English Language Teaching in Public Schools to Ensure a Brighter Learning for Students with

Special Needs in Colombia

ERIKA MAYERLY PERAZA ESPINEL

Paper submitted

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the course

Research 1

Master in English Language Teaching for Self-Directed Learning

Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures

Universidad de La Sabana

Chía, Colombia

November 2019
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1.0 Introduction

How many teachers have asked themselves if they can transform the education provided

by schools starting in their own classes? In this paper, itI will be discussed the essential role that

teachers have in the classrooms, and the aspects teachers need to take into account when we talk

about students’ proficiency in terms of leaning. Given that, as teachers, we need to know that in

our classroom, there would be children with special needs and that one part of those children’s

success depends on teachers. As Ortiz, Amaya, Gallo, & Catañeda (2016) declares that ,

“America Latina teachers have become reflecting on the education of children with special

needs, taking into account diversity. So, this represents the creation of an educational system to

be able to satisfy the needs of children with different kinds of disabilities” ( (p.9). In this regard,

policies and regulations for children with special education needs in Colombia are implemented

by the Ministry of Education, and it aims to include children with special needs within

mainstream classes. However, those educational needs policies would have to be contrasted with

the conditions of Colombian educational institutions, namely, infrastructure, curriculum

organization, materials, working hours, and competences of language teachers (Cardenas, 2006).

On the other hand, to plan and provide an appropriate and inclusive curriculum the

teacher has to observe the children, make assessments, liaise with the parents and the other

professionals who may be involved, and then ensure that the setting is adapted to enable the

children to access the curriculum (Drifte, 2013). Moreover, “children with special needs require

adaptations not only in the curriculum, but also, in some important aspects such as in activities

and the materials only as special as needed” (Early Intervention Technical Assistance, 1995,

p.2). For these reasons, one key characteristic of a quality of educational needs program in

Colombia is a curriculum that is based on developmentally appropriate practice.

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2.0 Theoretical Framework

2.1 Inclusive Education

Inclusive education is responding to the diversity of needs of our students without

excluding them because of their weaknesses in different areas. Stubbs (2008) said, “Inclusive

education refers to a wide range of strategies, activities, and processes that seek to make a reality

of the universal right to quality, relevant and appropriate education” (p.8). In the mean time,

Shucksmith (2000) remarks that “The concept of educational inclusion was now set in the much

wider context of ‘social inclusion’, implying concern about all those of all ages who were

marginalized, unproductive and non-participative in society” (as cited in Cline & Frederickson,

2015, p. 9). On the other hand, the term inclusion has been accepted as common parlance within

today’s education system and indeed in wider society (Howley, 2007, p.10).

Likewise, National Center on Educational Restructuring and Inclusion defines inclusive

education as the provision of services to students with disabilities, giving them the necessary

support services and supplementary aids to achieve the child´s successful academic, behavioral

and social (as cited in Shyman, 2015). Thus, inclusive education does not only refer to students

with disabilities, but it is also a special educational requirement of students with learning

difficulties, emotional or behavioral problems.

On the other hand, inclusive education in Colombia is when a teacher recognizes the

particularities of diversity in the classroom, allowing students to have the same learning

opportunities. Ainscow (2003) argues that it is a process for adequate forms to respond to

diversity, taking advantage of learning differences students can have in order to achieve

sustainable changes (as cited in Robayo Acuña & Cárdenas, 2017). In this regard, inclusive
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education in Colombia looks for the success of all students, notwithstanding the difficulties they

have in their learning process.

2.1.1 National and international Policies in Inclusive Education

Colombia has educative support for inclusive education to students who have some

difficulties in their learning process. In addition, It seeks to support teachers that have students

with any special need implementing and adapt the curriculum and the evaluation process

according to the strategies and conditions established by the MEN (Ministerio de Educacion

Nacional, 2016). Furthermore, the system aims to include children with special needs within

mainstream classes; however, there is still much room for improvement. For that reason, teachers

must know the national policies of children with special needs to create and adapt an adequate

curriculum and evaluation process according to children´s needs.

Also, with the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD), the

Colombian state has transformed practices and regulations implementing and evaluating public

policies that include persons with disabilities and seek to protect and respect their human rights

(Correa & Castro, 2016). Also, Also, Colombia now has a National Disability and Social

Inclusion Policy, adopted in 2013, this document is centered on the CRPD and promotes the

social management of risk when addressing disability. Although this may be true, it is a fact that

some schools may be limited, and they may not satisfy all students’ needs. So, in these cases, the

teacher needs to find a way to develop and implementing the necessary adaptations to ensure the

children’s learning process. With this in mind, in the field of foreign languages in Colombia,

Mejía (2011) refers to The National Program of Bilingualism as a need for implementing

language policies that allow the inclusion of all the languages and cultures present in the country.

Furthermore, de Mejia suggested finding some possible directions for bilingual education
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programs to enhance the recognition and valuing of linguistic and cultural diversity in our

country. Thus, it is necessary to implement a bilingual curriculum that helps each student in the

learning process according her/his special learning case.

On the other side, we also find some international policies in inclusive education. The

United Nations emphasizes the need for an inclusive educational system intending to realize this

right without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an

inclusive education system at all levels (Lawson, 2018). Also, the organization UNICEF (2007)

addresses the specific needs of children with severe and complex sensory impairments for access

to specific supports to learning such as sign language, Braille and low vision aids. But in this

case, children with special needs may also need modifications to the curriculum, to styles of

teaching, to the evaluating process and the organization of the classroom.

2.2 Special Educational Needs

Sometimes people confuse the terms when we talk about children with disabilities, and

children with special needs. Those concepts are totally different and the adaptation in the

curricula varies according to each case. I thought that both were the same and I was not sure

about it all, but Tthe distinction between them helps me to understand the way that teachers I

need to take for implementing the learning processes in the classroom. Kalambouka, Farrell,

Dyson, & Kaplan (2007) define children with special needs as students who have special

educational needs that require different strategies to learn and to interact with others in an

educational environment (cited by (Montaño & Vera, 2012). In contrast, the Ministerio de

Educación Nacional in the Decree N° 366 of 2009 points out that one student is considered as a

child with special needs when she/he has a deficit that affects his/her academic performance in
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an educational environment and which has a clear disadvantage in relation to the other students

(Ministerio de Educacion Nacional, 2016).

Indeed, these perspectives of special educational needs open the possibility that students

with special needs may be able to achieve successful learning processes with the school, teachers

and parents’ help. In this regard, one of the most important things is the teachers’ role in their

classroom, the strategies they implement, and the compromise they have to help children with

special needs in their learning processes.

2.2.1 Teaching Strategies for Special Educational Needs Children

Teachers need to find many of the teaching strategies to ensure that children with special

needs achieve productive learning, as Nind & Wearmouth (2006) suggest that some pedagogical

approaches as an adaptation of curriculum or instructions should be combined with other types of

adaptations such as adaptations in materials, assessments, classroom environments, etc. In order

to involve an understanding of the student as an active agent in the construction of personal

knowledge and of all students as capable of learning and of social interactions. However, a lack

of clarity about meanings can make it difficult for teachers to know how best to proceed in

developing policies and practices that will encourage schools to be both highly inclusive in their

student intake whilst supporting the highest achievements from all their students (Florian, L.,

Hawkins, K., & Rouse, 2008).

With this in mind, the teacher reflection is an important thing that helps teachers to

understand and reflect about their pedagogical practices when they work with special educational

needs children, as Brigden (2002) says, “ Reflection itself is a complex but vital skill which is

central both to our capacity to learn from experience and to apply that learning to our

professional practice”(p.54). So, this practice that mentions the author maybe helps me to reflect
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on how my teaching decisions impact my special educational needs students’ learning and how

they might achieve particular tasks or challenges in the classes.

Another key point when teachers work with children with special needs is essential for

some elements to create a successful class. English classroom is one of those essential elements

because it facilitates the language teaching/learning process. In this regard, Haver (2009) states

that posters, pictures, diagrams, charts, etc. need to be displayed throughout the classroom space.

Thus, the classroom needs to be a place with enough space to develop different didactic activities

and it requires creating a pleasant environment in order to focus and motivate all students (cited

by Montaño & Vera, 2012). But, beyond the classroom adaptation, it is necessary that students

feel comfortable with the teacher and with the class. In addition, Students need to feel free to

make mistakes without fear of being judged or ridiculed. Then again, the classroom should be a

place where students with special needs are happily participating in English activities and

projects by the hand of their teachers and their classmates (Edwards, L., & Crocker, 2008).

Finally, these interactions are fundamental to the relationship between teachers and students.

Moreover, in an English classroom is crucial that students feel free to learn by their own rhythm,

without pressure to finish or to achieve the learning goals. Children with special needs may go

step by step, I mean, I mean, they should build their learning process according to the capacity

and the way to understand the things.

2.3 Curriculum and Assessment

On the other side, the curricula and the assessment are connected with the teaching-

learning strategies, and they should create them according to each special case because not all the

children have the same learning difficulty. Before to start doing this task, the child must have a

neuro or psychological diagnostic in order to understand and to find the best way to organize and
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propose the activities and the assessment in the curriculum. Indeed, Edwards, L., & Crocker

(2008) states that it is essential to take into account the specific learning difficulties that are

encompassing the biological, neurological, psychological and educational aspects and look for a

professional person who can provide information on the child’s medical history and any relevant

diagnoses in order to enable the practicalities of assessing the child. Besides, before meeting

students for the assessment, the teacher can make some guesses as to which test may be useful

and appropriate, and those that may be beyond the child’s current language levels (Edwards, L.,

& Crocker 2008). Finally, it is also important to discuss children´s difficulties with their school

teachers and speech and language therapist to ensure that everybody is cooperating with their

learning process.

3.0 Conclusion

To conclude, there are many elements, policies, strategies, and curriculums that help

teachers to implement or to be creative in their classrooms to ensure that children with special

needs have successful learning processes during their scholarship. But the essential tools that

have teachers are their passion, organization, and their motivation to focus on the needs of these

students, involving them in all unimaginable learning processes where they do not feel invisible

anymore. In this regard, the adaptations in materials, curriculum, spaces, and interactions are

really crucial when we are going to prepare a class for children with special needs. As Early

Intervention Technical Assistance (1995) points out, when including young children in typical

early childhood settings, some planning will be needed to make sure it is successful for

everyone. While you may not be able to predict every adaptation needed, work as a team with
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the family to plan for as many of the necessary adaptations as possible according to the need of

each student.

On the other hand, Matthews (2009) argues that a “possible solution to avoid invisible

children in our classrooms could be raising education teachers‟ and their students‟ awareness of

the key ideas of the disabled peoples‟ movement, such as the social model of disability, may

present new routes towards more inclusive education” (p. 16). In contrast, all children should

have the right to equal opportunities in education, meaning that all children should have

opportunities to fulfill their potential and be included within an educational system. I mean, the

primary aim should be to increase the participation of children in the learning process, thus

providing effective schooling for all (Dimitriadi, 2014). With this in mind, it would be an

essential idea to develop a plan by reviewing a typical day and identifying any potential times

when adaptations might make an activity more successful. Finally,

SEN are taken to be the outcome of an interaction between the individual characteristics

of learners and the educational environments in which they are learning. This means that, if we

are to fully understand the learning difficulties experienced by some children, we have to

consider the curriculum and learning environment being provided for them (Cline &

Frederickson, 2015).
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