PREPARED BY:
SUBMITTED TO:
Lecturer
REQUIRED:
Choose any two diversities and identify and discuss at least four ways in which the teacher can
help to foster a healthy relationship among the different groups within the classroom.
INTRODUCTION
Today's classrooms are filled with diverse students with a variety of needs and abilities
including; students with disabilities and gifted/talented students, students coming from different
race, religion, socio-economic status, gender and sexual orientation. While diversity is enriching,
it also brings challenges, especially in a time when all students are expected to meet standards
and perform on a mandated tests. If schools are to meet these challenges of educating increased
numbers of children with diverse needs, teachers must embrace instruction and curricula that
engage and encourage all students. Research about including children with disabilities indicates
the importance of several interrelated educational strategies that a teacher could perform to foster
a healthy relation: mixed student grouping; appropriate physical environment and materials;
collaboration and instructional teaming with other teachers and professional and support coming
from administrators, families, and the community. In this paper I will specifically talk about
students with special needs and those coming from a “lower” socio-economic status and how
Teachers should have high expectations for all students. The reasons behind increased
success are the same reasons that prompt use of developmentally appropriate practice and an
inclusive curriculum, according to Knapp, Shields, and Turnbull (1995): "By concentrating on
assets... teachers are predisposed to see more potential in the children they are teaching and are
able to treat the children's experiences and backgrounds as resources for learning rather than
In contrast, identifying students as low-ability seems to lower teacher expectations and subject
"Once students are considered to be deficient in some way or other, teachers begin to treat them
differently... The evidence is overwhelming. When compared to their 'high-ability' peers, 'low-
ability' students are called on less often in class…, and prompted less often in the case of
It does not take a research study to confirm what most of us know intuitively: Having high
expectations for all students is a worthwhile goal. As teachers, we have tremendous power in
Some teachers unconsciously send different messages to “low” achievers than to “high”
achievers. Low achievers often receive insincere praise, less feedback, and more criticism. In
addition, these students tend to be called on less often and given less time to respond.
Teacher can foster a good relationship by having and communicating high expectations to the
entire class from day one. This action will send a message of acknowledging the importance or
the value of each individual in the class. For the group of students with exceptionalities, this is
very important in the sense that it gives a feeling of being a part or belonging and not being
pitied. This will in turn give positive attitude because students intuitively sense that the teacher
has a genuine interest and belief in them. For example, instead of placing troubled students in the
back of the room where they are often forgotten the teacher put them right in the front row. Such
a gesture sets the expectation that all students are an integral part of a successful classroom
dynamic, and they all must participate in order for the class to succeed.
Student grouping practices is very prevalent in the Jamaica School System. These
practices such as placing “low-income” students with “low ability” groups and grouping students
with disabilities often have the effect of reducing equity. This kind of practice will isolate
Teachers must be able to identify the individual needs of each child, including any needs for
Observation and conversation, if necessary, with family members can help the teacher build
upon the child’s strengths, regardless of whether the child is disabled or is from low socio-
economic background. This kind of action will obtain positive results in empowering students. It
is a positive contrast to the approach that labels a child and produces a program to provide what
he or she lacks.
When circumstances permit, schools should include students with disabilities in general
LABELLING
Teachers should not judge or label a child before they get to know them. Every child has
abilities. Labeling causes these students to be isolated. Children want to fit in and feel as normal
as possible. Labeling is very hurtful and can make a student feel very bad.
Students need positivity in their lives if they are going to succeed and labeling them is far from
positive.
One concern is the categorical labels do not always accurately reflect the characteristics of the
children. Additionally, labeling may stigmatize the child, and once a child is labeled, it may be
difficult to change the label. Some believe that attaching a label to a child may well produce a
Students should not be labeled by their disabilities since it is only a part of who they are and not
the big picture. They have goals and ambitions like everyone else, they do have a desire to learn,
they have interests and hobbies, and they also have things that they are good at.
There is also the issue of self fulfilling prophecy as well. If a child keeps hearing that they are
dumb, stupid, or cannot learn then they are going to believe that they would not amount to
Teachers should practice tolerance, deeper patience and understanding. The labels become the
defining characteristic of the person, denying their complex whole, and the use of labels for
identifying 'special education needs' fails to properly locate failure in the education system.
When a child is labeled, he or she can end up not getting the education services needed resulting
in an inadequate education.
(Seligman & Darling, 1989). When parents are faced with someone telling them that their child
has a disorder, a disability, or other problems requiring formal intervention, they may
understandably respond, “There must be some mistake,” “Give him some time and he’ll be fine,”
Sometimes, teacher will be confronted by denying parents. This especially happens when a
teacher has to tell the parents that their child is failing or should be referred for special testing.
As Hartwig had said, at times, the parents may act as if they did not hear. They may ignore the
advice, or they may go to their doctors for another diagnosis. Also, in looking for someone to
blame, parents may or might convert on blaming the teacher for the child’s slow progress.
In such an instance, the teacher should try to help parents understand that his/her main interest is
not why the child is not learning but in how to help the child overcome the learning problems
that have been identified. While the parents are in the stage, the child might not get the attention
that they need at home. If the teacher believes that this is the case, then they should take
necessary steps to get parents to collaborate with them. Some of the ways that a teacher can
make parents to participate in their child’s progress is to share with them the school’s finding and
discussing with them the activities that their children are doing.
CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
all students. Certain features of classroom environment are recognized as pivotal to the
successful classroom management, including, for example, classroom layout and organization,
class rules and routines, and organization of resources (Leggett, 2005; Newton, 2005). The
classroom arrangement affects the level of involvement of the children and the quality of
interaction between the teacher and the student. The teacher must structure the physical space to
involve all children in many different types of group activities. Classroom arrangement must
address the needs of the student. For example, maintaining predictable order for a child with
hearing or visual impairment or placing “slow learners” to the front of the class allowing more
interaction.
School and classroom settings must have adequate space and be barrier-free. They should
provide spatial accommodations for children with special needs to allow for equipment that
makes it possible for them to participate in the classroom. Adaptive equipment to help disabled
children participate in classroom activities may include ramps, or trays that can be placed across
Teachers may and will feel overwhelmed by the many responsibilities required of them in
a diverse classroom. How can a teacher meet the individual needs of many different children
while developing and presenting the curriculum and ensuring opportunities for all? The answer is
that the teacher cannot do the job alone. Instead, schools can provide support through
collaboration with other professionals, instructional teaming within the classroom, and assistance
from others.
One way to collaborate is to have one teacher deliver the lesson to the entire class while
the other teacher (or specialist) moves around the room helping and observing students, making
notes and monitoring the students. The teacher and the specialist circulates arounf the room
paraphrasing and clarifying information presented by the lead teacher (Gransbery, 1998).
approach that identifies appropriate strategies (educational) and intervention services for children
with special needs. In this way, the combined expertise of a variety of professionals-such as
classroom and special education teachers, counselors and assessment specialists inside the school
building, and social workers and healthcare professionals outside the school building-provides
insight into each student’s needs. Through collaboration, the educational team can design
programs and implement strategies to help individual children achieve their educational goals.
For example, if there is collaboration between a general teacher and a special education teacher
within the same classroom, then, general education teacher can follow the curriculum while the
special education teacher will device or adapt classroom materials to match the learning styles,
In addition, schools can take action to involve children's parents and families in school activities
and decision making. Involvement of parents as active and empowered members of the school
will link school staff with the diverse learner. Teachers can use parents as resource people by
• Use naturalistic teaching strategies to respond to individual students within the context of
naturally occurring classroom activities. Such strategies are helpful for enabling children
to reach individual goals and for challenging insensitive behavior when it occurs.
Gorman, J.C. (2004). Working with challenging parents of students with special needs.
Howley, M., & Rose, R. (2007). The Practical Guide to Special Educational Needs in Inclusive
Knapp, M.S., Shields, P.M., & Turnbull, B.J. (1995). Conclusion: Teaching for meaning in high-
poverty classrooms. In M.S. Knapp & Associates (Eds.), Teaching for meaning in high-
Rothstein, L. & Johnson, S.F. Special Education law. (4th Edition). California: Sage Publication.
Villegas, A.M. (1991, December). Culturally responsive pedagogy for the 1990s and beyond
(Trends and Issues Paper No. 6). Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teacher
Education.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_theory
Partridge, Stephanie. The Negative Impact of Student "Labeling" in the Classroom. Retrieved from
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Resource Manual for Teachers of Students with Exceptionalities. Downloaded from the Ministry of