Learning Numbers in Multiple Ways - Report Example

Analytic Review of Inclusive Practice Name: University: Date: Analytic Review of Inclusive Practice Part A: Lesson Example  Lesson Title: Let's Count! Learning Numbers in Multiple Ways Year group: Pre-K (3 years) Learning Objectives: 1. To understand the relationship that exists between quantities and numbers; counting is connected to cardinality. 2. To learn numbers in multiple ways and encourage collaboration 3. To demonstrate how to work individually, interact with the different groups, and focus learning on a small group. Curriculum Area: Math Curriculum Standards: Establishing understanding of the processes and language of counting through identifying numbers in sequences (ACMNA001); Connecting number quantities, numerals and names, which includes zero, at first up to 10 and afterwards beyond (ACMNA002); and subtilising small objects’ collections o(ACMNA003). Resources: Playdough Numbers, missing numbers boards, number puzzles, virtual tools, and playing cards Activities/ Lesson Sequence IPAA Framework Introductory task: Students use their cognitive skills as their thinking and manipulating objects. In the fishing activity students use their hands to develop physically and use cognitive skills when fishing numbers. Whole Class: Five students line up with different tags having attached numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4), and then students are asked to arrange the students from 0 to 4. The physical activities enable students to interact using their senses A holistic approach to teaching children having different abilities and promotes collaboration All students are offered an opportunity to learn Children are encouraged to listen and respect one another, evaluate and accept different views, and participate in the exchange of perspectives and thinking. Supports learning and allow every child to gain knowledge. Helps children to develop as a child as well as holistically The teacher nurtures the patterns of mathematical reasoning by managing, facilitating, and monitoring the participation of children and emphasising effective way of collaborating and learning Small groups: Students are divided into small groups, whereby different learning materials such as cards labeled from 0 to 10 are used. Individual Learners: Children are given activities that they are supposed to solve using their hands so as to learn easily and more while learning how to interact using their sense. Help develop mutual understanding among each other Children are able to perceive themselves as mathematical learners Working in small groups offer the practical and emotional support Enable children to clarify the nature of a task as well as find the possible ways forward Enhances engagement and promotes higher level thinking Children are offered an opportunity to reflect on their learning Promotes independent thinking with regard to different ways of interacting with numbers Part B: Critical Analysis At Hawthorne Elementary School, Rosemary Kungu demonstrates how numbers can be learned holistically and in different ways. In the class, students are using numbers in order to solve quantitative problems, represent quantities, count objects, and compare numerals or sets (Kungu, 2012). By using different learning styles, Kungu is able to develop the cognitive skills of the children and also find the effective learning style suitable for all the students. The learning style employed by Kungu is inclusive because it promotes collaboration and allows children to actively participate in different groups such as fishing, singing and dancing. Evidently, Kungu has placed the students’ interests and their current knowledge at the centre of her teaching style. Rather than fixing the students’ weaknesses, she builds on their current proficiencies by adjusting her instruction in order to meet the learning needs of her students. Kungu uses different ‘hands on’ activities and different modalities of the children to promote interaction and collaboration. This enables the students to interact and to connect directly with the numbers. Evidently, Kungu motivates as well as positively manages the students. With regard to IPAA framework, learning numbers using different styles facilitates the development of the children, supports learning and collaboration; and enables the students to gain skills, knowledge and become motivated. In addition, the lesson demonstrates different activities can be used to learn numbers and provide students different ways of gaining, processing, and incorporating the learned knowledge. While engaging in different ‘hands on’ activities, the students are offered an opportunity to navigate and demonstrate learning. Moss and Harvie (2015) mentioned that developing an analytical framework for inclusive pedagogy can facilitate the creation of an important tool that can be utilised to assess how teachers promote the principle of inclusive pedagogy in different contexts. Basically, studying inclusive pedagogy may offer teachers the language for justifying their decisions regarding the practice. Kungu’s Math lesson demonstrates that students become motivated and active when participating in collaborative activities such as fishing numbers. Moss and Harvie (2015) insist that the methods of teaching must be modified in order to meet the exceptional children’s needs. Indubitably, a class must be observational environment since long observation can single-handedly facilitate difference to be seen between backwardness; moronity; and dullness. Basically, the IPAA framework is a crucial analysis tool, which allows the researcher to rise above the observable actions’ description into a deeper comprehension of the means that inclusive pedagogy is enacted by teachers. The utilisation of the IPAA framework facilitates the documentation of the connections between an idea (theoretical in nature) and its enactment. Clearly, Kungu has used inclusive pedagogy principles to integrate ’hands on’ activities as the student’s learning style. Clearly, the IPAA framework advances our knowledge regarding what is distinguishing with regard to the decisions that the teachers make regarding the inclusive pedagogy, especially in terms of what is perceived as a focus shift far from the ideas of the majority learners to include all and sundry. The inclusive pedagogy acknowledges the unique attributes of every child, their culture, social values and beliefs, language, and ways of knowing in light of learning context. Basically, the principles of inclusive pedagogy are linked by IPAA Framework with the assumptions underpinning them, and according to Florian (2014), they are aligned with the challenges and actions that could inhibit and promote inclusive practices. Kungu posits that when students work together and utilise familiar materials differently, they are building a meaning. The lesson activities in Kungu’s class show that children learn using all their senses and are inclined to touch as well as manipulate things. Apart from moving learning materials around, the hands-on activities demonstrated in the lesson activate the brains of the students. Students learn easily using the spatial and visual activities. Kungu’s lesson demonstrates that students’ learning skills can be developed using social, auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile learning styles. Importantly, hands-on activities promote inclusion and collaboration since are learning by moving around, sharing what they are doing, are allowed to see what other students are doing and work in small groups to strengthen their knowledge. Makoelle (2014) asserts that for all students to be included in a lesson, the teacher should utilise the behavioural teaching activities like the task analysis, reinforcement and prompting. In order to manipulate the student’s behaviour, the teachers can use motivation in a way that will ensure all students have been engaged in the lesson. Aside from encouraging her students to respond to different questions, Kungu applauds students who use full sentences to answer the questions. In addition, the students are given an opportunity to demonstrate what and how they have learned. As mentioned by Makoelle (2014), different strategies employed in teaching are used with the objective of modifying the behaviour of the learner as well as to support students’ learning process and promote inclusive pedagogy. Clearly, Kungu utilises differentiated teaching, which is a proactive technique used in responding to all learners’ needs. Through the specification of challenges assumptions, principles, and evidence, the IPAA Framework place emphasis on the students’ learning as well as the existing relationships between the teacher and the students. A proof of inclusive learning can be evidenced by the study approach of the practices used by the teacher, which lays down assumptions, principles as well as actions. Importantly, the classroom decisions should be made by teachers interactively after understanding how key ideas are developed, and a description that is clear and concise can help this together with using digital technologies effectively to improve the significance of the learning processes and content. As demonstrated by Kungu, Math can be made inclusive by utilising engaging and collaborative experiences, which can be differentiated so as to include all students regardless of their abilities. Learning can be improved through effective pedagogy and creating tasks that promote continuous improvement. Florian (2014) mentions that the pedagogical Framework was purposely designed to comprehensively guide teachers towards an inclusive pedagogical approach towards learning and teaching. In their study, Florian and Black-Hawkins (2011) established that teachers who sought to utilise the inclusive pedagogy in order to support learning success for all the children always experience dilemmas and challenges in practice. For instance, the school policy could make it challenging for the teacher to utilise alternative learning strategies in some lessons. But this is not the case in Kungu’s class since the learning environment provides opportunities for all students, and every student is able to take part in the class. Teachers are expected to plan their lessons while focussing on pedagogical approach so as to meet the needs of all students. Normally, the mathematic class is considered to be a difficult class for many; therefore, differentiation can be used to shape education differently so as to promote inclusive pedagogy. Therefore, differentiation is used to ensure that the education fit to every student, and because learners are not the same, their education needs is undoubtedly different. Basically, grouping learners into small groups is very common in the mathematics classes, and is considered to be an effective approach towards an inclusive learning. Pedagogical differentiation can be used to group students into small groups, whereby learning starts by individualising different various teaching and learners’ abilities. Although variation is normally considered an obstacle to learning that can be lessened through ability grouping, it is also seen as an asset since it offers different learning opportunities. Kungu offers her students an opportunity to develop a number of abilities such as formulating and solving problems, choosing a suitable style to learn numbers, and also following their mathematical reasoning. Differentiated instruction and Inclusive pedagogy are teaching techniques used by teachers to reach every student, irrespective of his/her level of skills. Collaboration and inclusion at Kungu’s class are exhibited by her ability to use learning differentiation by integrating different hands-on activities to generate the best education outcomes for her students. Without a doubt, inclusive pedagogy promotes improved education for every student and can help change certain behaviours such as discriminatory attitudes. At her class, Kungu offers her students the first connection with the world by allowing them to develop social interactions and relationships through hands-on activities. In addition, understanding and respect can be achieved when learners of different backgrounds and abilities learn and socialise together. Evidently, education that separates and excludes students can result in negative behaviours and poor performance in education-related activities. Therefore, the learning style employed by Kungu takes into account the inclusive pedagogy since it promotes collaboration, socialisation; creates relationships, facilitate the acquisition of skill; and enable students to interact amongst themselves. In an inclusive learning environment, students often learn to understand and accept diversity, get prepared to live in an inclusive society and attain improved academic outcomes. In conclusion, it is evident that studying in an environment that is inclusive enables students to feel safe, autonomous as well as successful because they are involved in setting education goals and participate in decision making processes. In addition, Inclusive pedagogy offers teachers a better way to engage students in independent work as well as developing concepts in different ways. Kungu’s lesson facilitates the students to learn effectively. Teachers can enrich students’ learning by offering them modified or differentiated learning opportunities. A safe ad supportive learning environments can be created and maintained by managing various class activities, supporting the participation of the student, and making sure that the challenging behaviours are managed. Kungu’s lesson demonstrates that children can be encouraged to listen and respect one another by working as a team. As a result, learning is supported and children are able to gain knowledge. References Florian, L. (2014). What counts as evidence of inclusive education? European Journal of Special Needs Education, 29(3), 286-294. Florian, L., & Black-Hawkins, K. (2011). Exploring inclusive pedagogy. British Educational Research Journal, 37(5), 813–828. Kungu, R. (2012). Let's Count! Learning Numbers in Multiple Ways. Retrieved from Teaching Channel: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/pre-k-math-lesson# Makoelle, T. (2014). Pedagogy of Inclusion: A Quest for Inclusive Teaching and Learnin. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), 1259-1267. Moss, J., & Harvie, K. (2015). Cross-Curriculum Design: Enacting Inclusive Pedagogy and Curriculum. Inclusive Pedagogy Across the Curriculum., 7, 259-279. Read More