Inclusivity in the Classroom

What is Inclusion? 

“…there is an increased interest in the idea of inclusive education. However, the field remains confused as to what this means” (Ainscow & Sandill, 2010, p.1). The best explanation I discovered is given as “…inclusion has to be seen as anever-ending search to find better ways of responding to diversity.” 

My teaching zone

My area of teaching and learning is Maths classroom, mainly middle school. This is not a subject that all students like and the presence of diversity in the classroom adds to the difficulty. Classrooms are a hub of diversity. As we are more and more moving to a global citizen, with students of different cultures together, without inclusion, “…many such students can feel very uncomfortable and out of place.” (Devlin &McKay, 2014, p.5).

My Strategies

There are 2 parts of Maths learning that I focus on:

1. Conceptual clarity

2. Positive attitude to Maths.

In order to have a class with inclusion, I use a specific strategy for each.

Flexible Grouping -Conceptual clarity

“A wide variety of research supports the practice of students reading, discussing, and negotiating meaning in cooperative and collaborative groups.” (Keyes, Puzio & Jiménez, 2014, p.5).

A typical class for a new concept starts with my explanation using the teaching aids. This is followed by students in their study groups discussing the learning and solving problems given by me. When the students feel ready, I ask them to move back to individual work and solve some problems on their own to ensure that they have learnt the concept well.

The students hence move from whole group to small group to individual group.

The movement from whole group to small groups is all together. However, from small groups to individual work is flexible. They chose when to move to work individually with broader time guidelines.

Those who find it difficult to work alone even after a long session with peers, work with me around my table. The rest of the class does extended work at that time. This ensures that everyone gets a chance to move forward as much as possible.

My objective is to build awareness in the students so that slowly they take charge of the movement. “One way to support students in building autonomy is to offer opportunities for them to make choices about how and what they will learn.” 

Differentiation of product - Positive Attitude

Students come with varied skills in any group. In order to give exposure to everyone to select and showcase their chief skill set, I organize projects and allow students to choose their way to present the product.

For example, when they worked on a project to find the height of an object outdoors using only a ruler but without climbing, (Ratio and Proportion), they had choice on how to present the work.

I discovered unique skills in the students when I received the products. Some examples are:

1. A picture book that had pictures of the students working with close ups of calculations and solution. One student was good at Maths and another at photography.

2. A video from another group where they shot themselves working on the project. One student was good at Maths and another at videography.

3. A think booklet from a group that wrote in detail the objective, process and outcomes. This was a language dominated group

To ensure that all students had learnt the skills of Maths required with the other skills used to create the product, during project presentations I asked each members of the group random questions. This ensured that everyone was well aware of all the skills used to develop the products.

Everyone felt important. “Nothing de-values somebody more than being made to feel like their skills aren't important …” ().

Conclusion

I am quite taken up by this statement: “Difference is our greatest renewable resource.”

This captures the essence of inclusion for me. If we treat difference as a resource instead of a problem, we will keep growing in our own capacities till we are able to create a classroom where all students feel that they are learning something.

Every teacher will turn into a pedagogue!