The Teachers Collective
The Teachers Collective aims to reframe inclusion in schools through building teacher capacity, offline and online through customised masterclasses and self-paced courses. They aim to create 1,00,000 inclusive educators in the next few years and can be reached at www.theteacherscollective.co.in
Inclusion starts with good teaching-learning practices for all students by all teachers, versus doing something special for any one child. When lesson planning includes some factors, inclusion in classrooms is the natural consequence.
It was a class that was studying the structure of teeth as part of the later primary syllabus digestive system. Students could choose between a series of mediums to express their learning - drawing or clay modelling. A child on the autism spectrum with art as her strength chose clay. Not only was she independent in her work, but others in the class looked to her for direction and her ‘disability’ disappeared. The teacher could clearly figure out what the child understood because she labelled the different kinds of teeth in the correct position.
Academic Choice
Academic Choice is a teaching-learning strategy that helps enhance both concepts and skills in students. Choice in a classroom refers to guided choices to motivate students to research topics deeper and become lifelong learners. It mimics life, helping students make informed choices, and developing skills in academic and other areas. Choice creates autonomy and confidence in kids, incentivising curiosity and requiring them to become self-directed learners.
It is important to note that the choice is guided: ‘do you want to read or watch?’ and NOT ‘do you want to complete the assignment?’ That a child needs to complete an assignment is the expectation and choice is given in how they engage with it.
Areas where choice is empowered
Teachers can set up choice as a part of planning to learn, working on learning or reflecting on the outcomes of their learning. If the lesson is an event in history, students could
· plan how they will approach it: research from a book, interviewing grandparents, watching a documentary, etc.
· work by applying the choice they planned for: reading, interviewing, watching, etc.; and
· reflect on or demonstrate their understanding using choices (making a brochure, infographic or story about the time, enacting a play, creating a diorama, making a short film, etc.)
Incorporating Choice
Teachers need to consider the following aspects when setting up choice as part of their lessons.
1. Their Learning Objective
While setting up choices, keep the learning objective in mind - combining too many objectives is not productive. E.g. if the learning objective is to understand a concept, choices given could be in the ways they express their understanding versus mandating written submissions. Writing is a complex skill on its own. While combining writing practice with expressing understanding of an assignment is convenient for the teacher, it creates barriers for students who are reluctant writers, first generation learners, etc.
2. Diversity of your class
The diversity of students in your classroom is important when providing academic choices. What are the various ways in which students learn? Are there any dominant interests that can be leveraged in the assignments? What is the home support and backgrounds of your students? Knowing your students well beyond their individual skills is important to setting up choices appropriately.
3. Time available for the lesson
Some long lessons can be delivered more effectively and efficiently when structured with the right choices. Choices given could be in group assignments, requiring class time or individual assignments which can be done outside of the classroom. Some teachers use one class a week as ‘choice time’, creating centres related to their content. For example, a math teacher might have three centres: hands-on model making, additional practice and poster-making for different learners to work with the same concept in different ways.
What kind of choices can be provided?
Grouping – When the learning objective is concept driven, students could choose their groups. When the learning objective is teamwork, grouping might not be provided as a choice.
Seating – Students could choose to sit on their desks, on standing desks at the back of the class or on the floor. Many students learn better when the constraint of sitting in a particular position for a long period of time is removed. Librarians in particular could experiment with seating and provide students with latitude in the way they sit so long as the focus is on reading.
Setting – Several teachers take their students on field trips inside school, sitting below a tree one day and in the library on another day. Teachers report enthusiasm from students from a simple shift in where the teaching-learning happens.
Formative assessment projects – Formative assessments support students in expressing what they learned using different media. Several teachers are comfortable using technology – making a movie, creating a presentation. Many non-technology options exist like reciprocal teaching, creating worksheets and assignments for other students, enacting role plays, poster presentations, etc.
Class norms and responsibilities – Class norms that are set up with student buy-in and choice work best. Students can also choose which role they are responsible for in a week: custodian of the class library, supervising clean up after lunch, blackboard date and subject labelling, etc.
Useful resources to have to incorporate choice into teaching-learning
The following are good resources to keep as regular use resources in every classroom.
· Dice
· Ice cream sticks with students’ names inscribed
· Flashcards with topic options (or blank flashcards that can be customized)
· Choice boards
· Polls and voting options
· Extra worksheets for extra challenge/differentiated to scaffold learning
· Standing desks
Incorporating academic choice into teaching-learning practices helps create inclusive classrooms. A couple of sample plans with choice incorporated are available for downloading and further illustrate how choice is possible in every classroom.