Session Information
04 SES 03 C, Teacher Education
Paper Session
Time:
2009-09-28
14:00-15:30
Room:
NIG, HS C
Chair:
Lani Florian
Contribution
The aim of this paper is to contribute to the development of ‘inclusive pedagogy’, with particular reference to the relevance and usefulness of psychological theories of learning. Inclusive pedagogy involves the teacher in employing and orchestrating a range of teaching strategies to enhance pupils’ learning (Florian and Kershner, in press). Many of these strategies can usefully be informed by sociocultural understandings of the collaborative processes by which thinking and learning develops in classroom contexts and how lines of communication and other learning tools are employed by teachers and pupils (Kershner, 2009). Teachers in school are constantly engaged in interactions with children and colleagues, and associated reflections on practice. These local processes serve to build crucial practical and professional knowledge about learning and teaching,
The main research question in this paper asks about the extent to which the building of professional knowledge for inclusive pedagogy can be informed by psychological theories of learning, with particular reference to the combination of teaching strategies to support pupils who are experiencing difficulties in learning.
The analysis relates to the proposition that inclusive pedagogy may legitimately focus on three main goals for enhancing pupils’ achievement, their active learning and their participation in productive, and often collaborative, classroom activities (Kershner, 2009). Psychologically these areas may be seen to have different theoretical roots in behaviourism, constructivism and social constructivism, yet there are potential connections in practice. For instance, a social constructivist view would be that enhanced participation would aid both active learning and classroom achievement; while direct attention to enhancing active learning, particularly metacognition, would equip children both to participate more effectively and to achieve in class. In practice, it is the combination of teaching strategies which is crucial for successful learning, as evident in Tharp and Gallimore’s (1988) account of the skilful, flexible use by teachers of alternative ‘means of assisting performance’, and in Gersten et al’s, (2001) consideration of explicit combinations of teaching strategies which may draw on alternative theories of learning.
Method
The evidence presented in this paper is drawn from a small-scale, purposive search for relevant published research evidence available in English in the UK, Europe and the US. Florian and Kershner (in press) identify four potential influences on teachers’ decision-making about how to combine strategies: the goals for learning, the students’ apparent educational needs, the development of practice over time, and the multiprofessional teamwork involved. The focus in this paper is on research evidence about the first of these – ie. the combination of teaching strategies to meet learning goals in complex activities (e.g. reading) and curriculum subjects (e.g. science) for pupils experiencing difficulties in those areas of learning in primary and secondary education. Papers are selected to exemplify different approaches and are then analysed in terms of the teaching approach adopted, the effectiveness of the learning outcomes and the theoretical rationale presented.
Expected Outcomes
The discussion of relevant research examples is intended to lead to a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of (a) the practice of combining teaching strategies to enhance pupils’ learning in diverse, inclusive settings, and (b) the reflection of psychological theories of learning in these practices.
Conclusions are drawn about the extent to which an understanding of psychological theories of learning may aid the analysis and development of the complex teaching and decision-making that is central to inclusive pedagogy. This is linked to more general considerations of the relationship between psychological theory, teacher development and educational practice.
References
Florian, L. and Kershner, R. (in press) ‘Inclusive pedagogy’ in H. Daniels, H. Lauder and J. Porter (eds) Routledge Companion in Education. Abingdon: Routledge. Gersten, R. et al (2001) Contemporary Research on Special Education Teaching in V. Richardson (ed.) Handbook of Research on Teaching, 4th ed. Washington, DC: AERA. pp. 695-722. Kershner, R. (2009) ‘Learning in inclusive classrooms’ in P. Hick, R. Kershner and P. Farrell (eds) Psychology for Inclusive Education. Abingdon: Routledge. pp52-65. Tharp, R.G. and Gallimore, R. (1988) Rousing Minds to Life: Teaching, learning and schooling in social context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.