How Responsive Pedagogy Can Meet the Diverse Learning Needs of Students and Foster Inclusive

Classrooms

For teachers the task of fostering a truly inclusive environment within schools is a substantial
challenge however it is a challenge which is essential in meeting the diverse learning needs of all
students. Inclusion is defined by Loreman, Deppeler and Harvey (2011) as the full participation of all
students in all aspects of schooling. This definition doesn't mean changing school based tasks to be
significantly different for specific individual students but rather that the methods of learning should
be responsive to student's needs and to adapt and change to meet these needs so that all students
have an opportunity to undertake the same tasks. For teachers to achieve the inclusion of students
with varying abilities and intellectual disabilities, such as students with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD), teachers will require several skills and methods which support diverse needs.

Current educational settings contain students with a vast range of learning needs arising
from cultural or linguistic diversity, gender, disabilities and varying levels of ability. As a result of this
diversity, Australia has seen various changes in views about inclusion and the development of
legislation in relation to students with additional needs within educational settings. The 1970's saw a
shift towards views supportive of inclusion within Australian educational systems with the
implementation of the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act which states that all Australians should be
treated equally irrespective of their race, national or ethnic origin, descent, colour, or immigration
status (Poed and Elkins, 2009). This act was followed by several other anti-discrimination acts such as
the 1984 Sex Discrimination Act. These acts were also supported by the NSW State legislations; the
1997 Anti-Discrimination Act and the 1997 Ethnic Affairs Amendment Act. For each of the social
groups listed above, these acts aimed to prevent making distinctions on individuals based on
characteristics other than their individual merits (Youth Action and Policy Association, 2002). These
acts demonstrate the Australian Governments changes in views towards the removal of barriers
faced by specific demographics however these acts didn't necessarily ensure the inclusion of these
demographics within education systems.

Following these developing views against discrimination the Disability Discrimination Act
1992 which entitled students with disabilities to the same opportunities as all other students by
giving disabled students the legal right to enrol in regular schools and made it illegal for educational
establishments to discriminate against students based on disabilities (Poed and Elkins, 2009). This
act contained a further condition which did allow discrimination for cases in which not discriminating
would cause "unjustifiable hardship" for the school, teacher or other students. This was a large step
towards the encouragement of inclusion in Australian education systems. In order to standardise
how educational systems viewed and evaluated disabilities, as well as clarify the legal obligations of
the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, the Disability Standards for Education 2005 was introduced
by the Commonwealth Government. These standards covered the enrolment of students with
disabilities, the expectations of these students participation within school tasks, how curriculums
and the delivery of these curriculums should be developed to include these students and the
elimination of discrimination towards these students.

As a result of the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 changes were
also made to the Education Act, first implemented in 1872. These changes also promote the
inclusion of all students regardless of their intellectual differences or learning needs within
educational systems (Loreman, Deppeler and Harvey 2011). These changes in views and
implementation of legislation schools and teachers became required to accommodate the needs of
all students and adjust their teaching methods and attitudes in order to ensure that all students can
participate within the same practices. These changes are evident within current school and teaching
policies such as the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers which contains standards such as
1.5: "Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of
abilities" (2012).

In order to ensure the inclusion of all students regardless of their intellectual differences or
diverse learning needs within a classroom environment, teachers require a variety of skills and the
ability to make adjustments and accommodations for all students. These skills are not only needed
to accommodate students with learning difficulties but also to accommodate gifted students. While
applying individualised programming for each student in order to meet these needs may seem like a
simple solution Loreman, Deppeler and Harvey (2011) note that this is only an effective and inclusive
strategy when every student in a class has the same access to individualised programs. Rather than
attempting this strategy Loreman, Deppeler and Harvey suggests that the methods of learning
should be responsive to student's needs and as such should adapt and change to meet these needs
so that all students have an opportunity to undertake the same tasks.

This method of adapting pedagogy to be responsive to the diverse needs of students can be
summarised by the umbrella term differentiation. Differentiation is the use of a combination of tools
of strategies and tools which can be used by a teacher to promote the learning and inclusion of all
students within a classroom (Glenda Beamon Crawford, 2008).Differentiation can be applied to
assessment, curriculum design and instruction. This section will discuss specific skills which come
under differentiation and relate them to the inclusion of students with a focus on students with ASD
(Autism Spectrum Disorder). Most regular schools won't contain students who are level three on the
Autism Spectrum so the strategies discussed in this section will be specifically targeted at students
who are levels one or two on the spectrum.

While the content which students learn will be the same within an inclusive classroom, the
way method in which content is delivered to students can be altered to respond to their different
needs. Different learners can have different learning styles and by using a mix of these styles
teachers can support a greater range of student needs. These styles are auditory learning; which can
make use of teaching methods and tools such as speaking, music or recorded audio, visual learning;
which uses tools such as pictures, diagrams, use of colour and videos to present content to learners
and kinaesthetic learning which makes use of games, models, tactile equipment and role playing to
teach content (Adewunmi Payne-Akinhanmi, 2015). Using these methods is effective because they
can all be used within a single class. For instance a learner with ASD may have impaired
communication skills and a hypersensitivity towards certain sounds, for this reason the use of
auditory learning practices may not be effective in the inclusion of this student, however there may
be more success with the use of visual or kinaesthetic teaching methods (Autism Spectrum Australia,
2017). It should be noted that a key part of using differentiation is that teachers know their students
and their unique traits before differentiation can be a useful tool.

Even with the use of differentiated teaching methods some students may still require
additional support which can go beyond the classroom setting, these measures can often be needed
for students with learning difficulties, such as students with ASD. For learners such as this teachers
may require more coordinated planning and preparation. De Boer's (2014) Components of Autism
Inclusion Model recommends that to promote the inclusion of students with ADS teachers could
make a coordinated and planned team commitment, have specific training and receive additional
supports, ensure they provide appropriate instructional methods and behavioural intervention
methods for learners with ADS, make accommodations and modifications for individuals, provide
sufficient support and resources for these learners, continually evaluate student progress and
collaborate with the family of the student and other personnel involved with the student. The extent
of how many of these supports are used are dependent on the learner and while the use of such
individualized supports may be seen as an impediment in the inclusion of a student with a regular
classroom setting, this additional support may be necessary for the student to partake in the same
content and tasks as their peers.

Supporting an inclusive classroom environment goes beyond students with learning

difficulties as an inclusive classroom will also contain students who are considered gifted in one or
more areas. Similar to the approaches taken for students with learning difficulties it is important that
gifted students are able to partake in the content and tasks of a regular classroom. While providing
individualised learning programs or specialised classes for these students seems like an attractive
method it does not promote inclusion. This approach also has issues as gifted students may only
show aptitude for specific forms of intelligences or skills rather than all of them, it is important that
they are appropriately supported for all of their skills not just those they excel at. Once again the use
of differentiation is an effective tool for overcoming this issue. For gifted students teachers could
provide tasks which are more advanced, this doesn't mean more work than the other students but
work that completed to a higher standard. This can be done with the same tasks as the rest of the
class if the task supports a range of methods in ways it can be completed from basic to advanced
(Teachers first, 2017). This could be through the possibility of using technology to differentiate a task
or content, for instance within a music KLA a student could undertake the same composition task
but could use a variety of technological approaches such as notating their composition with the use
of notation software or by creating a mix of midi tracks using programs such as Ableton. Teachers
could incorporate different forms of Gardner's (1999) multiple intelligences, the theory that
individuals have several different types of intelligences, e.g. mathematical-logical intelligence,
existential intelligence, etc, into their teaching method as a form of differentiation to support gifted
students as well as other students. For using these approaches teachers might develop skills of being
informed on new technologies and of having an advanced knowledge of their curriculum.

Teachers can make use of numerous skills in order to promote inclusion within classrooms.
Knowing their students by building observing their learning and building a rapport with students
better informs the teacher's understanding of the students needs. With this greater level of
understanding teachers could better prepare their lessons and times to make compromises to
support the diversity of their class as well as apply forms of communication which also support this
diversity. On top of these skills teachers reflecting on the effectiveness of their current methods and
whether their level of assistance for individual students is supportive of the inclusion of that student
is essential in improving and promoting inclusion within a regular classroom (Pearce, Gray &
Campbell-Evans, 2009).
 The task of promoting an inclusive school environment for students regardless of their
learning abilities is complex and challenging. By developing and implementing several skills and by
differentiating school tasks and contents teachers can better promote an inclusive environment
which support the full participation of students in all aspects of schooling. By using responsive
methods of learning teachers can provide support the learning needs of students with learning
difficulties such as ASD, regular students and gifted students all within the same social environment
and with the same opportunities.

Hayden Clark

17705484

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