The Inclusive Teacher Project
Greetings from The Teacher Foundation !
The Inclusive Teacher Project aimed at enabling selected government school teachers in the area of Inclusive Education. This was conducted for 96 teachers represented from Shahapur block of Yadgir district, Karnataka.
Project progress:
The Inclusive Teacher project started with an orientation to all the participating teachers. To understand the current teaching-learning practices in schools, a baseline study was conducted. This was followed by 5 days of trainings in two phases ( First phase - 3 days & second phase -2 days); interspersed with 2 rounds of School Based Support(Observation of individual teachers' classroom followed with a Feedback session).
Activities completed during September – November 2017.
Baseline Observation :To understand the current classroom practices a baseline observation was conducted for 30% of the total project teachers. Teachers were observed in their respective classrooms using 'Classroom Observation Checklist'. The data emerging from this checklist was used to understand the current practices followed in schools and also track the progress of teachers across the project at different intervals.
Training:
A three day training for 96 teachers was conducted in three batches. The modules were:
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Understanding Inclusion
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Curriculum Adaptations
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Understanding Multiple Disabilities
Generally teachers feel unsupported and find it challenging to practice inclusiveness as they have undergone very few or no trainings on inclusion. Main-streaming children with special needs by and large has remained at the enrolment stage. However, engaging them in the learning process has been considered as a difficult task, hence resulting in passive learning. The three day training focused on perspectives of inclusion, specific inputs on inclusion and also reflecting on the current inclusive classroom practices.
School Based Support (SBS):
School Based Support is consciously built into the project, which enables teachers to demonstrate the different strategies and ideas from the training into their classroom practices with support from TTF facilitator.
TTF is tracking the changes / impact of the project , through baseline study and 2 rounds of classroom observation. The “Classroom Observation Checklist” a tool specially developed by The Teacher Foundation, was used to track teacher performance. The checklist has four key domains and teachers were marked on a scale of 0 to 1 , where 0 = Not evident , 0.5 = Evident but ineffective, 1 = Evident and effective and '-' = Not applicable.
The table below indicates the average score of sample teachers observed during the Baseline & first round of SBS. Domains which have scored 0.5 and above indicate that the teachers have improved their practice, based on the inputs given during the course of the intervention.
Scores are provided in the Table - refer Attachment 1
Data is represented graphically - refer Attachment 1
Data indicate that there has been an overall increase in the 1st round of SBS scores compared to the Baseline Scores in all the four domains.
Following is a brief analysis of the changes observed in the 1st round of SBS.
1. Teacher – Student Interaction :
Teachers addressed students by their names and showed empathy and patience during classroom interaction. The graph indicates improvement in student-teacher interaction, with respect to teacher use of language and tone thereby demonstrating positive demeanor. Teachers established eye contact and were moving around the class to check for students' involvement, thus making student-teacher interaction more constructive and engaging.
2. Teaching – Learning Methodology :
This domain focused on observation of lesson with respect to teaching-learning methodology. The graph indicates increased use of inclusive approach by teachers through personalized support. That is, use of adapted lesson, differentiated instructions, adapted teaching-learning aids, all this catered to all children and making their learning more meaningful and engaging. Teachers also provided opportunities to students to ask questions, discuss and work in groups.
3. Assessment:
The domain focused on student assessment during and at the end of each class. The graph indicates the change in the approach of assessing students' learning. Teachers were using inclusive approach by adapting assessment strategies. The adaptation in assessment gives room for teachers to check students' understanding and to feed forward for better learning for all children.
4. Physical Classroom Environment:
In this domain, we observed how effectively teachers used the blackboard during the lesson transaction. It is evident from the graph that teachers were making use of the blackboard in a more interactive manner to teach and assess student learning during the class. Also, it signifies the improvisation in using available classroom space and teaching-learning resources which catered to learning of children with and without disabilities.
Action Plan :
Phase-2 training : Nov/Dec-2017
Second Round of School Based Observation: Jan 2018
We have scheduled the second phase of the training in the month of Nov/Dec-2017 followed by the 2ndRound of School Based Support in Jan 2018.
We will keep you posted of any further developments.
Thank you for your support!
Glimpses of the classroom during School Based Support: Refer Attachment 1
Attachments:
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