Ptlls_Assessment_4

Nandita Brahmbhatt PTTLS Assessment Element 3 Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Referral Introduction It is the responsibility of the teacher to ensure that all the learners in their classroom are treated equally, feel valued and respected. Each individual should also be given an opportunity to gain as much from the classroom as any other individual. This can be achieved if there is a very conscious effort made to tailor lessons and use different approached sometimes just to achieve the same objective. This includes the delivery of material as well as the way in which it may be assessed. However the promotion of equality in the classroom is not just an expectation; it is a requirement; achieved by understanding the issues students and staff can face in relation to race, disability, gender, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation and other barriers. In order to understand better the way in which an inclusive teaching environment can be created it is necessary to understand what are equality, diversity and inclusion. Equality Is not about treating everybody the same but ensuring that all differences are met with an equal importance and are addressed fairly. “It is based on the legal obligation to comply with anti-discrimination legislation. Equality protects people from being discriminated against on the grounds of group membership i.e. sex, race disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, or age.” (Skills for business website) Diversity In very basic terms diversity is a variety of individuals. However it is far more complex and includes a wider range of categories but not excluding those mentioned in the equality section. “The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual” (University of Oregon 1999) Inclusion Inclusive teaching means recognising, accommodating and meeting the learning needs of all your students. It means acknowledging that your students have a range of individual learning needs and are members of diverse communities: a student with a disabling medical condition may also have English as an additional language and be a single parent. Inclusive teaching avoids pigeonholing students into specific groups with predictable and fixed approaches to learning. (The Open University) Now that I have defined the terms equality diversity and inclusion I can look at some of the different needs and how various learning approaches can promote inclusion in the learning environment. Once there is some understanding from the teacher towards diversity in the classroom they can use techniques at every stage to ensure they make teaching inclusive. Before learning Sometimes enrolment forms can be very helpful to initially indentify the basic make-up of the class you will be teaching. It can often indicate age, gender, ethnicities etc. They can also be designed to give details of previous qualifications, experience and even additional learner support needs. This information helps when producing an individual learning plan and early intervention with any additional support needs e.g. learning support or counselling. This can encourage engagement and help with inclusion in the classroom. However when this information is not available or some students may not offer information regarding support needs or even know that they need them. This is where the role of the teacher is vital in picking up this information as early as possible, continuous assessment will help identify these. Students should be encouraged to accept additional support in order to help overcome boundaries. Students should be made to feel welcome by creating a good first impression e.g. smiling, looking calm and being confident. Every student should be encouraged to participate in the classroom, regardless of gender, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, age or religious belief. Every student should have the same opportunity. There are many techniques that can encourage participation even if a student is particularly quiet or shy. These can include reading sentences or paragraphs from a powerpoint presentation instead of the teacher. Asking for opinions at various intervals during the class. Maybe even breaking the larger group into two or more sub-groups and then asking to present back to the class as a whole. During learning 1. Making suitable adjustments to the classroom and teaching style to accommodate all disabilities 2. Mixing or creating groups of different abilities to encourage learning from each other 3. Then reforming groups at different points to get variation 4. Using appropriate resources 5. Establishing rules and expectations of respect and fairness 6. Adapting handouts etc to cater for different learning abilities and disabilities Learning Styles When discussing equality, diversity and inclusion in teaching, it is important to consider learning styles as well as the usual categories discussed. This is vital as the way in which people learn will affect their engagement with the learning and also how much they benefit from the learning. VARK We gather information from the world around us using our senses (including the information that we need to study). However some of employ one sense more than the others. The VARK system (described by Felmming 2001) assess how much we rely on each and is categorised as follows Visual Auditory Reading Kinesthetic David Kolb’s Model This theory is based on experimental learning and outlines two related approaches towards grasping experience. The resulting learning styles are combinations of the individuals preferred learning style. Converger Diverger Assimilator Accommodator After learning Checking all learners are happy and have gained the maximum from the sessions as possible and asking if there are any gaps in the learning based on the objectives set out at the beginning. All the students will have different abilities and it will not be that they all achieve every learning outcome, however the teacher should aim to maximise learning outcomes in the time available. Assessments Assessments should also reflect the various types of students that are in the group. Therefore there should be some written and some verbal assessment. There should be different levels assessed and some indication of intermediate achievements, not just pass and fail. Continued personal development It is vital that once a course is designed or delivered that a teacher does not take for granted that this will be the best delivery for another group. At each stage the teacher should keep improving his or own skills to ensure that they keep meeting the needs of all their students. Each time a new way of presenting something to a student with any type of special need is devised, this could present an opportunity to teach the whole group in a better format. It also a good idea to pick up hints and tips from other teachers as often they will have thought of or found good ways of doing things too. Conclusion In conclusion, to assume nothing and treat each and every student as an individual is a fundamental principle in teaching. It is not always easy to identify individual needs accurately and then to address them appropriately however with a very conscious effort on the part of the teacher this can be achieved and a learning environment that benefits all students can be created. It is therefore critical for all teachers to continue to be learners and students themselves. They must strive to keep ‘sharpening the saw’ (Stephen Covey- The Seven Habits of Highly effective people) and grow in their skills as a teacher. It is important to put themselves in the shoes of their students and every now and again take a step back from what they do to see where they can increase the boundaries of those individual needs that their teaching caters for. Reference List Definition of diversity [Online] updated 26/8/99 Available at: http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~asuomca/diversityinit/definition.html Open university website [Online] Available at: http://www.open.ac.uk/inclusiveteaching/pages/inclusive-teaching/index.php Equality and Diversity in adult and community learning (a guide for managers [Online] Available at: http://www.excellencegateway.org.uk/pdf/A1181.pdf Skills for Business Website [Online] Available at : http://www.sfbn-equality-diversity.org.uk/meaning.html DirectGovwebsite[online] Available at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/RightsAndObligations/DisabilityRights/DG_4001068 Wikipedia [online] Available at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles