scholarly journals Teachers' capacity to create inclusive learning environments

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Leifler
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Study Methodology

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore effects of an intervention designed for teachers' learning. This study investigates the effectiveness of a three-session professional development (PD) program based on the lesson study methodology. Lesson study was chosen as an intervention, attempting to strengthen teachers' awareness of and readiness to teach for student diversity.Design/methodology/approachThis study included 26 participants. The teachers took part in lesson study cycles during a period of four months. Effectiveness was measured using a pre-test/post-test within-subject design. The broad concept of inclusion and the characteristics of the research questions in this study demanded a mix of methods, a design in which qualitative and quantitative data are collected in parallel, analyzed separately and then merged.FindingsResults show an increase of teachers' readiness from baseline to post measurement to adjust the learning environment for increased inclusivity. The largest increase (88%) was seen in the themes in teachers' responses regarding accommodations for a student with special needs. Regarding self-perceived ability, the average increase was 50%. Results show significant changes in teachers' adjustment awareness ability.Originality/valueThis study contributes to educational research, as the focus is PD for general teachers. PD opportunities with teaching strategies related to special needs (e.g. neurodevelopmental conditions, NDCs) are seldom offered to general education teachers. Support from teachers is a key strategy for accommodating students with special needs in mainstream classrooms. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature of interventions aiming to improve teachers' readiness and preparedness for students with NDCs in mainstream settings.

scholarly journals The value of differentiated instruction in the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream schools

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 00003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasilis Strogilos
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Differentiated Instruction ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Mainstream Classrooms ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
The Individual

The aim of this presentation is to analyse the current international policies on inclusion and to discuss the value and use of differentiated instruction as a means to the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream settings. The movement to inclusion requires teachers to create inclusive learning environments, which would encourage the use of practices that would benefit all students. In this respect, differentiated instruction has rapidly evolved as a teaching approach to meet the diverse and heterogeneous needs of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Modifying and adjusting instruction to allow all students in a classroom to access the general education curriculum is at the heart of inclusive education. In this presentation, I shall discuss the development of differentiated instruction as a means to inclusion for students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Information will be provided with regard to the main principles of DI as well as the basic criteria in designing individualized adaptations for these students. In addition to this, I will review the factors which influence the development of differentiated instruction based on research findings. Finally, I will argue that differentiated instruction provides a learning environment which takes into consideration the individual characteristics of students and, as such, is a useful approach for the inclusion of students with special needs/ disabilities in mainstream settings.

scholarly journals EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION ACTIVITY IN THE INCLUSIVE EDUCATION PROCESS

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Marite Rozenfelde
Keyword(s):  
Special Needs ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Student Diversity ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Support Team ◽  
Inclusive Policy ◽  
Social Pedagogue ◽  
Education Process

The article provides a summary of a theoretical study on the main provisions of the activity of the educational institution’s administration in creating and implementing an inclusive educational process at the institution. Inclusive education is teamwork – the responsibility and obligation shared by the whole educational institution is a challenge to the whole team of the educational institution and first of all, a challenge to the administration of the educational institution. Inclusive education can be implemented in various ways all united by organizational culture with positive perception of student diversity, an understanding that the leaders working at educational institutions with their colleagues have a central role in promoting the inclusive culture. The role of administration in the development of the inclusive educational process at an educational institution is to ensure the implementation of the norms concerning the rights of students with special needs to be included, to maintain inclusive policy in the activity of the educational institution, to provide everyone involved in the learning process with information about the special needs of the students, to allocate funds for providing for the special needs, to guarantee accessibility of the educational institution. The administration and the support specialists of the educational institution must work as a team, must develop a plan of measures for the implementation of a further inclusive education process of the educational institution, for providing the support in education where the measures for educational support include determining and assessment of the needs of a student; consultations and support for all students, including the students with special needs, professional development, consultations and support for teachers, the students’ parents and the specialists; consultations of the support team specialists and services, also attracting specialists from other institutions; technical aids and equipment (if necessary); an opportunity to study using sign language and the services of an interpreter (if necessary); transportation services (if necessary, also with an accompanying person); assistant services, etc. The make-up of specialists of the support team of the educational institution – speech and language pathologist, psychologist, social pedagogue, special education pedagogue, medical specialist, etc. can vary depending on the needs and circumstances of the students of the specific educational institution. Work responsibilities of these support team professionals in the general support system of the educational institution are analyzed in the article.

scholarly journals The Potential To Learn: Pre-Service Teachers Proposed Use Of Instructional Strategies For Students With A Learning Disability

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Woodcock ◽  
Wilma Vialle
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Mainstream Classrooms ◽  
Service Training

Over recent years, moves toward the inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream classrooms has brought about increasing attention to the way general education teachers perceive these students. Commensurate with this has been a growing interest in what may constitute educational success for children with special needs in mainstream classrooms, plus the ability of general education teachers to provide effective and appropriate instruction for them. It is known that teachers form beliefs about the process of teaching during their pre-service training and also that once a belief has been held for a long time, it becomes extremely difficult to change (Bandura, 1977, and Liljedahl, 2005). With learning disabilities being one of the most common disabilities in the classroom (Clark, 1997, and Clark & Artiles, 2000), it was considered that the need to further explore pre-service teachers’ perceived use of instructional strategies in relation to students who have what is termed learning disabilities, is indeed critical. This study looked at the instructional strategies Australian pre-service teachers reported they would use for students with a learning disability compared to students without a learning disability. The findings show that pre-service teachers favour more direct teacher-centred instructional strategies for students with a learning disability and more learner-centred instructional strategies for students without a learning disability. The greatest discrepancy in strategy use between the two groups of students was the higher cognitive level instructional strategies within a learner-centred environment. Pre-service teachers would use these strategies more frequently with students who do not have a learning disability. Implications for future practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Online Learning as a Form of Accommodation

2011 ◽  
pp. 2906-2910
Author(s):  
Terence Cavanaugh
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Special Needs Students ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
General Education Teacher ◽  
The Past ◽  
Education Act

An estimated three billion people, representing approximately half of the planet’s population, are in some way affected by disabilities, which includes an estimated 150 million from the United States of America (Half the Planet, 2001). According to the Twenty-Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a), concerning students with special needs between the ages of three and 21, the U.S. and its outlying areas are currently serving educationally more than 6,272,000 students classified as having a disability. The inclusion model, in which a special needs student participates in the “regular” classroom, has become the current classroom education standard. Today’s special needs students have increasing impacts on the general education teacher as, during the past 10 years, the percentage of students with disabilities served in schools and classes with their non-disabled peers has gradually grown to over 90% in 1998 (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). Because of the large and increasing number of special needs students, assistive educational technology is growing in importance. The population of postsecondary students with disabilities has increased over the past two decades, and currently there are approximately one million persons in postsecondary institutions who are classified as having some form of disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). In 1994, approximately 45% of the adult population who reported having a disability had either attended some college or had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared to only 29% in 1986 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1999a).

Effective Practices for Teaching Writing to Students with Disabilities in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
April Camping ◽  
Steve Graham
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
General Education Classroom ◽  
Critical Skills

Writing is especially challenging for students with disabilities, as 19 out of every 20 of these students experience difficulty learning to write. In order to maximize writing growth, effective instructional practices need to be applied in the general education classroom where many students with special needs are educated. This should minimize special education referrals and maximize the progress of these students as writers. Evidence-based writing practices for the general education classroom include ensuring that students write frequently for varying purposes; creating a pleasant and motivating writing environment; supporting students as they compose; teaching critical skills, processes, and knowledge; and using 21st-century writing tools. It is also important to be sure that practices specifically effective for enhancing the writing growth of students with special needs are applied in both general and special education settings (where some students with disabilities may receive part or all of their writing instruction). This includes methods for preventing writing disabilities, tailoring instruction to meet individual student needs, addressing roadblocks that can impede writing growth, and using specialized writing technology that allows these students to circumvent one or more of their writing challenges.

Do Teachers Spend Less Time Teaching in Classrooms With Students With Special Needs? Trends From International Data

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 273-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
North Cooc
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Factors ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
International Data ◽  
Teaching Time ◽  
General Education Classrooms

Debates about the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms often overlook its impact on teachers. In this study, I analyze the concern that teachers may spend less time teaching in classrooms with children with special needs using survey data on 121,173 teachers from 38 participating countries and partners of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013. I further examine teacher, classroom, and school factors that may explain disparities in time spent teaching in classrooms with and without students with special needs. The findings indicate teachers, on average, spend marginally less class time on teaching in classrooms that include more students with special needs. The disparity in teaching time is mostly removed when accounting for students with behavioral problems in classrooms.

scholarly journals Self-efficacy Sources among General Education Teachers in Inclusive Schools: A Cross-Cultural Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (30) ◽  
pp. 67-76
Author(s):  
Mohammad S. Soliman
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
General Education Teachers ◽  
The Self ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Core Study ◽  
Mastery Experience

The inclusion of students with special needs in general education classes has become a goal that all educational systems worldwide strive to achieve it. The inclusion of special needs has many benefits, whether for special needs students or regular students. The current study aims to reveal the differences in the self-efficacy among general education teachers in both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab Republic of Egypt. It aims also to reveal the sources of this self-efficacy in both countries. The core study sample consisted of (96) Saudi teachers and (88) Egyptian teachers. The researcher used the teachers 'self-efficacy scale and the teachers' self-efficacy sources scale. The results of the study indicated that there is a significant difference between the average scores of the total self-efficacy and its sub-dimensions between the Saudi and Egyptian sample for the outperform of The Egyptian teachers. It indicated that the source of the mastery experience was a significant predictive of the self-efficacy of the Saudi teachers, and it explained 53% of the variation in self-efficacy. It also indicated that the mastery experience was a significant predictive of the self-efficacy of the Egyptian teachers, and it explained 13% of the variance in self-efficacy.

Online Learning as a Form of Accomodation

2005 ◽  
pp. 2209-2213
Author(s):  
Terence Cavannaugh
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Special Needs Students ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
General Education Teacher ◽  
The Past ◽  
Education Act

An estimated three billion people, representing approximately half of the planet’s population, are in some way affected by disabilities, which includes an estimated 150 million from the United States of America (Half the Planet, 2001). According to the Twenty-Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a), concerning students with special needs between the ages of three and 21, the U.S. and its outlying areas are currently serving educationally more than 6,272,000 students classified as having a disability. The inclusion model, in which a special needs student participates in the “regular” classroom, has become the current classroom education standard. Today’s special needs students have increasing impacts on the general education teacher as, during the past 10 years, the percentage of students with disabilities served in schools and classes with their non-disabled peers has gradually grown to over 90% in 1998 (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). Because of the large and increasing number of special needs students, assistive educational technology is growing in importance. The population of postsecondary students with disabilities has increased over the past two decades, and currently there are approximately one million persons in postsecondary institutions who are classified as having some form of disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). In 1994, approximately 45% of the adult population who reported having a disability had either attended some college or had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared to only 29% in 1986 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1999a).

Best Practices Implementing Special Education Curriculum and Common Core State Standards using UDL

2020 ◽  
pp. 179-196
Author(s):  
Penelope Debs Keough ◽  
Dina Pacis
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Special Education Teachers ◽  
Common Core ◽  
Common Core State Standards ◽  
State Standards ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
Core State ◽  
Students With Special Needs

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a model for collaboration between general education and special education teachers using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to align common core state standards with instruction for students with special needs. A history of how UDL came to be and how it is now a strategic tool to support all learners is explored. Best practices are offered as supportive instructional strategies. An example of how UDL can be aligned with Common Core State Standards and the goal(s) found in an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) will also be provided. This model supports collaboration between general education and special education teachers in an effort to ensure that general education curriculum can be accessed by students with special needs.

Digital competence of a teacher involved in the implementation of a cross-border lesson for classrooms in Brazil and Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masami Isoda ◽  
Soledad Estrella ◽  
Diana Zakaryan ◽  
Yuriko Baldin ◽  
Raimundo Olfos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Primary School Teacher ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Study Methodology ◽  
The Cross

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the digital competence displayed by a primary school teacher who implemented an interdisciplinary cross-border lesson that was designed with the lesson study methodology and involved two countries: Brazil and Chile.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative methodology was adopted via the case study method through which the case of a sixth-grade Chilean teacher participating in the study was documented. The data were collected through a lesson plan, a videotape of the implemented lesson and a questionnaire. A professional digital competence framework for teachers provided an analytical perspective via data analysis.FindingsThe results show that the teacher displayed digital competence in a synchronous collaborative learning environment in which she had time to reflect on the educational value of technology and appropriate teaching methods involving information and communication technologies. Certain elements of the studied case contributed to this performance, namely the cross-border context, the classroom setting and the collaborative Lesson Study methodology.Practical implicationsThe lesson study methodology facilitated the teacher's performance in the “Pedagogy and didactics” digital competence by enabling her to participate in planning and implementing a lesson that allowed all those who collaborated, including teachers and researchers, to reflect on teaching in a digital learning environment.Social implicationsThe cross-border context, which involved co-designing and implementing a lesson in two countries, allowed the teacher to display her “School in society” and “Ethics” competencies. This was achieved through connecting two classrooms with different languages and cultures digitally and synchronously, thereby providing students the opportunity to debate and participate in a global and local problem such as a country's responsibility for energy consumption.Originality/valueModern society requires the transformation of school practices, and new teaching approaches should include the provision of collaborative spaces that incorporate digital technologies. In this sense, this paper shows that cross-border lessons involving a synchronous learning environment offer a potential alternative, as digital teaching competence enables teachers to bring together different social and cultural groups virtually, thereby contributing to the reduction of social gaps and to the promotion of positive identity among less advantaged students.

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