TIIE-EL-Classroom

Quantitative Analyses
Can be by module / 'competency'

GHPS Byrasandra
GHPS Byrasandra Govt. Higher primary School is located in the South of Bangalore, Jayanagar. This School consists of around 250 students from the grades 1-7. There are around 6 teachers (Including HM). Medium of Instruction is Kannada. The classes selected for our intervention program were 6 and 7. There are around 11 children in 6th Std and 15 children in 7th std. Both 6th and 7th children. Majority of the children in both the standards speak Kannada. But they do have children from Tamil, Telugu and Urdu languages. Most of the children come from Gulbarga colony slum. Parents are mostly from lower middle class and middle class. Also, the educational background of parents is mostly literate/ educated and illiterate/ uneducated. The interaction/relationship between the Teacher and students is good. (Few children have in fact said that they were sad because one of the teacher has not come to school). Corporal Punishments seem to exist (Teachers walk with stick to Classrooms). Teachers believe that its difficult to handle the children without stick, and they would listen only if they use stick.

We observed the following behavioral challenges when dealing with children of grade 6 and 7. We encountered a lot of behavioral issues like pulling, pushing, teasing, hitting when both 6 and 7 were combined for the class. Hence, we divided class 6 and 7 children and conducted sessions separately every time. During separate sessions following observations were noted. Grade 6 children would behave well in the absence of Grade 7 but 2 children would always sit quiet, isolate from others and would not participate in any activity and were ignored by their peers. While grade 7 children would always demonstrate aggressiveness, overpowering, hitting others, bullying and fighting with each other. Most of the boys would immediately react and hit others when they found that the other person is not supporting their thoughts/ideas and going against their thoughts/ideas. The understanding that the other person also has the right to say whatever he feels/thinks was not at all internalized. The girls from 6th std used to be very quiet throughout the class and would not talk or share anything as the boys were overpowering. One important observations that we could make during our sessions was that the boys normally fought for using languages other than Kannada. If somebody uses a language other than Kannada they would even go and hit the other child. Many a cases there were fights among children due to Language issues and also for talking bad about their favorite celebrities.

In order to overcome these behavioral challenges and execute the planned activities, we had to try various strategies and modify our plan as per the behavior of the children. We also integrated few Socio- emotional learning sessions as part of our planned activities to create self awareness about their emotions and overcoming it. We tried suggesting various strategies to overcome their anger through planned activities around the Story “Angry akku”.Activities like role-play, clay modelling, Story narration, discussions were planned around the idea of respecting others, treating everyone equally to help them understand the need and importance. After all this effort and planning there was some improvement in children behavior, when they tried hitting the other child in front of us they would look at us and say “I will control my anger”.This was very good development that we could see with this children. Moreover, they were very happy to be part of our sessions as we never hit or scold them and helped them understand maths and Language easily(Shared by Students). If we were able to see this granular change among these children through thoughtful activities and planning, definitely the teachers, parents and the School planning and collaborating together to integrate inclusive culture will have a greater impact on children understanding and behavior. The culture of inclusiveness should begin from the classroom by the teacher and then spreading it across to the School, community will have a profound impact on the development of children. It will help them shape their behavior and perspective towards inclusion.

Hence, in order to bring about the best in each and every child we would recommend the following suggestions/ recommendations to the School to reflect upon:

Teacher Preparation and Collaboration- Equipping the teacher to integrate the elements of inclusiveness in his/her classroom using different strategies with a thorough understanding of Universal design principles and Collaborating with the peer teacher in developing lesson plans, co-teaching, and sharing resources.

Involving Parents/families- There are various challenges associated with involving parents family, But, its also important that inclusion is not possible without parents/ families engagement. Understanding the Students and their families, communication with the parents about child, Involving parents and families in classroom activities, Allowing the families/parents to share their ideas will aid in developing inclusive environment.

School as a system- should promote inclusion both in and out of the classroom. They should encourage parents and teachers to use inclusive strategies. They should also take inclusive measures outside of the classroom.

An inclusive school culture requires a shift in the attitudes of all the stakeholders as well as the development practices that reinforce inclusive behavior. Real inclusion is about actions, not just words.

GHPS Devarachikkanahalli
GHPS Devarachikkanahalli Govt. Higher primary School is located in the South of Bangalore, near Bannerghatta Road. This School consists of around 400 students across the grades 1-8. There are around 10 teachers(Including HM). Medium of Instruction is Kannada. Among the 400 students, we got an opportunity to work with 40 children of grade 7. In Grade 7 there are children whose mother tongue is Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Urdu. But, most of the children could converse in Kannada. As far as our observations are concerned, Socio- economic status of the parents is mostly lower middle class and middle class. Also, the educational background of parents is mostly literate/ educated and illiterate/ uneducated. The interaction/relationship between the Teacher and students seem to be Moderate. (No child has neither expressed/shared about their like/ dislike of a Teacher nor interactions with them). Corporal Punishments seem to exist (Teachers walk with stick to the classrooms).

Periodic observations of the classroom environment and General interaction with teachers revealed that teachers are not aware of Inclusive education practices and consider addressing needs of students with difficulties as beyond the limit of their resources and practices. Hence, It becomes difficult for a teacher to understand and address the learning difficulties that children are facing. Regular Classroom interactions with students revealed that they could not concentrate or engage in an activity and used to be restless, disturbing and hitting others in the classroom. It was difficult for us to manage their energy levels as they would jump, fight, hit and bully each other throughout the session. Even though we used to divide children in two classes it was difficult for us to manage their behavior. This could be due to the fact that they were forced or made to sit silent throughout the day in their regular classes which made them to exhibit behaviors like Restlessness, disturbing others and constantly disturbing the class. Hitting and bullying others (especially those that used to be quiet in the class), Pushing and pulling each other while during the activity, Constantly jumping and roaming in and around classrooms are the behaviors that were predominantly observed among these children during most of our sessions. There were also 2-3 instances of Boys bullying girls was observed. Initially boys were not ready to sit beside girls and they used to just go back to their place when they were forcefully made to sit with them for the activity.

Various strategies like splitting them into groups, activities to channelize their energy, discussions on understanding the need to devote their concentration in studies, respecting others and treating girls equally were integrated and practiced along with the planned activities throughout our program. Sometimes the session would completely go out of track because of their behavioral challenges, and we would completely change our plans. But, we would never lose our temper to scold or hit children. Slowly, children have begun to come out of their inhibitions to sit with girls and participate in the activity. However, other behavior like respecting others, treating everyone equally and other behaviors need to be put to right. For this to happen, School as a whole system should work together to implement inclusiveness within the School culture and Practices.

Hence, following are some of the suggestions/ recommendations that the School (A System as a whole) must reflect upon.

Teacher Preparation and Collaboration- Equipping the teacher to integrate the elements of inclusiveness in his/her classroom using different strategies with a thorough understanding of Universal design principles and Collaborating with the peer teacher in developing lesson plans, co-teaching, and sharing resources.

Involving Parents/families- There are various challenges associated with involving parents family, But, its also important that inclusion is not possible without parents/ families engagement. Understanding the Students and their families, communication with the parents about child, Involving parents and families in classroom activities, Allowing the families/parents to share their ideas will aid in developing inclusive environment.

School as a system- should promote inclusion both in and out of the classroom. They should encourage parents and teachers to use inclusive strategies. They should also take inclusive measures outside of the classroom.

An inclusive school culture requires a shift in the attitudes of all the stakeholders as well as the development practices that reinforce inclusive behavior. Real inclusion is about actions, not just words.