Ptlls 6302, Unit 003 – Using Inclusive Learning and Teaching Approaches in Lifelong Learning

I confirm that the evidence for this unit is authentic and a true representation of my own work.

PowerPoint’s ease of communication and efficiency make it attractive in a classroom, but centralizes control with teacher and promotes passivity among students by objectifying knowledge. Its simple structure and visual “arousal” work to capture and easily transmit the material to the audience. Generally, a presentation is done by one or several individuals to a group of students, whom sit back, scrolling through Facebook, superficially receiving the content without truly digesting it. Essentially, a PowerPoint presentation centralizes control of the class in the hands of the presenter (often the teacher) “to passive receivers (the students)”. Teaching pre-packaged information without allowing for critical thinking is merely undermining and objectifying the knowledge. Teachers are so enthralled by this new technology they miss how their educational system remains stagnant, continuing as the banking model.

In inclusive learning we need to consider the diversity of a student body and make efforts not to exclude anyone be it intended or unintended. “Some students could feel excluded during your session if their particular needs are not met,” Gravells (2012:56). Inclusive learning is simply “involving all students, treating them equally and fairly,” Gravells (2012:56).

Good job on the power point presentation. You addressed all your objectives and it was easy to follow. I enjoyed it. To respond to your questions;

(Q.2.) In comparison to my demonstration speech, I believe the introduction to my informative speech was much stronger, because I told a story instead of asking a question. My story allowed for my audience to have a mental picture of what I was talking about. How I related child development to my audience was much more effective in my informative speech than my demonstration speech. In my demonstration speech, not everyone raised their hand when I asked my question. In my informative speech, I related it to my audience by saying everyone has went through child development. I felt more confident in my informative speech because I practiced many times in front of my family and friends. I got marked points off for being too read-y in my demonstration speech, so for my informative speech I worked on not memorizing the whole thing. By not memorizing my informative speech I felt more confident while presenting.

During the presentation there were examples provided from the textbook to allow the trainees to capture what was being presented and said. This allowed for them to see what was being taught. It was also helpful that there were examples provided during the presentation to allow for a real life experiences in the workforce, making everything more relatable to each individual in its own unique way.

When I concluded this experience, I was then able to take what I had learned from the session, and apply it to the design of my poster board presentation as well as the communication styles both verbally and non-verbally that I would use for the presentation. Because of this experience I was successfully able to exhibit oral presentation skills, verbally, and nonverbally. Prior to this experience I was unsure of how to properly

Inclusion is not a new idea, but has been rapidly gaining momentum within many disciplines internationally. Inclusive education is a term often associated with Special education, and children with additional needs. However, inclusive education is about ensuring that educational settings allow for meaningful participation by all learners. Each child has their own unique identity, ways of doing things, strengths and weaknesses. Ministry of Education [MoE] (1998) states that teachers “should recognise that as all students are individuals, their learning may call for different approaches, different resourcing, and different goals” (p. 39, emphasis added). This statement shows that all children may require differing approaches in

To support increased learning in our allotted thirty minutes time frame, we included some videos pre-class to help to establish a concept of our topic and, emailed our powerpoint in which they could take their own notes during class. We used repetition with discretion to provide a platform for which our Powerpoint presentation could build up their understanding (Fitzgerald, K., & Keyes, K. (2014). We feel this minimized the same information being repeated in a manner in what Fitzgerald & Keyes (2014) desctive effective learning tools by reviewing key points to deepen the learner 's understanding.

Another factor that incorporates in having a successful classroom inclusive environment is the quality of teaching. Alton-Lee (2003) argues that quality teaching has been identified as an important practice of positive outcomes for diverse students. Forlin (2012) discusses, but with more details than in Alton-Lee (2003) saying that quality teaching for students with diverse abilities has got various characteristics. For example, it has to focus on student’s achievement, to make clear links between the curriculum and the student’s culture, and to respond the learning processes. Foreman (2014) adds that quality teaching is also related to providing a feedback that helps with the students’ self-regulation and scaffolds their learning. Moreover, it is acting like a bridge of interactive communication between the students and their teacher.

Educators face increasing concerns and challenges in providing equal opportunities for all students especially students with special needs. A classroom should be an environment that individually accepts, motivates, engages and challenges students, while the curriculum is presented in multiple ways to meet diverse students’ needs. Education authorities recognise special needs as a wide spectrum of special educational needs often inter-related in the areas of communication and interaction, cognitive and learning behaviour, emotional and social development and sensory and physical impairment (Florian 2004, 13). Barriers to inclusion such as teacher’s negative discriminatory attitudes and practices, lack of support to facilitate inclusion and adequate professional development result in failing children to realise their full potential. More importantly, educators are legally obligated to practice inclusive education and provide an education equal to any other student as reflected in the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Forlin, et al. 2014, 20). Clearly, a shift in teacher’s attitude, instruction delivery and materials, assessment and evaluation, and accommodation are demands that need to be met to successfully implement inclusive education. The effective integration of technology provides teachers multiple ways to address the diverse demands students including students with special needs. Therefore, the application of technology

Many people frown upon the fact of inclusion in classrooms. They say, “the disabled student might be disruptive” or “the other students might get upset when the teacher has to slow down for the disabled student.” All students have their right to an education, whether it be inclusive or not. If a student is disruptive, the teacher should be able to handle it. Although people think inclusion has many disadvantages, there are far more advantages and benefits for all students, teachers, families and even for communities. Therefore, we as society should make schools, and communities inclusive.

A generation ago, few classrooms in the United States included students with disabilities. But special education changed with the passage of the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and its 1997 amendments. That landmark legislation moved children with special needs from segregated classrooms into regular classrooms. Inclusive education is a new teaching program where students with special needs are taught in classrooms alongside their regular education peers. This program often operates with two teachers, in the same class which means they’re both a General Education and Special Education teacher. This program is also often referred to as CTT (Collaborative Team Teaching) or ICT (Integrated Co-Teaching) External link.

The Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America historically refers to African Americans achieving equality in all facets of society. The passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, gave way to three federal laws protecting the rights of people with disabilities. These three laws, the Education for all Handicapped Children Act in 1973, the Vocational Rehabilitation Act in 1975 and the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, addresses the needs and rights of Americans with disabilities at work, in the public sphere and in the educational spectrum. Students with disabilities under the law must have the same access, quality and opportunity for education as students who do not have a disability.

Our presentation slides focuses more on pictures, charts and key-points for visual aid. By keeping the slides simple, audiences can focus more on the speaker. The videos uploaded by the Centre for English Language Communication department tell us our weaknesses which we do not realize by ourselves. Reflecting on my first and second presentation through videos and feedbacks from Ms. Christine has helped me