Multidimensional Classroom Support to Inclusive Education Teachers in Beijing,China

Classroom support plays a salient role in successful inclusive education, hence it has been widely debated in the literature. Much extant work has only focused on a particular aspect of classroom support. A comprehensive, systematic discussion of classroom support is sporadic in the literature. Relevant research concerning the Chinese context is even more limited. To address this gap, our study developed and validated a multidimensional classroom support model conducive to teachers’ inclusive education practices. Data were drawn from our large-scale survey with inclusive education teachers in Beijing. Further analyses were conducted to compare different dimensions within the classroom support model. Drawing insights from the results, we provide some recommendations for practice and research.     

全纳性教育的课堂教学原则

全纳性课堂教学的目的在于 ,通过教学使所有的儿童得到最适合他们需要的教育 ,使他们的潜能得到最充分的发掘 ,个性得到最和谐的发展。本文从全纳教育课堂教学原则入手 ,论述了发展性原则、兼顾性原则、个别化原则、直观性原则、扬优补缺性原则以及成功性原则的含义及贯彻这些原则的具体条件 ,以期为全纳教育课堂教学的实施搭建平台     

Primary teachers’ perceptions of multi-grade classroom grouping practices to support inclusive education

ABSTRACT

Previous research has focused on inclusive classroom practices in mainstream primary schools but little is documented regarding practices in multi-grade classrooms. The purpose of this paper was to report mainstream primary teachers’ perceptions of multi-grade classroom grouping practices to support inclusive education specifically for students with special educational needs (SEN). The findings indicated that despite the difficulty of covering the curricula of the various grades, multi-grade teachers reported the implementation of flexible grouping practices (ability, mixed ability, social) for academic or social reasons. However, the tension between meeting the needs of the grade groups and the individual student with SEN were apparent, with some practices documented not necessarily inclusive. The importance of using appropriate grouping practices to enable teachers to include all students, thereby avoiding potentially negative effects of treating some students differently was emphasised.     

Flipped classroom instruction for inclusive learning

The flipped classroom is a teaching methodology that has gained recognition in primary, secondary and higher education settings. The flipped classroom inverts traditional teaching methods, delivering lecture instruction outside class, and devoting class time to problem solving, with the teacher's role becoming that of a learning coach and facilitator. This methodology provides an avenue for more hands‐on and student‐driven learning during class time. The benefits of a flipped classroom include increased student motivation, differentiating instruction, self‐pacing lessons and mastery learning, increased collaboration and instant feedback for formative assessment. Although limited research has been conducted regarding students with learning difficulties in inclusive settings using a flipped learning model, initial research indicates flipping a classroom can be beneficial. Information is provided on inclusive practices from numerous countries that are beneficial to students with learning difficulties, as well as strategies and resources for individuals who may want to implement a flipped classroom.     

“Kindergarten, can I have your eyes and ears?” politeness and teacher directive choices in inquiry-based science classrooms

This study explores elementary teachers’ social understandings and employment of directives and politeness while facilitating inquiry science lessons prior and subsequent to their participation in a summer institute in which they were introduced to the scholarly literature on regulative discourse (directives used by teachers to regulate student behavior). A grounded theory analysis of the institute professional development activities revealed that teachers developed an increased awareness of the authoritative functions served by impolite or direct directives (i.e., pragmatic awareness). Furthermore, a comparative microethnographic analysis of participants’ inquiry-based classroom practices revealed that after the institute teachers demonstrated an increased ability to share authority with students by strategically making directive choices that were more polite, indirect, inclusive, involvement-focused and creative. Such ability led to a reduced emphasis on teacher regulation of student compliance with classroom behavioral norms and an increased focus on the discursive organization of the inquiry-based science learning/teaching process. Despite teachers’ increased pragmatic awareness, teacher–student linguistic relationships did not become entirely symmetrical subsequent to their participation in the summer institute (i.e., teacher authority was not completely relinquished or lost). Based on such findings, it is argued that teachers need to develop higher levels of pragmatic awareness to become effectively prepared to engage in language-mediated teacher–student interaction in the context of inquiry-based science classroom discourse.     

Northrop Frye in the Elementary Classroom

Northrop Frye (1912–1991) was one of the leading literary theorists of his day, and this article shows the ways in which his theories continue to be relevant for both the field of literary criticism and elementary classroom education today. The author, an eminent scholar in the field of children’s literature in her own right and a student of Northrop Frye, presents her interpretation of his major theories as they relate to reading and writing pedagogy in the elementary school classroom. This article articulates some of the key issues developed in the author's book, The Child As Critic, which has undergone a number of printings and editions, and which may well be as close as we get to a handbook for teaching the art of literature, as Northrop Frye might have written it.     

Teachers' Attitudes Towards Mainstreaming and Their Pupils' Perceptions of Their Classroom Learning Environment

In spite of the widespread adoption of policies on mainstreaming, and more recently on inclusive education for children and young people with special educational needs, little is actually known about the relationship between what teachers think about such policies and the type of learning environments that they provide. In this study in New Zealand, a sample of regular primary school teachers (N= 63) were categorised according to ‘high’, ‘moderate’ or ‘low’ scores on a scale which measures their views on mainstreaming policies and practices. The pupils (N= 1729) of these teachers also completed a scale measuring perceptions of their classroom learning environments. Children taught by teachers who espoused highly positive attitudes towards mainstreaming were found to have significantly higher levels of classroom satisfaction and marginally lower levels of classroom friction than children taught by teachers with less positive attitudes. Implications of these findings are discussed for further research on the role of teacher attitudes in the successful inclusion of children and young people with special needs and for policies on the implementation of effective inclusive practice. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Behavioural and emotional problems in hearing impaired children: a preliminary study of teacher and parent ratings

A case study of what appears to be an inclusive classroom in Sweden is reported. The group of children in the class studied was very heterogeneous: five of the 15 children had a disability diagnosis at the time of the study. One aim of the study was to develop a methodology which can be used in order to investigate in what sense classrooms are ‘inclusive’, especially as regards the point of view of the pupils. It is argued that an explicit definition of characteristics of inclusive classrooms and clear‐cut methods to study those characteristics are necessary prerequisites in order to reach valid conclusions concerning what teaching strategies are central to inclusive processes. The data consist of interviews with the teachers and children involved, sociograms, a questionnaire answered by the children, notes from participant observations and poetry by the children. The analyses suggest that the classroom seems to be inclusive, although it is emphasised that this is not an all‐or‐none phenomenon, especially children's experiences are complex phenomena. It is argued that the teachers try to create a learning community where differences are valued. Six teacher strategies emerged from the data.     

东部沿海发达地区义务教育学段课堂环境的城乡差异研究——以上海、浙江的18所学校为例

运用《香港课堂环境量表》对东部沿海发达地区的上海、温州、鳌江三地的小学、初中共18个学校789名学生开展了调查,结果表明,在新课改现阶段,东部沿海发达地区课堂环境的现实状况是:(1)学生的满意度是中等偏上,教师的支持和投入高于学生的合作、课堂秩序、学生学习参与;(2)存在显著的城乡差异,在合作、教师参与和教师支持方面都是大城市好于中等城市、中等城市好于乡镇;在秩序和学生参与情况上,大城市好于乡镇,乡镇好于中等城市;(3)可以分成高值、中值、低值三种类型,三种类型在地区上的分布为大城市、中等城市、乡镇依次递减;(4)地区人均GDP是影响课堂环境的一个主要因素。     

Identifying Canadian teacher candidates' needs for training in the use of inclusive classroom assessment

To identify teacher candidates' needs for training in inclusive classroom assessment, the present study investigated teacher candidates' beliefs about inclusive classroom assessments for all students educated in regular classrooms, including those with special needs and English language learners. An innovative theoretical assessment model, consisting of four concepts of assessment for, as, of learning as well as accommodations and modifications, was built to compare with questionnaire responses from a group of Canadian teacher candidates (n?=?295). Our data yielded five factors: (1) beliefs about accommodations and modifications for students with diverse needs (ACC), (2) assessment of learning, (3) assessment as learning, (4) misconceptions of inclusive assessment, and (5) negative beliefs about assessment for learning (NAFL). Contrary to expectations, assessment concepts are not fully interrelated with each other in teacher candidates' belief systems. In addition, participating teacher candidates may have some misconceptions about inclusive assessments given that they possessed positive beliefs towards them. The implications for teacher education programmes and professional development were also discussed in this study.     

小学数学教学中高效课堂的构建

在小学数学教学过程中,教师应该将新课改的政策充分落实到教学中,这样不仅能提高教学质量,也能有效改善课堂学习氛围。而在新课改的背景下,如何构建更加高效的课堂,已经成为小学数学教师不断思考的问题。本文将阐述小学数学教学中高效课堂的构建,希望能为小学数学教师提供有效的参考。     

Preservice teachers’ self‐efficacy in managing students with symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: The roles of diagnostic label and students’ gender

The present study investigated preservice teachers’ self‐efficacy in classroom management involving students with symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A total of 137 Chinese preservice teachers were randomly presented with one of four vignettes involving a student character with ADHD symptoms, with manipulations including the character’s gender and diagnostic label of ADHD. Upon reading the vignette, participants responded to questions concerning their self‐efficacy in inclusive classroom management involving the character. Findings based on analysis of covariance indicated an interaction effect of the vignette character’s gender and label on teachers’ self‐efficacy. Specifically, teachers perceived greater self‐efficacy in a classroom involving a girl with an ADHD label than in a classroom involving a girl with no label or a boy with a label. Findings enriched the literature concerning the roles of gender and label in preservice teachers’ self‐efficacy toward inclusive classroom management.     

全纳教育的元型

在普通学校采用随班就读的方式 ,帮助残疾儿童学习的改革存在两种几乎无法兼容的观点。一种观点认为随班就读是很有成效的 ,值得加以大力推动 ,深化改革。另一种观点认为随班就读的条件尚不具备 ,存在随班就混的情况 ,需要得到纠正。本文采用全纳性教育的理论与来自 8个实验学校的案例 ,对学校在实践中所取得的经验进行描述性分析 ,借此讨论、评述构建全纳教育、全纳学校、全纳课堂的教学改革的可行性以及值得进一步研究的问题。     

小学课堂教学中的问题设计与呈现

小学课堂教学中,教师总会呈现一些问题,它们一般以提问、作业、质疑、讨论的形式出现在课堂教学活动中。课堂呈现的这些问题一般都是教师事先设计好了的,它的出现有助于学习者学习的成功。     

聚焦说理课堂 促进深度学习

在小学数学教学中,需要给学生营造出想说理、要说理的课堂教学氛围。本文主要探究了小学数学说理课堂的具体构建,首先探讨了现阶段小学数学教学现状及加强小学数学说理课堂构建的作用,再简要论述了小学数学说理课堂的构建途径。     

Undergraduates’ implementations of learning stations as their service learning among elementary school students

Service learning provides pre-service educators with a context for having hands-on field experience and also assists in understanding the theory and practice. This study discusses 7 undergraduates' implementations of learning stations as their service learning with 28 elementary school students. Through thematic data analysis of interviews, observation field notes, activity designs, and discussion posts, this study presented the following major findings. First, elementary school students, seven undergraduates, and a cooperative elementary school English teacher held positive attitudes towards the implementation of learning stations, because these developed children's cooperation and word recognition skills. Second, undergraduates and cooperative teachers gained professionalism through reflection and cooperation, in terms of activity designs, classroom management, and interpersonal skills development with kids and adults. Five suggestions are provided in order to effectively implement undergraduates' activity designs for learning stations as their service learning among elementary school students.     

建构“生命”语文课堂

课堂不再单纯是教学活动的场所或环境,已成为课程与教学活动的综合体,现有的中小学语文课堂依然存在种种弊端,因此有必要建构一种有利于师生身心发展的"生命"语文课堂。文章从必要性和策略两方面讨论了建构"生命"语文课堂这一问题。