students may not be given the quality education or care needed to succeed as learners in grade 8. Joan has work to do. She has some mental preparations and organization ahead of her. She has a difficult task at hand. However, this can be seen as a great opportunity to grow as a teacher. This situation will test her knowledge, planning, and management skills in the classroom. 
Joan must begin with a functioning classroom management plan in place for the first few days of class with the grade eights. She must set up expectations for herself and for her students. This means implementing rules and regulations of her classroom and what the consequences will be if they are followed through or not. It is crucial that she knows what she wants to see happen at the beginning of the semester so that throughout the term she can spend less time on basic housekeeping, cleaning, or class management and more time on instructional or engaged learning. When there is a student who needs help in her class, Joan can delegate other students to help around the classroom to accomplish more than she would alone. On this note, the students may actually be able to help Joan with the material by assisting each other and learning off of each other. They may know more about certain subjects from previous concepts they have recently learned.
Joan also must do her homework by learning the curriculum. She must set a series of goals to determine where her class is going with the course material. “Introduction to Education” describes this as organizing the course to “simplify into a series of objectives understood by students” (pg. 3, Planning the Lesson) Joan can gain the knowledge of what and how she is about to teach from possibly the previous teacher and the other eighth grade teachers in the school. Sharing and collaborating this way will help both her and her staff to take on new methods of teaching students. Preparing detailed lesson plans and having them in order will be beneficial to Joan. Joan may have elementary experience in a different subject such as art or music. She can use her previous training and cross-curricular teaching methods to bring eighth grade subjects to life. For example, for science class she might have the students create a mural of an electrical current, or for health class she may ask them to create a collage of different body image messages from magazines. Joan will have to adapt with what she has and continue doing what works and learn how to have the class grow over time. This is an experience of trial and error, and Joan will learn a lot about how she can inspire, transform, and shape young adults.
Classroom management is a proactive strategy. Instead of reacting to a problematic occurrence in the classroom when it happens, Joan must have an expectation for her students, and a follow up plan for any incidents that may arise. In “Introduction to Inclusion”, Jordan states, “…be proactive rather than reactive, responding to anticipated interruptions and changes before they occur, so that the flow of the class activity continues without disruption. (pg. 5, Time Management) Classroom management changes in different ways depending on the age of the students. Some principles do not change such as the expectations and implemented follow-up plans which students should be aware of. However, I think that older students should be held more accountable for respectful behaviour due to their maturity.
I believe that an effective classroom management plan must be implemented at the commencement of classes in September. If not, students may not be aware of recently introduced rules of the class, and it isn’t fair to them to expect them to be punished now for something they previously did and perhaps were not punished. Effective classroom management strategies should be the same for all students, exceptional or not. I think that if teachers change the follow-up consequence of an incident for an exceptional student, students will begin to lose trust in their teacher. The students will start to question the fairness in their teacher’s management methods. They may begin to think the teacher has students who are “favourites” in the class and that perhaps some students can break a rule as long as they are “well-behaved” most of the time.
This bond formed between teacher and student is crucial to build solid relationships in the classroom. If a teacher has the students’ best interests at hand, cares for them, and wants them to reach their full potential in the class, they will see this, and then hopefully perform to meet that potential. The bond that Joan develops with her future grade eight students will prepare both her and her students for learning ahead as they are all teachers and students working with each other to accomplish goals of the year.

Casework Assignment 4: Module 2: Case 2 – David Jackson

In this case, David Jackson is faced with twin brothers who have a mild learning disability in his class. He has never experienced this before. His teaching methods are not effective and therefore he needs to come up with new strategies to reach and teach the twins.

If the situation is not responded to, the twins could be a source of frustration or disruption to David. They may fall behind the class, or cause David to have a difficult time challenging the full class, as he may be slowing his lessons for them. David has to consider the options he has for teaching the twin brothers in his class. He must know the detailed diagnosis of the brothers, what support he has from the school’s special education department, and which of his teaching methods are not working for the twins. If he finds out how they learn concepts best, he might want to teach in more than one way in his classroom, accommodating to the twins’ learning styles. He may decide to bring an aid or two into the class to work with them. The brothers could be separated from the class to better accommodate their learning. Also, putting the twins on a different learning curve is something David can consider if they are falling behind in the class. David can ask a special education teacher about the twins’ previous knowledge. He could ask if they lack the basic reading and writing fundamentals. This information will be crucial to what he can do with them in the classroom.

David could have the twins separated from the class, but I feel as thought this wouldn’t be succeeding in teaching. David must try to accommodate for the twins before sending them into a separate classroom. It may still be possible to adjust teaching methods to include the twins in class.

The instructional cycle that David will need to plan for Ben and John will be one that includes his specific Instructional Objectives for them based on their Learning Goals from the Curriculum Expectations and Achievement Standards. He will have to begin with the twins’ previous knowledge, and use it to find where he can bring in new knowledge. David will also have to know exactly “what” he needs to teach (declarative knowledge), the skills the twins need for the task (procedural knowledge), and observe to find where the twins develop new connections with the old and new concepts (conditional knowledge).

Some of the difficulties that arise in educating exceptional students within mainstream secondary classrooms are accommodating for everyone’s learning. It can be very difficult to find a way to teach exceptional students when you want to keep the advanced students challenged. Likewise, it is not easy to challenge your class when you have exceptional students who will not grasp advanced concepts. Differentiating for every student is a big task in a short amount of time.

David teaches a Grade 11 Applied Math class. There may be more students who are not grasping concepts and falling behind. A lot of the students may be struggling with the math concepts. The only difference with the twins is the amount of knowledge they are not picking up. The twins have an obvious learning disadvantage if David notices that they’re having difficulty picking up the learning material. 

Could it be that because Ben and John are twins they are being put in a group stereotype? Must they have the same disability and the same extent of disability just because they are twins? Could David be misjudging them? David believes they aren’t learning through his observation and assessment. Maybe he is not doing his job correctly. It is the new strategies that must be created. 

 

Casework Assignment 5: Module 3: Case 1 – Monisha Khan

Monisha is a new teacher. She is obviously new to the profession, and therefore will learn what works well in her classroom very quickly. She is struggling to develop lesson plans that will engage her students, and it sounds like her classroom management skills need improving. Monisha feels that she can improve with time. One student in her class, Brian Jordan, has recently been diagnosed with a learning disability, and there are signs that he is falling behind his peers academically. Monisha is struggling with how the students might view her behaviour if she spends too much time assisting Brian.

This case brings up a number of issues. Monisha must decide what accommodations she will make for Brian, without sacrificing the progress of the class. She has to plan for aiding Brian with his needs, but also she must make sure that her students won’t view the situation as unfair. For example, if Monisha over-accommodates for Brian, they might view Brian as a “favourite” student, or as if there’s something wrong with him, and discriminate against him due to his special treatment in the classroom.

Monisha has a few options. She can accommodate for Brian without bringing a lot of obvious attention to his needs. For example, she might try assigning an open-ended project for the class, challenging everyone to reach new and different levels based on where they are starting from and where they want to grow and succeed. This way, students can be challenged according to their different levels. She can adjust her assessment for each student, or in this case, Brian’s assessment based on his ability. It’s not what standard the student excels to; it’s what standard they excel to based on where they started. If she sees Brian is doing his best to meet her expectations, she can grade him according to what she observes. On this note, she must be careful as having certain expectations of your students can directly influence how well they will perform for you. Students will strive to meet a teacher’s standards; therefore, the teacher sets the bar for the success of the class. Monisha must be careful when assessing Brian so that she doesn’t lower his expectations to the point that he is not being challenged and learning.

Monisha can also bring an aid into the classroom to work alongside Brian if her school has the support. She must have the class know that it would be for his support, not his favouritism.

If students begin to complain due to Brian’s accommodations, Monisha can have a chat with her class about the differences in the classroom, and how our differences should be celebrated instead of negatively categorized or discriminated against. She might discuss empathy vs. sympathy with her students. She can explain to her class that it might be awakening to put yourself in another person’s shoes, and try to feel what it would be like to be them, as oppose to viewing them as different and therefore as less of a person because of their situation. This relates to Case 2, where we talked about celebrating our uniqueness instead of looking down on different circumstances. Monisha will have to explain to the class that just because she is helping Brian more than the other students, it doesn’t mean that he is getting better treatment, or anything more than the other students are getting. She can honestly explain the situation to her class and then hopefully they will be more understanding and accepting towards Brian’s situation with better awareness. In my experience, most students are understanding in a situation such as this.

It can be unfair when a teacher spends too much time accommodating one student if the teacher forgets about the rest of the class. A teacher might get caught up in adjusting for one student, and then the whole class suffers because they might not be challenged enough. To maintain equity and fairness to students, teachers must learn how to “blanket teach”, and reach to teach every individual in their class. Monisha can do this by presenting her lessons in a universal way, through several media, so that most all of the students will grasp the concepts, without sacrificing loss of drive toward the class’s curriculum goals. For example, in the music classroom I’m student teaching in right now, my partner teacher uses different media to reach students such as repetitive scales, listening, reading, and group practice. This way, students have several chances to learn a similar concept on their instrument, whether they learn it visually, through auditory skills, or kinaesthetically. Teachers must balance the time they spend working with exceptional students vs. the class, making sure that there is no sacrifice towards the entire class. For example, by spending 40 minutes in a 60-minute period on one student, or spending 60 minutes just lecturing through material presented to the whole class if the exceptional students are not catching the concepts. A teacher must spend mini increments of time with every student in their class, to gauge where they are, where they are headed, and where they are able to discover and learn more.

To maintain equity and fairness to treat students differentially, we should be differentiating our assessment by grading differently based on the student’s individual growth and personal goals. For example, in my classroom, my partner teacher assesses performance by gauging where the student started from, and what their capabilities are. One ukulele performance was graded according to how much effort the students took to learn the new song, not how advanced their skill level showed while playing the song compared to a more technically advanced group. This sets up a safe environment for the students, because they are all learning at their own pace. When students learn something new, they are inspired to continue to work towards improving their skills and education. Students must feel safe, and accommodated for to some extent. I think that Monisha has an opportune moment to improve as a teacher and accommodate for her entire class by celebrating Brian’s difference and experimenting with what teaching styles are picked up by her class, how Brian learns best, and what learning styles her students and Brian respond the most to.

Casework Assignment 6: Module 3: Case 2 – Tracey Wong

Tracey has AD/HD. This is a common and real disability that can affect a pupil’s performance in school and add great challenges to performing at the standard grade level. For one with AD/HD, keeping up and working with peers can be challenging and a difficult task. As teachers, not accommodating for individuals with AD/HD can be detrimental to their growth, lead to self-discrimination and possibly failure in school.

In this case, Tracey Wong is a grade 12 student who writes all her exams in the resource room due to her disability, AD/HD. She has become accustomed to writing exams quietly alone in her own resource room without distractions. Since the school is under renovations, the resource room is no longer available and Tracey may have to write her exams with her peers. Tracey feels as if she will not be able to concentrate if she is forced to write her final Grade 12 exams in the gymnasium, surrounded by distractions.

Tracey’s parents can either fight to have her write the exams alone in another room by herself or they can possibly find additional support for her to write the exams with her peers. If she is forced to write with her peers in the gym, perhaps she can be given counselling on exam anxiety and focus techniques. If the school can provide her with an educational support aid, she might be able to learn how to cope with the difficulties she feels she will have with writing in a group setting.

In a meeting between Tracey, her parents, and the school administration, issues should be discussed such as whether Tracey is capable of being placed in the mainstream exam-writing gymnasium with the other students. Tracey’s parents might want her to continue receiving accommodations for her disability. Perhaps Tracey can write her exams before, during breaks, or after school without distractions. Tracey will have to be talked to about what she feels comfortable with, and what she should be prepared for in the future.

This is a difficult case, because Tracey has a real disability, but how far are teachers willing to go to accommodate for students? Should we be accommodating for all students to the lengths of pulling them away from the rest of their peers? Isn’t taking them away from their peers actually not supporting them with their personal growth to independence? If a child is always given accommodations, how can they survive in the world when they are on their own? I think in certain situations, teachers have to decide what the best policy is when it comes down to specific cases. For a student with AD/HD such as Tracey, considerations must be thought about such as if she is going to attend college or university after high school. This is her last year, and these exams might determine if she will be accepted into a post secondary institution after grade 12. Many AD/HD students attend post secondary depending on their ability to perform up to the academic standard. While it is important that Tracey does well on the exams, it also means that she will have to learn how to cope with the anxiety of writing exams with other students in the room. This will be an unavoidable challenge for Tracey in the long term so perhaps it is best that she learns how to deal with focusing in a room with other students.

Is this a crutch that Tracey can and must grow past? Are teachers accommodating too much for her by letting her write exams alone? Or is this the only way for Tracey’s success? This is a tough decision to make because every learning disability case is unique.

Casework Assignment 7: Module 4: Case 1 – Salim

1. Strengths and Concerns

Mrs. Janes does not know nearly enough of what she needs to gather to support and teach Salim. She knows that his family could be refugees, but doesn’t know where they are from. She knows that he and his mother are staying at a motel. Mrs. Janes does not even know if Salim speaks English, yet she takes him to use crayons with the other children. Salim may have never even seen crayons before in his life.

Mrs. Janes needs to understand more about Salim’s background, his language, and where he attended school before arriving. From there, she must also know his personality in the classroom, his learning style, and what engages him to learn.

Mrs. Janes probably observed as Salim sat with the group only to walk away and start spinning in the swivel chair. She can probably already observe that he does not communicate at an average level with the students in the class, and that he might enjoy kinesthetic activity, since he chose to move around in the chair. There are so many more observations and facts that Mrs. Janes can and must find out about Salim.

2. Contributing Factors

- Salim perhaps doesn’t speak English. He may speak another language.

- Salim is probably experiencing fear in a new environment and as a refugee.

- Assessment/Diagnostic testing of Salim and cum file hasn’t been done in full.

- Salim has not used crayons before.

-Salim’s culture is very different. There are non-English speaking schools, and his culture does not hold a strong emphasis on school, as students stay home to help out if necessary and do not attend school.

- Communication with the parent has not been taken into consideration. Salim’s mother can probably add a lot of important information that Mrs. Janes is missing right now.

- Salim does not understand his task, sitting him down with crayons and students may mean nothing to him and he might believe that he has permission to do anything in the classroom because he is so far away from home and this is a new experience. Perhaps Salim has a disability or problem.  

3. Checking Hypotheses

- Interpreter for language barrier, where Salim can hopefully communicate his feelings and concerns to Mrs. Janes. Through an interpreter in an interview, a lot of problems can at least be discussed for further support for Salim.

- Psychologist to observe Salim for any disabilities or emotional issues he might be experiencing and the refugee status with his family. A lot of hardship and burden can be solved when a student knows that he is being cared about, and when he or she sees that care for them.

- An assessment of Salim after the above for how he learns, what he needs to engage in the new classroom, and what activities he needs right away to begin learning. (ie. Perhaps flashcards for learning English)

-An interview or meeting with Salim’s mother, the coordinating teacher, and Mrs. Janes can provide insight to his cultural background, for it is a culture that is clearly very different from the present culture in Mrs. Janes' class.

4. What I think is happening and most likely factors / 5. Reporting my Findings

I believe that there is too much that has not been done yet in the situation for Mrs. Janes to reach and teach Salim. All of the above must be completed in order to further understand Salim’s situation, feelings and well-being, and how he will cope in this new environment. The most likely sources of the difficulties is that the school is so busy with other cases, students, or similar issues that support staff have not been contacted to help with Salim and his mother. As stated previously, an interpreter, a psychologist, an interview with his parent, and further assessment is necessary in this situation.      

Casework Assignment 7: Considered Response: Salim and Mrs. Janes

Newness in a New World

Salim’s case is a situation all too often seen in modern day classrooms. Mrs. Janes, his new teacher is not informed as to how to deal with an immigrant student who has landed in her classroom. Some may say it is very difficult to engage a brand new refugee student in a class, however, how can she expect to include him when she doesn’t even know the language he speaks? It is already known that we must find more information about Salim and set him up with an interpreter and an interview with the parent to learn more about him and his background. Until we know more about Salim, Mrs. Janes must work with what she has and help him to feel safe, invited, and supported in her classroom.

Cultural Diversity

Upon Salim’s arrival into the classroom, he is sent to sit a table with children he has never seen before and asked to colour with them. This child is a refugee who has only recently arrived in the country, let alone the school. How are we to know if he has even seen a crayon before in his life? Preoccupied, Salim makes his way over to an activity more interesting to him, the swivel chair, where he is more engaged through movement. It is a western societal belief that all young children should understand the concept of sitting down and colouring inside the lines of a picture. Is this the best way to introduce Salim? Why do we assume that all children should want to colour? Are these children even learning anything from colouring? As a western society, we immediately see people from diverse cultures as having a need to improve so they can become more like our society. By doing this, our expectations of culturally different students shift, and we expect them to struggle as we feed them foreign work. Why do we think that Salim swivelling in the chair is wrong? We may view this as chaotic behaviour; however, this is just the means Salim has chosen to support his needs at the moment. Mrs. Janes needs to observe Salim’s behaviour and act accordingly to engage him in an activity so that she can begin to understand him. For example, she could analyze the fact that he is using movement to interest himself, and create an activity involving movement to teach to him. Physical education may be a good starting point for Salim. This is only a starting point, and there may be more ways in which Salim learns, but Mrs. Janes has to notice them. Before she can expect Salim to understand the ways of her classroom, she must learn his culture, his identity, and his beliefs so that she can accept him for who he is. Perhaps her class may even learn from him and his new perspectives.

In Markéta Bačáková’s article, she interviews discouraged teachers in the Czech Republic who were interviewed about accommodating for refugee students in their schools.

“This is my first time teaching a refugee child. You know, I try to make some special exercises for him, but I have to make everything myself, so it’s difficult. I don’t have much time for that. (Teacher)”

Many teachers view foreign, refugee students as problematic and less as a source of learning in their classroom. They may look at Salim and see more paperwork, time, money, and effort necessary to support him. To most teachers, instead of viewing differences as potential learning opportunities, differentiation means more work for them, and instead of actually accommodating the student for learning, they continue to view the child as separate. Truly differentiating would be knowing the child and understanding where they are coming from, using their personal identity in activities to engage their further learning.

Mrs. Janes must become aware of Salim’s cultural identity. We have no idea what Salim’s daily schedule was before arriving in this school. Perhaps his family placed more emphasis on family life and helping out around the house rather than on his education. At this point, our western schools are socially constructed based on the students of our culture. This makes sense to us, because we are living in this culture, and we’ve accepted all the “norms” that we’ve been fed. When a child of a different culture enters a school, we continue to create our agenda without connections of the child’s outside world. We assume foreign students to automatically adapt and forget the culture they have called their home up until this point. This is why it is imperative that Mrs. Janes gets to know Salim’s family. By talking to the mother, whether it be with an interpreter or not, Mrs. Janes can find vital information about Salim to engage him in the classroom. In other cultures throughout the world, education is built differently. For example, in an article by Liz Brocker, who studied early childhood development in Bangladesh, children grew up very differently than her concept of western childhood.

“The lives and beliefs of the Bangledeshi families provided a complete contrast to this ‘Anglo’ perspective. Their small children, rather than occupying a sphere of their own, were integrated into the mixed-age community of the extended family. Several co-slept with their mothers and siblings of all ages, and none had a room of their own…they often passed their time at home observing and helping in the routines of these older family members….while other older siblings were at school, since these under-fives were either accompanying their parents in household routines, or occupying themselves quietly.”

Educational institutions have an “ideal” image for the common-to-all-children childhood. In this Bangledashi culture, young children are integrated into family life by helping around the house, playing first to learn, and making a contribution to the home. In our western culture, children are seen as more independent individuals, sleeping in their own bedrooms, and growing up with educational tools as they play, instead of just letting them play. We feel that children cannot learn if they are only playing. In Bangladesh, parents see playing as learning. They believe that children must learn by doing.

In the video clip, Mrs. Janes invites Salim to quietly sit at a desk. She casually introduces him to the other students, but does she know if he understands what is going on? The students are all sitting quietly at tables. Our culture views this as an ideal learning environment, but perhaps it is not the best set up for Salim’s learning. Mrs. Janes could let Salim play before she starts to teach him. Maybe play can be a means to teach him. If she knows what he likes to do, she can begin to involve him in his favourite activities to teach him. As a western society, we are afraid that play means no learning is occurring. We believe that all children must sit in a desk and write to learn anything “academically” worthwhile. Why can’t foreign students challenge our thinking? By starting with what Salim is accustomed to, Mrs. Janes can create a supportive, happy learning environment for him to succeed in.

Relationships

Communication is vital in order for valuable learning to occur, especially in a situation such as Salim’s case. Teachers and parents must be informed of how their student is doing, at home and in school. Especially with foreign students, teachers must form relationships with the parents. In the western culture, parents are not seen as a vital source of helping the student succeed.

In the book Flows, Rhythms, & Intensities of Early Childhood Education Curriculum, school relationships are discussed:

“Very few studies document any process of families and educators talking together about their relationship. Those that do suggest that personal interaction – beyond the usual venues of parent-teacher conferences, classroom newsletters, and open houses–will be key to truly moving families and educators beyond stereotypes and into authentic relationships. Many aspects of educational and care settings can be redesigned to be more inclusive of family participation. School cultures can be changed. Power can be shared.”

It is true that our culture does not focus on the parents as possibly being an equal source in teaching a child, even though the parents are essential to the student’s upbringing, surroundings and previous knowledge. We must begin to know our parents and keep them up to date on their child’s development, especially when they need support, such as Salim’s mother. This will provide a stepping-stone for Salim’s learning in Mrs. Janes’ class, and his mother’s knowledge that he is in good hands.

What Now?

 

Teachers must find a way to invite children into the class from the first day they enter regardless of the amount of money or resources to accommodate how he or she can participate and feel welcome. In this case, Mrs. Janes needs to use her skills and knowledge of Salim, as little as it may be. Firstly, instead of just letting him sit at the back of the class, she can accommodate him by introducing him warmly to the class. Perhaps she could have a large class introduction where the students clap for Salim to welcome him into their community, or find a responsible student to show him around the classroom. By just warmly welcoming Salim into the new environment, Mrs. Janes can give him a first impression that says, “you are safe here and we care about your presence”. This is just a starting point for introducing a newcomer.

Another idea to accommodate Salim, especially if he cannot speak English, would be an activity that does not require any words. Pointing to a picture and having Salim match it to another picture, such as a picture of a dog to another picture of a dog can help Mrs. Janes understand what he comprehends. Another idea would be involving the whole class in a large game to help so that he can follow along. A drama activity or physical activity can work well in this situation. Students might all stand in a circle and play a game of “Simon Says”. Salim may catch onto the rules of the game after a few rounds. This “learning by doing” method can be a catalyst for Mrs. Janes to begin to understand the best way Salim picks up instruction, and if he is open to large-group activities. If Salim can speak English, it will be easier to engage him into participating in the classroom. Then Mrs. Janes can use words to ask what he is interested in, what he wants to do in school, what he is used to, and more about his interests and talents.

Overall, the answer is simple. We must create an open environment for Salim to feel welcome and supported. He will need to be interviewed with his mother and perhaps with an interpreter, but until then Mrs. Janes must accommodate him with her own tools. She can sit one on one with him without even using words to communicate. She can also involve him in a large group activity, observing where he seems to be most engaged. Mrs. Janes must be open and willing to accept Salim’s differences as not worse or better than her culture’s, but as new opportunities for engaging herself and her students, opening up the learning space for new perspectives in the classroom. Salim can teach us more than we realize just with his presence, but until we realize this, we will continue to feel as though supporting him is more of a hindrance to us, and less of an opportune learning experience for our classroom and our society.

Bibliography

Bačáková, Markéta. (2011). Developing inclusive educational practices for refugee children in the Czech Republic. Intercultural Education. 22(2), 163-175.


Brooker, Liz. (2005). Learning to be a Child. Cultural Diversity and early years ideology. Critical Issues in Early Childhood Education. 115-130.


Pacini-Ketchabaw, V. (Ed.) (2010). Flows, Rhythms and Intensities of early childhood education curriculum. NY: Peter Lang.


Taylor, Sandra & Sidhu, Ravinder Kaur. (2012). Supporting refugee students in schools: what constitutes inclusive education? International Journal of Inclusive Education. 16(1), 39-56.


Thomas, Gordon. (2012). Our Common Humanity Connects Us. ATA Magazine. 92(3), 2-7.

Casework Assignment 8: Module 5: Visual Case Study: Tammy

Strengths

-          Art, Vocal Public Speech, Listening, Language Comprehension, Juggling many activities

Concerns

-          Writing, Reading is average, Math reasoning, Focusing in the classroom

What We Know

Tammy is a student who finds herself interested in subjects that are not being pushed at her. In school, she struggles to keep her grades up in reading and writing comprehension, however, she receives awards and is recorded as gifted in art, public speech and listening comprehension. It’s when she is asked to write that Tammy struggles, and therefore she has a hard time with math, the areas where her parents want her to improve in for university. Tammy may qualify as learning disabled in the gifted range, just because her reading and listening skills are so high, while she struggles with her grades.

In the first video clip, we watch as Tammy draws a very fine piece of art during her teacher’s lecture. Her teacher explains to her that she needs to pay attention to him, and put the drawing away. She explains that the drawing helps her to focus. Her teacher may or may not realize this, but for some students, doodling and sketching can help certain people focus while they are listening. She might have caught every word he said, but since he doesn’t see her writing it down, he feels that she missed the whole thing. As teachers, we have to become more aware of what our students are capable of and the best way for them to focus and learn. 

IEP for Tammy

It’s great that a lot of people have taken interest in Tammy. Obviously, she has a lot of support from her parents and her teachers. I find this very rare in large schools, so Tammy is lucky to have a supportive school. It seems that her support team wants her to succeed in the wrong areas, as her parents have her in math tutoring three times a week, and have even offered to increase this to five times a week. Her parents and teachers might be pushing her to go down a path where she is not built for, and where she doesn’t want to go. When other people are deciding your goals for you, life can be very complicated and mixed up, especially for a young, impressionable person like Tammy. Tammy is also involved in so many other out-of-school activities, and whether her parents are forcing her to do these activities or not, it can be a heavy burden when you are expected to handle so much and keep up with other people’s expectations.

It is unfortunate that her father sees Tammy’s gift of drawing as a “waste of time” and “doodling”, as this is her aspiration to pursue. When I was in high school, I felt a lot like Tammy, for I loved music but my parents wanted me to enter into Engineering for University. Due to this, I forced myself to take major two science classes, Physics and Chemistry, which I struggled with, all while just wanting to play saxophone and go into a music program. In the end, I tried a year of science in university, but ended up switching into music the next year. This may be the case with Tammy, and she might be on the path towards finding what she wants in life. This can be a great challenge when the closest people to you see your gift as a waste.

Tammy’s team of teachers and parents can come together to create her IEP. This is where they will discuss what she succeeds in, and where she seems to struggle.  This is where all sides of the issue can come together to decide where Tammy needs to focus, where she needs to grow, and where in her classes and learning where she is successful and blossoms.

It is interesting that Tammy is stated to have a “disability”. The words we use in education can be misleading, such as “coded”, “disabled”, and “gifted”. Often times, teachers forget that “disability” is not a bad thing, just different. “Gifted” can be mistaken as very good or perfect, and “coded” can be read as negative or a disturbance of some sort in a class. Too often we compare students with “the norm”, but what does this mean? What is normal?  As educators, we must be very careful with how we use IEP terms. When talking to outside sources such as parents, these labels can mix us up and create biases in our minds that are not fair to our students. None of these labels mean that a student is less or greater than anyone else. They are supposed to be used so that we can help our students succeed.

In my opinion, Tammy needs to focus on what makes her happy, not what she struggles at just to fit her parent or teacher’s standard. I feel for Tammy because I was once in her shoes, and she is at a peak in her life where she will never be again, the end of high school, preparing for college or university.  

What Might Be Happening

What actually might be happening in Tammy’s case is that she is very much an auditory, artistic learner, and less strong in the linguistic area of learning. When it comes to writing anything down in words or numbers, Tammy halts and cannot succeed as she does when hearing, drawing or expressing a matter for herself. This is not bad at all. This just means that Tammy’s parents and teachers have to begin to look at how she learns, and adjust her learning to suit her needs. For example, her math teacher might have Tammy draw her concept out, or explain a concept while she draws to help her focus. Tammy claims that drawing helps her to focus, and we should listen to her. Often times, students tell us the best way they learn but cannot explain why it is. Teachers have been using a very linguistic-intelligence teaching base and we expect students to follow suit by expressing their learning by only writing down their learning. Perhaps we have to evaluate why our main form of assessment is writing. Perhaps we can assess students such as Tammy through class presentations, music, art, and dance. There is no limit to how students learn, and so teachers must understand that there are more ways than one to view success in a child. Unfortunately, Tammy is being evaluated by her writing skills, while her skills are dominant in art and speaking. Our society is built on evaluating students based on what they can put down on paper. This needs to change. We must be open to different forms of evaluation in schools, or else students labeled as “artistic”, “dynamic”, “full of energy”, and “talkative” will continue to be labeled as distracted and their talents will not viewed as valuable.

How to Find This Out

To check and see if this is what is happening with Tammy, her teachers need to begin to try new ways of teaching her, and giving her new ways of completing her work to see if she responds better to different forms of learning. For example, her teachers could give her a math presentation project that involves reading different situations of a math problem, sketching graphs, and publicly presenting a math concept to the class. This will be beneficial to see if Tammy can use her reading, speaking and art skills to learn math to get into university. If this is what Tammy wants to do, her teachers and parents must understand her learning style, and begin to experiment with the materials presented to her, and the way she is assessed based on her learning style to bring out her full potential. This is very possible if teachers and parents are willing to open their minds to Tammy’s unique learning self. 

What We Need To Find Out

What does Tammy want? Does she know what she wants to pursue? What does she want to do for life? Is Tammy giving her best efforts to what her parents want her to try in life? Math and University? Or does she simply want to pursue art and not give math a chance? Tammy needs to learn what she wants, and she may not know right now. This is normal, but if she is given the opportunity to know math in a different way, she may find something new and learn more about herself.