Students with disabilities...
When preparing lessons for our students, it is our responsibility to ensure that the lesson content is both accessible and engaging for a diverse range of learners. In particular, we must consider how we can differentiate our instruction to me meet the unique needs of children with both physical and intellectual disabilities. It is not enough for these children to just be physically included. They too must become active participants and therefore modifications and adjustments will be required to create truly inclusive learning experiences.
In terms of participation requirements, educational settings are required to provide:
When designing lesson plans, carefully consider using flexible approaches, that support the effective inclusion of these students. "Differentiated instruction ensures that the teaching-learning context provides an appropriate fit for each student while still retaining the common objectives for student outcomes and knowledge acquisition. This can be achieved by making changes to the environment, the content, the process or methods for teaching and learning that content, the methods for assessment of the products, and the human and material assistance needed to achieve the adjustments and adaptations" (Ashman, 2012, p.8). When designing such learning experiences, provide as many choices as possible. In doing so, you are more likely to "tap into student interest and preferred learning style, and motivate students to complete tasks" (Beninghof, 2014).
Whilst alternate approaches for student's with physical disabilities are usually more easily recognisable, creating flexible instruction for student's with intellectual disabilities can require somewhat more consideration. Appendix B provides more information regarding specific teaching strategies to better support learners with intellectual disabilities, however many of these can also be used to meet the needs of a diverse range of students.
"The benefits of inclusive education are numerous for both students with and without disabilities. Inclusion demonstrates acceptance of differences, the importance of collaboration and interdependence, and high expectations for learners. Most importantly, it provides access to general education curriculum standards in a setting with age-appropriate role models. When this occurs, higher levels of learning are achieved" (Beninghof, 2014).
An example of good practice...
'Jamie' is a year 10 male student with moderate intellectual impairment. He responds well to music and so has chosen to participate in this subject as an elective. For assessment each student is required to create a composition. Whilst the other students in his class work individually on computers using Sibelius software to compose in a more traditional format, Jamie works in a different program creating improvised loops, adding sound effects and rhythmic patterns. Jamie would not have been able to create music that meets his assessment requirements using the same program as his peers, however with this minor adjustment he is actively engaged in the assessment task and is able to learn more about the musical elements.
The task requires that the composition reflects musical characteristics of a particular culture. His teacher, 'Mr. K', noticed that Jamie had really connected with a class listening example titled 'Korean Folk Melody'. When deciding upon a compositional concept, Mr. K showed Jamie how he could easily improvise a pentatonic scale using just the black keys on the piano, providing a similar tonality to that of the Korean piece. Jamie was very excited to try this himself and demonstrated some artistic flair with his own improvisations.
In order for Jamie to remember how to utilise the loop software program that he is accessing to record his own improvisations, Mr. K created an instruction card with clear precise instructions allowing him to work more independently. Throughout these lessons all students are working individually and Mr. K is able to move around the room spending a few minutes with each student, providing assistance when needed. At no point does Jamie feel that he is being set apart from the rest of his students. His peers actually seemed really interested in seeing what Jamie has produced.
Mr. K sets high expectations for Jamie, challenging him to respond to these expectations in a positive way. As a result, Jamie is actively engaged in this compositional task. He is learning more about the musical elements, particularly structure and timbre, and is able to demonstrate these new understandings in discussions with both his peers and Mr.K. He is using higher order thinking skills, and is demonstrating both effort and persistence. In fact, he is often reluctant to stop working on his composition at the end of his lesson.
To read more about learning strategies for students with intellectual disabilities please see Appendix B
In terms of participation requirements, educational settings are required to provide:
- flexibility in the ways in which students with disabilities participate in activities
- alternative activities to increase participation
- negotiated and agreed implementation of programs to increase participation
- additional support to assist achievement of learning outcomes
- reasonable substitute activities for those who can't participate
- non-classroom and extracurricular activities that are designed to include the students (Conway, 2014, p.25).
When designing lesson plans, carefully consider using flexible approaches, that support the effective inclusion of these students. "Differentiated instruction ensures that the teaching-learning context provides an appropriate fit for each student while still retaining the common objectives for student outcomes and knowledge acquisition. This can be achieved by making changes to the environment, the content, the process or methods for teaching and learning that content, the methods for assessment of the products, and the human and material assistance needed to achieve the adjustments and adaptations" (Ashman, 2012, p.8). When designing such learning experiences, provide as many choices as possible. In doing so, you are more likely to "tap into student interest and preferred learning style, and motivate students to complete tasks" (Beninghof, 2014).
Whilst alternate approaches for student's with physical disabilities are usually more easily recognisable, creating flexible instruction for student's with intellectual disabilities can require somewhat more consideration. Appendix B provides more information regarding specific teaching strategies to better support learners with intellectual disabilities, however many of these can also be used to meet the needs of a diverse range of students.
"The benefits of inclusive education are numerous for both students with and without disabilities. Inclusion demonstrates acceptance of differences, the importance of collaboration and interdependence, and high expectations for learners. Most importantly, it provides access to general education curriculum standards in a setting with age-appropriate role models. When this occurs, higher levels of learning are achieved" (Beninghof, 2014).
An example of good practice...
'Jamie' is a year 10 male student with moderate intellectual impairment. He responds well to music and so has chosen to participate in this subject as an elective. For assessment each student is required to create a composition. Whilst the other students in his class work individually on computers using Sibelius software to compose in a more traditional format, Jamie works in a different program creating improvised loops, adding sound effects and rhythmic patterns. Jamie would not have been able to create music that meets his assessment requirements using the same program as his peers, however with this minor adjustment he is actively engaged in the assessment task and is able to learn more about the musical elements.
The task requires that the composition reflects musical characteristics of a particular culture. His teacher, 'Mr. K', noticed that Jamie had really connected with a class listening example titled 'Korean Folk Melody'. When deciding upon a compositional concept, Mr. K showed Jamie how he could easily improvise a pentatonic scale using just the black keys on the piano, providing a similar tonality to that of the Korean piece. Jamie was very excited to try this himself and demonstrated some artistic flair with his own improvisations.
In order for Jamie to remember how to utilise the loop software program that he is accessing to record his own improvisations, Mr. K created an instruction card with clear precise instructions allowing him to work more independently. Throughout these lessons all students are working individually and Mr. K is able to move around the room spending a few minutes with each student, providing assistance when needed. At no point does Jamie feel that he is being set apart from the rest of his students. His peers actually seemed really interested in seeing what Jamie has produced.
Mr. K sets high expectations for Jamie, challenging him to respond to these expectations in a positive way. As a result, Jamie is actively engaged in this compositional task. He is learning more about the musical elements, particularly structure and timbre, and is able to demonstrate these new understandings in discussions with both his peers and Mr.K. He is using higher order thinking skills, and is demonstrating both effort and persistence. In fact, he is often reluctant to stop working on his composition at the end of his lesson.
To read more about learning strategies for students with intellectual disabilities please see Appendix B