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Social Inclusion – What are the consequences of classroom practices?

Berne and Stiefel (1999) suggest that, all children should have an equal chance to succeed, with this success based on personal characteristics such as motivation and effort. Equal educational opportunity should result in no difference in educational success based on student characteristics or place of residence. For there to be equal opportunity, all students should have access to capital that put them at an unbiased starting block and the conditions at school should allow them the possibility to succeed.

Within a classroom, inclusion is the key for pedagogy, understanding and appreciating people. Inclusion has been seen as a process that is relevant to all children in a school, but particularly focusing on those groups who have historically been marginalised by class, race, religion, sex, speech, disability and appearance or have underachieved. It recognises the way the school involves all parents, staff and community in its practices and decision-making processes as an important stage in inclusion. I was intentional to think about the similarities and differences of the students in my class. 

Attention to diverse needs of students enriched the teaching and learning experiences allowing me to adapt and modify teaching and learning activities to cater for the needs of all learners (BOS, 2012). This can be achieved through establishing additional support mechanisms for those who required them, such as extra teacher time to de-compact task, daily schedules so students became less anxious about what was happening next and setting students up for success by immersing them in an environment where answers to questions were on the walls and teaching them how to then discover these answers.

References
Berne, R. & Stiefel, L. (1999). Concepts of school finance equity. In H. F. Ladd, R. Chalk & J. S. Hansen (Eds.), Equity and adequacy in education finance: Issues and perspectives. Washington: National Academy Press.
BOS (1998) English Syllabus, Board of Studies NSW, Sydney.

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