Inclusive Teaching-learning
Today the increasing number of learners from diverse backgrounds entering elementary
classrooms has reinforced the importance of making schools more inclusive with a greater
variation in the talents, and social, cultural, economic and political backgrounds of the
learners, the elementary classroom in India faces a challenge to use this diversity
constructively in order to democratize the teaching-learning processes and practices, and
achieve the larger goals of social justice.
I would like to discuss about the language and gender diversities in the class room.
Gender diversity is the main challenge faced by the society now a day. The maintenance of
gender diversity in the classroom without any bias is a very difficult task for teacher. So I
took gender diversity as one of my topic. And also there is a clear difference in the language
of the students in the international schools or schools like Kendriya Vidhyalaya. The
language is an important factor in the process of learning and teaching process. So I took
language diversity as another topic for my submission.
DIVERSITY-1 (GENDER DIVERSITY):
As young children begin to notice the differences in social expectations for gender
roles, the ways teachers interact with students stand to have a great impact on their ability to
participate in their education. These interactions also create long lasting effects in other areas
of their lives, at times limiting their self-image and their perception of the opportunities that
are available or appropriate for them. This trend is especially apparent in the shortage of
women who pursue education and careers within STEM fields.
There are three factors causing the gender equity in the classroom. They are
Teachers pay more attention to boys: This is due in part to the fact that, in general,
boys are more likely to call out answers to questions posed to the class even if they
haven’t been called on by the teacher.
Interactions with boys are more public: Teachers often have a tendency to talk to
boys from greater distance than girls. This is possibly due to an expectation that they
should communicate in a more nurturing way with girls and more business like way
with boys.
Praise and criticism differ between boys and girls: Boys are often praised more than
girls for sharing correct knowledge, and wrong answers provided by boys are likely to
be overlooked. In contrast, girls are often criticized for conveying incorrect knowledge,
and teachers tend to provide less praise for correct answers given by girls.
There are many ways that can promote gender equality in the classroom. Mainly
Be reflective and be objective: First, pay attention to the trends above and do your
best to offer more gender-neutral responses to students.
Get feedback from colleagues and students: Consider getting feedback from
colleagues on any differences they may notice that you don’t. Further consider getting
similar feedback from students themselves using an anonymous comment box.
Use gender neutral language when appropriate: You can also alter the language
within your lessons to help expand student’s perspectives beyond gender stereo types.
Also when referring to the group as a whole, avoid using gendered terms like ‘guys’,
which may make female students feel excluded. Instead, reach for gender-neutral
pronouns like ‘everyone’.
Explain the context: If you hear students using phrases like ‘ you play like a girl or
‘man up’, it’s important to point out the social implications of these statements rather
than simply admonishing the use of that kind of phrasing.
Seat and group students intentionally: It’s common for boys and girls to segregate
when choosing friends and seating arrangements. Teachers sometimes encourage this
by asking girls and boys to form separate lines in the hallway or even organizing
separate sports activities for each group. By creating dynamic seating chart, you can
break up boys or girls only cliques and encourage both groups to engage with each
other.
Use project-based learning: You can also be intentional about integrating a mix of
boys and girls within small group projects. Projects can also be created to explore
concepts in and around gender and cultural equity, or to do work in select spaces and
communities to nurture the growth of healthy human interdependence.
These trends aren’t true for every teacher or every groups of students, but they are
worth considering as you attempt to curb gender biases within our teaching methods.
Gender disparity is only one facet of a much larger issues of equity within education.
DIVERSITY-2 (LANGUAGE DIVERRSITY):
In an educational environment often marked by practices anchored in a monolingual
system, this is a great challenge for a teacher. The child who leaves the language of her
family outside school does not understand why this language is not entitled to be used in the
classroom. She often feels that the language of her family is considered to be some kind of
problem at school. It is well known that negative representations of bilingualism among
children of immigrant origin particularly affect their language skills. Rather than refer to
heterogeneity we prefer to speak of diversity, a notion that is both broader and more positive.
The latter makes it possible to consider the plurality of languages and cultures as a wealth
rather than a problem.
It is obvious that schools cannot teach all languages to all pupils, even in primary
schools, but there are pedagogical approaches that allow the different languages present in a
classroom to be taken into account. These models are known as the Awakening to Languages
(Candelier, 2003a) or Education and Openness to Languages at School (Perregaux, 1998;
Perregaux et al., 2003) and can be considered as a complementary learning model. They
make it possible to integrate family languages and cultures as pedagogical resources within a
classroom and to legitimize them in the eyes of pupils and teachers.
Key to the integration of languages and family cultures are the parents. Our studies
show that it is through the participation of parents that teachers and their students have
discovered the linguistic and cultural diversity existing in their school community and have
been able to transform this diversity into knowledge.
Parental involvement in the project also contributed to the development of a more
global vision of languages and cultures among teachers. Through this experience, they have
been able to recognize the value of bilingualism, regardless of the languages of which it is
composed, and improve their understanding of the schooling of bilingual children in their
classrooms.
We observed how teachers developed a transdisciplinary and inclusive approach in
class, enabling them to decompartmentalize languages and create a link between disciplines,
thus reducing the usual gap between them. This inclusive approach to education addressed all
children in the class, with no one being excluded from the group.
The aim of awakening languages and cultures is not only addressed to bilingual
children, but it is opened up to all, monolingual and bilingual, in order to build
plurilingualism, a culture common to the whole class. The co-intervention of parents and
teachers arouses in children an awareness of the richness of linguistic and cultural plurality
which does not remain superficial nor rooted in a stereotyped vision.
All teachers should allow the classroom to move from a monolingual to a plurilingual
space, using multilingual signs to decorate the walls, including bilingual books in the library,
etc. Languages and cultures should be considered in terms of collective resources and placed
on an equal footing. The bilingualism of pupils who speak a language other than that of the
school must be valued to allow them to find their place in the classroom.
Scientific research shows that it is easier for a child to become bilingual or plurilingual
when all their languages are valued and when making connections between languages is
encouraged. It is important that parents keep using their family language(s) with their
children and that teachers use family languages to help children establish connections
between the language(s) of their environment.
It is easier for children to engage in the languages that are taught at school when their
own languages are recognised, because these languages are practised in the family
environment and by the children. Placing value on childrens’ different languages and cultural
backgrounds boosts the self-confidence and self-esteem necessary for educational and
professional success.
Parents’ participation in school activities establishes a relationship of mutual
confidence between schools and families, and helps children to dedicate themselves to their
schooling.
We should give future citizens the opportunity to construct positive representations of
the multiple identities of their peers and their families so that they can be proud of who they
are and so that they feel accepted and understood by those around them. This is a necessity if
we want to live together in peace.
To allow everyone to build their own identity based on their family life and
relationships within and outside school, it is vital that the school takes up the challenge. For
today's school is not only a place where one acquires knowledge, it is also the place where
one pools one's skills and one's knowledge and where one learns to live together not by
sharing a single language but by embracing several to build common values.
Reference:
https://www.teachthought.com/education/
http://mujournal.mewaruniversity.in/JIR%202-1/16.pdf
http://euliteracy.eu/dealing-with-linguistic-diversity-in-the-classroom-a-challenge-for-
teachers/
