Inclusion (Cross-Sectoral) NIPTWS13

Inclusion Working together in the workshops will involve… Confidentiality Participation Contributing to group learning Asking questions/clarifying issues Taking responsibility for your own learning Please check that your phone is off for the duration of the workshop

Inclusion Overview of Workshop Context & DefinitionThe Inclusive School The Inclusive Classroom Including Pupils with SEN Individual Practice

Inclusion Reflection As a teacher how inclusive am I in… My practice? My attitude? My behaviour? My language? ’ Equal Opportunity implies treating different people differently so that they would have equal opportunities to maximise their potential’ (Topping, K & Maloney, S. 2005)

Inclusion Integration increases the opportunity for pupils with disabilities to be included in mainstream school. (Source: One of the Kids. Disability Council of NSW, 1998.) What is Inclusion?

Inclusion Source: One of the Kids. Disability Council of NSW, 1998.

Inclusion Inclusion is A belief that all children can learn and that all benefit when this learning is done together. (Dyson & Millward, 2000, pg.17) A means to remove barriers, improve outcomes and remove discrimination. (Lyndsay, 2003, pg.3) Inclusion is a process. It has to be seen as a never-ending search to find better ways of responding to diversity. It is about learning how to live with difference and learning how to learn from difference. (UNESCO, 2005, pg.15) Inclusion is a vision, a road to be travelled, but a road without ending and a road with all kinds of barriers and obstacles, some of them invisible and some of them in our own heads and hearts. (Mittler, 2000)

Inclusion Irish Legislation The Education Act 1998 The Education Welfare Act 2000 The Equality Status Act 2000 The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 Children/students with SEN ‘have the same right to avail of, and benefit from appropriate education as do their peers who do not have such needs’ (EPSEN 2004)

Inclusion Who do we need to be mindful of? English as an Additional Language (EAL) Educational Disadvantage Traveller Special Educational Needs (SEN) Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Other?

Inclusion Walk a Step in my Shoes

Inclusion Whole- School Response Subject Department and Year Response Class and Individual Response

Inclusion An Inclusive Classroom Co-operative teaching and learning approaches can help ensure inclusion 1. Classroom Environment 2. Curriculum 3. Teaching and Learning Strategies 4. Student Well- Being 5. Assessment 6. Classroom Behaviour Adapted (Mittler 2000, Inclusive Education Framework NCSE 2011)

Inclusion Individual Practice Classroom Review

Inclusion What if…? 1.A pupil/student with English as an additional language has not spoken since arriving in your class… 2.You are made aware that a pupil/student in your class has been the recipient of verbal abuse with regard to sexual orientation... 3.A group of Traveller pupils/students will only play with/speak to other Traveller pupils at break-time… 4.A pupil/student in your class informs you that he/she cannot participate in the activities and practices at Christmas time i.e. making cards/ nativity play /carol singing because of his/her religious beliefs. 5.Parents suggests that you are being racist in dealing with their child… 6.You have observed that a pupil /student in your class, who has the support of an SNA rarely interacts with his/her peers in class or at break-times…

Inclusion Models of SNA Support Velcro Helicopter Sweeping One Step Behind Observer / Enabler (Lorenz S., 1998)

Inclusion SNA Is the SNA in your classroom supporting inclusion or contributing to exclusion? Where is the SNA sitting/working most of the time? Is the SNA assisting in the same way all the time or is the pupil/student moving towards independence? Ask yourself at the end of every day ‘Have I engaged directly with the pupil/student who has SNA support’? When starting with a new class, can you agree with the SNA that s/he step back to allow you to assess the whole class as a group? Do you allow time for collaboration and discussion with the SNA? Are you aware of how the student feels about SNA support?

Inclusion Pupils with SEN Where would you look for information? Assessment Reports/Recommendations Learning Support/Resource Teacher/SEN Team Special Education Needs Co-ordinator Principal/Deputy Principal IEP/Action Plan

Inclusion How can we ensure that pupils with SEN are included? Choose a pupil/student from 1 st Class, 4 th Class or Junior Cycle level Read the information outlined on the pupil/student, keeping in mind his/her strengths and needs Write 2 strategies you might use for each target outlined to ensure the optimal educational outcome for that pupil/student in your class in accordance with his/her potential List resources necessary for each strategy

Inclusion Reflection As a teacher how inclusive am I in… My Practice? My Attitude? My Behaviour? My Language? ’ Equal Opportunity implies treating different people differently so that they would have equal opportunities to maximise their potential’ (Topping, K & Maloney, S. 2005)

Inclusion Sources of Information www. ncse.ie

Inclusion Additional Support Professional Support Groups NIPT School Support Service Contact the NIPT Please ask your Facilitator or EC for the contact details of the NIPT RDO assigned to your EC To ask for support is a sign of strength…