University of British Columbia Okanagan
Faculty of Education
Summer Institute 2012
July 3-20
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Beyond Inclusion: A mindset, an attitude, influencing practice
“We believe that the inclusion issue cuts directly to the core of our values and beliefs. Inclusion seems so simple, so full of common sense, and yet it is complex. Inclusion sets of fireworks in the souls of those involved. Inclusion challenges the beliefs about humanity and cuts deep into the recesses of our hearts.
Inclusion is not about placing a child with a disability in a classroom or school. That is only a tiny piece of the puzzle. Rather, inclusion is about how WE deal (or avoid dealing) with our mortality.
How else can you explain the emotions unleashed by the presence of a tiny child in a wheelchair or a teenager with down syndrome in a neighbourhood school? Why do so many apparently ‘normal’ adults lose their composure with the mere mention of including a child? We conclude that this child with special needs signals major change, and for many, change is something to fear – something that is fraught with danger.”
Forest and Pearpoint
Guest instructors include classroom teachers and consultants at the elementary and secondary level and district staff who spearheaded inclusive movements in their districts. They are focusing on moving beyond paper, pencil and textbooks to deeper and more relevant learning through using students’ interests, talents and strengths.
Depending on the content/issue focused on each day, some or all of the instructors might be present.
Course Credit: 3 credits
Description: This course will challenge participants to explore their philosophy, attitude and practice around educating all students in the regular classroom. The course will begin with a critical focus on each participant examining his/her philosophy, attitudes and beliefs. Subsequent focal points will be on school culture, teaming, leadership, class reviews, program planning, instructional practice, assessment and models of support.
Organization: Participants will be actively engaged in discussions, scenarios and role plays as well as through the use of a variety of thinking and learning strategies to explore the various content areas/objectives within the course. A major emphasis will be placed on connecting the learning and experiences in the course with the participant’s context or classroom and/or individual or groups of student(s).
Course Objectives:
- To reflect critically on your philosophy, attitude, thinking and practice about inclusion, support, school culture and working together
- To determine factors of success in working in an inclusive setting
- To better understand and develop ideas for meetings the learning needs of all student in the regular classroom
- To examine the use of open-ended strategies for learning and thinking
- Through the use of strategies for learning and thinking, to actively involve you in
- Examining a wide range of strategies for inclusion
- Working with effective instruction and intervention strategies
- Considering how you could adapt the strategies for your context/students.
- To learn from one another
Norms of Participation:
o Take responsibility for your own
- Learning
- Comfort
o Be actively involved…have fun and get in there
o Keep an open mind, suspend judgment, be critical…don’t reject
o Shift the “Yes, but…” to “What if…..”
o Stretch your thinking
Text and Required Supplies:
Brownlie, F. & King, J (2011). Learning in Safe Schools: Creating classrooms where all students belong. Markham, ON: Pembroke (available from instructors on first day of class)
Assessment Strategies:
The UBC Faculty of Education: Okanagan Campus will use marking schemes and rubrics with a minimum pass equivalency set at B+ (76%) in UBC’s standard marking system. Most students are admitted to the Faculty with grades that are at or exceed this level. We feel that achieving a minimum of B+ is expected if one is to move into the profession as a well-informed, knowledgeable and capable educator. Pass/Fail grading is common in professional programs. In addition to being used in Education programs (including UBC Vancouver), many faculties of Law, Medicine and Dentistry have also implemented Pass/Fail assessment as an alternative to letter grading systems.
Overall Pass/Fail grading changes the focus of a course. Instead of concentrating on getting high marks on tests and assignments, which should not be a goal in and of itself, the time can be spent on the learning that is meaningful. The aim is to focus on constructing cooperative and collegial learning environments that will serve as models for teaching.
Pass/Fail assessments are based on in-class activities and class participation, performance on content assignments and the completion of a final project.
Assignments:
Reflective Log: Participants will respond to questions posed by the instructors and other students connecting class experiences to their teaching. Three one page reflections will be required each week and can be submitted any day, all must not be submitted the last day of the week. You may represent your thinking in different ways as part of this reflection, for example, draw, sketch (with labels), web, cartoon format, poem, song, rap, dialogue, video (5 minutes max.), etc. (See attached sheets for further information)
Representation of Philosophy: Due Monday, July 9, 2012. Create a representation of your philosophy of inclusion in a medium other than writing for sharing with other students. This representation must include three major/main ideas about your philosophy. Others will be attempting to determine the main ideas from your representation. Examples of different ways to represent your thinking will be shared during the first few classes.
Learning Journey: Due: Last day of class. Using the information shared in class on July 9 and 10 and the reading of Chapter 4, “Learning as a Journey”, in Learning in Safe Schools, create a representation of your journey during this course. The reflective log will be a foundation for this assignment. Time will also be spent in class creating criteria for the Learning Journey project.
Course Details
Day Topic & Activity Reading/Materials
Tues. July 3 Course introduction Read text pages 6 to 9
Beliefs, Attitudes, Values for Wed.
Bring high school
Yearbook if have one
Wed. July 4 Beliefs, Attitudes, Values Read Chapter 1 for Thurs.
Thurs. July 5 Beliefs, Attitudes, Values Read Chapter 7 for Fri
Friday, July 6 Building an Inclusive Culture Create philosophy
In an Intermediate Classroom representation for Mon
Kim Ondrik, Vernon SD Read Ch 4 for Mon.
Mon. July 9 Philosophy representation Read Ch. 2 and 3.
Assessment, Learning Tues.
as a Journey, Belonging
Tues. July 10 Learning as a Journey Read Ch 5 and 6 for
Belonging rest of week
Wed. July 11 Instructional Practice
Assessment/Criteria
Thurs. July 12 Instructional Practice
Assessment/Criteria
Friday, July 13 Instructional Practice
Assessment/Criteria
Mon. July 16 Instructional Practice
Assessment/Criteria
Tues. July 17 Planning units to include all Read Ch 10 for Wed
Jeff Fitton
Wed. July 18 Class reviews
So Do You Ever Need to Adapt? Read Ch 8 and 9 for Thur
Thurs. July19 Using the classroom as a base
for planning
Resource Model
Fri. July 20 Learning as a Journey
Presentations
Course Policies:
Attendance
You are expected to attend every class unless you inform us beforehand, are sick, or have an emergency. Not attending class will affect your learning of course content.
Missed Class
You are responsible for collecting missed materials from a classmate and for being up-to-date by the following class
Readings
If readings have been pre-assigned for any of the class days, then you are expected to have completed the reading prior to class. Readings are listed in this course outline or will be distributed.
Language and Formatting
Correct use of language is expected. References should be in the recognized format of APA. For further information, please consult the library website using the following link: http://web.ubc.ca/okanagan/library/citations.html.
Plagiarism and Cheating
University regulations on plagiarism and cheating will be strictly enforced. This includes receiving zero on an assignment to expulsion from the university.
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s words or ideas as if they were your own. Examples include: (a) copying material/language without using quotation marks and citation; (b) not referencing summaries; (c) handing in assignments, reflections or materials written by someone else as your own work.
One of the purposes of this class is to encourage students to inquire, to be actively involved and to stretch their thinking. Students will be encouraged to work cooperatively in groups. However, cheating will not be tolerated. Cheating can include submitting someone else’s work as your own or re-submitting work you have already done in another class and/or received credit for in another course and misrepresenting your personal situation (or having someone misrepresent you) to receive special treatment, such as the postponement or deferral of an assignment.
Learning Log
The purposes of the learning log:
1. To record your own growth and learning over the duration of the program; to help you to recognize…
- What kinds of learning tasks and teaching styles work best for you
- What kinds of tasks you resist or try to avoid
- What conditions allow you to take risks/what conditions prevent you from risking
- What warning signs suggest that you are leaving your comfort zone
- What factors help to keep you going through times of low confidence, low morale, feeling like quitting
2. To help you to recognize the kinds of learning that you are finding helpful and affirming and anything you might find confusing or are struggling to understand
To provide a consistent place to record reflections that you can draw upon to document your own growth (learning journey) and to enable you to share your thoughts articulately with your peers. The premise for the reflection and sharing in this class comes from the research that maintains that change in thinking comes through dialogue with others.
The learning log—some recommendations…
o Write an entry soon after each class; it is helpful to set aside a regular time and place—commit to a regular date with yourself for about 20 minutes.
o Write about whatever seems important to you as you reflect on your experiences as a learner. Consider opening your learning log with a short comment on your philosophy about education and/or inclusion
o Do NOT get spend more than few sentences outlining what we did during the class; avoid detailed descriptions of activities unless they were significant and you will be commenting on their importance to your learning. This is a very common pitfall: it is far more important to record how you felt and how the activity advanced your learning rather than what happened each evening
o It is often helpful, especially at the beginning, to follow a comfortable formula or structure for each entry. If something momentous occurs and you choose to deviate from your usual format, this will help you to identify what was significant about the event.
Learning log - guiding questions:
1. What learning tasks did I respond to most easily today? When did I feel most engaged in the learning? What were the highest emotional moments in my learning activities today? What was my learning zone comfort level? Is this changing?
2. What learning tasks did I feel most uncomfortable with today/this week? When did I feel the least engaged? What were the lowest emotional moments in my learning?
3. What learning activity or emotional moment most took me by surprise today/?
4. What significant thing happened to me as a learner today? What have I learned about myself as a learner?
5. Of all my learning activities today, what would I do differently if I could do it again?
6. What do I feel best about in my learning today?
Don’t worry if you feel that your answers to these questions overlap—they often will. Do try to respond to each one, however, even if your answer merely records that nothing was surprising or significant, you experienced no particular highs or lows. These responses will tell you something about yourself as a learner and the conditions that help you learn best.
Your learning log can also be a place where you collect artefacts related to “Beyond Inclusion”
w newspaper or magazine articles
w pictures
w quotations, sayings
w interesting ideas or questions you would like to follow up on later
w items from your classroom—kid work, perhaps—that illustrate an idea you are pursuing or inspire a question
w your response to something you saw on TV or to a conversation with a colleague
w a program from an event you attended that was significant to you
If you choose to include artefacts such as these, it is vital that you also include a reflection.
“Normal is only the setting on your washing machine”
A parent’s thinking
“Inclusive schools and classrooms are environments where there is a sense of community in which all students, including students with disabilities and staff support and are supported by other members of the school….where every student is welcomed, can feel secure and be successful…the student doesn’t need to be fixed, cured or…….before s/he is allowed in”
One school’s definition of inclusion
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