Attitudes & Skills of Teachers who Help All Learners:
- They establish clarity about essential curricular information, understandings and skills
- They accept responsibility for learner success
- They develop communities of respect within the classroom
- They develop an awareness of what works for each student, and provide multiple ways to achieve a common goal
- They establish classroom management routines help students achieve success, foresee the outcomes of an activity and structure the class to avoid work problems
- They help students become effective contributors to their own success and share the responsibility of teaching and learning with others
- They develop a flexible classroom teaching routines and use time effectively
- They expand their repertoire of instructional strategies
- They reflect on individual progress with an eye toward curricular goals and personal growth
- They keep track of student growth towards personal, group, and curricular goals
Strategies for Creating an Inclusive Classroom Environment:
- Ensuring that all languages, cultures and perspectives of varied cultures are represented in the important work of the group
- Seek out, affirm and draw on the unique abilities of each learner
- Elicit and value multiple perspectives on issues, decisions and ways of accomplishing work in the class
- Help students identify and adhere to constructive ways of interacting
- Design tasks that enable each student to make important contributions to the work of the group
Suggestions:
- We can incorporate the different holidays that are celebrated by different students into class work. This can be done through readings, art work, painting, stories, etc.
- Bring in guest speakers to discuss the different cultures students belong too, OR even have students present to the class their cultural background. In order for this to work, teachers must create a safe setting for all the students involved.