7 Keys to Creating an Inclusive Classroom

EducationWorld is pleased to feature a variety of book excerpts in collaboration with Stenhouse Publishers. The following excerpt comes from Learning in Safe Schools: Creating classrooms where all students belong, Second Edition, by Faye Brownlie and Judith King (Pembroke Publishers, 2011; distributed in the U.S. by Stenhouse Publishers). The book retails for $22 ($19.99 e-book) and is available on the Stenhouse Web site.

This article outlines the key considerations for creating an inclusive classroom. For additional excerpts from Learning in Safe Schools see Try These Curriculum Adaptations and Modifications and “Show What You Know” Assessments in Inclusive Classrooms.

1. Be flexible! It is the most important characteristic needed by all staff. This flexibility will be called upon in thinking, planning, and designing support models. These models need to be dynamic, changing as learner needs alter.
    
2. Be collaborative. We truly need the expertise of all in order to make the move toward more inclusive practices work. Teachers, parents, and students can collaborate. We need to share our views, pose questions, and listen carefully.
    

   About Stenhouse Publishers Stenhouse publishes professional development books and videos by teachers and for teachers. Their titles cover a range of content areas -- from literacy and mathematics to science, social studies, the arts, and environmental education -- as well as a variety of topics, including classroom management, assessment, and differentiation.

   The best thing about collaboration is that adults learn from each other. It is an ongoing, connected inservice that involves modeling and reflection.
   
   As one teacher, Tammy Wirick, observes: “The best thing about collaboration is that it forces you to question whether what you are doing is best for the children you are working with, and it provides a mirror — it balances your thinking both emotionally and intellectually.”
    
3. Be prepared to problem-solve. Each student can open a new range of possibilities. The whole school must be a safe place for everyone.
   
   Working with students with challenging behavior is worthwhile. As teacher Linda Wingren puts it: “The other kids love you too because they see that you never give up on anyone and you include everyone. We can’t afford to let go of anyone.”
    
4. Be a planner. Planning is key. Support personnel must work carefully with parents and classroom teachers to design appropriate educational experiences on an ongoing basis. Plans are best established before support personnel join the teacher in the classroom. This does not have to mean a delay in service. Support personnel should be in the classroom early in the term, observing, collecting information, assessing student performance, scaffolding learning, and interacting with the students. Then, armed with pertinent information, the classroom teacher and the support personnel meet to establish their plans, which should be monitored regularly for service to be effective.
    
5. Be aware of the language used when describing students. Choice of language is powerful. It influences the thinking of others — that of the students and their parents, as well as that of those who work with the students in school. Always refer to students in positive language. For example, saying “a student with learning disabilities” is more positive than saying “a learning-disabled student.” The first focuses on the student, then a specialty, while the second suggests that the disability is more important than the person.
   
   Stay away from labels. Labels prevent us from understanding students. They limit our ideas of who students are and what they can do. For example, how can a teacher call a child who isn’t performing a non-reader and a non-writer? The task is to find out what is stopping the child and then figure out what to do about it.
    
6. Be aware of how you spend your time. Extensive testing prior to providing a program for a student is costly in terms of time and personnel. Vulnerable students should not be left to flounder with the regular classroom curriculum and expectations pending a formal assessment. With support personnel helping the teacher in the classroom, observations of a student’s interactions with others can begin immediately. These observations then become the nucleus of a profile of strengths and needs that lead to the necessary programming adaptations or scaffolding. Although a formal assessment might sometimes be required, most planning for student programming is based on ongoing data collection in a variety of learning situations.
    
7. If you are support personnel, be prepared to play a key role in beginning and maintaining an inclusive focus. Accurate record-keeping is a mandate. Ongoing dialogue among staff regarding student needs and the effectiveness of the intervention or scaffolding can often be initiated by support personnel. The modeling of positive language about students helps sharpen thinking. You are in a special position when it comes to influencing the growth of a learning community in a school. Remember: Inclusion is not focused on one population. It is making everyone feel that s/he is important and a part of the school. Behaviors ranging from welcoming to encouraging and from supporting to problem-solving are key. Students can capitalize on the social aspects of learning and, as members of a community, share the highs and lows of the individuals within it.

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