I recently read an article name “Re-Seeing (Dis)Ability: Ten Suggestions” by Patricia A. Dunn. The quote in the title really struck a chord with me, because I am very aware of how we can simply label and oppress people with words. We can label someone as a person with disabilities, of a different race, of a different age, etc. within a word, they are not simply just human–like the “rest of us”, they are something we might classify as “other”.
The fact that I could call myself a “TAB” also demonstrated how much I should be aware and knowledgeable about disabilities, because as Dunn states, “if I live as long as I would like to, I may well acquire one or more disabilities, and quite frankly, if or when I do, I’d like our society to be a good deal more inclusive than it currently is” (Dunn, 2010, p. 25).
Dealing with a variety of learning abilities within a classroom is difficult. I made the mistake in my internship of planning my units around the “normal” expectations of education. It made me dread adaptations and modifications–that extra work I had to do for each assignment. If I’m doing that extra work for individual students, I may as well do the extra work for all the students. I am re-evaluating my lesson planning strategies and finding that the following steps (in order) may be more effective. [specifically for ELA programs]
- Choose an outcome(comprehend and respond, compose and create, assess and reflect).
- Envision how that outcome can be shown through a variety of modes (based on the 5 strands of language: viewing and representing, writing, reading, speaking, and listening).
- Decide on evaluation criteria.
- Create the multi-modal assignment/lesson by offering students the choice to show learning through one mode, or have them demonstrate learning through all modes.
This, or course, is not the all-encompassing answer I’m looking for, but it’s a start. I have fallen in love with the idea that if we are going to embrace differences we need to embrace that we are ALL different. I am embarking on a project to create an ELA unit that is built around a universal classroom and will use this multi-modal approach.
The following are the pieces of my most successful lesson in my internship, which, not coincidentally used a multi-modal approach.
Viewing:
The Raven Pictures (Gustav Dore) and Vocabulary Slideshow
Listening:
Reading:
Wish me luck, it’s not going to be an easy task. Please, if you have any knowledge on universal, inclusive classrooms share. There are phenomenal teachers out there light-years ahead of me.
Sources:
Dore, Gustav. The Raven. Dover Publications. 1996.
Dunn, Patricia A. “Re-Seeing (Dis)-Ability: Ten Suggestions”. English Journal, 2010. 14-26.
