Planning for all students: promoting inclusive instruction

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we will analyze the inclusive education policies and practices of a Province in Canada. Qualitative methods were used to analyze the planning of teaching and learning for students, with a focus on those with a Personalized Learning Plan (PLP). The process involved extended school and classroom observation, completion of questionnaires and analysis of documents, including lesson plans, individual student records, and PLPs of specific students. An observation grid and questionnaires were designed ad hoc. This province was an early adopter of an inclusive educational model. Schools in the province have a long tradition of developing accommodations for individual students in a ‘common learning environment’. In this article, we analyze learning and curriculum planning and its influence on the development of inclusive practices in the classroom. We found that teachers continue to struggle to develop effective individual learning plans. Our analysis leads us to suggest a model for teachers to conceptualise appropriate strategies and accommodations for students in their daily lesson plans.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive education
• inclusive practices
• lesson plan
• Personalized Learning Plan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Yolanda Muñoz Martínez is Associate Professor of Inclusive Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Alcala, Spain

Gordon L. Porter is Director of Inclusive Education Canada and a former Assistant Professor of Education, University of Maine at Presque Isle, USA. IEC: http://inclusiveeducation.ca/

Notes

1 Postdoctoral Research Stay during September-October 2016 to Fredericton Area schools, Anglophone sector by Yolanda Muñoz (author). This work was supported by the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Transfer of Public University of Alcala, through the 2017 public call for mobility aids for teaching and researcher staff under grant.

2 All indicators and evidence/strategies included below are based on the sources below; some have been adapted: (1) Parekh and Underwood (2015); (2) Booth and Ainscow (2016); (3) Porter and Smith. (eds.) 2011; (4) District Process Guide: K-12 School Effectiveness Framework, Toronto District School Board, (2013).