Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two

Understanding Inclusive Learning and Teaching

All together now...
One of the most m!ortant thn"s an edu#ator must do as !art of ther role s to ensure$
as mentoned n Task One$ that all students are "%en an e&ualty of o!!ortunty n
su##essful learnn" to the best of an edu#ator's ablty( )n order to do ths an edu#ator
must ensure that all students are n#luded n a#t%e !art#!aton wthn the learnn"
en%ronment by takn" sto#k of the needs and abltes of e%ery student and makn" sure
that those needs and abltes are #atered for(
*+#luson #an o##ur due to a ran"e of d%erse ssues su#h as a"e$ ra#e$ #ultural
ba#k"round$ rel"on$ "ender and any one of the %aryn" !hys#al$ mental or #o"nt%e
lmtatons that an nd%dual learner may be sub,e#t to( Of #ourse$ the edu#atonal
nsttuton has some duty to hel! a learner o%er#ome as many of these barrers as
!ossble by #reatn" an en%ronment that bulds a #ohes%e learnn" #ommunty whlst
#elebratn" the %arous dfferen#es between the %aryn" ds!arate "rou!s that t ser%es-
t #an do ths by #reatn" and enfor#n" !ol#es and !ro#edures to ths effe#t( .owe%er$
n the #lassroom$ t s the edu#ator's duty to do the hands on work of n#lus%e learnn"
and tea#hn"(
/s #o%ered n Task One$ an edu#ator must talor ther #ourse #ontent so that t s
a##essble to e%ery student re"ardless of ther learnn" style and any other barrers they
may en#ounter durn" ther learnn" e+!eren#e( 0el%ern" the #ourse #ontent n
%arous ways su#h as the old1style 2le#ture' wth !lenty of %sual$ audo and !ra#t#al
e+am!les and demonstratons wll en"a"e students whate%er ther learnn" style but
one must also embed the e&ualty and d%ersty n the #ourse #ontent as well( 3or
e+am!le$ when #reatn" handouts or !resentatons$ t s m!ortant to #hoose !#tures
that refle#t the d%erse members of the #ommunty to sublmnally buld n an a##e!tan#e
that not all !eo!le wll be whte 4rtsh$ for nstan#e( The more e+am!les of the d%erse
nature of nd%duals the more n"raned the !rn#!les of e&ualty and d%ersty wll be(
/s a result of embeddn" e&ualty and d%ersty ssues wthn the #ourse #ontent$ the
"reater the sense of a shared learnn" e+!eren#e wll be !rodu#ed wthn the #lassroom
and the fewer barrers the students wll fa#e(
)t s also a "ood dea to h"hl"ht the dfferen#es between nd%duals n a !ost%e
manner n a whole #lass bass( 5roblems between nd%duals #omes from a
msunderstandn" of the %arous dfferen#es and the stereoty!#al ma"es that are
for#ed u!on !eo!le by the meda n all ts "uses so n#ludn" some !ost%e #o%era"e of
the %arous dfferen#es when the o!!ortunty arses #an hel! ds!el the myths and
ms#on#e!tons students ha%e and thereby #reatn" a better #ommunty of learners(
4y #hoosn" to address the %arous learnn" styles and e&ualty and d%ersty ssues
wthn the edu#atonal en%ronment$ students feel more at ease wthn the #lassroom
settn"$ barrers to learnn" are o%er#ome and e%ery student feels as thou"h they are
e&ually %alued and n#luded n the lesson and as a !erson- ths wll enhan#e ther
1
Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two
learnn" e+!eren#e$ wll lead to su##essful learnn" and mantan a h"h le%el of
mot%aton and "ood beha%our(
Some of the thn"s ) ha%e done to be a fully n#lus%e edu#ator s to make sure that my
handouts are ty!ed n font s6e 14 wh#h has been a##e!ted as the mnmum s6e font
for !eo!le wth %sual m!arments and usn" easly understandable lan"ua"e
re"ardless of the le%el of the #ourse ) am #ontrbutn" to so that all le%els of ltera#y are
#atered for(
To embed the bas# !hloso!hy of e&ualty and d%ersty n the #ourse #ontent ) ha%e
wrtten for the work ) ha%e done wth so#al work students ) ha%e n#luded a d%erse
ran"e of e+am!les wthn the !ra#t#al e+er#ses( 3or e+am!le$ ) wrote a "rou! a#t%ty
about #ommun#aton sklls for a so#al work #ourse n wh#h the students had to
un#o%er a ser%#e user's se#ret re"ardn" n,ures they sustaned$ the 2%#tms' n#luded
an elderly !erson$ a #hld$ a member of an ethn# mnorty$ a trans%estte and a !erson
wth an unda"nosed mental health ssue( 7) ha%e n#luded the full "rou! a#t%ty
e+er#se as an a!!end+ to ths essay(8
Building success takes resources
Of #ourse$ the only way to ensure that su##essful tea#hn" and learnn" takes !la#e s
wth the most nterestn" and %ared resour#es that #an be used to a#he%e a fully
n#lus%e sesson(
The r#hest resour#e that an edu#ator #an ta! does not #ome from !a!er or audo or
%deo but from the students themsel%es as the students #ome nto the #lassroom wth a
wealth of %aryn" ba#k"rounds$ e+!eren#es and dffern" %ew!onts all of wh#h #an be
used to talor one's #ourse #ontent and to "ude the ne#essary #han"es needed to
make one's materal as n#lus%e as !ossble(
9hlst the students themsel%es are a r#h resour#e that does not mean that !eo!le from
outsde the learnn" en%ronment #annot also be #onsdered a tea#hn" resour#e as
rea#hn" out to nd%duals for ther e+!ertse to a#t n the #a!a#ty as "uest s!eakers
#an also en"a"e students by "%n" them a new !ers!e#t%e on the sub,e#t matter ben"
#o%ered(
/s mentoned earler$ thn"s lke audo and %deo #an be an entertann" and useful
resour#e n n#lus%e tea#hn" as they ta! dre#tly nto the ways that nd%duals learn as
shown on the cone of learning 7#o%ered n Task One8 and the audtory and %sual
learnn" styles( These resour#es #an also !ro%de a wel#ome break from the same
%o#e and del%ery style of a sn"le edu#ator thus re1en"a"n" learners(
.andouts are an e+#ellent way of !ro%dn" nformaton for later #onsum!ton or re%son
!ur!oses allown" an edu#ator to #on#entrate ther efforts on the more !ra#t#al sde of
makn" ther !resentaton more en"a"n" and kee!n" the flow of a sesson #onsstent
by remo%n" some of the stran on the student for takn" notes( Ths s es!e#ally
hel!ful f the students are slow at takn" notes and allown" them to stay u! to s!eed
2
Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two
wth the #ontent ben" del%ered by the edu#ator( Of #ourse$ handouts must be of an
a##essble nature takn" nto a##ount font s6e$ the font used and usn" #l! art and
!hoto"ra!hs to llustrate the #ontent of the handout for those who may ha%e dff#ulty
wth readn"(
/n nterestn" %arety of handout s the "lossary of terms that an edu#ator #an !rodu#e
to e+!lan any te#hn#al lan"ua"e or stran"e termnolo"y so that students #an refer to t
n the e%ent that they ha%e for"otten the %arous terms that they wll en#ounter durn"
ther sessons( Ths does not$ howe%er$ "%e the edu#ator the e+#use for not e+!lann"
the termnolo"y n the frst !la#e(
The use of a Smart4oard s !art#ularly useful as an edu#ator #an show 5ower5ont
!resentatons and %deo #l!s on t and #an sa%e any nformaton that they ha%e
handwrtten on the board n an ele#tron# format for dstrbuton and for future referen#e
n later lessons(
3l!#hart !a!er #an be used to allow students to "et down ther thou"hts durn" "rou!
a#t%tes wh#h #an then be used to hel! them when they feed those thou"hts ba#k to
the lar"er "rou! and wh#h #an also be ds!layed on the walls durn" sessons to allow
an e+#han"e of nformaton between smaller "rou!s( The fl!#hart !a!er #an also be
retaned by the edu#ator or the "rou!s themsel%es for later referen#e(
To fully en"a"e students$ an edu#ator should ensure that there are !lenty of !ra#t#al
e+er#ses for the students to "et to "r!s wth the #ourse #ontent n a hands1on way for
those students who learn best by don" thn"s rather than ,ust lstenn" or seen" them(
:ole !lay s#enaros$ f a!!ro!rate to the sub,e#t$ are a "ood way of embeddn" e&ualty
and d%ersty by !ro%dn" students wth o!!ortuntes to !ut themsel%es n the shoes of
someone from a dfferent ba#k"round es!e#ally f a student from that ba#k"round s n
the same "rou!$ allown" that student to offer ther o!non on whether the role!layer
a#ted n an a!!ro!rate way for someone of that ba#k"round(
;sts to lo#atons that ha%e a s!e#f# rele%an#e to the sub,e#t ben" #o%ered are a
"ood way of "%n" students a break from the usual learnn" en%ronment and the sm!le
#han"e of s#ene #an ren%"orate a student's enthusasm(
There are many more e+am!les of %arous resour#es that #an be used wthn a sesson
and ) ha%e used many of them n my own !ra#t#e but there s a s!e#f# one ) would lke
to menton that has !ro%ed %ery su##essful < the parking board( / !arkn" board s
nothn" s!e#al n and of tself but #an be a %aluable resour#e( / !arkn" board #an be
ether a fl!#hart or whte board of some des#r!ton onto wh#h !onts rased by
students that do not ne#essarly ft the man to!# of the sesson but are nonetheless
m!ortant #an be wrtten so that they do not slow down the man fo#us of learnn" for the
sesson but #an be #o%ered later n the sesson f there s tme or #an !ro%de the
edu#ator wth materal for a later sesson(
The "ood thn" about usn" a !arkn" board s that students wll always feel that they
3
Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two
#an ask &uestons and know that they wll heard and wll ha%e those &uestons
answered at some !ont( Ths s an essental way of makn" e%ery student feel n#luded
n the sesson e%en f ther !ont s a lttle off1to!#(
:esour#es$ howe%er$ are not ne#essarly always a !ost%e thn" and #an a#tually
be#ome a #onstrant( Ths s es!e#ally true of te#hnolo"#al resour#es su#h as
Smart4oards wh#h #an be a ma,or #onstrant on an edu#ator f the #om!uter network
on wh#h the board reles breaks down( )t s for ths %ery reason that an edu#ator must
ha%e a ba#ku! set of resour#es su#h as handouts of 5ower5ont !resentatons to be
shown or fl!#hart !a!er for the sa%n" of handwrtten notes wh#h #an then be ty!ed u!
for handouts later( )f the sub,e#t re&ures a !art#ular #om!uter !ro"ram$ t may be
useful to !ro%de nd%dual w!e boards wth s#reenshots of the !ro"ram so that some
ntal work #an be done ds#ussn" the menus and the %sual look of the !ro"ram whlst
the malfun#ton s ben" re#tfed by the #om!uter en"neer(
Of #ourse$ resour#es$ n whate%er format they #ome$ are no "ood f they do not hel! the
students "ras! the sub,e#t they are ben" tau"ht so e%ery resour#e should be e%aluated
as to ts effe#t%eness n !ro%dn" the students wth the best o!!ortunty to learn
su##essfully( Ths #an be done by re%ewn" ea#h student's !ro"ress wth the sub,e#t n
relaton to the resour#es ben" used and #han"n" the resour#es to more hel!ful ones f
they or"nal ones !ro%e to be found wantn"(
)f a resour#e s found to be !art#ularly effe#t%e$ t should stll be re"ularly e%aluated to
ensure that t remans u!1to1date and rele%ant to the sub,e#t ben" tau"ht wth any
rele%ant #han"es made as soon as !ossble(
Functionally speaking
3un#tonal sklls #o%er what used to be #alled =tera#y$ Numera#y and )nformaton
Commun#aton Te#hnolo"y 7)CT8 sklls and are so #alled be#ause they are the sklls
needed to be fun#tonally n#luded n lfe both n the work and so#al s!heres(
)t has been determned by e+!erts that to be a fun#tonally n#luded nd%dual n today's
so#ety$ a !erson must ha%e fun#tonal sklls at =e%el > on the &ualf#atons framework
wh#h e&uates to ?CS* "rades C < /(
3un#tonal sklls are d%ded nto three broad #ate"ores < Commun#aton 7=tera#y8$
/!!l#aton of Number 7Numera#y8 and )nformaton Commun#aton Te#hnolo"y <
althou"h #ommun#aton #rosses the whole ran"e of fun#tonal sklls as t s not enou"h
to be able to use #om!uters$ for nstan#e$ but to be able to #ommun#ate and !resent
nformaton found throu"h the use of )CT(
3un#tonal sklls are dfferent from the more a#adem# sub,e#ts of *n"lsh =an"ua"e$
Mathemat#s and )nformaton Commun#aton Te#hnolo"y n that the fo#us of fun#tonal
sklls s the real world a!!l#aton of those sub,e#ts( Ths s rather an m!ortant
dstn#ton be#ause a !erson may ha%e a "ras! of the a#adem# sub,e#t but ha%e no
skll n a!!lyn" that knowled"e n a real world stuaton and %#e %ersa(
4
Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two
Commun#aton #o%ers lstenn" and s!eakn"$ readn" and wrtn" meann" that a
student who su##essfully #om!letes the #ommun#aton #om!onent of fun#tonal sklls
wll be able to #arry on #on%ersatons n an understandable way$ wll be able to read at a
suff#ent le%el and #an wrte understandable letters$ et#(
/!!l#aton of Number #o%ers ben" able to nter!ret numer#al nformaton$ #arry out
#al#ulatons$ nter!ret the results of those #al#ulatons and !resent the fndn"s( /s you
#an see$ #ommun#aton s an nte"ral !art of ths skll set as a student would need to
ha%e the rele%ant le%el of skll n #ommun#aton to be able to !resent any fndn"s
resultn" from the other !arts of ths sklls set( )t s m!ortant to remember that
/!!l#aton of Number s based on real world a!!l#aton of numer#al sklls and should
therefore !re!are a student for e%eryday lfe(
)nformaton Commun#aton Te#hnolo"y #o%ers the sklls re&ured to fnd nformaton
usn" )CT$ to de%elo! that nformaton and to !resent the nformaton( /"an$
#ommun#aton sklls are re!resented wthn ths sklls set by the need to be able to
ade&uately !resent the nformaton found and de%elo!ed throu"h the use of )CT(
9hlst t s !ossble to fnd s!e#f# #ourses n fun#tonal sklls$ t s m!ortant to note that
they are now an nte"ral !art of all #ourses wth embeddn" of fun#tonal sklls a
re&ured !art of the #urr#ulum( 9e shall now look at how fun#tonal sklls #an be
embedded n my own sub,e#t area of mental health awareness(
9thn my #urrent !ra#t#e ) use an audo re#ordn" as a way of en"a"n" the students
emotons and buld em!athy wth a sufferer of de!resson after wh#h ) ask the students
how the re#ordn" made them feel so that they not only ha%e to lsten #arefully to the
re#ordn" but ha%e to #ommun#ate those feeln"s to the rest of the "rou!( ) also
n#lude wrtten e+am!les of !oetry for them to read and ha%e #reated a note1takn"
a#t%ty to en#oura"e them to a#t%ely lsten to a real lfe story n wh#h #ertan
n#onssten#es are added that they must not only #at#h but ha%e wrtten down n ther
notes(
) #urrently do not use )CT wthn my sessons e+#e!t as a means to show 5ower5ont
!resentatons$ howe%er$ ) ha%e a wealth of webstes from wh#h ) ha%e "aned many
e+am!les of self hel! tools for !eo!le wth mental health ssues and$ should the
o!!ortunty arse$ ) #ould well embed )CT sklls wthn my sessons by en#oura"n"
students to look u! some of the e+am!les ) #an dre#t them to on the nternet and then
sear#h for ther own usn" a sear#h en"ne( )t s also nterestn" to note that some of
the tools ) ha%e found may need some ada!tn" for nd%dual use so ) #ould en#oura"e
them to use other #om!uter !ro"rams to alter the forms$ et# for ther own !art#ular use
as a way of both de%elo!n" and !resentn" nformaton they ha%e found(
There are also a number of Smart!hone a!!s that #an hel! a !erson #o!e wth #ertan
mental health #ondtons that #ould be #o%ered n a lesson(
5
Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two
*mbeddn" /!!l#aton of Number s sl"htly harder but not m!ossble n my sub,e#t
area( There are o!!ortuntes to nter!ret "ra!hs !rodu#ed by some of the Smart!hone
a!! mentoned earler wh#h show the rsn" and falln" le%els of de!resson n an
nd%dual and there are other statst#s !rodu#ed shown" the le%els of stress$ an+ety
and de!resson o%er tme too( Takn" some of the statst#s$ t may be !ossble to
ntrodu#e the #on#e!ts of the %arous ty!es of a%era"es and offer the students a #han#e
to #al#ulate the dfferent a%era"es on ther own results(
) ha%e also used dfferent #oloured seatn" n an attem!t to demonstrate some of the
#ommon statst#s n mental health awareness n a real$ meann"ful and !ra#t#al way(
3or e+am!le$ n a "rou! of twenty students ) had f%e red seats nd#atn" the
!er#enta"e of !eo!le who may statst#ally suffer from a mental health #ondton 7>5@
or 1:48 and four blue seats nd#atn" the !er#enta"e of !eo!le who may statst#ally
suffer from de!resson 7>0@ or 1:58( The rest of the seatn" was "reen n #olour to
re!resent the "eneral !o!ulaton( ) ha%e not done so n the !ast but$ to embed
/!!l#aton of Number nto my work ) #ould$ show the statst#s n the %arous dfferent
ways as ) ha%e done so here(
Rules of the gae
/n m!ortant !art of mantann" ds#!lne wthn an edu#atonal settn" s the settn" of
"round rules and ths also allows an o!!ortunty to embed n#lus%ty nto the "rou!
settn" mmedately as well(
There are #ertan rules that an edu#atonal nsttuton or le"slaton sets su#h as .ealth
and Safety "udelnes but t s m!ortant that only the most m!ortant rules are "%en to
the students at the outset of a #ourse as !res#r!t%e rules are lkely to alenate
students( )t s essental that "round rules are set n #ollaboraton wth students so that
they feel a sense of ownersh! and are more lkely to be wlln" to #om!ly wth them
than rules m!osed on them(
/lthou"h the "round rules should be ke!t #on#se and to the mnmum$ to mbed
n#lus%ty$ all su""estons should be taken from the students so that e%eryone feels that
ther #ontrbuton has been heard and #onsdered( The su""estons should then
whttled down as a "rou! to a mana"eable number of rules that "an #onsensus
a!!ro%al$ a"an ensurn" that e%ery student feels as thou"h they ha%e had a %o#e n the
!ro#ess(
The m!ortan#e of tryn" to #on#entrate on a more !ost%ely toned set of "round rules s
not to be underestmated as students are more lkely to look more kndly on a set of
!ost%e "udelnes than ne"at%e rules( 0s#!lne s more easly a#he%ed wth a softer
tou#h than an ron fst althou"h that t not to say that harsher rules should not be a!!led
f the stuaton "ets out of hand(
To take an e+am!le from real lfe$ the tutor on the #ourse ) am #urrently takn" only "a%e
one rule at the start of the frst sesson and that was the rules re"ardn" the fre e+ts
and what to do n the #ase of a fre alarm( The students were then "%en the o!!ortunty
6
Myles Cook Student Number: 50137714 Task Two
to su""est "round rules( The rules were mostly #ommon sense ones and were worded
n a !ost%e manner su#h as Af you need to ha%e your moble !hone on$ !lease kee! t
on slentB rather than Ano moble !hones allowed n the roomB or Aall moble !hones to
be turned offB(
On#e the students ha%e had a #han#e to #ollaborate on settn" the "round rules$ any
further m!ortant rules set by le"slaton or the edu#atonal nsttuton should be
ntrodu#ed(
The key to iproveent
One of the most m!ortant tools n the a#he%ement of su##essful n#lus%e tea#hn" and
learnn" s the use of feedba#k( 3eedba#k #an be #onsdered as a ne#essary "ude to
the student wh#h !onts n the dre#ton n wh#h they should "o n order to m!ro%e
ther knowled"e and understandn" of the sub,e#t they are ben" tau"ht and to a#he%e
su##ess(
)t s m!ortant that any feedba#k "%en to a student must be "%en n a tmely fashon so
that they may #orre#t any errors n ther "ras! of the sub,e#t as soon as !ossble and
not #om!ound the errors untl they are nsurmountable( Su#h feedba#k should also be
made as #onstru#t%ely as !ossble and made n a !ost%e manner as feedba#k "%en n
a ne"at%e way #an be more destru#t%e than no feedba#k at all(
)f one needs to "%e ne"at%e !e#es of feedba#k$ they should stll be made n a
#onstru#t%e manner and #on%eyed usn" !ost%e lan"ua"e( Ths wll !ro%de a better
e+!eren#e for the student and s more hel!ful(
Ne"at%e feedba#k should be "%en n !r%ate where%er !ossble so that the student s
not embarrassed n front of ther fellow students and s therefore more lkely to take the
feedba#k n a more !ost%e way(
)t s nterestn" to note that feedba#k s also an m!ortant !art of an edu#ator's learnn"
!ro#ess too as t s from student feedba#k that the effe#t%eness of resour#es #an be
e%aluated and m!ro%ed as well as the edu#ator's del%ery and #ourse #ontent(
3eedba#k s a %tal !art of the !ro#ess of assessment !ro#ess wh#h s the fo#us of Task
Three(
Bi!liography
?ra%ells / 7>0118 Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (4
th
Ed) *+eter:
=earnn" Matters =td
7