ETL414 - Productive Learning in Diverse Classrooms Part 1

Classrooms today are filled with a variety of children and while the curriculum might outline
content and outcomes for all students, is it up to teachers to make more fine-grained
decisions that will cater for the realities of classroom diversity (Brady & Kennedy !"!,
p#$%# &t 'aimea (eights )rimary *chool, children with disa+ilities or deficit disorders are
e,pected to +e treated the same as every other student# -his is consistent with the Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 that states all students are entitled to the same rights, including the
right to education and training on the same basis as students without disa+ility (&ustralian
Curriculum n#d#%# 'aimea )rimary has a . year-old +oy called &le, who has +een diagnosed
with severe learning difficulties and his profile is consistent with a diagnosis of 315.2
Disorder of Written Expression (/ynch !"0%# &lthough he has well-developed fine motor
skills, he struggles to communicate on paper what he is thinking in his head# (e is a very
good reader and can calculate mathematical pro+lems with ease, +ut he finds it difficult to
physically write the answers on paper and appears to lack concentration skills in class due to
the lack of effort shown in his work#
-he term learning disorder refers to a variety of disorders that affect the ac1uisition,
retention, understanding, organisation and2or use of ver+al and nonver+al information
(/ynch, !"0%# -his disorder unfortunately leaves &le, feeling incapa+le of successfully
participating in a variety of classroom tasks +ut most commonly when he is placed in a group
setting with his peers# (e knows he has difficulty learning when he is re1uired to write a
narrative or complete a worksheet, +ut with minimal fuss a slightly amended task can help
normalise the situation and allow &le, a much greater chance of success#
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 1
&le, is a 1uiet student who would prefer to fly under the radar and not do any work, +ut his
a+ilities are well catered for, with his classroom teacher always providing plenty of options to
help students who might +e struggling# &n 3ndividual 4ducation )lan (34)% has +een
suggested for &le, and an application for potential funding has +een lodged to allow a
specialist teacher regular visits aimed at improving his a+ility to pen his thoughts on paper#
5urther to this, 6r# &shley /ynch has made a recommendation that &le, +e e,cluded from
assignments, essays and tests, as they are not the +est way to 1uantify &le,s understanding
and application of learned material# 3t is suggested he +e provided with written notes or dot
points relating to topics covered instead of re1uiring him to copy from the +oard# *imilarly,
when working with pictures or diagrams, a further normalising techni1ue may re1uire these
to +e mediated ver+ally for &le, to fully comprehend#
Wolfendale (2012, p.175) argues educational provision predicated on
notions of inclusion as a human right or entitlement requires that
individual dierence and diversit! are regarded as enrichment rather than
as de"cit# and further suggests the need for children to $e empo%ered $!
their curriculum# so the! can participate in their education as equal
partners#. &herefore, m! teaching practice %ill not see 'le(#s disorder as
a de"cit and separate him from the class, $ut rather it %ill include him in
all classroom activities in a carefull! thought out manner guided $! an
inclusive pedagog!, descri$ed $! )e%mann in *rad! + ,enned! (2010,
p.2-0) as something %orth%hile, signi"cant and meaningful# that caters
for all student a$ilities. .u/as and 0alcolm in 1!ons, 2ord + 'rthur3,ell!
(2011, p.100) descri$e "ve pedagogical identities for an educator as4
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 2
2ollo%ing are the teaching strategies that accompan! m! pedagog! to help cater
for student diversit!4
(1!ons, 2ord + 'rthur3,ell! 2011, p.1053107)
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 3
4 questions that will guide my practice:
1. What is it 6 %ant the students to /no%7learn8
2. 9o% %ill the! learn it8
:. 9o% %ill 6 /no% the! are learning it8
-. What %ill 6 do if the! alread! /no% it or the! don#t learn it8
Planning considerations:
What are m! learning intentions and tas/ relevance8
9o% %ill 6 design each tas/ to accommodate dierent levels of
learners8
9o% %ill students /no% %hat to aim for8
9o% %ill 6 suggest improvements8
9o% %ill 6 assess each tas/8
9o% %ill 6 support students %ho need assistance8
References:
'ustralian ;urriculum. (n.d.). <etrieved from
http477%%%.australiancurriculum.edu.au7=tudent>iversit!7=tudents3
%ith3disa$ilit!
*rad!, 1. + ,enned!, ,. (2010). Curriculum Construction, (-
th
ed.). 2renchs
2orest, )=W4 ?earson 'ustralia.
1!nch, ', (201:), ?s!cho3@ducational @valuation for 'le( >ec/.
(?lease note4 &his report is classi"ed as ?rivate and ;on"dential#
$ut is provided for teachers to ac/no%ledge and appl! as needed).
1!ons, A., 2ord, 0., + 'rthur3,ell!, 0. (2011). Classroom management:
Creating
positive learning environments (:rd ed.). =outh 0el$ourne, B6;4
;engage 1earning.
Wolfendale, =. (2012). Meeting Special Needs in the Early Years:
Directions in
Policy and Practice, )e% Cor/4 <outledge.
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 4
ETL414 - Productive Learning in Diverse Classrooms Part 2
7n the first day of school this year, the 8ear 029 class at 'aimea (eights )rimary
+rainstormed and made a list of the +est classroom rules that they would all strive to adhere
to during the year# -hey are as follows:
Cear :7- ;lass *eliefs4
-he ;oal Centered -heory +y <udolf 6reikurs (/yons, 5ord & &rthur-Kelly !"", p#=9% fits
well with this set of +eliefs# -hey were implemented through group discussion and clearly
outline what is e,pected of the children for the classroom to +e the +est learning environment
it can +e# 4,pectations and +oundaries have +een clearly communicated to all the students
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 5
and the use of >orning Circle time reiterates those +oundaries and e,pectations at every
chance# *ue <offey (!!?, p#0% suggests Circle -ime as a framework for group interaction as
follows:
' sense of $elonging
=elf a%areness, /no%ledge and s/ills
,no%ledge and understanding of others
' focus on the positive
6ncreased emotional resources and %ell3$eing
;olla$orative decision ma/ing, conDict resolution and pro$lem
solving
>orning Circle time is used to reiterate the class values and +eliefs and why they were put in
place# 3t is a time that is valued every day to +ring the class together and learn, not only
a+out one another, +ut also from one another through sharing stories, cultures and
e,periences# &le, struggles to write down how he is feeling or what he did on the weekend,
+ut will happily discuss his feelings in a group setting such as Circle -ime# 3t also helps
+reak down the ;irl2Boy +arriers that e,ist in year 029 classes and encourages inclusive
+ehaviour instead# 'henever the children +ecome too noisy or call-out during 1uestion time,
they are reminded of why they made the class +eliefs and the necessity of having them
enforced for everyones well+eing#
References:
1!ons, A., 2ord, 0., + 'rthur3,ell!, 0. (2011). Classroom management: Creating
positive learning environments (:rd ed.). =outh 0el$ourne, B6;4 ;engage
1earning.
<offey, *ue (!!?%, Circle time for Emotional iteracy, /ondon, *age#
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 6
ETL414 - Productive Learning in Diverse Classrooms Part 3
-he use of digital technology today is growing and changing the way teachers teach, and the
need to incorporate a device like an i)ad is +ecoming increasingly popular# *chools, as
prime agencies of social development and cultural understanding, cannot help +ut +e
influenced +y the rapid developments in 3C- (Brady & Kennedy !"!, p#$=%# 'hile
selecting the appropriate device is important, its the use of devices +y engaged, supportive
and prepared teachers within the conte,t of a +roader pedagogical change program that is
important (Keane, /ang and )ilgrim in i)ads for /earning (n#d#%# i)ads are easily
transporta+le, simple to use, and have great visual tools that assist children to learn with or
without a disa+ility# -hey are +ecoming increasingly common in the classroom and this is
putting greater emphasis on teachers to +e confident in using them for the +est learning
outcomes#

3n &le,s case, having apps on an i)ad make school life a lot less complicated and much
easier to manage and achieve results# (owever, this classified ad@ustment or normalisation
techni1ue must +e a measure or action taken to assist a student with a disa+ility to participate
in education and training on the same +asis as other students (&ustralian Curriculum, n#d#%# 3t
is deemed reasona+le if it achieves its intended purpose while +alancing the students
learning needs and the interests of the class, staff and anyone it directly involves on a daily
+asis (&ustralian Curriculum, n#d#%#
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 7
iPads in Education (n.d.) promote: an important aspect of the iPad
in the feld of disability is that it is a mainstream generic device, not
a specialist piece of equipment. This means that people with
learning difculties can use an everyday product which everyone
&he capa$ilities and features of the follo%ing : apps %ould suit a child
%ith a learning diEcult! li/e 'le(. &he reasoning $ehind m! choice is as
follo%s4
1. iReadWrite acts as a literar! guide and
promotes itself as an app that allo%s
students to read and %rite %ith ease and
con"dence. 6tFs highlights include the
a$ilit! to automaticall! convert te(t into speech, predict the ne(t %ord as
!ou t!pe, and it also includes a phonetic spell chec/er, picture dictionar!
and 9omophone and ;onfusa$le %ord chec/er.
2. Dragon Dictation allo%s the user to
spea/ directl! into the i?ad and the speech
is converted to te(t automaticall!. 6t %ould
help 'le( to complete his %or/ quic/er as
he struggles to cop! an!thing from the %hite$oard in a timel! manner.
'le( %ould then have more time to complete the activit! rather than
spending all his time tr!ing to %rite it on paper %ithout $ecoming
distracted and unfocused. &he onl! do%nside is !ou need to $e in a room
%ith minimal noise for the app to $e eective. 6t pic/s up $ac/ground
noise easil!, %hich could present a pro$lem if the classroom %as
continuall! nois!.
:. Khan Academy allo%s students to ta/e
o%nership of their learning $! oering self3
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 8
paced units of stud! in a variet! of su$Gects. 6t also promotes having
interactive functions for a deeper understanding of %hatever su$Gect the
student or teacher chooses. 6t uses tangi$le o$Gects rather than Gust
num$ers and %ould $e ver! relevant for 'le( %ho can con"dentl!
complete his %or/, $ut sometimes needs further e(tension to cement his
learning.
Hsing the suggested apps aims to ensure students li/e 'le( are a$le to
participate in the 'ustralian ;urriculum on the same $asis as their peers
through rigorous, meaningful and digni"ed learning programs#, ('ustralian
;urriculum n.d.) rather than $eing removed or e(cluded. &lso, the diversity in
the types of apps availa+le today means people who have previously +een e,cluded from
using technologies in schools, can now interact with devices in ways which were impossi+le
@ust a few years ago (i)ads in 4ducation n#d#%# Confirming the importance for on-going
professional learning days for teachers, to keep them up-to-date with the ever-changing
technology on offer#
References:
'ustralian ;urriculum. (n.d.). <etrieved from
http477%%%.australiancurriculum.edu.au7=tudent>iversit!7=tudents3
%ith3disa$ilit!
*rad!, 1. + ,enned!, ,. (2010). Curriculum Construction, (-
th
ed.). 2renchs
2orest, )=W4 ?earson 'ustralia.
i?ads for learning (n.d.) <etrieved from
http477ipad.ipadsforeducation.vic.edu.au7learning3%ith3
ipads7learning3%ith3ipads
i?ads in @ducation (n.d.) <etrieved from
http477%%%.ipadineducation.ian%ilson.$iI7i?adJinJ@ducation7=pecialJ
@d.JK25Ji?ad.html
Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 9
1!ons, A., 2ord, 0., + 'rthur3,ell!, 0. (2011). Classroom management:
Creating
positive learning environments (:rd ed.). =outh 0el$ourne, B6;4
;engage 1earning.

Coad_Jacquie_S268872_ETL414_Assessment1
Page 10