ARABELLE
B. WACAN-CASTRODES
SPED
506
Special
Ed and Effective Integration
FINAL EXAM
1. What are the major learning and participation
barriers?
Major learning and
participation barriers include social issues, negative attitudes, lack of
acceptance, unfavorable socioeconomic factors, lack of community involvement,
lack of parental recognition, and lack of parental participation. These lead to
exclusion and the loss of opportunities.
2. What are the different factors that cause
barriers to learning?
Barriers to learning may arise from a range
of factors, including physical, mental, sensory, neurological and developmental
impairments as well as psychosocial disturbances, differences in intellectual
ability, differences in life experiences, and socioeconomic deprivation.
3.
Disability has always been regarded as a learning barrier. What are the most common barriers?
The most common barriers include: visual loss,
hearing loss, speech and language difficulties, intellectual disabilities, physical
disabilities, psychological disorders, neurological disorders.
4.
What are the provisions that should be extended to children with disabilities
in cases where certain assessment standards in specific learning areas on
account of their disabilities are not achieved?
Learners who experience barriers to learning
as a result of disability should be welcomed in ordinary school environments
with the necessary support, in order that they may achieve their full
potential. Teams that include parents, teachers and other relevant professionals
should establish the nature and extent of support needed by the learner. In
situations where children with disabilities may not achieve certain assessment standards
in specific learning areas on account of their disabilities, a policy for the straddling
of grades needs to be developed in order to prevent such learners from being excluded,
as research has proven that grade retention does not remedy such situations. In
addition, norms and standards for the provision of resources and assistive
devices for learners with disabilities have to be developed in order for
funding to be channeled towards providing support for such learners in
mainstream schools.
5. What are the barriers created as a result of
socioeconomic factors?
Ø Poor reading and
print background (learners have not had preschool exposure to literacy and
print in general). The parents of such learners have often had limited
education opportunities.
Ø A lack of exposure to
numerical concepts.
Ø Sensory deprivation
resulting from a lack of opportunities during early childhood to explore the
immediate and broader environments.
Ø Poor oral language
development as a result of a lack of communication, interaction and learning
opportunities.
Ø A poor self-image.
Ø Children with
absentee parents who often return to empty homes from school tend to experience
social isolation and developmental deprivation.
Ø The impact of
alcoholism, substance abuse, violence and neglect.
Ø Dysfunctional and
anti-social behavior patterns (e.g., petty theft and lying).
Ø Depression and
hopelessness in adults and learners.
Ø Teenage pregnancy.
Ø Learner-headed
households often require significant additional responsibilities from learners.
Ø Mobility of families
could create a lack of continuity in learning as a result of school hopping.
Ø Changes in the family
structure and family dynamics.
Ø Late school
enrolment.
Ø Learners with
challenging social conduct, including aberrant sexual behavior.
6. What are the three major areas of
differentiation? Define each one of them.
A learning program is a phase-long plan that
details:
ü The sequencing of
learning outcomes and assessment standards across the phase to ensure a
coherent teaching, learning and assessment program;
ü The core knowledge
and concepts or knowledge foci selected to attain the learning outcomes;
ü The context that
ensures that teaching and learning are appropriate to the needs that exist in
the communities, school and classroom; and
ü The time allocation
and weighting allocated to the different learning outcomes and assessment
standards in the phase.
Ø A work schedule is a
year-long program that shows how teaching, learning and assessment will be
sequenced and paced in a particular grade. It is a delivery tool, a means of
working towards the achievement of the learning outcomes specified in the
learning program, and it incorporates the assessment standards that will be
achieved in that grade.
Ø Differentiation at
the level of the lesson, task and activity – at the interface between the
proposed curriculum and the learning needs of individual pupils – implies
adjusting tasks to the various interests, needs, aptitudes, experiences and
previous achievements of diverse groups of pupils.
7. Explain Differentiation.
A differentiated curriculum offers a
variety of ways for learners who differ in abilities, knowledge and skills to
access a shared curriculum. Educators offer adaptations to what learners learn
(content), how learners learn (process), and how learners demonstrate what they
have learned (product). “Differentiation is not a recipe for teaching. It is
not an instructional strategy. It is not what a teacher does when he or she has
time. It is a way about teaching and learning.
8. Give Strategies for Differentiation in
Mathematics in a Gen-Ed setting. Choose any one of the learning areas.
Strategies:
·
Identifying
and describing shapes The learner feels the outside of the shape while naming
the shape and its characteristics.
·
Multiple
choice: Practice identifying the shape from a selection of two or more (e.g.,
‘Give me the circle’. Repeat these steps until mastered.
·
Practice
and generalization:
·
Sorting
shapes of varying size, texture, color and thickness
§ finding the shape in
the environment
§ drawing the shape
§ tracing around the
shape
§ making the drawn
shape into a picture
§ select the shape – by
touch alone – from a small selection ‘feely bag’.
·
The
following procedure is recommended for concept development:
§ Model of concept:
§ The concept is modeled
to the learner using verbal cues (e.g. adult or peer shows the concept, moves behind
the chair or places a plastic object behind the chair).
§ Experience the
concept:
§ The learner
repeatedly experiences the concept while hearing and using the language (e.g.,
playground equipment, classroom situations hiding behind the chair_.
§ Practice with
3-dimensional objects:
§ The learner uses
3-dimensional socio dramatic play equipment to practice the skill (e.g., Duplo
doll’s house, Fisher Price garage, tea sets).
§ Practice with
2-dimensional objects:
§ The learner
identifies or uses the concepts in books or worksheets.
·
The
following activities provide practice at developing spatial skills in each step
of the procedure
9. Give Strategies for Differentiation in
Language in a Gen-Ed setting. Choose any one of the learning areas.
Listening
Skills
v Place the learner
near the front of the class to minimize distractions.
v Background noise
should be eliminated. Keep the learner’s desk clear.
v The positions of the
teacher or another learner speaking and that of the learner experiencing a
barrier are very important.
v The position and
source of light needs attention.
v Visual distraction
(pollution) (e.g., classes that are too full) should be eliminated.
v Assistance may be
given by a person or by using a technological device (e.g., hearing and FM
system).
v Listening can be
supported with non-verbal cues such as gestures, sign, lip-reading, facial expressions
(don’t overdo or exaggerate) and pictures to assist with comprehension of vocabulary
or concepts. Never assume that the learner understood what you said. Check by asking
questions.
v Ask the learner to
repeat the instruction to you.
v Rephrase questions
and sentences rather than merely repeating.
v Do not discourage
translations by other learners.
v Learners who use SASL
as a medium of communication or first language receive visual messages rather
than auditory messages.
v When giving
instructions, the following is key: speech tempo and clarity shorter sentences,
less information per sentence (not too wordy), longer pauses between sentences.
Gaining eye contact and lowering your body to the learner’s eye level are also
helpful.
v Break verbal
instructions down to two or more steps at a time.
v Have one learner at a
time speak, rather than overlapping speaking turns.
v Encourage learners to ask questions in order
to attain clarity and meaning.
v In some cases, you
may have to use extended sentences for learners.
v Frequently used
non-verbal signs could be placed on the classroom walls.
10. How does curriculum flexibility works in an
inclusive education?
In
addressing the diverse needs of the learners, the curriculum needs to be
understood in its entirety. These aspects need to be considered in making the
curriculum accessible to all learners. This includes:
The content (i.e., what is taught).
The language or medium of instruction.
How the classroom is organized and managed.
Teaching methods and processes.
The pace of teaching and the time available to complete the curriculum.
The learning materials and equipment that is used.
How learning is assessed.
11. Explain the Framework for Teaching
Methodologies and its implication in inclusive education.
All teaching methodologies should be
underpinned by the following principles:
The learner is the focal point of all teaching, learning and assessment.
All learners are equally valuable.
Lessons encourage the (full or partial) participation of all learners.
Learner differences
are an important resource for teaching, learning and assessment.
All teaching
learning and assessment should be adapted to suit the needs of learners, and
not the other way round.
Appreciation of
people who are from different backgrounds (cultures, languages, religions, etc.).
Give learners the opportunity to record their work in different ways.
High expectations for all learners.
Clear expectations (clarity of focus).
The interests of the learners are considered.
Individual learner levels.
How learners learn best.
The pace at which learners learn.
12. What is multi-level teaching?
Multilevel teaching is an approach
that assumes the principles of individualization, flexibility and inclusion for
all learners, regardless of their personal skills levels. Teachers should
unconditionally accept learners who experience barriers and involve all
learners in all classroom activities. In contrast to preparing different
lessons for different learners, multilevel teaching advocates for one lesson
with varying methods of learning, teaching and assessment. The lesson must
include a variety of teacher techniques aimed at reaching learners at all
levels. This means:
- Considering learners’ learning style when
planning presentation methods.
- Involving learners
in the lesson through questioning aimed at different levels of thinking (Bloom’s
Taxonomy).
- Acknowledging that some learners will need
adjusted expectations.
- Allowing learners
to choose a method of their preference or competence in demonstrating knowledge,
skills and values.
- Accepting that these different methods are
of equal value.
- Assessing learners in terms of their
differences.
13. Name the three steps in the 3-step Lesson
Development to accommodate diversity
For teachers to
develop lessons that accommodate the different levels of learners, the
following steps are important:
Step 1: Identify what
you want to teach (content) together with the underlying knowledge, skills and
values.
Step 2: Determine the teacher’s methods of
presentation
Step 3: Determine the
assessment standards that will determine the learners’ method of practice.
14. Give the characteristics of effective
cooperative learning activities
Cooperative learning is a way of
teaching in which learners work together to ensure that all members in the
group has learnt the same content. In cooperative learning, groups are organized
and tasks are structured for learners to work together to reach a goal, solve a
problem, make a decision, or produce a product.
v Face-to-face
interaction
v Equal opportunity for
success
v Individual
accountability
v Interpersonal skills
v Learner reflection
v Positive
interdependence
15. Chart the curriculum differentiation ladder
that facilitates differentiation for learners with varying intellectual and
linguistic capacity.
Ask Example
1.
Can
the learner do the same as his or
her
peers? Spelling.
If not, can… 2. Can the learner do the same activity, but with
adapted expectations? Fewer words.
If not, can… 3. Can the learner do the same activity, but with
adapted expectations and materials? Matching the words to pictures.
If not, can… 4. Can the learner do a similar activity, but with
adapted expectations? In the learner’s daily
environment.
If not, can… 5. Can the learner do a similar activity, but with
adapted materials? Computer spelling program?
If not, can… 6. Can the learner do a
different, parallel activity? Learn
a computer-typing program, learn word processing with a spell check, write or
put pictures in a journal?
If not, can… 7. Can the learner do a practical and functional
Activity with assistance? Play
or work with a word puzzle, game, flashcards etc., assisted by a buddy or class
aid?
