Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Thank you.
Learn strategies to include diverse learners in teaching by recognizing barriers and adapting methods for an inclusive classroom.
Key Takeaways
- Inclusive teaching requires recognizing and minimizing barriers to learner participation.
- Diversity in the classroom includes a wide range of disabilities and contextual challenges that must be addressed.
- Multimodal and flexible teaching strategies enhance engagement for all learners.
- Environmental and social factors significantly impact learner inclusion and must be considered in planning.
- Ongoing reflection and adaptation by teachers are essential for effective inclusive education.
What the video covers
- Introduction to inclusive teaching and its importance in minimizing barriers to learner participation.
- Identification of diversity in classrooms including language, abilities, and learning preferences.
- Discussion of various barriers learners face such as disabilities, emotional and social challenges, and contextual factors.
- Detailed explanation of disability categories including sensory, physical, cognitive, neurological, genetic, and temporary conditions.
- Strategies to recognize and address learners with special needs like ADHD, learning disabilities, and sensory impairments.
- Importance of multimodal teaching approaches and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to cater to diverse learners.
- Consideration of environmental factors like noise, lighting, and classroom arrangement affecting inclusion.
- Use of technology and flexible communication methods to support learners with connectivity or participation challenges.
- Examples of inclusive activities and adaptations to engage all learners effectively.
- Encouragement for teachers to reflect on their classroom practices and continuously improve inclusion.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and session overview
- 03:30Understanding inclusive teaching and classroom diversity
- 05:27Barriers to learner participation
- 14:11Disabilities and their impact on learning
- 21:20Categories of disabilities explained
- 24:30Contextual and environmental barriers
- 30:30Inclusive teaching strategies and multimodal approaches
- 38:10Technology and adaptations for inclusion
- 42:50Practical activities and teacher reflections
- 46:53Conclusion and references
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Thank you for.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: So I hope I can be seen by everyone.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: Yep.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: All right. Okay, yes, thank you, Paula, especially for your nice introduction and giving me this opportunity, and welcome you all to my session being updated to face any challenge. Let's see what's in it.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: I'm Sajani from Sri Lanka.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, yes. Let's see what's in our session. So firstly, we'll be identifying situations where learners are not included in the teaching-learning process in a normal classroom or specific context. And we'll discuss how learners are affected in this context and identify strategies to cater to them and finally analyze the class from context to improve inclusion.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, here we go. Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Can you use the chat and say what is inclusive teaching?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Please use chat. What is inclusive teaching, as you understand?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yeah.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, it's wonderful. Ideas are coming out. Okay. Thank you all. Equal care, right? See?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Fine? Interesting.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay? That means you all have some idea on the answer. Very good. Thank you. All right. Yes. So it's recognizing and minimizing barriers to students' learning and participation in the teaching-learning process. So two things are there: recognizing and minimizing those barriers. Okay, let's go.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Should we promote inclusion? Why?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: What sort of diversity do you find in your classroom? In your teaching-learning context? Can you use the chat again?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yeah. Good morning to everybody. Oh, good evening. Good afternoon.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: What other diversity do you find? Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Classes, language is really just wonderful. Everyone comes to lovely.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, yes, there are bundles of ideas that are coming out. Now tell me again, use the chat, how does that diversity affect your teaching and interaction in the class?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: How does that diversity affect your teaching and interaction in the class?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Can you think how you respond to those diversities?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Oh, yes, fine.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Planning licenses too. So the needs plan to come. Yes, trying to add up materials. Okay, all right. Wonderful ideas are coming up.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes. Listen. Planning. Okay, wonderful. Thank you all.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes. Now we are going to identify the barriers.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Well, students left at various to students learning and participating in the teaching-learning process. Now, you know, you can see, you know, these icons. Okay? So these are some reasons. So context of learners being left out. So if they are visually impaired or if they have mobility issues, so
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: maybe they may be left out of their learning. So what are the reasons or contexts out there where these learners are left out?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Can you text again?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Differentiator?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: The other reasons are context.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yeah, the learners maybe dropped or left or not that into it, just to pay facility as linguistic differences. All right.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: You
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Listen. Yeah. Challenging level. The level of challenge of the lesson. Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Like two activities. And that has more language where you see. Yes, wonderful. Thank you. Again. Okay, let's see.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yeah. Some of the reasons are learning preferences. So your learning material or the activity you have selected may not be matching with their learning preferences. Oh, so sometimes they may be, they may prefer activities, but they have to be seated and their needs are not catered. The ability to maybe wearing, as you have said.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And emotional dimension. So your language may be frightening. No, sometimes they may feel frustrated. Sometimes they are. They may be having some private issues, personal issues, family issues, and they may be intimidated by the classmates as well, and social dimension. So we will be talking much on social dimensions later.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Disability. Before moving on, let's discuss what disability is. According to Americans with Disabilities Act enacted in 1990 at the college level, disability is a significant impairment to a major life activity which are functions that are important in most people's daily life, including seeing, reading, thinking, communicating, standing, bending, or maybe breathing and even sleeping.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, yes. So do you think that these will also make problems? These major life activities will make difficulties when they are attending or when they are participating in your lesson as well.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, these things we have to consider when we are planning our instructional strategies.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, they sin. What is sin?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, there are Sri Lankans, and
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: A very good special education, at least, so some of the sin that can be found in your classrooms. It is quite interesting in the pre-webinar task that some had selected. They are, maybe send those rules with sin because you don't identify, you don't notice them. So they are maybe cases. So with learning disabilities, they can't get, they can't manage with others, or some may be frustrated. Attention deficit hyperactive disorder. That may be the case with some of the
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: To us. Because of that, they can be seated, or they can't tolerate others, and they can't manage their activities for a lot, but that means more than five minutes or something like that, so that sometimes it may be annoying for you as it.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And there may be sensory disabilities as we have. I have shown you earlier, and physical disabilities and mental health disorders and chronic health conditions too.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, visibility categories. Let's see what categories they are. Firstly, there are sensory. They are auditory, so they may be hearing impaired, hard of hearing, or sometimes maybe totally deaf.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Hmm, and then visual. They may be totally blind, or some location, and some maybe color blind, you may not notice. So when you're selecting your images, you have to be very careful not only on images but your documents. So you have to be very color clear whether your learners would be able to see them.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Then
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Speech impairment. Sometimes some students may have difficulties in pronouncing, articulating some sounds. Sometimes there may be difficulties in talking as well. In cognition, so attention. There are disorders. This, like six students who may find it difficult for reading and attending, paying attention, and learning disabilities which are also going under cognition.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Then physical, difficult to move, and then neurological, some maybe epileptic, feeling migraines when they are having or undergoing migraine. So it is difficult attending to the lesson, participating in the activities.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And genetic. If these rules are autistic, so they may allow working in isolation and not much interest, study, language, learning, but only met something like that as well, and temporary conditions after surgeries or fractures, these locations, so they may be sometimes after vaccinations, post-illness conditions.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And these may be their contextual conditions. So if your surrounding is noisy, then that will be a barrier and uncomfortable setting, the lighting or the noise, or the physical arrangement of the class. So these are the disabilities that we can categorize. Okay, yes. What sort of can you take? What sort of disability affects you most when selecting your instructional strategies?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: What do you think most of S
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and in some other words, that's all right. Tolerance. Sajani Somatunge: 6 low physical level. So they should be able to perceive, understand? We thought much effort. So if especially if there are students who may be hard of hearing, or with large, yes, especially harder theory, so they may allow they may understand by reading the list or the facial expressions, so arrangement of seating, facilitating, reading the leaves or facial expressions.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: or maybe lighting, not farming, or not flickering so otherwise they may have to have much some other energy on paying their attention.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And 7 size and space work program news. You understand it very well.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: yes, a community of learners interaction. So here's where you have to think about the social and emotional dimensions, fair and small group work Sajani Somatunge: because it is much more emphasized. Collaborative learning, not individual learning.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Then your classroom instructional climate will come in and inclusive so to make them includ you. We are. Think about the preferences. Learning references needs interest and disabilities. Okay. Now, useful Sajani Somatunge: checklist, to make an inclusive classroom.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: If you can go through this checklist, this is prepared by me, you can develop it further. So you can see whether they can hear it cannot basically enter and function freely.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Can all participate in the learning opportunities and activities as they are designed, so no need of adaptation on the spot. So other root breaks or activities not complex, straightforward for all can all understand them easily is the format consistent? Because now students with their dyslexia or learning disorders.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Sorry it will be difficult for them if the Sajani Somatunge: text is inconsistent, if the spacing is not of the same consistent spacing is not used so to avoid that you can use. we'll be discussing later. Okay, additional timings or resources. So opportunity is for practice.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Average cannot see the partners, group members. Material as well is the space enough for all to move really and all ready to accept their partners, to interact and learn collaboratively without any intermediation without any anxiety fears alright. So, lastly, all included in the activity reach through the
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: material address. Everybody culturally responsive Sajani Somatunge: you are flexible, then greater into the needs preferences and disabilities as discussed earlier.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: some important teams. Sajani Somatunge: you have to be flexible and adaptable. Sajani Somatunge: 2 basic skills of a teacher when to, if you are to create an increase in class room in another month. Flexible. Let them, if they, if they say if you learn as compared no, they are so tired and they can't do that now. So let them
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: you some time, and adaptable, adapt according to their names. Sajani Somatunge: then focus on designing instruction, and assist one for broad range of divers learners. Not only this, it not only this disability, not only the preferences, so think about their social dimensions, emotional dimensions, as
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: sorry so they are. You can use Sajani Somatunge: multi-sensory instruction strategies Sajani Somatunge: and create and use accessible instructional materials, especially when you are designing a digital tools, not only digital tools and provide special educational services if they are, if they are available or disability accommodations, then
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: you also design follow units. I'll design for learning and unusual design for instruction Sajani Somatunge: and heightens to an interaction and small group.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: that's. And most importantly, you can understand with the responses of the students. If your for this strategies you are using are working. So think about their attitude towards a variety of instructional strategies you are using.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay? Yes. Now, multiple engagement interaction with the instructional material, so you can use. So with a maybe a vocabulary, or some tensors or different things, multimodes listing so you can. If it is vocabulary, you can write them and get them read, and you can.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Sorry. Show them the image. Sajani Somatunge: and you are pronouncing that so multi model so, and get them repeat Sajani Somatunge: and respond verbally to what you're asking. No acting now. Dramatizing, responding, and moving. So especially Tpr. Is a better way to teach some Tesla, or maybe the proposal. So some might do so. So think about how to incorporate them in multimodal way. So this is coming under udl.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: so I I'll I'll focus only on engagement under your Dl, so here are some I have picked 3, 10. Accept in a support your classroom climate.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: so also all should feel that they are accepted, not to dropped, not isolated, not intimidated. So while supporting each other, empathy so and now you as in a language teachers, you have to promote Sajani Somatunge: what is called a global citizenship through your activities, then create class route is especially if you are doing online teaching flip for blended tissue as well. If they know the route is, they are prepared. They know they will miss this if they don't follow the timing and alerts and previews to help learners anticipate and prepare for change in a changing of activities or schedules. So I'm sending emails this day on Mondays only.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: not on Tuesday, so that that will reduce their burden. Some extra burns and you can make them anticipated. So these will help you Sajani Somatunge: keep them motivated and make them motivated as well, and especially their Us. Friends with the Adhd limit length of work such as don't go
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: dragging in all all participants in whole class discussions to make them motivated and keep them motivated and enclose you. Okay, yes. Can you text, can you identify what these icons refer to?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: This is how we are going to now recognize the barriers to stress learning. Now, we are going to minimize. So these are some ways.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, I language wonderful. Braille. Okay? Yes. Fantastic. Sajani Somatunge: panelists. Yes. Analysis. Okay.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Audio. Yes. Audio. Okay. Sajani Somatunge: here in disability, we use Jos as audio. Yes, wonderful. Okay. Thank you. Yes. So you can use captioning Sajani Somatunge: and sign languages, braille and sorry Sajani Somatunge: and Sajani Somatunge: sorry if if you if you are using the digital tools so they can use screen readers. So let them go to so and yes, we'll be discussing and accessibility. you know, selective accessibility for the learners with the mobility issues. So these are some, can your names, any others?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Any other ways to address the disabilities. Sajani Somatunge: okay. Sajani Somatunge: all right Sajani Somatunge: it's really, nice to see your luggage, oh, okay, okay, yes, we'll see. We'll go. Okay, because I'm on The people on Facebook cannot view the check. All right. Okay, that's all right. One, we just yeah games, dyslexia, all right. pictures or not on. Andre does.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay. Yes. Sajani Somatunge: alright, yes. Sajani Somatunge: there are different ways. You are going to address. Okay. Now let's move on to online or hybrid teaching learning issues. They are Sajani Somatunge: okay. Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes. Sajani Somatunge: Now, this is Stanford. bandwidth immediacy. Metrics developed by Daniel Stanford during Covid pandemic. Okay, ken or text, what immediacy means?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, what does immediately mean Sajani Somatunge: in the same time? Okay, important things. Right?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, quite interesting. Close activity. And so something with the media defect. Yes, wonderful! Yes, what you have said is correct. Yes, in real time, meeting your learners. So in online education, all right. Yes. Now in a according to this man trick. So there are 4 quadrants in 4 colors. What is the Easiest way of reaching your learners? The coolest way
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: which Quadrant green or red W, or. you know. Sajani Somatunge: coolest blue. Okay.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: you know 3 Sajani Somatunge: different different ideas that come in. Yes, wonderful. Alright, yes, the coolest days. Anyway. The green they are. You are not meeting them in the real time.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And because why? Because of the low bandwidth you affected so emailing. So you can create a discussion with your learners, you can send emails, some attachments and discussion board. So a synchronous learning so forums and reading with text. So message. But set groups. So you can create a what set or telegram, or whatever so they may be. You can create some discussion with them
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: if you can't reach them because of our Internet connectivity. All right. Next next step is Sajani Somatunge: so they are for a low bandwidth. But high immediacy. Yeah. But you, you. You are at the same time in real time your meeting the learners or the you meeting each other, especially the learners. So they are. You can use this blue quadrant collaborative documents, especially Google documents. So they may be all can work at the same time, real time and group checks and messaging. So for group chats, I I found some interesting
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: apps, you can use their through email. You can create a the slap they are. So you can create. if you use it slack.com so you can create a workspace there. the my interesting thing is they, you would mean not to have the phone numbers. But you need their email addresses. So then they are, you can just as Whatsapp you can put whatever you need
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and group checks, and thereafter we are going to high bandwidth. You have high access, but low immediacy, especially in your blended or flip classrooms. You can do. prior to meeting, you can have this record videos. But when you are recording videos, give some activity as well, some quiz or call some questions to us, so there should be a purpose for them to do, and pre rec not only video, even audio
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and the synchronous discussions with audio. So then, some some kind of activities with video. So if you have some access to platforms like canals open up to something like that, so you can do such things high bandwidth, but you are not meeting them and the real time.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and if you have high speed, connectivity, and you will need to meet them in real time, just like here, you can have video conferences. Or if they if you are learners, they have the data problems they are, you can go for audio conferences. Okay, we'll see how to do that
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: accessible documents. So first step is creating accessible documents, images of presentations, digital accessibility. So you how to think about when you are creating your digital tools. So it is the easiness of navigation and understanding of a website or a mobile application or your electronic documents, or like a digital doors.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: So by a wide range of uses, including those who you, how who are suffering from issue. I auditor, your motor cognitive disabilities. Okay, yes. they are.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: How can you help here? How can you make your documents digital documents accessible?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Any ideas? Sajani Somatunge: Okay, we'll move. Sajani Somatunge: So you can create accessible Pdf, by Microsoft, if you go to a settings, I mean, do on windows, so you can turn on accessible Pdfs and create and verify Pdf accessibility, using acrobat provider and specifically use sufficient color contrast because that effect. Those who have low mission and color blindness as well, and then
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: embed the links. If you have any links. Sajani Somatunge: then check your accessibility. Flexibility checker, and for the images have alternative text. Use some description, because there may be. your learners have any screen readers, so they should be able to read what the image is
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: then captioning. So to add captions to videos. you can follow this link, and you may be using now already, and for you to be it. If you are download, you can go to this link. So this will be coming in the take of material. So for your data solutions, these things you can compress. Let them ask you, you can compress your material and even the email with images, you can make them smaller, because otherwise you have to think about their data cost.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And they are storage. So some, maybe that complaining they are storage is full. They can't download and Sajani Somatunge: think. Don't assume that all your learners are equally digitallyiterate, so you will have to tell them how to see and unsafe as well. So give the necessary apps.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Then as for pre-recording video, so when you are pre-recording, so this is a very good that I found out voiced right? So they are just like you are doing face to best teaching or training. So you can have your graphics graphical remarks as well upon the presentation. And when you are well, especially hard thing
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: to limit the timing of the recording 5 to 7 is the most preferable. If you are making them India, so they won't download or they won't watch.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes. Is it necessary to make a gifts. Sajani Somatunge: perhaps because to make them especially the students with Adhd or some others to make them motivated. It's interesting way to add some Jips. So you can create via Jips from radio, so from a screen cost as well.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Now I'll find a step Sajani Somatunge: practicing inclusion. This is a case study. Okay, follow this. Leslie is a teacher. She teaches a class of 30 students of mixed races. The students allow sports and outdoor activities. There are social starts as well as isolates in the class some students are addressing, and their parents are conscience, and so when you stick off their race, there is one friend who always wants to see close to the board.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Most of the students take more than assumed time to write Lesley plans to do a reading activity on sports.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Students have to answer some questions on the given part of the text Sajani Somatunge: stress are put in groups and she starts the activity.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay, can you text Sajani Somatunge: any possibilities, any issues that Leslie should have considered before designing her activity.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes. Sajani Somatunge: okay. Sajani Somatunge: for Sajani Somatunge: we will. discussing Sajani Somatunge: text groupings. Woman breaks. Okay? Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: All right. Sajani Somatunge: Yeah. Okay. What do you think about the activity? Has she cater to the learning preferences Sajani Somatunge: open? Yes, different liner types, different ability levels. No.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Okay. What's the learning difference? Sajani Somatunge: What's the learning difference. So some pictures. no pictures included. Sorry because I wanted to make many included in the session movement. Yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: find a static activity. There should be a mixed approach. Okay? Yes. Sajani Somatunge: flexibility of outdoor activity is so instead of being making a in activity, she should have making a running dictation, or maybe a yes
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: activities. It is 30 years wonderful. Thank you. All. Sajani Somatunge: Okay, she should have. Now, her selection of the topic is correct, because that Sajani Somatunge: that is going with their interest, and they are in in mind for studying sports. So what she has problem is, they are learning preference for aesthetic. So they allow sports and outdoor activities. It is not the hereditary position they love. So instead of being, see that she would have get them
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: got them run Some run into the board and something like that different kinds of sports to different groups. So they parts of the Sajani Somatunge: reading textile Sajani Somatunge: posted out. The pasted on the was in a different area. So they'll be going and picking, and they'll be rearranging. And what to do with this they
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: taking much time to right. so how to get it to that Sajani Somatunge: she to give you a choice as to which of them by this room is yes, of course.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: 6 or 80 lessons. Or if I'm just read short text about different sports, it's wonderful. Yes, yeah.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: He was lining up all play. Yeah. Wonderful? Sajani Somatunge: Interesting. Sajani Somatunge: Okay, yes, thank you. Thank you so much. Alright, yes.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: So think about such cases. That May, that you may come across when you're planning your learning outcomes and selecting your instructional strategies and materials. Let's see some of the possible Sajani Somatunge: issues. The material. Is it culturally responsive because there are different races? So some may not like the material to read. So if it is about a sport that they don't prefer to be engaged in, so in the activity type.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: so they like more kind aesthetic activities, grouping. So there are social stuff and isolate so emotionally how they are treated are they well accepted, their social dimensions, some much organistic, so of of their race. So you'll have to think about that as well when you are designing. When you are arranging the groups
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and select you consider the and be selective, and consider anxiety their fears, whether they accept it or collaborate it. So you have put the isolates with the starts as well. Let them collaborate with each other, and they're also student who allows to who wants always to be seated closer to the teacher, so she may be heard of hearing or with law vision, how we are going to free turn.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and they are taking further time extended time in writing students with Sajani Somatunge: learning disabilities. So multiple choice activities, rearranging activities, machine activities and graded scaffold that activities if they are to do so, I think, okay, yes. So with that we have come into the end of the session. So we have identified situations. We are learners are not included in teaching learning process
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: and discuss how learners are affected in this context. And I need to write some strategies to get them and finally Sajani Somatunge: analyze the classroom context, to improve inclusion with what they have learned. Okay, please. Text. One thing you learned in the session. And one thing you would like to try
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: anything, anything you learned or anything you would love to. That is. Sajani Somatunge: I I can transfer. Okay, you do your principles when planning. Okay?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Oh. Sajani Somatunge: discussion, okay, quite interesting. Okay. Thank you all. I hope you would try one of that at least one of the things out of the session, and something you must. I hope you they will learn something, and it's my pleasure if I learn got something. This is These are my image credits, and these are my references.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: And thank you. Okay, yes. So what do you call it? Paul Braddock: Hi, so, Johnny, thank you for that.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: yeah, really interesting. And lots of stuff in there. to get through, I think. But thank you. So let's go straight to questions. And okay, so question, Hi, Peter, question from Peter. who asks, what do you think is the most essential thing that teachers should do to improve accessibility?
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, most essential things, I mean. So there are severalization things. But anyway, especially when you're making an inclusive classroom in an inclusive animal, we are, think about social and emotional dimensions along with their preferences, interest and nails, disabilities. Okay, social and emotional dimensions, disabilities. And, for instance, that's out loud to say, yes.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: okay, alright, thanks. So, Johnny. okay. Question here from Helen. Hi, Helen, So questions from 2 of our presenters from later today. So Helen's question is, how long? How long have you been focusing on inclusive teaching, and what quick wins or small steps with big impacts? Do you recommend for a teacher who's just starting to focus on being more inclusive
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: in class quick question. yes, it's not that much ago that I started that reading through that developing on this special topic. So you all everybody is how they have the access so that you can go and improve it because
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: inclusive matters, because of poor professional development in the side of by the side of we as teachers or trainers. So we have to deliver further and month, and the once some steps that we can take is for the teacher beginners, because here in this session according to the free webinar task, I found there are pretty interesting if all also teachers
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: less than 5 years, and teachers more than 15 years. So all love, they are. So that's a mix of the same. that portion of teachers. So now for the beginners, I would like to say, start with focusing on your interactions, making pills and a group of small group activities thinking about their social and dying.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: emotional dimensions and focusing on their learning preferences Paul Braddock: okay. Paul Braddock: okay, thank you so Johnny, okay, this is the question from to Rumi and to me says, for the benefit of everyone here, do you have any tips on handling symptoms of learning disabilities or disorders that haven't been diagnosed or recognized by the learner.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: So yeah, that that be based on the teacher. So we will have to be very good of service. Now, just in the case of that we just discussed. So Lena is there who allows to be seated always closer to the teacher or closer to the board, so so she or he may not know that she held she has lowish or hard of hearing.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: so we have to think about. Why this child has is, has this reference there? So likewise sometimes some schools they they always allowed to be seated at some particular place, or they don't like moving at that going with others. So think why this happens regularly. So if you notice something happens, some special features, some special cases they are in a regular basis in your class
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: how to notice, and you have to get them a discuss, and you can make every other pair and do some counseling, or then then you can forward them to some special treatments, if that is necessary.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: Okay, thank you. Thanks for Johnny. Paul Braddock: okay, this is an interesting one some, Joe Joe Palmer, And Joe asks, Do you think courses should be designed to group people with similar abilities together Sajani Somatunge: similar abilities. no. because now, if all of the lower level of abilities so they'll be, they'll be discouraged some things, because collaborative learning should be there. So I should be able to learn something from fall. And Paul should be sharing what my knowledge is. So there should be somebody who could help them.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yeah. And the other thing is that there are things that you don't know that you have this. So there are as well the multi model. So some may be good in drawing, not writing, or reading, so there are. So these things as well we have to think about. So I prefer not to have similar ability levels, ability groups.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: So I cannot hear you. Paul Braddock: Sorry, I went on mute again because of a lorry was driving past. Okay, So it's a question from Susan and she asks, so she says you talked about discussion boards for low bandwidth, low immediacy learners. And can you suggest any useful tools for these. Have you got any discussion board tools that you can suggest? Yeah, discussion for a low immediate. So you can use Google Docs.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: that's the that's that's available for everybody. I think so, if you don't, I don't have the access to platforms particular platforms like can also any other thing. So. And even, what's that? Why don't you try Paul Braddock: discussion? Bond?
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: Yeah, they are. You can put your images or videos or something like that. Right? So I have a discussion now with it.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: okay, all right? Okay, thank you. okay, interesting question here from manisha, i'm, anisha asks how can we make sure that our material is culturally inclusive.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: Yes, one thing you can have a checklist Sajani Somatunge: think about before hand. Think about you. Can. You should have a preview of your learners Sajani Somatunge: what might learn. As you have to understand. Your learners have the learners in your mind, and then you can make sure that your address into. So now the thing is that in inclusion. So I told you in inclusive teaching, it is recognizing and minimizing.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: so you won't be able to. It is difficult to utterly avoiding Sajani Somatunge: the barriers. So you can minimize if you have those previews in your mind of your learners.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: Okay, I guess I mean, I'm sort of thinking as well with this in terms of you know where where we design or when we're teachers. perhaps use material which is, is sort of quite generic in that. It's sort of maybe been produced in in in Europe, and so that
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: the focus is very much on the sort of a European Paul Braddock: context. and just so, I suppose, maybe, how? How? How you adapt material to suit the sort of the the cultural, the or the geography, or the whatever of students. If if you had kind of experience of that where you've had to kind of adapt materials because it's not really culturally
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: appropriate. Yeah, that's quite interesting. A question for this. Yeah, I we had, we. We have such experiences, because sometimes some consists that that that is available in your societies are not accepted, especially as in a Sri Lankan society, and this under the cultural values, so that is not accepted. So they are. We have to think about that seriously. If this is speeding enough
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: to this age level, these kinds of learning, so we have to cut off things, for sometimes we are, we are taking our own experiences. Our own context is replacing what is there in the material? So that is one thing that you can. So you have to always address to what is their immediate
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: context, immediate communities. So taking examples from the immediate communities will make them easy to understand what's in the context. And while doing so, we have to make them exposed to other consciousness that should be also there. But we have to think about whether it is culturally accepted with our values, because value systems differ from society to society or country to country, from religion to religion. Okay.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: okay, yeah. I suppose I mean that that that's kind of an interesting thing. And it's kind of something that I'm thinking about, where you know, you might have a course book where? it's it deals with family, for example, and office, and with most course books. You would have this sort of traditional mother, father, children, kind of family. But if you have just sort of thinking about inclusion, maybe it is going to kind of come up later, but where you might have
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: you know, 2 parents who are a women, or a non binary or 2 men. And wh? How? How do you? If if you, if you know that you have that kind of Paul Braddock: sort of make up in your class or maybe children, or you know, or something simplest. You know they're adopted, or I I don't know. There, there are so many different variations. Is it? Is it our kind of responsibility as as teachers to to kind of.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: be aware of of those contexts within the students that we have and to adapt our material to the students, or you. You mentioned kind of religion and culture and kind of what's acceptable. how, how? How far should we
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: kind of be going to Paul Braddock: focus on the students in the classroom, and and also have that awareness of of perhaps the kind of the the countries, politics or things like that. I suppose I'm just sort of thinking
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: it's a difficult one for the last question. Yes, language, politics. Yes, that affects as well. Yes, because a language is something very sensitive, just as the case of religion, as well as what you all said is true. Yes, now, it is not for us to always, but all what is practiced in the Western countries.
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: or maybe in a particular religion, or we how to make that. But what we have to think is that Sajani Somatunge: we have to assess whether they are up to that level, or they start at all, that they can bear up those different cultures. So that is our responsibility to create that empathy towards that. There may be cases like this. So they are our families only with
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: model. Okay? So the mother may be having some other fair. So we have. So if that is going outside the class, or that we may get it, we create a big problem there for the teacher here in our country. But anyway, so we have to make them global citizenship. We how to trade, others respect others. So we have to let the learners understand. They are also
Speaker A
Sajani Somatunge: a child like you. Paul is a learner like me, so he has. He's on right like me. He will enjoy the privileges of rights like me. So if you can create that understanding or the empathy among your learners, so it will be easy for you to make them exposed to such other foreign concepts.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: Brilliant. Thank you. So, Johnny. sorry for that. You again. I've I've just realized the time I'm with the fact that we've run out of time. So I'm gonna have to say that that's the end of this first session. thanks again to Johnny. Really interesting really enjoyable and lots in there. so and thank you. Everyone for joining us. and we're gonna be starting again our second session.
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: It's gonna start in 14 min now. so that's with Bea and Rina. So if you go back to your well, you're gonna be kicked out of here in a second and you'll be sent back to the lobby which isn't a bad thing And then, as soon as the second session starts you'll see there's a blue join button, and you can join us for the second session. So thank you. Everyone for joining us for this session, and we hope to see you
Speaker A
Paul Braddock: in about 14 min.
Topics:inclusive teachinglearner diversitybarriers to learningdisability inclusionUniversal Design for Learningspecial educationteaching strategiesclassroom inclusionmultimodal learninglearner engagement
