How to-create-an-inclusive-classroom
- 1. How to Create an Inclusive Classroom 12 TIPS FOR TEACHERS
- 2. Inclusion in education means ensuring every child, no matter what their individual needs or barriers to learning, has equal access to learning and the same opportunities to achieve. Inclusion in schools is not just about providing additional support to children with special educational needs. It's about creating a learning environment that works for all pupils, whether they have a disability, are a member of a minority community, come from a low-income family – or find it harder to learn and achieve for other reasons.
- 4. Inclusive Classroom Strategies 1. Define clear minimum standards for behaviour. 2. Enforce those standards consistently. 3. Deal with children who misbehave in a sensitive way. 4. Create opportunities to listen to all children. 5. Develop a 'scaffolded' approach to learning. 6. Be aware of the specific needs of every child in your class. 7. Provide support for them in ways which benefit ALL children in your class. 8. Create a calm, purposeful learning environment. 9. Clearly display timetables and key information. 10. Use pre-assessment to inform your planning. 11. Let children choose how to show what they have learned. 12. Don't compare the progress of one child to another; personal progress is key.
- 5. 1.Define clear minimum standards of behaviour. Every child in your class should be absolutely clear about the minimum, basic acceptable levels of behaviour are. These should be absolutes – rules which, you tell your pupils, are not hard to follow, and should not ever be broken.Keep these short and simple, so everyone can understand them. Try to make these rules not about learning, specifically, but about ensuring everyone feels safe and respected. Examples of rules for minimum standards of behaviour: • Violence or aggression of any kind is not allowed • Hateful or foul language is not allowed • Respect the property of others – don't break it or take it • Everyone has the right to feel safe and respected • Everyone has the right to express themselves and be listened to
- 6. 2. Enforce those standards consistently. Just as you must make the basic rules absolutely clear and understood, you must also have straightforward consequences for breaking those rules. Remember: the rules for behaviour are the minimum of what is acceptable in your classroom, so never let anyone get away with breaking them. Examples of proportionate, consistent consequences for breaking the basic rule of not calling out or talking over another person: 1st time: stop what you're doing and give them a stern look! 2nd time: say 'Don't call out.' Point to the rules. 3rd time: mark their name down on a piece of paper, but not on the board for all to see. 4th time: say 'That's four times you've called out. One more time and you'll have to see me after.' 5th time: say 'That's enough. See me after.'
- 7. 3. Deal with children who misbehave in a sensitive way. You know how we said not to write the name of the child who kept calling out on the board? That's because it is an insensitive way of dealing with an issue, which visibly singles out a child in front of everyone. If you write a child's name down on a piece of paper, they know they have misbehaved. They also have the opportunity to stop, and amend their behaviour without further consequence. If you write the name of a child who misbehaves on the board—visible to everyone—why would they choose to change their behaviour? There name will remain up there, for all to see, regardless of whether they start to behave better, or not. It's humiliating – and not inclusive, especially for children who regularly struggle with some of the basic rules (e.g. those with attention deficit disorders).
- 8. 4. Create opportunities to listen to all children. This is especially important when resolving conflicts between children in your class. Allow time for the children involved to fully explain how they believe the incident arose, as well as what has upset them and why. Create opportunities day-to-day, during normal lessons and learning, for children to be listened to as well. This helps them engage with the learning and feel included in it. Listen to all children's thoughts in the creation of additional classroom rules (beyond the minimum, basic ones we talked about before).
- 9. 5. Develop a 'scaffolded' approach to learning. What is 'scaffolding' in terms of teaching and learning? Scaffolding means giving support so that all pupils can access the same learning. Scaffolding is absolutely key to creating an inclusive learning environment. You want all of the children in your class to be accessing the same information during a lesson (even if you slightly differentiate your resources and activities). If you set totally different tasks for some children because they cannot access what you have planned for the rest of the class, you are excluding them.
- 10. 6. Be aware of the specific needs of every child in your class. For a truly inclusive classroom, it's not enough just to know which of your children have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. You should know which, if any, of your children are on Free School Meals, which are caregivers, which are in foster care, and which children are from the particularly vulnerable communities. Knowing this will help you consider every aspect of your classroom, and how you make it inclusive, safe and purposeful.
- 11. 7. Provide support for them in ways which benefit ALL children in your class. Some inclusion strategies are so universally beneficial for all students, that they are worth doing in every classroom! For example, many children with dyslexic traits struggle to read pure black text on a pure white background. Simply changing the colours you use on your slides, avoiding black on white, can help not only children with a dyslexia diagnosis, but all children. What if you have children with mild dyslexic traits that are unlikely to be diagnosed? Changing your slides will help them, too! Changing the colours of your slides to ones which are less high-contrast makes them less tiring to view and read, too: better for everyone – you included!
- 12. 8. Create a calm, purposeful learning environment Ensure you clearly define when group discussion or working is required and acceptable, and when it is most certainly not. Make it clear that preventing others from working during independent learning time is unacceptable (add it to your basic rules). A calm environment is inclusive for many of your children, regardless of whether they have a special need for it or not: every child's home life can be chaotic at times – that's life.
- 13. 9. Clearly display timetables and key information. Some children with dyslexic and dyspraxic traits struggle with organisation, as do some with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Clearly displaying timetables (visual timetables are great, especially for younger learners) helps them, and all your children, feel involved in the school day. With a clearly displayed timetable, children can look ahead to their favourite or least favourite activities, and mentally prepare accordingly. The same is true for key vocabulary, facts or concepts relating to what you're currently learning in class. Stick this information up for all to see on display boards. This helps remind children of prior learning, and to answer questions or tackle tricky tasks.
- 14. 10. Use pre-assessment to inform your planning. This is about engaging children and making them feel like they have a say in their own learning. Don't just assume what your children already know or don't know when you're planning a new topic; ask them! That way you'll identify areas which children are curious to learn more about, and avoid going over very familiar learning. Pre-assessing children's prior knowledge, and interests around a subject, in this way shows them that they have been listened to, and included in their own learning. It's a powerful tool for inclusion in the classroom.
- 15. 11. Let children choose how to show what they have learned. Offer children a choice of ways of presenting what they have learned. For example, at the end of a topic about the Arctic, give children the choice of showing their learning by: • Writing a blog • Creating a poster or infographic • Making a slideshow presentation • Recording a short information film or radio programme Giving children a choice empowers them. It's inclusive, because it creates equal opportunities to show learning and progress in a way that a standard test (which many children struggle with) may not.
- 16. 12. Don't compare the progress of one child to another; personal progress is key. Learning is not a competition. It is a never-ending process, a journey. Think about yourself for a moment: If you had recently started learning electric guitar, would it feel fair if your guitar tutor compared you directly to Eric Clapton? Focus entirely on children's personal progress, and encourage them to do the same. Ask: 'Can you do even better than you did last time?', 'What do you want to focus on that you found tricky the last time we looked at this?', or 'What's changed from when we started learning about this, to now?’. Even if a child hasn't made progress, they can identify ways in which they want to. Teach children that identifying their own shortcomings, or areas for improvement is learning.