Inclusive Practice Evaluation

1058 Words5 Pages
A critical evaluation of an aspect of the inclusive practices, evidenced in the case study (which will be provided), with specific reference to your own practice during school placement and your wider reading? Our understanding of diversity is broad – it encompasses gender, race, age, disability, cultural background and so much more. Inclusive practice is understood to be attitudes, approaches and strategies taken to ensure that students are not excluded or isolated from the learning environment because of any of these characteristics. As a teacher, my role is to ensure that all students feel welcome, accepted, safe, listened to, valued and feel confident that they can participate in all activities. Every child should be given every opportunity…show more content…
I observed and used various types of pupil grouping across the different curriculum areas taught. This aimed to help with differentiation and helped to provide effective learning experiences for all children within my class. At the start of my placement I strongly agreed with ability grouping, this is because type of grouping I remember experiencing at school myself. Therefore, I took this experience into my placement school and also put children in ability groups for most subjects. However, upon reflection I believe some of my practice may have excluded some children from opportunities which may have further developed their learning. As my practice continued, then so did my opinions on grouping. Therefore, for this assignment, I have chosen to evaluate pupil grouping as an aspect of inclusive practice. Differentiation by ability grouping has a long history as a key practice within UK schools. Over the last half century there as been a number of different grouping methods employed within…show more content…
'Questioning enables teachers to check learners' understanding. It also benefits learners as it encourages enitgagement and focuses their thinking on key concepts and ideas.' (Kyriacou 1995 in Desforges 1995, pg. 126) I am of the opinion that the idea children should work in mixed ability groups is not always a viable option. I feel it is important to take into account the personalities of the children, as learning may be inhibited if one child is particularly domineering or intimidating. It is also necessary to look at the subject being taught and be flexible in the grouping of children. I personally feel that for subjects such as Literacy and Numeracy, where there is pressure for academic success the children should be split into ability groups. I feel by working in ability groups, the children are still able to support each other and there is still a hint of Vygotsky’s ZPD theory being practised, as there is still a range of abilities within an ability group and the more able of one particular ability group, can support the others in the group. It is important to remember that no one child is the same as another, even if they are classified as being of similar ability. Although I support ability groups for certain subjects I still feel that it is important for the children to work in mixed-ability groups for non-core subjects, as I feel that it improves social skills, as the children
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