Choose one (or more) of your planned learning activities from your Blueprint and identify any barriers to student success. How can you alter or adjust your current plan to reduce those barriers?
For this post I am going to be identifying the barriers to student success for our learning activity teaching the principle of Mastery from the Circle of Courage.
Currently, this task consists of participants being given a description of a student and needing to write a paragraph identifying what mastery in the classroom may look like for that student. Groups of 2-3 will work together to discuss and compare the differences of Mastery between students. They will then share their ideas with the larger group and write them on post-it notes for the medicine wheel.
Reflecting upon this task and considering the needs of different learners that may participate in this course, I see a few ways for this task to be modified. Firstly, it’s not necessary for the participants to write a paragraph identifying what mastery would look like. It would be just as effective to have participants simply reflect and take notes down on points they would like to cover when moving onto the group work. Moreover, if participants have difficulty writing, they are more than welcome to use assistive technology and speech to text features.
Another way to adjust this learning activity could be for people who are new to teaching and have less experience working in the classroom. I think if there are a variety of experience levels in the group, this activity would be a good opportunity for peer mentorship. We could begin by pairing experienced educators with less experienced educators and having them work together for the first part of the activity.
In all, when I think of inclusive education, I think of flexibility. No matter how thoroughly you plan an activity, without meeting the participants and gauging their abilities and needs. In my opinion, what makes a good educator is someone knowledgeable of different possible needs when planning, but at the same time, someone prepared to adjust their plans at the drop of a hat in order to meet the needs of their learners.
Anastassiya
July 4, 2023 — 11:20 am
Hi Raquel! Thank you so much for sharing your ideas on making your activities more accessible and inclusive for diverse learners. I appreciate that you considered not only participants who may have special accommodation requests but also educators who come from various teaching backgrounds and experiences. Your willingness to be inclusive and accommodating is fantastic, and I’m sure your efforts will make a meaningful difference in the lives of those you work with.