After years of tackling what inclusivity means, its role in the development of a well-rounded child has been solidified by decades of research.
It’s no wonder that more parents and educators are looking to integrate this into the classroom where our children spend a significant portion of their development.
This is especially true with the emergence of leading studies like that of the American Educational Research Association, which have revealed a direct relationship between inclusivity and a child’s wellbeing and academic performance.
Strategies For An Inclusive Classroom
Adapting inclusivity in the classroom allows our youth to grow into successful leaders. While this may seem like extra effort, there are plenty of strategies to make it easier.
Use a Variety of Materials For Teaching
It’s widely known that people learn in different ways, and this is equally true for children. A study published by MDPI found that using a variety of quality materials reduces poor academic performance.
A higher-grade average was noticed in classes that taught using more than just textbooks and white boards. As educators, it is our duty to cater to students’ varying ways of learning.
Teachers can get creative by using theater, film, or games. Likewise, we can also allow students to express themselves via different sorts of outputs: some may prefer to write, some to speak, and some to even act or perform.
Allowing this variety of self-expression will ultimately increase overall class
participation.
Develop Different Plans For Behaviour Management
Just like how students learn in various ways, we manage our behavior differently. This can be difficult as we recognize that disruptive behavior affects the class collectively, but has to be addressed individually.
At the heart of this is empathetically getting to know our children. We have to adapt to where they are the most responsive, and not be afraid to use a wide variety of disciplinary means.
Adapt Your Curricula When Needed.
Education is not a “one size fits all” mindset. Students learn in different ways and at different rates. It is therefore important to remain flexible, and this means adjusting our curricula to our students’ abilities based on how they’re performing.
Edtech and data-driven education company New Globe have developed an approach of randomized control trials (RCTs) which tests how effective a teacher’s lessons are throughout a child’s learning progress using real-time data.
Curricula is then adjusted periodically according to this data to maximize the learning outcomes.
Similarly, we can monitor how our students are learning through observation and data collection, and adapt our future lessons accordingly for the best results.
Introduce Diversity
For kids to know what inclusive means, we have to highlight the differences. Doing so means we can guide them to an understanding of how differences aren’t scary, but can bring value to our lives and world.
As we discussed in our January article on ‘How to Teach Children About the Power of Diversity’, we have to welcome these conversations, and even encourage them.
We should encourage our children to ask questions and provide materials to outlets that showcase diverse communities. Doing so will create an environment that promotes curiosity, engagement, and respect.
Make Classrooms Accessible
Post-pandemic, the conversation on accessible classrooms has expanded to include not just physical classrooms, but online learning platforms as well.
Educator Allison Sinclair believes that we are breaking away from traditional education’s rigid set-ups and teacher-focused pedagogy, towards a Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
The three main principles of UDL — Representation, Action and Expression, and Engagement — allow for a flexible relationship between teacher and student, and have resulted in better learning outcomes for students in recent years.
Education remains to be a developing field, and at Kidpillar , we understand that we want the best for our children no matter how “different” they may be.
By implementing inclusivity in classrooms with these strategies, we can ensure that future generations are kind, critical, and open enough to diversity that inclusive classrooms become not just a goal, but a standard.
The potential of what learning for our children is, and can be, can therefore become endless.
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