Development of inclusive practice

In module 2 of the post-compulsory PGCE course we have studied some theories around inclusive practice in teaching and learning. Inclusive practice in the classroom means involving everyone in the teaching and learning process.

As a trainee teacher one of my objectives in my lessons is to develop inclusive teaching and learning.  So I will try to use different methods to implement inclusive teaching practice and provide an evaluation of strategies and techniques to promote inclusivity. The methods I have been using or I will use in the future to promote inclusive learning are the following:

Ø  Directed questioning: I will involve all the students when doing directed questioning. I will ask the more able students the more challenging questions and less able students the less challenging questions.

I will give more time to bilingual students to respond to questions, because they may need to translate it to their first language first. I will respect their silence as well, in case they feel embarrassed or self-conscious.

Ø  Pair/small group activities: I will use teaching strategies such as pair or small group work to encourage communication among students.  These strategies can decrease the anxiety many students feel when they must perform alone for the teacher or in front of the class.

Ø  Reduce teacher talk: I will aim to increase the amount of student communication about a subject matter. I will allow students more time to speak.

Ø  Whiteboard demonstrations: I will give the chance to all students to demonstrate the exercises on the whiteboard. The more able students will demonstrate the more difficult exercises and the less able the easier ones.

Ø  Showing respect: my language should be respectful to everyone. I will show respect in relation gender, religion, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, ability, socio-economic status and background.

Ø  Sharing knowledge: I will encourage students to share their knowledge. For example, I will encourage the older students to share their experience and the younger students to share their computing skills.

Ø  Equality and diversity: I will promote equality and diversity in the classroom. For example, putting as example both male and female scientists and scientists from different nationalities.  The promotion of equality and diversity can be verbal or graphic around the classroom.

Ø  I will establish a supportive language learning environment in the classroom. I will explain to the students that the variety of different languages they speak is positive for teaching and learning.

Ø  I will show the students my availability during the classroom and when I’m in the office too. I will make them clear that they can talk to me if they have problems with the subject or any other issue that is bothering them.