The study of teaching strategies for supporting students with Autism and ADHD with classroom management.7503 - Task 2 1 2 ‘Inclusive education’ is an equity-focused framework that is based on the premise that every student has an opportunity to succeed. It supports the teaching and learning of skills and attitudes required to facilitate the progression of learners with diverse needs and abilities, within a mainstream education system. This presentation will focus on a small-scale, instrumental case study that was conducted in an elementary international school located in Singapore. The school offers the Cambridge Primary (International) curriculum and caters primarily to the expatriate British community. Established in January 2020, the school is considerably small in terms of teacher and student population. At the time of the study, the school’s population comprised 10 teaching staff and slightly over a hundred students. Experiences in teaching dyslexic learners instilled in the researcher, a professional curiosity to conduct a case study to learn and enhance awareness of the condition that was typically characterised by difficulties in literacy acquisition, poor phonological awareness, and delayed processing of information. The rationale of the case study was to examine the provision of inclusive education for children with dyslexia – in terms of awareness, attitudes, allocation of resources, and training of staff, by the school. 2 3 In the United Kingdom, a key document in history came in 1978 - the ‘Warnock Report’, which exposed a segregated education system and highlighted the social and experiential difficulties faced by learners who had been denied access to mainstream schooling on the account of perceived differences in their learning needs and abilities. The report paved way for a slew of reforms like the Salamanca Statement and related policies in the United Kingdom and internationally. Due to these initiatives, inclusive education became framed within the broader human rights discourse of ‘social justice’ which calls for equal rights, opportunities, and fair resource allocation, for the disadvantaged, marginalised members of society. This new orientation engendered a ‘transformative learning’ process in educators who began to question and re-examine their own beliefs about the purpose of education and their vision of a just society that ensures the physical and psychological wellbeing of all learners. Educational institutions worldwide increasingly subscribed to an ‘asset view’ of children which recognises that no child should be perceived as deficient, but instead, all children “can learn” and are “worth educating”. The two-way interaction between transformative learning and social justice, therefore, led to a dynamic shift towards values and pedagogies that embody fairness, entitlement, respect, diversity for the equal participation of all learners in society. 3 4 The United Kingdom’s ‘School Admissions Code of Practice’ mandates fair treatment of students with special educational needs (SEN) and provides statutory guidance on policies and procedures that will provide them equal access to participation in mainstream education. Underpinned by principles of social justice, the code is aimed at removing barriers to learning and supporting the early identification and intervention of learners with SEN. A tripartite collaboration is also built among education, health, and social care providers, raising the profile and provision of support for parents and children with SDL. The UK Code informs the SEN policy of the school involved in this study, and its objectives are well-aligned with the school’s vision and values which revolve around providing a nurturing environment to learners and maximising their potential. Overall, the school approaches the pupils as individuals with differing interests, knowledge, and skills, and aspires to provide them with access to a holistic and differentiated curriculum. 4 5 Qualitative research is a naturalistic inquiry process that seeks to investigate a social phenomenon in question by focusing on the experiences of the individuals in those settings. Written consent was acquired from all participating teachers prior to the case study. A range of qualitative methods was employed to gather data. This included an online survey questionnaire, a semi-structured interview with the school’s SEN Coordinator (SENCo), lesson observations, and an analysis of the Individual Education Plan (IEP), lesson plan, and SEN policy documents. A ‘triangulation’ of multiple data sources, therefore, improved the validity and reliability of the findings, for evaluating the school’s provision for dyslexic learners. Following a review of literature pertaining to ethnographic case studies of school- level inclusive practices for SLD, the researcher developed three broad themes - training, support, and perceptions, for analysing and identifying recurring patterns in the findings. The open coding technique was used to study open-ended text responses from the survey, field notes, interview transcript, and school documents, and the key issues under the corresponding themes were marked by colour-coding. A ‘within-case’ qualitative approach was also used to analyse selected survey responses to draw out the impact of the length of teaching experience on the teachers’ confidence level in supporting the needs of dyslexic students. 5 6 One of the significant findings that emerged from the study is that all the teachers demonstrate a good understanding of the cognitive deficits of dyslexia. As expected, the majority of the survey responses were aligned with the Frith’s framework as they associated dyslexia with slow phonological processing and decoding. Some teachers also highlighted neurological and behavioural issues like poor working memory and anxiety. Earlier studies have shown that teachers’ knowledge bases of dyslexia rarely included the phonological deficit issue. Since the lack of awareness about SLD could possibly lead to lower teaching efficacy, it is important for teachers and parents to be aware of the social and experiential issues of dyslexia and recognise their possible implications on teaching and learning. Empowering teachers to cater to the needs of dyslexic learners should begin with awareness and training. Survey findings revealed that the teachers had not received explicit professional training or guidance for monitoring and supporting dyslexic learners. Their knowledge of dyslexia was mainly acquired through self-learning, staff meetings, or IEP discussions. It was expected that direct experiences will positively impact teachers’ perceptions of their self-efficacy in addressing the needs of dyslexic learners. A within-case analysis of the survey responses, however, revealed that the length of teaching experience did not correlate with the teachers’ confidence in supporting learners with dyslexia. Teacher training for SLD is therefore crucial as trained teachers can manage their expectations of dyslexic students and actively implement tools and intervention strategies to support them. 6 7 The findings also illustrate a structured multisensory structured language approach by the school’s English department to facilitate content assimilation in dyslexic learners. Studies on dyslexia intervention have shown that conventional reading program do not sufficiently address the impediments to spelling and knowledge acquisition. This finding was supported by the observation of a phonics lesson, where the ‘Gray Oral’ reading program had been put to good effect. For non-language subjects, there was an effective use of technology and interactive modalities in lessons to engage the participation of dyslexic learners and minimise writing. While the interview reported that individual IEP discussions took place among staff, lesson plan analysis showed that the proposed pedagogical strategies were not implemented consistently across different subjects. These findings, therefore, advocate the need for regular cross- collaboration among subject teachers, to discuss and adopt a standardised, whole- school structured literacy approach to effectively address the cognitive and phonological deficits of the dyslexic students. 7 8 Dyslexia-friendly classroom pedagogies reflect the school’s commitment to upholding fairness and equity and maximising the potential of learners with SLD. Findings revealed accommodations like dyslexia-friendly fonts in print materials, extra time to complete tasks, and alternative assessment options like drawings and short-ended questions. Some teachers also highlighted the need to increase the provision of resources like screen overlay for iPads and digital reading copies which can alleviate visual distortion and enhance learners’ reading speed and fluency. These arrangements, therefore, facilitate the integration and participation of the dyslexic learners in the mainstream school. Although the school SEN policy document states that dyslexia assessment should be conducted by a multidisciplinary team, findings showed that SENCo was mainly involved in IEP planning and teachers cited the lack of adequate SDL assessment or trained in-class support teachers. Routine engagement with trained staff and specialists should therefore be made a priority in order to guide teachers with the provision of strategic intervention measures for supporting dyslexic learners. 8 9 In conclusion, the school has a well-articulated inclusive policy framework and is also working on improving its provision for students with dyslexia. The teachers exhibit a good awareness of and demonstrate sensitivity to the social and emotional needs of the dyslexic students in their lessons. Most teachers however lack the confidence to independently assess or support dyslexic learners, due to the lack of explicit teacher training on dyslexia or reliable professional guidance. The lack of trained in-class support staff could also call into question the effectiveness of interventions delivered and their impact on a child’s development. It is therefore recommended that the school leaders invest in a continuum of resource provision and sustained professional development to improve teaching efficacy and ensure that teachers’ skills and knowledge remain relevant with the developments in inclusive education. Overall, the study has emphasised the need for regular collaboration between teachers, parents, students, and specialists so that strategic inclusive practices can be implemented consistently to support the holistic development of dyslexic learners. 9 10 PGCEi – Module 3-7503EDUI Inclusive Pedagogy and Evidencing Impact on Learners Assignment Support Session In today’s session, we will - • Recapitulate the learning outcomes of the module in relation with the requirements of the assigned tasks – REPORT & PRESENTATION. • Review the section wise INSTRUCTIONS for the Case Study Report. • Review the guidelines for the presentation. In Module 3, • Give evidence of your learning on how to conduct a case study and to apply case study as a research tool • Your case study must focus on how a school caters for inclusion • You must show case your learning and apply appropriate data collecting methods for case study • You must compare and contrast theories and researches about an area of inclusion with the data you collected in a real case. Module 3 Assessment - A personal Case Study of an inclusive intervention, contextualised in a critique of theories and concepts related to transformative learning and social justice (4,500 words) Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Task 2 - Case Study – Presentation – 10 slides & 1500 words Task 1 Case Study – a Report 3000 words (section-wise) Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Abstract – Give a brief summary or overview of your case study whether it’s a problem, study of a single unit or developing educational theory, including its conclusions. Add the aims and objectives of the case study. Omit details or examples. - An abstract should be short, preferably in one paragraph. - Don’t get carried away. - It’s your first impression Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Table of Content – List the main sections of the report and the page on which each begins (including appendices) List of tables and illustrations – List any illustrations, charts, maps and so on, giving the page number for each. - Should be properly aligned - Learn to use ‘references – table of contents’ feature of word doc. so that each section is hyperlinked with the table of content Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Introduction – Discuss and critically analyse how your professional curiosity and resourcefulness led to inclusive pedagogy in your own setting. Briefly discuss what the research is about – why is it significant and transformational? State your proposals or hypotheses briefly: what are you going to elucidate? (500 words) - Your thesis statement should be clearly visible. - Do not be repetitive - Do not start with trite statements. Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Review of the Literature – (600 words) • Briefly discuss some of the most important writings on transformative learning. • How these may relate to principles of social justice? • Do you agree or disagree with them? Focus on how previous research connects with and leads up to your current findings. • Introduce your hypotheses, if you have any. Remember your basics about literature review. Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Method/s – (400 words) • How did you conduct your research? • Which data analysis methods were used to analyse the data? • Evaluate the range of methods that were used to collect data. • State the specifics of the case study like environment, other details? Why did you select it? • Explain the importance of validity and reliability of data used within research. Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Tools - Identify a range of tools that were used to analyse data. (200 words) Task 1 - Case Study - Report of 3000 words (section-wise) Results - (200 words) • Discuss the kind of data you gathered? • How did you