Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education

Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education in Three Schools: A Teachers’ Resource Coordinated and edited by Leslie Stewart Rose and Mark Evans table of contents 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Speak Out 81 Uda McKenzie INTRODUCTIONS The Diary of a Transforming Teacher 89 Melinda Da Rocha Deepening Inclusive and 3 Read ‘a’ Rap Community-Engaged Education: 95 A Collaborative Project Paul Bosotas Mark Evans and Leslie Stewart Rose Fair or Unfair? A School-Wide Initiative 105 11 Working Together to Strengthen that Led to the Creation of Literacy Kits Inclusive Schools Practices Beverly Caswell and Andrea Tufts Lloyd McKell Using Culturally Relevant Books to 117 Improve Literacy Skills Madeline Richardson PRINCIPAL PERSPECTIVES The Invention Convention Promoting Inclusion at Grey Owl 123 Thelma Akyea 15 Junior Public School Liz Holder An Ant Nest: Student-Directed and 131 Teacher-Assisted Inquiry to Enhance Inclusive Education at Carleton Village Engagement 21 Public School Abirami Kumarappah Curtis Ennis Using Technology in a Grade 6 The Role of Leadership in 137 27 Classroom to Engage Students Implementing Culturally Relevant and Improve Achievement Practices School-Wide Rita Dublin Lyn Davy Learning through the Arts 143 Wrensford Simmonds Reports K’naan and Kente Cloth: A Foray into 151 Taking Science Home to Enhance Culturally Responsive Math Instruction 35 Student Engagement Daniel Yamasaki Elyse Hori, Keisha Dardaine, and Towards a More Inclusive Curriculum Jossefina Bernardino 159 Through Visual Arts Connecting Home and School Through Hassan Ali 43 the “Reading Book Bag” Creating a Student-Led Multicultural Dianne Chin 167 Math Night to Draw Crowds Impact of Culturally Relevant Beverly Caswell and Grace LaRocque 49 Pedagogy on Classroom Management Incorporating Social Justice Issues in Valerie Williamson 177 the Curriculum: From Literature to Building an Inclusive Community: Action 57 Thinking, Feeling, and Caring Deeply Ifetayo Fleary Through the Arts Christine Jackson 184 APPENDIX Raising Awareness of Student Learning 63 Disabilities: Implications for Learning Erica Cameron 186 RESOURCES Reducing Schoolyard Bullying: 73 Highlighting the PALS Leadership Program Christy Dell’Agnese Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education 1 Acknowledgements Editors Leslie Stewart Rose and Mark Evans Publication Manager Jennifer Sipos-Smith Associate Editor Carolyn Jongeward Design Brent Logan www.brentjlogan.com ISBN: 978-1-928167-00-6 Copyright © 2014 Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE) 252 Bloor Street West Toronto, ON. M5V 1V6 416-978-1110 www.oise.utoronto.ca 2 Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education: A Collaborative Project Mark Evans and Leslie Stewart Rose Improving the quality of education for all students is an important priority worldwide. Not surprisingly, improving the quality of teaching and learning in schools has gained increasing attention and continues to be a critical area of discussion and debate. Recent research suggests that while there are multiple, interconnected factors that contribute to deepening student achievement and engagement, what teachers know and are able to do is one of the most important factors. Research is also suggesting that teaching is becoming increasingly complex and that improving the quality of teaching in today’s world involves the ability to incorporate and integrate different kinds of knowledge, develop and utilize a sophisticated instructional repertoire, be responsive to expanding understandings of learner diversity, and continually adapt to shifting educational aims related to changing local and global circumstances. UNESCO’s Education for All campaign, founded on an Accord of 164 countries to provide quality basic education to all, prompted research on the conditions that undermine the rights of children to education. UNESCO gives clear directives that the solution for educational change lies in strengthening learning environments, providing skilled teachers who can address the multiple needs of a wide range of communities, and integrating inclusive classroom and school-wide curriculum and instructional practices. UNESCO is unequivocal that an inclusive curriculum is fundamental to the achievement of high quality learning for all learners. In 2012 Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the UN, emphasized the importance of this educational provision, thereby identifying access to education and the quality of learning as core pillars of the UN’s new Education First initiative. Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education 3 Questions of social cohesion, learner diversity, and democratic citizenship have received considerable attention in education across Canada, and variations and contrasting approaches have been apparent at different times in different regions. More recently, there has been increasing attention to the diversity of student populations and the need for more equitable and inclusive practices to improve student engagement and learning in K-12 public education classrooms, schools, and systems in all provinces and territories. In Ontario, for example, the provincial government has introduced assorted provincial policies to assist and support this work (e.g., Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act). According to the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Equity and Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools Guidelines, “an inclusive curriculum aims to understand, identify, address, and eliminate the biases, barriers, and power dynamics that limit students’ prospects for learning, growing, and fully contributing to society” (2009, p. 6). In Toronto, one of the world’s most diverse cities and home to the largest public school board in Canada, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) identifies its mission as follows, “to enable all students to reach high levels of achievement and to acquire the knowledge, skills, and values they need to become responsible members of a democratic society” (TDSB, 2013). Accordingly, the TDSB has introduced a number of initiatives to deepen inclusive curriculum and instruction in school communities. Numerous curriculum initiatives, policy reforms, and research studies have been undertaken worldwide in recent decades as teachers, policy makers, federations, and researchers attempt to understand what an equitable and inclusive education might look like, and how it might best be enacted in school curricula and experienced by students. Researchers in Canada, for example, are helping educators better understand the range of interconnected factors that need to be considered when planning for an inclusive curriculum (Kugler & West-Burns, 2010; Ryan, 2006). In addition, a host of resources have been developed to inform and guide teachers’ work in relation to curriculum and instruction that is directed toward equitable and inclusive education (Ciuffetelli Parker & Flessa, 2011; Lundy, 2008; Rolheiser, Evans, & Gambhir, 2011). Still, despite the growing interest in and attention to this aspect of education, a considerable amount of ongoing and thoughtful work remains. THE INCLUSIVE SCHOOLS PROJECT In 2009 the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) initiated the Inclusive Schools three-year pilot project with the intent to engage teachers, teacher educators, students, parents, staff, and administrators in investigating and developing effective inclusive curriculum and instructional practices that could be implemented in classrooms and school-wide. In addition, the project aimed to identify practices and factors that contribute to improved student engagement and learning and that strengthen community connections. Over a three-year period, three TDSB elementary schools— Carleton Village Public School, Flemington Public School, and Grey Owl Junior Public School— carried out 19 school-based inquiries. School-based inquiries were grounded in a professional learning process that emphasized inquiry, partnership, collaboration, action and reflection, and professional choice and responsibility. Participants had different understandings and experiences, which they brought to their particular investigations. 4 Deepening Inclusive and Community-Engaged Education In the early stages of the pilot project, support for teachers’ professional learning focused on the notions of inclusive curriculum and inclusive schools. The sessions involved professional conversations based on current readings, an investigation of resources, guest speakers and workshops, and the introduction of a model for curriculum development and classroom professional inquiry. Each school identified small professional learning teams to investigate certain aspects of inclusive curriculum and instruction. An OISE instructor worked as a liaison with the principal and school team at each school on the design and coordination of the professional learning process. Additional OISE faculty and TDSB consultants provided different areas of expertise. At the end of Year 1, participants had the opportunity to share their experiences and promising practices with other participants in the project, and each school submitted an annual report about their activities. During the second year, while professional learning continued to be a central focus, participants were involved in identifying, designing, implementing, and assessing inclusive curriculum and instructional practices. To identify and better understand how such practices could improve student engagement and learning and also strengthen school-community

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