Creating High Performance Learning Environments

The three videos were interesting and fun to watch. I think each teaching style is based on the premise that ‘it’ is the best way to teach in that particular context.

Roller Coaster Physics:

Academic Expectations: This teacher holds her students to high academic expectations. It is evident in the way she assigns work and interacts with the students as they work on their project. The students are researching, discussing ideas, predicting, experimenting and testing their theories on a simulation before the actual experiment. At each step, the teacher is asking questions and pushing them to give reasons for their answers, using appropriate vocabulary. The students are building, measuring, sharing ideas and taking notes. In ‘chiming,’ students discuss the problems they faced and ideas on how those problems can be solved. I think adding constraints to encourage them to become better problem solvers is a great strategy.

Behavior Expectations: It is evident that the students are held to high standards of behavior. All students are engaged in different activities and no one is off-task.

Norms and Procedures: Norms and procedures that build strong performance here is a strong collaborative culture, which is evident in the way they work together, listen to each other as they discuss ideas and take notes. Group members have assigned roles, and each one seems focused on carrying out his/her assigned job. 

3rd Grade Chinese Math:

Academic Expectations: The teacher is delivering instruction based on the belief that “routine practice is the most efficient way to learn.” Kan Wei (2014).  The kids are learning math facts by saying them aloud after the teacher in a rhyming fashion to help them to memorise the facts, though one wonders how much is being absorbed. Whole class instruction and feedback are important components of these classes. I think that due to the rigid regulations and test-oriented education system in China, math teachers are focused on teaching concepts and processes and not so much on real-world applications. However, based on the results, this system seems to work for the Chinese, and when it comes to memorising facts like multiplication facts, perhaps this strategy will work as well as, if not better, than some other strategy that we use in our classes.

Behavior Expectations: The students are expected to pay attention at all times. Chanting the multiplication rhymes would help to keep the children focused and engaged. And most children are willing participants in a group activity. 

 Norms and Procedures: Students are seated in rows, facing the teacher and the board. They raise their hands to speak, and seem comfortable and confident in sharing their answers.

Whole Brain Teaching: This method uses signs, gestures, and verbal responses to get students involved in their learning.

Academic Expectations: The students are held to high expectations because they are constantly kept ‘on their toes’ as they interact with the teacher by way of verbal responses and actions and gestures. The teacher teaches small sections at a time, after which the students teach each other what they learn from the teacher. The teacher will not move to the next section unless he/she is satisfied that all the students have learned the new concept.

Behavior Expectations: Expectations for behavior are very high in this teaching strategy. Students need to listen and pay attention to what the teachers says in order to give the right responses. The class goes over the rules at the beginning of each class. One of the rules is to follow directions quickly. Points are earned for good behavior, or taken away if students do not follow the rules.

Norms and procedures:

This class appears to have well-established norms and procedures. They listen to the teacher and respond with appropriate actions or words. A lot of communication takes place through actions. For example, the action for permission to speak is ‘raise hand and bring down to head and make a talking motion.’

Setting high performance expectations among my students

All three videos employ strategies that are unique and effective in each situation. There are some strategies that I can employ in my upper elementary classroom to create high performance expectations. In the roller coaster activity, the students are actively involved in discussions, note-taking, building, measuring, testing and crystallizing their ideas. All these take place in a positive learning environment where students are encouraged to share their ideas and work together to find solutions. This is a learning environment I would like to create in my classroom.

In the Chinese math class. Students are expected to know their basic math facts, and the teacher employs what she believes to be the best strategy, which in this case, is routine practice. Whole class instruction and practice seem to be the best practice for this. My version of this would be to add some actions as in ‘skip counting.’

I believe there are many ‘take-aways’ for me in the whole brain teaching strategy.  The part I like in whole brain teaching is where the students work in pairs and take turns to teach each other (switch). I think this is a great way to reinforce learning and can be used right after teaching a new concept in math or other subjects. The ‘Class-Yes’ and the other repetitive responses and actions seem to me to be a bit much. But I can see how some of these actions and responses can be useful in a language class or in teaching students with special needs. For example, in geography, drawing a vertical line in the air with your hand for longitude and a horizontal line for latitude might help some students to better understand the concept.

In conclusion, although these are great strategies, I would need to consider the age group and comfort level of my students before using the strategies, especially the ones which involve actions and chanting in unison. Therefore, my first step should be to get to know my students well as only a good knowledge of my students' needs, interests, and abilities would enable me to employ strategies that would create a high performance learning environment that would meet their needs. 

References:

Chen Crystal. 3rd Grade Chinese Math. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7LseF6Db5g

Migdol, Donna. (n.d.). Roller Coaster Physics: Stem in Action. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-stem-strategies

Roxishayne. (May 31, 2011). Whole Brain Teaching Richwood High- The Basics. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXTtR7lfWU&feature=youtu.be

Wei, Kan. (March 25, 2014). Explainer: What Makes Chinese Math Lessons So Good. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-makes-chinese-maths-lessons-so-good-24380

Whole Brain Teaching. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://ashleytipton.weebly.com/whole-brain-teaching.html

Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

Establishing a Positive Classroom Climate

It is the first day of school. My hands tremble as I grasp the doorknob to open my classroom door and walk into the room I have been preparing for the past few days. The bulletin boards greet me with their colourful displays - some filled with pictures, plans and schedules, and some bare, waiting for the students to fill them with their pictures and work. What does it take to make a room a welcoming and inviting place? Will my students want to sit in this room? Will they want to work here? More importantly, will they want to learn here?

The Classroom Setup:

The first thing the students will notice as they come into the room is how it is set up. It says a lot about how learning will take place. To make it a positive learning environment, I have to think about how my students are going to learn: in groups, whole group and small groups, in pairs, or individually. I have to ensure that every student will have easy access to all the learning materials. The special needs student shouldn’t have to struggle to get to the pencil sharpener in the corner. 

A reading corner, where students can sit on cushions or on a rug, is always a good idea. Bookshelves filled with their favorite books, written by their favorite authors would help them to spend some productive time in this corner. To these, I would add my own selection of books, which would include genres reflecting different reading levels, interests, and cultures.

The Classroom Culture:

Creating a Positive Classroom Culture: What can I do to ensure that every student feels valued and respected in this class?

First, it is important to create an environment in which every student feels safe and secure. Relationship and community- building activities in the first week (and subsequent months) will help students to get to know each other. Games and ice-breakers can be used for students to learn each other’s names, their likes and dislikes, their families, and other details. Putting students in groups for these activities will further help to establish a sense of community.

My students come from diverse cultures, language groups, religions, socio-economic backgrounds and other social constructs that separate and divide people. Scharf (2014), in Critical Practices for Anti-Bias Education, talks about the importance of “genuinely seeing diversity as a strength and an opportunity, rather than as an “issue” or problem.” This diversity in my class gives me an opportunity to teach my students to understand and embrace diversity as it exists in the real world. To prepare my students to live and work successfully in the community, I should help them to appreciate diversity by focusing on understanding each other’s cultures and on what we can learn from, as well as do for, each other.

Making our classroom a safe and secure environment would mean teaching them to respect each other, and treating each other well. While focusing on relationship-building is important, I would also need to educate my students on issues like bullying and other forms of abuse that can happen in schools and communities. In teaching about bullying prevention and intervention, I need to focus on helping them to understand what bullying is, and what everyone needs to do to establish a safe and secure environment in the school; that it is not only about not bullying others, but also stepping in to stop it, or doing something about it when they see it. In addition to educating them on all these issues, I would need to ensure that I never let any disrespectful remark or behavior go unaddressed. Brownstein (2009) calls this ‘zero indifference.’ I need to practice ‘zero indifference.’

Discipline and Behaviour Management: It is important for any class to have a well-thought out and understood system for the way things are done. My students would need to know what the expectations are in reference to behavior as well as completing assigned work. When students have a say in their classroom rules, they will have a sense of ownership, which in turn, will make them more responsible. And with regards to implementing consequences, Sharf (2014) recommends ‘restorative justice’ which emphasizes “repairing harm and restoring relationships rather than simply punishing those who have engaged in misconduct.”

Instruction and the Learning Culture:

Every student in my class comes with different experiences and skills. I have to think of ways to get them to share these experiences and skills.  Researchers report that students learn more from their peers when they work in groups, and as a teacher, I should look for opportunities to let them work on projects and other activities in groups. Working with their peers will enhance their social and communication skills as well.

Keeping in mind the learning styles, capabilities, and interests of the students will help me to craft lessons that will reach every learner. I have to ensure that each culture is addressed and celebrated in our class. Culture, as defined by Scharf (2014), “can refer to an individual’s race, class, gender sexual orientation, religion, immigration status and age, among other things.” Marzano recommends bringing students’ interests- which can include any of the factors listed by Scharf- into content and personalizing learning activities. Knowing the range of diverse cultures in my class will enable me to personalize learning activities and make learning relevant and meaningful for my students by connecting it to their real-world experiences.

How will I as the teacher pull all these threads together to make our time together in this class a meaningful and worthwhile one? Do I know the cultures of all my students? As an Asian teacher, I do not know all the ins and outs and nuances of other Asian cultures, let alone the cultures of other races. I need to educate myself by designing my professional development plans to include learning about the cultures represented in my class, which can and should include parents as a resource.

In conclusion, to create a positive classroom climate for my students, I would need to get to know each one of them. I would need to let them know that I’m interested in them as individuals, and that their interests and dreams matter to me. A positive attitude will help me to get the message across that I enjoy having them in my class. I can show them that I care by showing respect, trust and a caring attitude. Teacher-student relationship, according to Marzano is the ‘keystone’ of effective management, and that “teacher behavior is the language of that relationship.” There’s so much that I need to learn.

For now, I will begin by greeting them at the door.

References

Brownstein, Rhonda. (2009) Pushed Out. Retrieved from

http://www.tolerance.org/pushed-out

Scharf, Amy. (2014). Critical Practices for Anti-Bias Education. Montgomery, Alabama. Teaching Tolerance.

 Marzano, R.J. (2007). The Science and Practice of Teaching and Learning. Alexandria, VA. ASCD.

Making a Case for Mobile Devices

Why should a teacher be prepared to allow or require students to use mobile devices to achieve learning objectives?

 “Mobile learning can and does make a positive difference in how students learn, and it’s not just because of the “cool” factor. When used the right way, mobile technology has the potential to help students learn more and comprehend that knowledge.” (Matthew Lynch, 2015)

One of the areas in which our world is hurtling toward the future is in the area of technology. Innovations in digital learning, though a tad slower, is making great progress as well. One way, we as teachers, can move forward with the rest of the world is by using mobile devices in our classes. Why mobile devices? Referring to the iPad, Marc Prensky points out “the incredible flexibility it provides to vary learning activities at a moment’s notice,” and that “with iPads students have the world at their fingertips– anywhere they might be.” One can say the same thing about other mobile devices. In one small device, students have access to an unimaginable amount of resources, and teachers need to be looking into how to tap those resources to enhance student engagement and improve learning. On students’ use of mobile devices, Lynch notes: “They stay on task, they correct mistakes in real-time and, most importantly, they get excited about learning.”

What’s great about mobile devices?

•          Ability to collaborate by interacting with peers anytime and anywhere.
•         Students own them and are using them in multiple ways.
•          “Mobile learning lets students benefit from interacting with their course content on the devices that they use to connect with every other aspect of their lives, nearly 24/7.” (Wilson et al)
•          If the school cannot provide them, students can bring their own.

Some learning strategies and activities that would work well with mobile devices:

•          Watching a short YouTube video
•          Game-based activities
•         Writing and sending short messages/email
•          Sharing thoughts and ideas
•          Taking and sharing pictures
•          Scavenger hunts
•          Drawing mental images and sharing them
•          Reading e-books
•          Listening activities

Guiding Principles for using mobile devices:

Clear objectives: Clear objectives are imperative because students can easily get distracted and lost in the world out there.

Structure and Control: An effective approach can provide control.

Short and to the point:

“2-minutes: for reinforcing information via interactive knowledge checks and updating existing information.

5-minute: for interactive learning games and short videos that communicate information.

10-minutes: high-level interactive games and integration of social learning.”                                  

                                                                                                    (Designing Digitally, 2016)

Simple navigation and user friendliness: “Easy to follow navigation is key in mobile learning.” (Chaffe, 2016)

Other factors to consider:

·         Personalised: First, personalised learning, which considers the learning style, interests, and abilities of each child should drive every learning task. Differentiated instruction which according to Tomlinson, “means tailoring instruction to meet individual needs,” will help our students to work at their own pace, “taking extra time in the areas where they need it most.” (Lynch, 2015)

·         Communication: We cannot let our students loose on the internet without teaching them how to communicate in an appropriate manner.

·         Creativity: The main focus should be on creating meaningful and innovative experiences for students. Perhaps, student-driven should be the guiding factor here.

Some activities that I would consider using in my class:

Mobile Devices: Phone, iPad, camera, tablet

Write-Draw-Share: 

• After reading or listening to a story, students could use a mobile device to write a descriptive paragraph or draw a mental image of their favorite character. 
• They could then share it with their peers and teacher using an app of their choice on their mobile device.

Write and Punctuate: 

•          Students should learn to communicate in a clear and concise manner.  Students could use mobile devices to send messages to each other focusing on not just text, but punctuation as well. Whether they type their message or use voice to text, they still need to know the punctuation rules.
•       After a language lesson, students could practice what they have learned by posting messages on a shared platform. 

·        

Scavenger Hunt: There are countless possibilities for this activity ranging from taking photos to looking for specific information, places, shapes, or objects. 

•          A geometry activity could have students looking for different shapes and objects and taking photos and sharing them.
•          History students are sure to enjoy hunting for historical objects or monuments in their area or in another country.
•          Scavenger hunts need not be confined to our world. Students could use their devices to look for stars and other heavenly bodies.

Some factors to keep in mind:

Connection speed and data plan limitations: This will be an issue, and we cannot expect all our students to have fast internet connection or be connected all the time.

Digital divide: The way the world is moving toward digital innovations and tech use is mind- staggering, but the reality is that there is so much inequality in this world that many children can only dream of owning a mobile device.

Expectations - What the experts say:

“Simply using mobile technology in the classroom does not guarantee a rise in comprehension or even the attention of students. “(Lynch, 2015)

“You cannot directly take a computer-based learning method and transfer it to a mobile device. The manner in which we learn from mobile devices is different from computer-based learning or traditional classroom-setting learning.” Designing Digitally, Inc.

“Face to face or computer-based learning should not be just automatically converted for delivery to a mobile device.” (Chaffe, 2016)

In conclusion, despite the evident benefits of using mobile devices in the classroom, we should not ignore the fact that we can never predict the direction a mobile device activity could take. Often, there is a big gap between the ideal and reality, and a good knowledge of our students as well as the activity is critical to ensure a positive and successful experience for all.

References:

Chaffe, Sophie. (March 5, 2016). Getting Mobile Learning Right: 6 Best Practices. Retrieved from https://elearningindustry.com/getting-mobile-learning-right-6-best-practices

Designing Digitally, Inc. (June 20, 2016). Retrieved from http://www.designingdigitally.com/blog/2016/06/mobile-learning-content-best-practices#ixzz4IM1ouqaE

Lynch, Matthew. (March 31, 2015). Do Mobile Devices in the Classroom Really Improve Learning Outcomes? Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/do-mobile-devices-in-the-classroom-really-improve-learning-outcomes-38740

Prensky, Marc. (December 2, 2005). Shaping Tech for the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom

Wilson, E., Kelleher, J., Day, L., Hives, L., and Lilleker, R. (n.d.). Getting Started with Mobile Learning. Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.com/cmspages/getfile.aspx?guid=0b434794-81ec-4eae-9367-6498052a66e0

Cognitive Flow and Learning

By Zalino Bona

An activity that gets me into that state where I’m totally immersed and lost to the world, is reading. Suspenseful books have that effect on me. Another activity that can take me to a new world is crafts; especially when I’m creating something. Egg decorating, knitting, sewing and making things with fabric or paper get me into that state where I’m so caught up in what I’m doing that eating and sleeping can seem like distractions.                                                                               

 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this state of engagement ‘flow.” He describes the flow experience as: “when a person is completely involved in what he or she is doing, when the concentration is very high, when the person knows moment by moment what the next steps should be …” For Jill Suttie, it is “that feeling of complete immersion in an activity, where we’re so engaged that our worries, sense of time, and self-consciousness seem to disappear.” 

                                            

When I am engaged in an activity like egg decorating, for example, I think of a design in my mind, and I use different materials and work with the goal of transferring the design in my mind to the eggshell. I get instant feedback as I see the plain eggshell being transformed into a multi colored object with swirls, lines or other geometric designs. The challenge lies in working with tiny beads, paint, yarn and other materials on a fragile eggshell, while trying to create something aesthetically pleasing and as perfect as possible.

Why do I experience flow when I am engaged in an activity like this? It is hands on and challenging. I can increase the level of challenge by changing the material or making the design more intricate. There are clear goals and feedback, and I enjoy working on it. All these conditions foster flow, according to Jill Suttie. The conditions for flow, according to Csikszentmihalyi are clear goals and feedback, and the right level of challenge: “ the feeling that what you can do is more or less in balance with what needs to be done, that is, challenges and skills are pretty much in balance.”According to Csikszentmihalyi, Suttie and others, hands on activities, rather than lectures, the right level of challenge which requires a good balance between the challenge of the activity and the skills of the person engaged in that activity, team projects, and giving a wide array of choices can be powerful motivators. And when students can connect what they are learning in the classroom to their own lives, they’re more likely to be more invested and engaged.

A wise mentor once said that “technology is useful because it enables us to know and access what’s out there so we are not reinventing the wheel.” The internet has tons of ideas on all the things I love to do. My personal learning network contains a list of resources that I could dig into for ideas and suggestions. Some sites that I love to explore and turn to for ideas are:

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/crafts/

www.enchantedlearning.com

www.hobbycraft.co.uk

If flow helps me to take learning to a deeper level, as a teacher, I believe this is an area I should be exploring to make my lessons more meaningful to students and to take them to new levels of learning. I need to explore ways to create conditions that foster flow in my class to enable my students to engage with their lessons to enhance their learning experiences. 

I also need to be aware of things that could get in the way of flow: not having needed materials at hand, lack of time, and distractions in the form of other people trying to talk to us when we are trying to concentrate. Jill Suttie lists the constrains of public schools: rigid curriculum, testing, grades, and time limit as obstacles to flow in classrooms.

Finally, though watching videos is reportedly not an activity that fosters flow, it is one of the best ways of gaining knowledge. So, here’s a video which will hopefully help us to learn more about this process called flow: What the Science of Flow can Teach us About Limitless Performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4ZKJrz4oJo

Resources

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Motivating People to Learn. (April 11, 2002). Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-motivating-people-learn

Suttie, Jill. (April 16, 2012). Can Schools Help Students Find Flow? Retrieved from http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_schools_help_students_find_flow

Suttie, Jill. (April 7, 2012). Eight Tips for Fostering Flow in the Classroom. Retrieved from 

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/eight_tips_for_fostering_flow_in_the_classroom

Strategies for English Language Learners

Next term, I am likely to teach a Grade 4 science class on Magnets. Here’s a plan and some specific strategies on how I will teach this class. There are four English language learners at different levels in the class:

-          Rina: Early Production Stage

-          Zak:  Speech Emergence Stage.

-          Toni: Intermediate Fluency Stage

-          Rai: Advanced Fluency Stage

Unit: Magnetism

Lesson Objectives: The student will

-           Know vocabulary: magnet, magnetic, poles, repel, attract, and magnetic field.

-          Understand that magnets have poles

-          Understand the concept of attraction and repulsion

-          Understand that some materials are magnetic and some are not

-          Explore further: Uses of magnets

Video: Magnetism-The Dr. Binocs Show (3 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXCeuSiTOug

Learning Center Activities: Magnetism Fishing, magnetic car race, etc.

All students will be required to know and define vocabulary for this lesson, as vocabulary and language development are important at all levels. Students can use flashcards or an online app to work on vocabulary. To differentiate instruction, the needs, abilities and interests of all four students will have to be taken into consideration. It should also be ensured that all students achieve the lesson objectives while building their English language skills.

All students will watch the video, then take part in exploring how magnets work at learning stations. In this guided interaction, students will discuss the results and verbalize their observations. Students will use graphic organizers like K-W-L chart and note-taking templates as the use of graphic organizers and visuals help students to think about what they are learning. All students will participate in a ‘Share what you have learned’ session.

Rina, who is at the Speech Emergence level, is beginning to use simple and short sentences. Retelling what she has learned or using the magnets to show how they attract or repel, will demonstrate her understanding of the lesson.

At the Beginning Fluency level, Zak is able to speak fairly well in social situations. However, new contexts and academic language still pose a challenge for him. In this lesson, he will be asked to give full answers to some questions, work on a ‘fill in the blanks’ worksheet, (with answers provided) and give a short oral presentation on ‘How magnets attract and repel.’

Toni, at the Intermediate fluency Level communicates ideas and thoughts fairy well in social situations,  but vocabulary and new contexts can still be a challenge  for her. Writing down her observations and doing further research on uses of  magnets will help her to understand more about the topic. 

Rai, at the Advanced Fluency stage, communicates fluently and faces all tasks efficiently and confidently. He will do further research on the internet and create a poster on the topic: Uses of magnets and why they are useful.

All students will benefit from mixing freely, experimenting and talking to peers about the activities, and using the right vocabulary when sharing their thoughts and ideas. Thinking about how magnets are used in their everyday lives will help the students to connect what they are learning to their lives (meaning- based context). 


Resources

Hynes, Judy. (2005). Stages of Second Language Acquisition. http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/language_stages.php

Hill, Jane D. and Byork, Cynthia L. (2008). The Stages of Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108052/chapters/The-Stages-of-Second-Language-Acquisition.aspx

Six Key Strategies for Teachers of ELL. (December, 2005) New Teacher Center. Retrieved from

https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://suu.edu/ed/fso/resources/esl-six-key-strategies.pdf

Special Education Referral Process

Mystery surrounds these special kids. First of all, many parents try to hide them - not willing to admit that their kids may be impaired or disabled in some way. When they get to school, their friends whisper about them, and their teachers don’t know what to do with them.

First, who are these special kids? They are kids with needs arising out of a learning disability or a physical impairment. Some are obvious, some are not. But they all need someone to understand them, encourage them, and give them an education plan they can follow to be successful in life. More than anything else, they need to be accepted and welcomed into our world. But before they get that plan, they have to be identified and referred to the program by people in their lives. In this blog, I am going to look into how that is done: the referral process and what it involves.

Different countries have different policies on special education, and some international organisations are working to enforce some of these policies to ensure that children with disabilities get the services they need. UNESCO reports that more than one billion people around the world, of whom nearly 93 million are children, live with some form of disability. The  United Nations works with member states to enforce laws that fight for the rights of persons with disabilities.

Countries, like the United States, have laws, one of which is the Individual with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA) promoting the rights of disabled children to get an education. By this law, children with any of the disabilities specified by IDEA will receive services designed to meet their unique needs. To get funding, the child will need to go through a testing process to ensure that he/she has one or more of the disabilities. Once the child is identified as a deserving candidate, the child will receive total support that he/she needs to get an education. 

In Singapore, the government provides schools and special services for children with disabilities, but the procedure for referral is not quite so clear. A child with a disability can be referred for testing either by the parents or the school. If a teacher is concerned about the learning ability of a student, he/she can refer the child to the school learning support teacher, who will then present the case to the principal. The principal contacts the psychologist, and it is the psychologist who will test the student and make the final decision. Or, in some cases, parents can approach the class teacher for their child to be referred for testing. In either case, it is the psychologist who gives the final word.

It is evident that in Asian countries, not all kids with special needs get the support or services they need. One can think of many reasons for this. Due to stigma attached to disabilities, some parents would keep their children at home. Some parents, no doubt do it to protect their children from bullying and other forms of abuse. Moreover, special education is not compulsory, so some parents do not make the effort to avail these services for their children. Whatever the reason, these children do not get the education that is the right of every person.

Evidently, a lot more needs to be done to get all children with special needs into the right programs.  If it’s a physical disability, any parent would take steps to ensure that his/her child gets help, but what if it is a learning disability that is not obvious? As one special education commented: 'Many parents are not even aware that their child has a learning disability.' So, teachers have the responsibility of identifying these children in their classes and getting them the support they need. Many of these kids need an individualized educational plan (IEP).

How does a teacher identify a kid who needs learning support? According to a teacher from California, the signs are:

•  lack of comprehension
•  not being able to read, or struggling to read
• Writing below basic level, or not writing at all
• Lack of focus
• behaviour issues
• problems with peer relations
• Seeking too much attention
• trying to avoid all attention and tasks

She takes these steps in identifying kids with a learning disability:

•  Give a diagnostic test
• Pair with students more capable of grade level work
• if student continues to struggle in comprehending or performing required tasks, or consistently fails to turn in work
•  refer to special education department
• further tests by special education department
• put into special education program if found to be eligible

On the topic of special education, teachers in both the US and Singapore say that schools in their countries are moving toward inclusion. So it looks like tomorrow’s classroom will have a wide range of learning abilities, including children with learning and physical disabilities. Teachers will need to know their students well, and be able to deliver instruction that will meet the needs of each student. The next question that comes to mind is, how can teachers ensure that they are meeting the learning needs of all students? A special education teacher advises that all teachers should go through an orientation or training course to learn more about dealing with special needs kids.

In conclusion, if a child with a learning disability does not get the help he or she needs, the child struggles in school and everyone else involved in the child's life struggle along with the child. Life for the child becomes one of failures and frustrations and disappointments. For that child, a personalised learning plan will make all the difference, and this, I believe, is where a teacher can step in to be the link between the child and success. 

Educational Equity

“Two pens for 20 rupees,” she said, holding out the pens and looking at me with big, bright eyes that had a hint of desperation in them. She wasn’t alone. There were other children like her, clasping handfuls of pens and asking passers-by to buy them. This is not an isolated incident. There are many children like these kids on the streets of New Delhi, where I have lived for the past year. Not all of them sell pens. Some of them sell roses or beads or whatever their parents can get hold of for them to sell. Some of them just beg for money. It is very disturbing to see these kids roaming the streets when they should be in a classroom, learning along with other children of their age. Is anyone doing anything to improve the lot of these kids whose parents are too poor to provide a basic education, let alone quality education, for their children?

One of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations is “to ensure that every boy and girl has access to inclusive, equitable and quality education by 2030.” And UNICEF claims that, “across the globe, UNICEF is committed to nothing less than full and complete access to free, quality education for every girl and boy.” How do these words on paper play out in the real world?

Birger Frediksen, Education Expert and Senior Adviser at the World Bank, is of the opinion that “the single most important factor excluding children from school is the cost of school fees.” This is definitely true of Indian children who are denied access to education. According to the National Survey on Estimation of Out-Of-School children (2014), “poverty/economic reason is cited by majority of households having out-of-school children.” Frediksen also believes that “the single most important policy measure to address this is to abolish school fees.”

One of the initiatives that UNICEF has come up with is the School Fees Abolition Initiative to enable countries to address the issue of “poverty preventing children from accessing basic education.” This initiative was launched in 2005 by UNICEF and the World Bank. Given that India has the greatest percentage of school-age out-of-school children in South Asia with 49% (UIS, 2015) one cannot help but wonder what is being done on the ground to implement this initiative by international and national organizations.

When the Right to Education policy was introduced in 2009, India already had a policy to universalize elementary education: National policy on Education, 1986. Article 5.12 of this policy states: “It shall be ensured that free and compulsory education of satisfactory quality is provided to all children up to 14 years of age before we enter the twenty-first century.”

According to the Department of School Education and Literacy, The Right to Education Act was put forward to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age-group of 6-14 years as a fundamental right. The right of children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, came into effect on April 1, 2010. This RTE “provides for the right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education in a neighborhood school.” (MHRD, 2016) This act also gives the norms and standards regarding pupil-teacher ratios, building and infrastructure, school working days, and appointment of trained teachers.

According to the EFA Global Monitoring Report (2015), India’s Right to Education Act (2009), has helped to push school enrollment higher. India also has introduced a school feeding program, in which meals are provided to children in school. “Mid-day meals and school feeding programs in rural India have strongly increased girls’ enrollment.”

It is evident that specific steps have been put in place by the government to ensure that every child had access to free education. However, given the huge number of children who still roam the streets of cities and villages in India, more needs to be done. Rashbrooks (2014) comments: “A lack of educational opportunities creates a circle in which those unable to get a decent education are denied opportunities for social betterment, the socially disadvantaged then struggle to access education and so on.” He believes that "breaking this vicious circle not only improves the lives of individuals, but also helps maintain the social fabric."

Unless the world tackles inequity today, in 2030, 60 million children of primary school age will be out of school. (UNICEF, 2016). A warning that should be taken seriously by educators and policy makers around the world.

I would be interested in knowing more about how the UN, and UNICEF in particular, is working with the Indian Government to implement their initiatives in India, and the channels through which they operate. Perhaps, that should be the focus of my next blog.

References 

Benart, Aaron. Education for All 2000- 2015: Achievements and Challenges. (April 9, 2015). EFA Global Monitoring Report. Retrieved from 
http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/document-reports/PPT_GMR_2015.pdf

Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), (April 3, 2016). Retrieved from  www.mhrd.gov.in/rte

Educate All Girls and Boys in South Asia: The Global Out of School Initiative. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/education/files/EducateAllGirlsandBoys-UNICEF_ROSA.pdf.

National Policy on Education (1986). Retrieved from http://www.ncert.nic.in/oth_anoun/npe86.pdf.

National Sample Survey of Estimation of Out-Of-School Children in the Age 6-13 in India. (September, 2014). Draft Report. Retrieved from http://www.educationforallinindia.com/out_of_shool_survey_2014_india_mhrd_tsg_july_2015.pdf

Rashbrook, Max. (November 12, 2014). Excellence Through Equity. [blog post]. Retrieved from 

http://oecdeducationtoday.blogspot.in/2014/11/excellence-through-equity.html.

School fee abolition.(February 10, 2012). Retrieved from 

www.unicef.org/education/bege.61657.html

School Fees: A Major Barrier to Education Access.(n.d.) Retrieved from  

http://www.ungei.org/infobycountry/247_712.html 

The State of the World's Children. (2016)  Retrieved from  http://www.unicef.org/sowc2016/