Artefact 4 - Inclusive Practices at the 2nd Multicultural School, in Athens - MDDE 631

Course MDDE 631 has exceeded my expectations by far, in all sorts of ways. Dr. Bainbridge was always there supporting and inspiring us to make the most out of this course and take it much further. Through the work on my assignments, I had the honor to be part of not one but two presentations at International Conferences and also publish my questionnaire “How inclusive is your school?” in the Inclusive Educator’s Toolkit. This is surely the definition of “taking things to the next level”.

Obviously, there were plenty of learning objects to choose from, but I opted to present the ways I have applied all this knowledge gained from completing this course to the 2nd Multicultural high school in Athens, where I was lucky enough to be appointed during the school year 2018-2019.

This knowledge was gained through sharing and collaboration as well as delving into theory and familiarizing myself with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines which has been my teaching companion since.

Working on the two presentations "Embracing Migrants and Refugees - The Challenge, Vision & Mission of a Greek Effort" for the AU Graduate Students Research Conference 2018, and “Blended Learning: Using Mobile Devices for Inclusive Educational Practices, Facilitator Perspective” for the 4th World Conference for Blended Learning (WCBL 2019) provided me with the insight needed to face the challenges a Multicultural school poses. Additionally, having created the questionnaire “How Inclusive is your school?”, I was fully aware of what steps a school needs to take to be more inclusive, which rendered me capable of aiding the school and my colleagues to that end.

Another reason why this Artefact is so important to me is that this experience changed completely my perspective on the power of teaching and how it can transform the lives of students but mine as well.

My reflections on this Artefact will be separated into two different parts. The first part has to do with building up a solid theoretical background on Inclusive Education, which was accomplished through working on the various assignments required for the completion of the course and the two presentations at the International conferences, based on them. The second part consists of the application of inclusive practices at the 2^nd Multicultural High school of Athens.

       Building up a Solid Theoretical Background on Inclusive Education

The need to go through literature on Inclusiveness arose the moment we started talking about our second assignment along with my peers Chryssa and Anna. Chryssa provided us with so much material from her educational visit to the USA that we were overwhelmed and puzzled as to where to begin (1.1.). Where should we start? What to include and how to present and support it? (1.2.). It was obvious that these international schools with such diverse student populations were successful at what they were doing, but why? (1.3.). Having all these questions in mind I turned to the theory of inclusive education to find the answers (5.4.). There were so many papers, articles, and guidelines to study. My best companions along my education on inclusion were the UNESCO’s Guidelines for Inclusion (2006), Inclusive Leadership by Ryan (2006), a publication by Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education (2010) and of course Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines (2011) (1.4.).

Delving into the theory was one thing; selecting what would be supportive of our presentation was another. Why were there welcoming signs at these schools writing “Here you are safe”, “Here you are loved” or why were students encouraged to share their personal experiences? Well, literature suggests that negative feelings are not conducive to learning (Goleman, 1995) and that we can benefit from diversity and it should be celebrated (Coleman, 2012). What I did while going through all the literature was to ask my self constantly “is this piece of information relevant?” “can it support what we have chosen to present? (1.5., 1.7.). This procedure took place more than once since our second presentation at the 4th World Conference for Blended Learning (WCBL 2019) focused on blended learning and we were presenting how mobile devices can be integrated into inclusive contexts, based on the volunteer work Chryssa did at the refugees’ accommodation in Kavala.

Creating presentations based on the same original material but targeted at different audiences for a different purpose was not easy. The presentation and forum discussion for the course’s assignment was addressing peers, while the presentations for the International Conferences had a more diverse and yet specific audience. The reflective journal I posted on WordPress was another issue to consider. Each time we had a different task to perform we had to take into account who the recipients would be, the reason why we were making this presentation, and what exactly we wanted to share with them, so as to adjust the content and writing style or narration (4.1., 4.2.). Nevertheless, addressing my students was a completely different story.

        Applying Inclusive Practices in a Real-world Context - My Story

 One of the greatest challenges of teaching at a Multicultural school is the language. There are students who speak neither Greek nor English and that poses a huge barrier to the necessary communication. Another problem is the diverse background of the student body; they come from more than 30 countries from around the world, bringing along their own languages, religions, customs, traditions, and perspectives. These actual problems were in need of consideration before I could enter the classroom and have a lesson with these children (1.1., 1.2.).

Equipped with the knowledge I had gained from working on the assignments for the course and the presentations for the conferences, I had to discover where I was standing as a teacher. My personal philosophy of teaching was affected dearly by all this information and a revised one emerged. I was more aware of what an inclusive lesson consisted of and was determined to apply that into practice so that I could reach out to each and one of my students, even when there were seemingly impenetrable barriers (2.1.).

Based on the three core principles of UDL framework, to employ multiple means of representing new information, multiple means of action and expression regarding this information and multiple means of engagement, I set out planning science lessons.

In order to present the Earth’s interior, I used YouTube videos, pictures, maps, and different colored modeling clay with which the students formed little balls, representing the different layers the Earth is made up of. I also used puzzles in the shape of the tectonic plates and Oreo biscuits to show their movement (4.4.).

We also used a lot of drawings in Biology to represent the process of photosynthesis, while the students made their own cells from modeling clay and paper collages.  In Chemistry, we conducted a lot of experiments and even used our bodies to demonstrate the concept of density. 

My criteria for selecting what to include in my lesson plans were student-centered and practical (2.7.). I used a lot of everyday material and presented each concept using multiple means (1.8.). I created evaluation tests in two languages, English and Greek, and included a lot of pictures and drawings to demonstrate what I was asking for (1.11.).

Another idea that I applied with the cooperation of my colleagues was during the school field trip to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. I suggested that the students play a game. I printed some pictures from the places they were going to visit and gave them out before we left the school. The students were separated into groups and they had to spot the item in their pictures during the visit and use their mobile phones to take its photograph, in order to prove that they had found it. It was fortunate that most students had smartphones a fact that made the whole process of sending and receiving files easier (3.1., 3.2.). With the help of the other teachers and after deciding on the procedure, we organized a photo contest with the students’ photos. We went through all the photographs, chose some finalists and then put them up for voting.  It was an engaging activity and all students participated either by taking part in the contest with their photo, or just by voting their favorite one (4.7).

Needless to say, deciding on what to do and planning inclusive activities is hard work and spend a lot of hours browsing through the Internet or creating my own material, but was worth every second of it (6.5.). I did not get a proper evaluation from students, but I did ask for feedback after each activity and it was always very positive.

My greatest frustration was the fact that the student population always changed; it is common for these children to have interrupted education, especially the ones that have dealt with psychological problems. Unfortunately, this was something that could not be helped and I regret not having more time to spend with each one of them.  Apart from that, the feeling of satisfaction I had each time students were able to participate actively in class, was enough to show me that I was on the right track (4.4.).

References:

Coleman, M. (2012). Leadership and Diversity. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, 40(5), 592-609.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York, NY, England: Bantam Books, Inc.