Ptlls_2_3.1

PROMOTING INCLUSIVE LEARNING INCLUDING EQUALITY & DIVERSITY & POINTS OF REFERRAL FOR LEARNERS ASSIGNMENT 2/3.1 Explain how to engage and motivate learners in an inclusive learning environmentWe can positively affect the environment within which students learn by paying attention to students’ sense of inclusion, theirattitudes toward learning, the meaning they make of course material, and their feelings of competence. The strategies listed below overlap somewhat and should work together. Consider how much difference one small change might make toward creating an inspiring teaching and learning environment. 1. Establishing inclusion:Create or affirm a learning atmosphere in which you and your students feel respected by and connected to one another (focus on these strategies, in particular, at the beginning of class): * Establish a relationship with your students by sharing something of value with them (e.g., time, humour, feelings, values). * Introduce yourself so that your students know more than your name and contact information (e.g., outside interests, family, academic history, personal experiences). * Have your students introduce themselves, either to the whole class or to a small group (in a large class setting). * Use a short opening activity (“ice-breaker”) to help your students relax and get to know each other. * Get to know your students as individuals (e.g., their academic history, their goals for taking the course, their future plans) * Use gender-inclusive and culturally diverse examples. * Listen to students with warmth and respect – give them your full attention. Be personable and approachable – remember the positive power of a smile. * Validate all comments and questions, even those that seem irrelevant or inappropriate. * Welcome criticism and receive it with an open mind. * When you don’t know something, ask your students for help. * Use a class management approach that is fair, accepted by students, well understood, and consistently applied. * Be faithful to your promises: follow through on what you have said regarding class structure, course content, and grading. 2. Developing attitude: Create or affirm a favourable disposition in your students toward learning in your course (focus on these strategies, in particular, at the beginning of class): * Model enthusiasm for the subject taught * Be clear about your expectations: tell students what they need to do to succeed in your course * Preview the content and structure of the course to build student interest * Use focusing methods to arouse curiosity and to draw students’ attention to new topics (e.g., puzzling questions, * problems to be solved, suspenseful stories, cartoons, newspaper clippings) * Clearly state course objectives from the students’ perspective (e.g., “You will learn…”) * To the extent possible, shape the course content and goals based on your students’ interests and needs – use a survey * or question-answer session to determine these needs * When feasible, give students a choice in the type of assignments they can do (e.g., essay, artwork, model, group * presentation) * Provide the opportunity for self-discovery through problem solving, experimentation, and self-evaluation * Communicate high expectations – assume that students do want to learn * When a student’s (negative) emotions are apparent, approach the student in a caring way and discuss the feelings and positively confront the possibly erroneous beliefs, expectations, and assumptions that may underlie the student’s negative attitude * Associate a seemingly unmotivated student with other students who are enthusiastic about the subject 3. Enhancing meaning: Create engaging and challenging learning experiences that target your students (focus on these strategies throughout the class period): * Introduce the unfamiliar through the familiar – build on information students have learned previously, either in your course or in other courses. * Discover students’ strengths, interests, and goals, and relate the topic or learning activity to them. * Use effective presentation skills (e.g., movement, voice inflection, gestures, and pauses). * Use audio-visual aids and props to reinforce your material. * Midway through a long lecture, give your students a stretch/chat break. * Be structured: give clear summaries and transitions, and make explicit connections between the objectives and class activities. * Vary your presentation style (i.e., don’t lecture for the whole class period). * Use humour, examples, analogies, and stories. * Use active learning techniques (e.g., question-answer sessions, pair problem-solving, short discussions, and brief independent study activities in lectures). * Give students opportunities to work together (in and out of class time) on projects and case studies. * Limit your use of knowledge and comprehension questions, and increase the use of application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation questions. * Ask students to provide relevant examples from their job or co-op experience. * Invite practitioners from a relevant field to speak to the class. * Take your students on a field trip either during the lecture period or outside of class time (You can assign small groups for large classes and you may cancel a class period to make up for any extra time spent out of class). * Hold high but realistic expectations for your students – challenge them to grow. * Challenge students’ thinking on controversial issues and address opposing views to your argument. * Design tests that encourage the kind of learning you want students to achieve.4. Engendering competence:Create or affirm an understanding that your students have effectively learned something they value and perceive as authentic to their real world (focus on these strategies at the end of class or the end of an activity): * Encourage students: give recognition for real effort, minimise mistakes when they are still struggling, show consistent trust in their capacity to learn, emphasise learning from mistakes. * When students are working on large projects, give feedback at each stage. * Make students feel valued about their progress, not only about their final grade. * Ask students questions which help them realize that they do know a lot – encourage them to try or guess. * Use closure techniques such as reviewing material, asking for feedback, and allowing for clarification * Use a variety of feedback procedures to provide frequent, consistent feedback regarding mastery of learning. * Accompany grades with written or verbal feedback that is genuine, immediate, and specific. * Use constructive criticism: emphasise strengths, and be specific about areas for improvement. * Acknowledge and affirm the students’ responsibility in completing the learning task. * Acknowledge the risk taken and challenge involved in the learning accomplishment. * Demonstrate respect for your students’ efforts, however ill-informed and unsophisticated they may seem. * Encourage your students to explore how the information they’ve learned will be useful for future courses or jobs. * If, at the beginning of the period or course, you have sparked students’ curiosity with a problem they cannot solve, return to that problem at the end of the learning time to show them how much they have learned. * Involve other students in affirming the strengths of each student (e.g., peer evaluation). * Help your students reflect on the process of their own learning: how and what were the critical processes that helped them achieve this knowledge. * Link grades as tightly as possible to what has been learned. * See yourself as assisting students to do well rather than as keeping them from good grades. * To minimise competition, avoid norm-referenced grading systems (e.g., a “curve”). * Celebrate class accomplishments with a discussion, party, round of applause, or congratulations – snacks still work for university students! | AC | Tutor |