Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment: Participation, Clarity, and Positivity (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Hello, I'm Susan Douglas and I'm going to talk to you about creating an inclusive learning environment. An inclusive learning environment supports putting inclusive values like collaboration, trust, respect and participation into action. It empowers learners to develop academically and socially. In this video we will concentrate on three areas that support an inclusive learning environment. Participation, clarity and positivity and give you plenty of practical ideas to try. To start, let's explore participation. Making sure there is space for learners' voices to be heard is essential if they are to feel included as well as develop important academic and social skills. Here are three things you can try. Number one, talk with your students about values and behaviours they think are important in the classroom. What are these values? Do they mean the same for everyone? What do they look like in practice? One idea is to use these questions to make a class agreement, showing behaviours the class expects from everyone, including you. Try starting the class off in groups to discuss their ideas before collecting them together, keeping the final version to five or six points and using positive language. Do this rather than don't do this. Put it on the wall for everyone to see and use it. Number two, use different groups for learning. Not everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas in front of the whole class. Try using pairs or threes and larger groups of between four and six as well as whole group discussions. One really useful model is to try think, pair, share. Allow individual thinking time first, ask learners to share their thoughts in a pair, then join two pairs together for further discussion. Number three, share responsibility with your learners running the classroom. What can they do to help that also takes pressure off you? One thing to try here is three before me. Ask learners to think about three things they can do to get help before they ask you. For example, thinking on their own first, then asking a friend, then using their book or other information in the classroom. You can also think about involving students in giving out and collecting books and equipment, cleaning boards and making sure the classroom is tidy at the end of each lesson. Next, let's move on to clarity. Every learner likes to know what they are expected to do in a classroom, and this is even more important for many children with special educational needs. Think about how your learners enter, move around and exit the classroom, store bags and coats, use equipment safely and learn together. What helpful routines can you establish together so that learners are clear about what's expected of them? Also, you might want to think about mess. Most learners will benefit from a tidy classroom, but it can be especially important for learners with special educational needs. Why not involve some learners to help you sort things out and create an environment that might really suit them? You can also go one step further when thinking about mess. For example, as well as making sure your classroom is tidy, look at the materials you produce. Are they as clear and well-spaced as they could be? Also, notice how much you are talking in the classroom. Most teachers talk too much. In particular, giving instructions one at a time is the best way to make sure everyone in your class can follow them. And lastly, think about noise level. What's a comfortable level for all learners to learn in and for you to think in? Remember, you may have learners who find loud noise very difficult. And finally, let's talk about positivity. We know that managing learners' behaviour positively is an effective way of developing good relationships for learning. There is a lot to written about this topic, so we will mention just two things we have found useful with older learners. First, try saying what you do want learners to do, rather than what you want them to stop doing. Put yourself in their shoes and how many times they might hear, don't do x or y every day. Second, try saying thank you to each learner whenever they do something that's helpful or positive. Saying thank you so much may feel strange to you, but it's a tiny thing that can make a big difference to classroom positivity. In summary, creating an inclusive learning environment is essential for learners to develop both academically and socially. There are many ways to do this. Thinking about participation, clarity and positivity are three useful starting points. And our top tip for this section, teach and model how you want students to work together in your learning environment. Think of it like English grammar. You don't expect your learners to know it, so you teach and model it until they understand it and can use it.