Week Four: Inclusive Education-Diversity & Difference: You will focus on the diversity, difference & inclusiveness in the school and classrooms.
Core Questions: What are the different forms of diversity you observe within the classroom and school? What may be some forms of diversity that are not visible? In what ways do you observe the school, classrooms and teachers honouring inclusive practices?

 

 

This week in my field experience, we got to go with our Grade 1 class into the Grade 4 classroom so they could work with their “buddies”. The buddy system is that two classes are matched up and within the classes each student is assigned a buddy who they work on a craft with, read with, and other purposes. During this buddy time the students were making poppies for Remembrance Day. It was fun to watch all the students interact and work with their buddies, all the students seemed to love their buddy time. The teachers, my partner, and myself circulated through the classroom and helped the students with any questions they had.

Instead of going to French class with the class after recess, my partner and I stayed with the Co-op and helped her get some items ready for a new reading program they are starting in the classroom. We also got to talk to the teacher about different people who help out in the school and classroom and how everyone in the school collaborates. It was interesting to hear what kinds of roles are in the school.

There are many forms of diversity in the classroom and the entire school. In the classroom I am in, there are many different religions and languages. During the poppy activity with the buddies, one student in the Grade 1 class could not participate because her religion does not celebrate Remembrance Day. There are also different languages that are spoken in the classroom. There is one student in the classroom who does not speak English at all. The EA that works with him has pictures on little squares of paper that she uses to communicate with the student. The student is slowly starting to learn some English words. In fact, while we were helping the teacher get stuff ready, the EA and the student showed us how he was learning the alphabet, which was a big accomplishment.

There is a FIAP class in the school and for some classes, such as music and gym, students from FIAP will join the Grade 1 class. It is nice to see them interact with their peers and learn things that may be as simple as a musical beat or following instructions in a simple gym class game. The school is a very inclusive school and everyone works hard to adapt to all the students varying abilities throughout the whole school.