Session Information
04 SES 08 B, Learning Environment
Paper Session
Time:
2010-08-26
17:15-18:45
Room:
Sh406, Kielikeskus / Language Centre
Chair:
Helen Phtiaka
Contribution
Over the last fifteen or so years we have seen many efforts, in different countries of the world seek to provide equal opportunities in education. Such initiatives are reinforced by the strategy of the United Nations’ ‘Education for All’ project. The Salamanca report (UNESCO, 1994) argues that the best way to achieve ‘Education for All’ is to give to mainstream schools an inclusive orientation.
In one of our previous pieces of research the theme of informal learning environments arose as a factor that influenced inclusive education (Author, 2008). The term ‘informal learning environments’ is often used to describe learning environments outside the traditional area of schools (Dierking et al., 2003). However, there is no research to substantiate that some factors help certain groups of students to have a greater participation in the learning process when this takes place in informal learning environments. The research reported in this paper aims to address this gap in the literature as it explores the ways in which certain kinds of activities that occur in informal learning environments promote inclusive education.
Findings of our own previous research indicated that certain conditions guided the teaching practices that promoted inclusion: the perceptions of teachers regarding the different ways that learning is achieved and the use of multiple resources for supporting teaching – these were directly related to the informal learning environments (Author, 2008). Built upon these findings, in this paper we explore:
• How do informal learning environments contribute to the promotion of inclusive education?
• Which factors influence the successful teaching in informal learning environments?
Method
The study followed an ethnography design for data collection and analyses for the purpose of better understanding how might inclusive education be promoted through the engagement of students in authentic experiences outside the context of the school classroom. Ethnographic studies took place at 3 elementary schools that lasted a whole academic year. Besides the observation notes that we kept throughout the whole year (we had school visits once a week) we also took interviews from all eleven teachers and students from various group ages.
For the analysis of the data we followed the two stages recommended by Erickson (1986): inductive and deductive. At the beginning, some themes began to emerge from the first school, which we used as a base to collect additional data from the other two schools.
Expected Outcomes
Analysis of the data indicates that teaching in informal learning environments promotes inclusive education. In the schools we studied we saw specific practices that promoted inclusive education and documented that these practices were impacted by the teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning. Behind this fact there were certain factors that helped in the successful teaching in informal learning environments. These factors were related to the perceptions of teachers regarding how learning is achieved and how their perceptions were translated into practice.
Moreover the findings of this study support the notion that certain reasons that limit participation in traditional classes seem to be eliminated when teaching in informal learning environments. One reason is that students are asked to provide solutions to real life problems, a fact that does not take place in traditional teaching, and hence knowledge is no longer theoretical but related to the realities of everyday life. In addition, in informal learning environments students have to create functional social groups and to function as members of these teams and hence have equal chances to became organic members and lead their teams.
References
Author. (2008). International Journal of inclusive Education. Dierking, L. D. Falk, J. H., Rennie, L., Anderson, D., & Ellenbogen, K. (2003). Policy statement of the ‘informal science education’ ad hoc committee. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(2), 108-111. Erickson, F. (1986). Qualitative methods in research on teaching, in: M. C. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching (pp. 119-161). New York, NY: Macmillan. UNESCO (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. Paris: UNESCO.
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