Inclusion, what is your opinion on this type of teaching style?
83192
I will include the answer I gave a few days ago to a very similar question about "Mainstreaming" which is just another way of saying "inclusion"......\n\nIt always depends upon how the mainstreaming, or inclusion, is done. It also depends very much upon the needs of the individual and the resources available in the system. There is no easy answer to your question, and unfortunately most people are either strongly pro or strongly con, and often don't see shades of grey. Also are you looking for the information from the perspective of a student, a parent, or a teacher? The perspectives tend to be quite different sometimes.\n\nSome of the postive effcts would be that the student theoretically has the opportunity to make more friends and participate in more activities. This is certainly true if inclusion is done in a careful and caring manner. Students who are mainstreamed have to learn to live by the same rules as other students. Other children become more accepting of students with disabilities. Everyone learns to respect each other's differences, and it should lead to a more tolertant and accepting society overall. Generally in the years since IDEA, students with disabilties have shown improvements in standardized test scores, better social and communication skills, better knowledge of the world and are better prepared for post-school experiences.\n\nSome people say that inclusion lowers standards in the regular classroom. It may not always be possible to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the regular classroom. Classroom teachers do not necessarily have the background or skills to address different disabiities. Some students with disabiities need very specific programming that cannot be delivered effectively in the regular classroom. Some people believe that kids with disabilities fall further behind as a result of inclusion because they can't get the amount or quality of attention they need.\n\nThe key is appropriate training of clsssroom teachers, good specific programming for the students with disabilities, and resources to properly support classroom teachers in implementing inclusion. \n\nI've tried to give an overview of both sides of this issue.  I hope my thoughts are helpful to you.  Take care.
100481
Hmmmm. I apologize for trying to help. I know I "sound" intelligent, but how do you sound responding like that. \nI respect the lesson, but not the teacher.
786514
I understand your frustration.  I have taught high school for 8 years and it is very discouraging at times to see the situations that exist in the classroom.  First of all, there is a mandate that Special Education students be mainstreamed into the general classroom population.  I have had a class of 34 students with 9 Spec. Ed. students (this is becoming more and more typical).  There are supposed to be teacher's aides to help in classes like that, but school budgets are spent so unwisely, at times, that there is no money for a teacher's aide for every teacher with a significant amount of Spec. Ed. students (who either have a learning disability, a behavioral disability, or an emotional disability).  This leaves the teacher and the students at a disadvantage.  Teachers now use more time on class management than on class instruction.  And, it's not just because of Spec. Ed. students.  For some reason many students like to "dumb down" on their own as to not be ridiculed by their peers for being too smart, a nerd, or a "lame".  School administration look at teachers with disdain and often let go of teachers with too high of a failure rate, so many teachers, when presented with a class or classes that do not produce on the expected level then create a curriculum that they feel the students have a chance to pass, even if it does not prepare a student to be on level.  Our educational system is in deep need of reforms that work, not just reforms that look good on paper but have no substance or effectiveness in the classroom or to the students.  I try to prepare students for high school and beyond, whether they are college bound, interested in vocational training, or ready to work once they graduate.  Teaching is a many tiered profession (teacher, counselor, mentor) if children are to be educated properly.  I worry about the same things you do, but I also know that the big decisions about education often do not rest upon  teachers' shoulders, but on an administration that is often too long out of the classroom to remember or know the things that work and the things that do not.  I only hope that it gets better before it continues getting worse.
857455
I would say yes to your question.  I believe the deeper question that you are asking is, "What should we do with teachers who do not maintain their skills?"\n\nSome of my colleagues who are "older and wiser" really fail to connect with students.  They really would be better off in another field of work.
1092527
I love teaching smart students and wish I had more of them.  Teaching those types of students is more of a discovery session than a typical lecture/response type of situation.\n\nI tell my students early on in each semester that no one person is smarter than anyone else... it's just that some people are smarter in other areas than others.  I use as an example that I know more about mathematics than any of them (they're all high school kids), but that each of them are better than me at something else.  It makes for a lighter, more friendly teaching atmosphere, without all the intimidation of dealing with a so-called know-it-all.
447278
Student-teachers, but a lot of the time it's public humiliation.\n\nMy history teacher told a student to stop fiddling around and take notes the other day. "Maybe if you do," he said, "you'll do better in my class."\nI think that was completely uncalled for and I'm sure the kid was embarrassed. Grades are between students and teachers and should not be discussed or hinted at. Sorry, it still bothers me.\n\nOh, yeah. We also have a few 'slow classes' that help people with a learning disability or otherwise. But I think that's about all.
440511
Ha! I love how how you categorized your question under "special education" :). Funny.
24730
I've found that incorporating group activities is a good way to break the (sometimes) monotony of a class, and it gives the students a chance to apply the concepts you've been discussing.\n\nYou can also try bringing in outside materials - guest speakers, films, music, etc., that can be used to illustrate whatever you're teaching.\n\nAnother way is to have the students teach particular chapters or concepts; it forces them to learn and sometimes having students teach will keep their peers' attention better!\n\nA straight lecture for an hour or more does no one good. Good luck!
333531
There are few, if any disadvantages to the theories of inclusion--if what you are talking about is "mainstreaming" people with disabilities or special education students.
605404
I would not be so sure. You have obviously made a good case for the pros of the set up. But I believe that students at an impressionable age lack the determination to sit through an internet session and learn something from it.\nThe very way teaching is conducted, empahsizes on serious taxation of the brain and I can much imagine the current crop of students, already suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder to not make much sense of such a course.\n\nMaking them sit through the course in a class may just work better
584315
As a new teacher myself, I have been able to see a variety of teaching techniques used in the classroom.  Lectures, rote/memorization, text-books and theory, oral presentations, group work, independent work, hands on activities etc.  All of these methods or techniques are important because they address the needs of all the different learning styles of the students.  Every child learns a different way and there can not be one method of instruction.
840935
Different people learn differently. My daughter does great in a group, it really helps her. One of my grandchildren needs to be alone to learn his lessons. He gets it just from reading, I excel in a lecture class.
162667
Assessing participation is all a matter of preference.\n\nOne idea is to walk around with a clipboard during group conversations and give points according to the grammatical structures you hear correctly that you've covered.\n\nOr you could the old fashioned calling on a person and asking them questions and assigning points.\n\nIt all depends on how you run your classroom and how you teach.
867243
Not my cup of tea...but if you LOVE working with kids and being saddled with great restrictions on administering discipline to the feral little ones...as well as being severely restricted on what you can address in each subject and how to teach your subjects, go for it.\n\nAs you might have guessed, I'm a bit conservative...so bear that in mind.  LOL
616613
There should be an effective listening skills course. As a higher ed prof, I have taken several courses on it, but in our K-12 system in the US, I think it is largely overlooked. The K-12ers seem to be so intent on teaching what they have to that they don't seem to be listening to our children.
24755
Where I work, we call a moving class a "looping team".  I work in a 7-8 building and we keep kids from one year to the next.  This is a great thing to do, as it builds relationships, and saves a great deal of time in the fall of the second year.  There are issues that can arise, especially if teachers and/or parents and/or students have personality conflicts, but on the whole, I've liked doing it.  I feel I know my students and their families better and as they grow and I learn more about their learning styles and needs, I can cater to that and be a better teacher for them.  Worst case scenario: You get a rough bunch of kids and know you're stuck for the next two years :)
1055079
I'd have to know more thank 'its an alternative' school. Like does it work specially with children who have special needs? If it did, probably. Those kids have a hard time in school.