Discussion prompt: Take one dimension of learner differences. What are the most appropriate literacies strategies to address this dimension of difference?

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A particular dimension of learner differences relates to students with special needs, with physical and mental (dis)abilities and as these students tend to enroll in mainstream schools, adaptations and accomodations are required in what regards physical settings, conditions of accessibility to every space of the school.

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For those who use wheelchair, building accessibilities are required such as ramps, lifts, adapted toilets,  and so on.  

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For those who are hearing impaired, light signs, accoustisc conditions of classrooms are important.

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For those with ASD, the organization of the space is relevant, i.e special rooms in the school that follow certain frameworks like TEACCH :

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«Structured TEACCHing is not a curriculum, but instead is a framework to support achievement of educational and therapeutic goals.  This framework includes: 

1. Physical organization

2. Individualized schedules

3. Work (Activity) systems

4. Visual structure of materials in tasks and activities

The goal of Structured TEACCHing is to promote meaningful engagement in activities, flexibility, independence, and self-efficacy.» - https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/teacch

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Those with multiple disbilities, with cognitive limitations, will benefit also of visual aids and simplified learning materials

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Most of these students benefit of assistive technologies or accessibility configurations of computer/mobile operating systems. Curriculum adaptations as well as adapted didactic materials are usual, very often assessment tests/exam adaptations are provided.

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Adaptations of schoolbooks and other documents into Braille, or in talking documents like Daisy programs, may facilitate students who have vision limitations and learning dsabilities, like dyslexia. 

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When designing learning a universal design framework is the best way to address the needs of a diversity of students - http://www.udlcenter.org/resource_library

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Comment on article «Apple and Beane on Democratic Schools»

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One of the articles included in New Learning – Apple and Beane on Democratic Schools (http://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-7/apple-and-beane-on-democratic-schools )– reflects on the term «democracy» and its meaning across the world as well as conflicting views at political, religious  and cultural level , raising discussions about freedom of speech, social inequalities, human rights.

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How Education reflects democracy or the lack of is also an issue for debate. In fact Education has been governed by dominant groups and mainstream schooling is still regulated on  the basis of competition, test scores and rankings.  A minority of schools  (democratic schools) escape this trend.

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Neoliberalism has pushed the idea that what is public is bad and what is private is good and many testing, namely international tests like PISA, which measure scores on reading, science and math, have been overestimated in the last decade, regardless of political, social and cultural contexts so diverse from country to country, not to mention within each country.

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This focus on PISA results drives education policies to more standardization , narrows the curriculum and other equally important aspects of Education tend to be neglected, such as civic and artistic dimensions. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/may/06/oecd-pisa-tests-damaging-education-academics

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Education shouldn’t be reduced to a preparation for economic and labour market, a humanist and critical view of the world will form students in their personal and social development and wellbeing. Education should focus on diversity and inclusion, as democratic values impose, rather than standardization and rankings, a race to nowhere.

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Democratic values  such as individual rights, respect for minorities, concerns for the welfare of others, solidarity and tolerance, capacity to collectively resolving problems, critical reflection and analysis of policies, concerns for environmental problems and many more must be highlighted in our Education system.

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As stated in the article «Since democracy involves the informed consent of people, a democratic curriculum emphasizes access to a wide range of information and the right of those of varied opinion to have their viewpoints heard… Those committed to a more participatory curriculum understand that knowledge is socially constructed, that it is produced and disseminated by people who have particular values, interests and biases. This is a simple fact of life , since all of us are formed by our cultures, genders, geographies…»

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Comment on article in New Learning «McLaren on Student Voice»

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Reading the extract of McLaren’s book «Life in Schools» led me to a very interesting interview recorded recently in Belgrade/Serbia, where McLaren speaks retrospectively on his first experience as a teacher in Canada and his first book «Cries in the Corridor» which became a best seller,  at the time, and later on brought him some regrets and a self-critique how it turned out to stigmatize the students and community he was committed to help - https://youtu.be/WEYCKtPHYHg

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McLaren worked with Henry Giroux in the USA and developed his reflections and work on critical pedagogy , inspired by Paulo Freire.

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In the extract on «student voice» he focus on the importance of giving voice to the students, challenging them with significant questions but respecting their viewpoints .

«Each individual voice is shaped by its owner’s particular cultural history and prior experience… Voice, then, suggests the means that students have at their disposal to make themselves heard and to define themselves as active participants in the world».

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As he refers ,the dominant culture in schools represent the middle and upper classes voice, but teachers can make this issue an object of political analysis and question the voices «that emerge from different ideological spheres and settings».

« To “learn the discourse of school voice,” teachers must analyze the directives, imperatives, and rules that shape particular configurations of time, space, and curricula within the institutional and political settings of schools. The concept of school voice, for example, helps to illuminate particular ideologies that structure how classrooms are arranged, what content is taught, and what general social practices teachers are required to follow. More often than not, school voice represents what Bakhtin refers to as “authoritative discourse”—that which permits little or no flexibility within the context that frames it.»

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As he refers in his interview, in spite of the constraints of mainstream school, and the authoritative voice of the establishment, a teacher can always make some difference or, at least, try.

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In another extract of Life in Schools he states: « The school system is mostly geared to the interests, skills, and attitudes of the middle-class child. Though I also argue that the system is failing to educate middle-class students, it is the children of poverty who really suffer, being streamed into courses that prepare them for a life of temporary, dead-end, underpaid, undignified, and menial jobs.»

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The education system tends to perpetuate inequalities

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« We claim to live in a meritocracy where social salvation is supposedly achieved through scholastic merit: Every student will, more or less, reap the academic rewards of his or her own initiative, regardless of sex, religion, or family background. That all sounds fine on the surface, but in reality it’s simply hollow rhetoric. Research has shown that one of the greatest predictors of academic success is socioeconomic status. In other words, although we profess to believe in equal opportunity for rich and poor alike, the fact remains that an individual’s social class and race at birth have a greater influence on social class in later life than do any other factors—including intelligence and merit. Put simply, each child appears to get as many chances for success in school as his or her family has dollars and privileged social status.»

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As I was reading about the importance of giving voice to the students I recalled the importance of giving voice to minorities as well and it came to my mind this declaration of young people with disabilities from 29 european countries - https://www.european-agency.org/sites/default/files/lisbon-declaration-young-people2019s-views-on-inclusive-education_declaration_en.pdf