Inclusive Pedagogies
Collaboration of Diverse Voices: Strengthening Relationships with Homeless Young Children and Families
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Annie White
This qualitative study examined whether the influence of Learning Stories, a narrative formative assessment approach, impacts relationships and learning for low-income, underrepresented young children who are homeless, living in transitional housing, or at risk for stable housing. The research project focused on relationships, teacher and parent collaboration, and the theoretical framework of Ghosts and Angels in the Nursery as a lens to understand how early childhood memories can impact child rearing practices and influence adult and child interactions. Learning Stories is an innovative, formative assessment approach which offers educators and parents the opportunity to partner in the education of young children through the sharing of written stories describing children’s learning experiences. Educators have found the value of family voice as integral to the assessment process as teachers engage with families to understand and honor their unique perspective. The Learning Stories serve both as a guide and tangible artifact documenting the child’s learning experiences through teacher analysis and reflection. The study Research findings included the following themes: individual development of children; children addressed directly and viewed as important; attention on positive attributes of the children rather than deficits; open communication occurred between educators and parents; teachers show deep care for children; parents’ care of children; and, teachers’ thoughtful reflection about children’s learning experiences. Research findings reveal Learning Stories, a narrative formative assessment approach provides opportunities that influence positive teacher, child, parent, and family relationships.
Bridging Education and Neuroscience: A Transdisciplinary Model for Co-creating Positive Classroom Climates
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sheila Dennis
Educational neuroscience (EN) is a transdisciplinary convergence of neurosciences, education, and psychology that has gained international momentum. Its purpose is to advance the application of neurosciences in Preschool-12 education as a way to design instructional environments and practices that more closely align with human development science. Despite the ascension of scholarly discourse proposing the integration of neuroscience knowledge with education practices, a shared conceptual framework remains elusive for the emergent discipline, and the translation of EN into education practices is unexamined. A constructivist grounded theory study investigated the emerging conceptualization of the social-emotional dimensions of EN practices and the implications for creating a positive classroom climate. The data analyses of 54 student, teacher, and administrator interviews from four US classrooms applying EN knowledge generated a conceptual model that revealed how EN practices unfolded in the classroom to co-create a positive classroom climate. Data indicated that a humanistic organizational structure facilitated the EN practice implementation, and the teacher’s regulatory state was central to the application process. Five themes emerged that characterized EN practices: teaching neuroanatomy, reflecting on emotions, self-regulating strategies, adapting classroom boundaries, and honoring the whole student. Interactions resulting from these practices contributed to students’ resiliency, as observed by reduced discipline referrals, readiness to learn, empowered decision-making, greater empathy, and enhanced social connectedness. Results contribute to existing research on climate and social-emotional learning. The study’s findings also inform translational EN inquiry and provide a conceptual model to guide educators who seek to co-create positive classroom climates using transdisciplinary EN practices.
Thinking Together through Metaphor
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Christopher Navarajan Selva Raj
This paper invites participants to consider how a focus on metaphor in the classroom which might help develop collaborative student thinking about social and community issues. We will first explore a questioning technique that sensitizes diverse learners to the metaphors that underlie their chosen problems. Next, we examine how student-generated metaphors can either encumber or enhance their critical analysis of an issue. Finally, and, most significantly, we investigate how metaphor can be a useful tool to guide groups of diverse learners to collaboratively generate creative and novel ideas to tackle enduring social and community problems. This tool shows promise in helping student groups co-construct a more inclusive learning space as they work to bridge their varied experiences and perspectives and move together to make collective decisions.
Inclusive Education for Students in Childhood and Primary Teacher Training Programs
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nazaret Martínez Heredia, Ana Amaro Agudo, Gracia González Gijón
The interest of this work is to know the perception of professional skill to be a teacher able to face the challenges linked to inclusive education, by the recent graduates in Childhood and Primary Education Degree at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Granada, during its formative process. Teacher training gaps regarding attention to diversity currently involve disorientation, vulnerability, concern and even rejection due to ignorance in future teachers and active professionals. We have used a descriptive quantitative methodology, using a questionnaire “Professional skills in inclusive education” as an information collection tool, in a sample of 318 people aged between 22 and 31 years old. Results: the results show that all the students in the sample believe they have acquired professional skills to adequately address the challenges of inclusion in the centers, in relation to methods and means, along with improvement and innovation. They consider that the use of technologies and cooperative work is necessary, as well as the mastery of practices and evaluations to meet the diversity of students. The development of a growing accumulation of experience and knowledge as part of a great systemic change in the university classrooms of teacher training will help to guarantee quality in training and to reduce the "gap between theory and practice".
