Reflection on Special and Inclusive Education

On December 20th and 21st, I attended classes related to my assignment which is all about Special and Inclusive education. This class was conducted by my school SEN teacher (Ms May) and my school coordinator (MS Natalya). It was a fruitful class as I managed to learn more about the children around me and even about myself. I realized that my asssumption on them is very wrong and I shouldn’t simply assume anything. I also understand that under one umbrella of inclusion, there are SEN and learning difficulties. I learn about the 3 models of dissabilty.

First Model: Medical Model

Second Model: Charity Model

Third Model: Social Model

As we were discussing about this model, we found out that social model is very important. Medical model often observe those with dissabilities as a problem and isolate or discriminates them from the society which hurt s their feeling. There is no sense of respect for those who are gifted. Charity model help those were isolated as they offer help to overcome their worries. But they did not think on how they can create awareness to people to accept the gifted one as one of them. Social model has overcome all this problem by creating awareness and accept them in society as normal as others. Foe example UNICEF has always been there for children to help and support them. Other than that, Fairview International School has been practising social model as there are codes on the numbers in the lift which helps the blind people and handicapped person with wheel chair can enter the lift as the space is big enough.

Furthermore, i learn about dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, memory, information processing difficulties, dyspraxia, autism sindrome and many more. For example, I learnt that dyslexia is about having poor reading and writing skills while dyspraxia is having poor fine and gross motor skills. Now i can differentiate well among all this learning dissabilities. Attached are the pictures that is taken during my presentation.

IB Workshop refection

This is the reflection about the IB workshop that I have attended on 13^th of December 2014 and 14^th of December 2014. This is very useful to me as I could understand more about the IB educational programme and the importance of it. Throughout this learning process, I could learn more about the strategies to deliver a lesson to mould a life-long learner. As a result, I was able to model myself as an international mindedness person. Pictures have been added as supporting aids in my reflection. The session started by discussing the core of the entire programme; IB learner profile. We were given chance to share how we expose the students to this profile in daily activity. Then, we started discussing about the PYP attitudes, and we found of that

The workshop started happily by displaying a picture of Cherpumple. No one could ever guess what that was till we use ‘Mr. Google’ to find the answer. It was three-layered pie that made by cherry (cher), pumpkin (pum) and apple (ple). After recognizing what was that, we were given group activity as we had to talk about this pie as professional chef, food critique, house maker and nutritionist. It was a very fun activity. This promotes the inquiry attribute in us as well as thinker.

Picture 1 explains about our group discussion on inquiry cycle. We discussed about the Kate Murdoch cycle that has inspired the development of an ‘inquiry’ cycle for teaching and learning through inquiry. We were given jigsaw reading activity to discuss about this model. Then, we share our ideas based on the reading with the rest of the teachers who attend the workshop. The ‘tuning in’ or ‘preparing to find out’ phase is where connections to the subject matter are first made. At this stage, teachers will aim to find out what children already know, what their previous experiences are and even any initial questions they have. At the finding out stage, children are engaged in research around the area of inquiry. A research cycle or other information literacy approach may be incorporated into this section. During the sorting out activity, information reviewed, analysing information, looking for patterns and generalisations. Planning further inquiries, searching for more information will take place during going further activity. Conclusion is made by synthesising and reflecting. Action is taken by sharing and presenting findings, teaching others, taking action based on what has been learned to make a difference.

Next, we discussed about the five essential elements that supports the inquiry process. The workshop went on by discussing the knowledge that promotes international mindedness; the 6 transdisciplinary theme. 8 concepts the driven the question to inquiry, 5 skills that supports the inquiry process, 12 PYP attitudes that supports the learning process. At the end, actions will be taken such as PYP exhibition. More pictures are attached below.

Picture 2: explains about the 5 essential elements.

Picture 3: explains about the questions we created based on the concepts.

Picture 4:me updating the wall of inquiry

Pictures: explains about the assessment.

inquiry based learning

An old age states: “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” It shows that inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Inquiry, as the leading pedagogical approach in an IB school enables students to construct and take responsibility of their own learning. The aim of IB programmes is to develop international mindedness people. Therefore, IB learner profile stated inquirer as one of the attributes to produce global citizens. This is to develop natural curiosity in a student by acquiring necessary skills and attitudes to show independence in learning.

This approach is very important because traditional approach to learning is focused on mastery of content, with less emphasis on the development of skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes. Inquiry approach is more to student centred where it is more emphasised on ‘how we came to know’ compared to ‘what we know’. Moreover, differentiation is actively involved among students to engage effective learning take place all the time. Other than that, traditional approach is always the teacher centred learning but in inquiry approach teachers only act as facilitator.

However, there are certain similarities in between inquiry approach and traditional approach. For an example, lesson plans are used to organize the various steps in the learning process. In addition, technology is also used in both system but the functions are different.  Use of technology in traditional approach is focused on learning about the technology rather than its application to enhanced learning.

There are plenty more differences and similarities in between these two approaches, yet it should be practiced not only in the class but also in entire school environment to make the student to be a life long learner.

The theory and application of good classroom practice.

A school curriculum is intended to provide the students with good knowledge and skills required for them to be an international mindedness person which lead them to be a global citizen.

As stated in making PYP happen booklet, ‘taught curriculum is a direct reflection of written curriculum’. In other words, it is the method used by the teachers to engage the students with the written curriculum. Most importantly, we must encourage student-centered learning compared to teacher centered-learning since inquiry is the leading pedagogical approach of the PYP. It meant that teachers will only act as organizer of knowledge and facilitator in the class whereas the students will be active, participatory, and reflective learner by taking responsibility for their own learning. The students should also be trained to be a good listener not only to the teachers but also to others. Subsequently, they should not compete with other students but work collaboratively with them to be a flourishing learner. For an example, they can play ‘jeopardy’ game after done with certain topic. This activity encourages pupils to think about the quality questions which may lead to a particular answer. It has the potential to stretch more students who may think creatively about possible alternative questions. Other common skill is KWL chart which builds upon prior knowledge and understanding. If the K-W-L is carried out in groups, it may consolidate communication skills and teamwork.

Six transdisciplinary themes play an important role in engaging the PYP students in their learning process. ‘The central idea is written in one sentence that express concisely and enduring understanding. It should be sustainable enough to generate in depth inquiries, be concept driven and promote the ability to think critically’ (pp 37, Making the PYP Happen).

Inquiry-based learning and differentiation in learning should be implemented in all the class to promote active learning.

 

 

Organization

Reflecting on previous CPD, which is all about organization. Organization is an effective way of arranging the information and goals systematically. But, it is known as the hardest skill for the students to acquire in their daily life. Self management and time management are the important skills for the students to learn. Self management includes the objectives of their future and organization of the ways for them to learn. Time management not only meant that they must know how to divide their time, but they must also keep deadlines, organize their diaries or agenda of school and social commitments. What are the benefits of organization? The advantages are we will be less stressful due to work load; we will manage to finish up the task in required time, good environment in the class, learning takes place smoothly and many more. Display in classroom even plays a big role of organization. For examples, there are plenty of corners in my class for the students to spend their time once they have done with their work. These corners are organized properly; for instance, plenty of books in reading corners, various materials in mathematic corner and many more. Other than that, all the students’ blue folder labeled using coloured tags to identify easily. 

Effective lesson plan

A lesson plan is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for one class. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class instruction. Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the need and/or curiosity of students.

There are few key elements which is important to a lesson plan. One of the key elements is duration. Time consuming for each activity prepared should be divided wisely. There are three different types of activity, such as starter, main activity and plenary. There should be teacher and student activity in every lesson plan even though it is not separated evenly. In addition, each and every activity should be organised efficiently to avoid any confusion during the lesson. Besides these, assessment strategies is very important in all the lesson plan because it consist of observation, Q & A session, presentation, discussion and also self or peer assessment. Subsequently, differentiation is also very important as it could be in the outward appearance of form, materials, groups, or names. For examples, we could separate the students into few groups with mixed ability pupils, encourage them to present their ideas in their own way, persuade think pair and share and many more. The strengths and the area of improvement for a lesson plan should be highlighted to produce even well-organized lesson plan.

 

 

Thinking in social context.

In my opinion,intelligence is the ability to learn about, learn from, understand, and interact with one’s environment. It is not quite the same as IQ, although people use the terms interchangeably.Teachers know that many students have poor thinking skills. Changes in culture are a factor, such as mind-numbing music, television, video games, social networking Websites, messaging, and so on. We have no problem telling children what to think, but when their thinking becomes flawed, we are reluctant to intervene. Many parents (and even teachers) think it is bad to challenge children’s thinking when it is flawed. They worry that such challenges can be embarrassing and damages self esteem. The reality is that such students eventually discover they are not as capable as their peers who have effective thinking skills, and that gives them real reason to have low self-esteem.
Schools and state mandates also contribute to the problem. Too often, students are trained to look for the one “right answer.” Then there are state knowledge and skills standards, where students are actively discouraged from thinking “outside the box.” How does one teach critical thinking? Three ways:
1. Expect it. Require students to defend their ideas and answers to questions. Show them it is not enough to have an opinion or the “right” answer. Students need to defend their opinions and understand how they arrived at the answer and why it is “right.”
2. Model it. The teacher can show students how to think critically and creatively about instructional material. Even in “teaching to the test,” show students how to think about alternative answers, not just memorize the right answer. Show why some answers are right and some wrong.
3.Reward it. When good thinking occurs, teachers should call attention to it and to the students that generated it. Learning activities and assignments should have clear expectations for students to generate critical and creative thought. A grading premium and other incentives should be provided.. Rigorous analysis will only occur if it is expected and rewarded.

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” 
― Albert Einstein

ALL EDUCATORS ARE TEACHERS, BUT NOT ALL TEACHERS ARE EDUCATORS.