Teaching Philosophy Reflection Paper

Our conceptualization of inclusive pedagogy focuses on how to extend what is ordinarily available in the community of the classroom as a way of reducing the need to mark some learners as different. This is underpinned by a shift in pedagogical thinking from an approach that works for most learners existing alongside something ‘additional’ or ‘different’ for those (some) who experience difficulties, towards one that involves providing rich learning opportunities that are sufficiently made available for everyone, so that all learners are able to participate in classroom life.

Schools have legal obligations to give students with a disability opportunities and choices comparable to those without a disability through the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 and the Disability Standards of Education 2005 (Department of Education and Training, n.d). To meet these standards, schools must be welcoming and reasonably accommodate for new students. We used the three phase inclusion process when Amir transferred to our school at the start of the year. The three flowing phases; preparation, transition and consolidation help all stakeholders inclusively plan for the best possible transition of a new child where their needs are provided for (Lyons, 2014, pg 80). Inclusive schools help support all students, teachers should work closely with the learning support team at their school to help them decide the best resources and strategies to meet students’ needs and promote their wellbeing (Lyons, 2014, pg 83). Amir has consultations with all relevant stakeholders at the start of the term to set learning goals and then at the end of the term to reflect on his achievements and what could be improved on. All teachers need to use their professional judgement and act ethically as their work significantly impacts the future of the learners in their class (Churchill, & Keddie, 2013, pg 539). Amir’s school promotes diversity and is strongly against bullying. At the start of each year we

On October 1st 2010, the Equality Act came into force. This consolidated and strengthened the previous equality laws. This act prevents children and their families from being discriminated, victimised or harassed because of their age, sex, race, religion or disability. Through this act each child, whether already in the setting, or applying through admissions, will be treated in a fair and equal way, with aims for all children to have reasonable provisions to allow them to access all educational areas. Although a school is not expected to make adjustments that are not reasonable, they are expected to make general adjustments, reasonably planned within the school’s approach to planning for SEN children. The Equality Act 2010 outlines four definitions of discrimination, direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from a disability and harassment and victimisation. This allows school settings to have clearer expectations and implement them. The Equality Act 2010 and the Discrimination Disability Act (DDA) (2005) both aim to ensure each and every child has access to a broad and balanced academic and social curriculum. Following this code of practice in a school, confirms that all members of staff provide the same high-quality teaching to children, as well as displaying professional behaviour.

Consistently throughout the PGDE course we are studying how to become a more inclusive practitioner whether it is through campus based learning, additional readings or teaching experience in local schools. We continuously strive towards learning how to make school a more inclusive environment. This assignment exemplified with references to reading such as Government policies, legislation and research articles as well as reflecting on my own teaching experience I hope to highlight the teachers’ role in creating an inclusive environment within an individual classroom. Having studied selective literature with theories and research, which could have influenced Scottish Education Policies, I draw attention to discrepancies on matters of inclusion and social justice that exist between them and the implications they have for learning.

It is the responsibility of the school to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils, based on the programmes of study for each key stage in the national curriculum. The teacher’s responsibility is to minimise any obstacles to effective learning and plan for all children to participate in the curriculum and achieve the best that they can. This will help to ensure an inclusive classroom. Access to a high-quality education is critical for empowering all children to lead rich and productive lives. Regardless of their background, disability, heritage, special educational needs, social group, gender, physical or emotional needs, race or culture schools have a duty to make sure all pupils have equal access to the curriculum. All children

When setting up an inclusive learning environment we need to focus on individual differences. Francis and Gould (2013: p65) explain, that “it is important to recognise the differences in the learners we teach, as these influence how we interact with them.” Francis and Gould (2013) list few typical differences, like age, physical disability, mental health issues, ethnicity, etc.

Students with special needs need deserve the same education general education students are presented with. The philosophy of “ Disability Inclusion” concentrates on creating a safe, loving, and effective learning environment for students who suffer from physical, learning, and behavioral disabilities. When a student with disabilities is placed in the same environment as a non-disabled student, the results show wonderful improvement. When we are able to discover the strength of the student we are able to see just how much the student can improve in an inclusion classroom. Disability Inclusion not only sets a new beginning for an equal education of special education students, but it allows for more interaction with the child, and a more hands-on assessment.

Australia is very a multicultural and diverse country. Consequently schools are faced with many diverse students of different abilities and backgrounds. To ensure equity and fairness among students, policies and legislations have been put into place to ensure diversity is being catered for and that no student is being excluded from the education system. Some of these policies and legislation include: The Disability Discrimination Act 1992, The Salamanca Statement, Disability Standards 2005, Inclusive Education Statement, Disabilities Services Act QLD 2006 and the Melbourne Declaration.

During the ten years that I have worked in primary education inclusivity has played an increasingly important part when considering how the curriculum can be delivered and how a classroom can be managed to ensure that it is accessed by all children. Experience of working within a primary classroom has shown that the accommodation of students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and the delivery of inclusive lessons have had a vital part to play when determining classroom

Social justice and inclusion have become important parts of the modern world, especially within the Scottish education system. They allow pupils to reach their full potential and to become fully integrated whilst at school, regardless of background or disability. However these terms are ever changing and require a lot of thought and determination to be fully fulfilled within schools. This paper will look at the importance of social justice and inclusion as well as considering different views on the topics. It will also focus on the teacher’s role in achieving an inclusive environment within school and the implications for learning.

It was a pleasure, Ms. Webster, watching you and your students work in the classroom. It is evident to me that you love what you do, and you are passionate about learning. I saw many positives that you do in the classroom and the effort that you put into your lessons shows. I would like to discuss with you the things I saw while I was observing you in the classroom. As educators, we strive for continuous improvement, and there are always things we can do in the classroom to improve our instruction. I am going to list some of the things that showcase your strengths as an educator, and some ideas that you may want to implement in your classroom. As a colleague, it is about the two of us collaborating, and working together to improve the learning environments for our children.

Philosophy can be described as a chance for person to undertake an opportunity to understand themselves, our world and society, and relations between ourselves and one another. Those who are able to study philosophy, can find out what is to be human, what kind of person is it good to be, and especially how are we to live a good life. I, myself, have had an opportunity to take a philosophy class and as my time in philosophy is starting to come to a close, I am suddenly realizing how Philosophy has changed the aspects and my outlook upon my life.

Cambridge, Johnson, & Newton (2014) states, “The attitude of teachers is paramount to the successful implementation of inclusive education”. The research showed that teachers generally had a positive attitude towards inclusion, but many negative factors affected their attitude. Factors such as lack of professional development, knowledge, and skills negatively impacted the teachers’ perception of inclusion. Cambridge, Johnson, & Newton (2014) talks about how important it is for teachers to have a positive attitude. The teachers’ attitude is known to have an impact of how students learn and socialize. As a teacher who teaches students with disabilities, I can understand how the teachers’ attitude can affect the student. There has been times when I have gotten frustrated because none of my teaching methods and techniques were not working. What I began to realize is that the more frustrated I became, the more frustrated my students became. I feel if I had more training or in-depth training on different ways to reach my students, neither of us would be as frustrated. It is like walking into a job untrained. Nobody wants that. The participants of this study, although having a fairly positive attitude toward inclusion, preferred to teach students with mild disabilities. They preferred students with mild disabilities because they did not feel they had the right resources, time, and technology, to meet the needs of students

Inclusion is strongly supported by international, national, and state policy, legislation. “The right to an inclusive education is addressed in both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with a Disability. Additionally, the Australian Government expresses its commitment to inclusive education in an array of documents and policies, including the National Disability Strategy, the Australian Curriculum, the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, the National Quality Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia”. (Kathy, 2013). Each of these documents, recognizes and acknowledged the

This essay is reflection about my understanding from what I have learned during this class about what philosophy is. Philosophy is a broad topic and can be hard to understand. What we learn is class about philosophy defiantly makes me think and makes my brain turn all the time, but so far, my understanding is that philosophy is the study of knowledge. It breaks down what everything is. Examples used in class are chariness, deskness, and the main one sued in class “cupness”.