PRODUCTIVE LEARNING IN DIVERSE CLASSROOMS
Productive Learning in Diverse Classrooms
Martin Thomas Buckingham
Charles Darwin University
As Cologon (2013) has aptly stated, “inclusion goes to the heart of how we as a community of human beings wish to live with one another” (p.47). In the case of Cerebral Palsy, such a condition becomes predominantly a physical exclusionary factor in the classroom. However, there can often be a whole series of other elements which further compound the potential exclusion of a Cerebral Palsy sufferer. According to The Cerebral Palsy Alliance, “Cerebral Palsy or CP is an umbrella term that refers to a group of disorders affecting a person’s ability to move. It is due to damage to the developing brain either during pregnancy or shortly after birth” (The Celebral Palsy Alliance, 2014). Currently the issue of CP and exclusion is being addressed in a number of ways.
The NSW Board of Studies, in regards to students with special education needs, identifies that initially, education outcomes will greatly improve “through the development of specific support documents for students with special education needs” (New South Wales Government: Board of Studies NSW, 2008). With this in mind, the National Dissemination Centre for Children with Disabilities developed and implements two tailor-made programs. Firstly, “staff work with the child’s family to develop what is known as an Individualized Family Services Plan, or IFSP.” The IFSP is aimed at developing strategies within the family unit. “One guiding principal of the IFSP is that the family is a child’s greatest resource” (National Dissemination Centre for Children with Disabilities [NICHY], 2010). In regards to education the IFSP is about the basics.
Transport to and from school, lunch, assisted dressing, education about available financial services and technology, the integration of other support staff or services, and the dovetailing of these services into the day to day of the schooling experience are the focus of the program. On the school front however, school staff work directly with the student and parents to develop an Individualized Education Program, or IEP. The IEP has two general purposes: to set reasonable learning goals for a child, and to state the services that the school district will provide for the child (NICHY, 2010).
Due to the nature of CP, the IEP’s success depends on the ability of those devising it to understand not just the individual needs of a student but more importantly their wants as well.
In support of this the NSW Board of Studies Syllabus states, “it is necessary to continue focusing on the needs, interests and abilities of each student when planning a program for secondary schooling” (New South Wales Government: Board of Studies NSW, 2014). The IFSP and IEP are two very effective methods of dealing with the successful integration of CP afflicted students, into not just school, but all areas of life.
Yet the most important thing to maintain after the implementation of any one of these programs is the lines of communication between home and school. This is crucial in maintaining balance throughout the programs’ implementation. Both of these programs rely upon the perpetuation of “teachers and parents planning together to ensure that syllabus outcomes and content reflect the learning needs and priorities of students” (New South Wales Government: Board of Studies NSW, 2010). Through programs like this, it becomes possible for disabled students to endeavor toward leading as normal life as possible. To help reach this goal in 2009, the Australian Government Department of Social Services released the paper “SHUT OUT:
The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia.” From this paper came a number of general recommendations. Not surprisingly, “improved teacher training and more targeted professional development” was one of the key areas identified (Australian Government Department of Social Services, 2009). A number of submissions also noted the need for more research into effective strategies and programs and the creation of national benchmarks and standards. Such an initiative would provide a solid foundation for more extensive teacher education. In the classroom however, technology plays a major part in the education of any CP student.
The prime concerns of most CP sufferers generally involve mobility and communication. Before the internet and computer revolution most disabled students were restricted to specially-developed teaching units. Unfortunately this system isolated the students from the rest of the school body. This in turn ironically perpetuated a social stigma of the disabled. Research shows that “children who experience disability who are included into mainstream educational settings demonstrate better academic and vocational outcomes when compared to children who are educated in segregated settings” (Cologon, 2013, p.24). The aid of technology has become crucial, as a communication device as well as a means of mobility.
Communication boards for example, have pictures, symbols, letters, or words attached to them. “The child communicates by pointing to, or gazing at the pictures or symbols” (NICHY, 2010). Augmentative communication devices can, however, be more sophisticated. “Voice synthesizers, for example, enable the child to ‘talk’ with others” (NICHY, 2010). The appropriate combination of individualised hardware and software may be considered the most import tool required for a CP student’s involvement in any educational situation. As a tool supporting those with CP, the iPad, for example, can be invaluable.
The touch screen allows less dexterous students the opportunity to better interact with a computing interface. Further the audio visual capabilities of the iPad allows for a much greater range of direct communication programs as well as the capability for music, art, and design related subject applications. There are many iPad apps which may be useful for those with CP depending on their specific individual requirement. In the area of communication, there are a number of interfaces which may be utilised, such as voice modulators, common sentence or phrase building applications as well as programs aimed at word processing. Auto Verbal Pro is an example of a voice modulating communication platform.
It features include hundreds of pre-programmed phrases, the ability to program buttons to speak a custom message, and the capability to type a message and then use “text-to-speech” to have it spoken (Apple, Inc., 2014, 21 April). An application like this is essential for any CP sufferer who has an impaired or complete inability to speak. Apps like this also use picture boards for quick simple responses. They can also function as basic word processes. Used in association with the internet, this app can be used for day-to-day tasks and give any written work the potential to be immediately filed, printed out via remote, or emailed to a teacher. However, if the CP sufferer can speak but lacks the dexterity to type, then the Dragon app is ideal.
“Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered by Dragon® NaturallySpeaking® that allows you to easily speak and instantly see your text or email messages” (Apple Inc., 2013, 15 February). In conjunction with a microphone, this app could be used to verbally take notes during a class. A wireless microphone could be clipped onto the teachers lapel, allowing the student to benefit from audio notes as well as giving them the opportunity to read what is being said as the app interprets the sound waves instantaneously into text. Naturally, methods like this could be used to help if the student had a hearing issue. As a Secondary Music teacher, I started to think about how an individual with CP may be able to better participate with theory, oral and/or compositional elements of a music class.
With the music App, Notate Me Now, you can, “quickly and accurately enter music notation with your finger or stylus” (Apple, Inc., 2014, 3 August). The beauty of this application is that it can interact with larger more comprehensive desktop compositional programs. It can assign sounds to different music staves as well as play back anything notated. The key feature of this app is that the touch-sensitive screen of the iPad allows for musical notation to be “finger painted” onto the stave. The program then has the capability to graphically standardise the rough notation. All three of these applications address the issue of exclusion through communication.
Though CP sufferer’s specific characteristics of their condition vary, these applications can all be used in a number of ways to improve individual cases. According to the Australian constitution, “equal access to educational opportunities is considered a fundamental right” (Australian Government: Department of Social Services, 2009). Though we have the policies, the research to back it up, and the technology to improve the situation of all CP Students, in the final analysis it is a “lack of appropriate funding, classroom support and specialised equipment [which represent]. enormous barriers to educational opportunities” (Australian Government: Department of Social Services, 2009). References Apple, Inc.
(2013, 15 February). Dragon Dictation. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dragon-dictation/id341446764?mt=8Apple, Inc.
(2014, 21 April). AutoVerbal Pro Talking Soundboard! AAC Chat App Speaks for Autism/Deaf/NonVerbal TTS Text To Speech Users: iPad & iPhone Edition. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autoverbal-pro-talking soundboard!/id368727888?mt=8Apple, Inc.
(2014, 3 August). NotateMe Now. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/notateme-now/id783567215?mt=8Australian Government:
Department of Social Services. (2009). SHUT OUT: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/disability-and-carers/publications- articles/policy-research/shut-out-the-experience-of-people-with-disabilities-and-their- families-in-australia?HTML#2.6Cerebral Palsy Alliance.
(2014). What is Cerebral Palsy? Retrieved from https://www.cerebralpalsy.org.au/what-is-cerebral-palsy/Cologon, Kathy.
(2013, 24 October). Inclusion in Education towards equality for students with disability [PDF Document]. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Elizabeth/Downloads/CDA+Issues+Paper+on+Inclusion.pdfNational Dissemination Centre for Children with Disabilities (NICHY).
(2010, June). Cerebral Palsy. Retrieved from http://nichcy.org/disability/specific/cpNew South Wales Government:
Board of Studies NSW. (2008, 13 October). Educational Resources: Music. Retrieved from http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus_sc/music.html
