676 and 674: Equity and Access for English Learners and Students in Special Education

In the MAT program, we address several ways to address a myriad of diverse learners who all bring their various funds of knowledge to the classroom. To ensure there is equity and access for all students, I have highlighted several articles covering a wide range of approaches. 

The underlying theme is based off an acronym I created in my Equity and Access course, during the Spring 2019. This idea that classroom environments should offer Safety, Affirmation, Fairness, Empathy and Equity, or (SAFE). Fergus, Noguera, and Martin (2014) describes that students need to be in a safe, affirming environment to succeed by saying how “educators supported them influenced how intellectually interested they were in school. This in turn is also related to feelings of safety, fairness, and belonging that they perceived in school.” This is the underlying idea for SAFE, and it is also the idea for how I will develop my strategy for equity and access, including the strategies to be implemented.  These include: autoethnography, oral and written narratives, culturally relevant pedagogy, and implementing sheltered content instruction for English learners and learners with special needs. 

Here are ways that I will make my lessons more accessible to English learners and students with special needs. I believe that I can confidently approach students with all learning needs. 

Autoethnography
The MAT program challenged us to create our own autoethnography. The process of creating my own, and having a safe space to discuss situations where I have felt marginalized helped me grow as a person and a student. I firmly believe that this would benefit my future students. I plan to implement weekly digressions at the beginning of the week so that students may have the time to reflect on things going on with their lives. Camangian (2010) reported on the use of autoethnography in classrooms to foster literacy. The "findings suggest that autobiographies increased students knowledge of self and, upon recognizing one another's all-too-familiar struggles, the classroom climate became more conducive to constructing a critical common identity among youth of color." It is my firm belief that this can be used for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. The use of autoethnography, in regards to social science, could help foster social change for marginalized communities, by simply starting a dialogue. By participating in autoethnography exercises, students receive affirmation, and a sense of safety. 

Oral and Written Narratives
To ensure that EL and special education  students are in a fair academic setting, I plan to lean heavily on their oral narratives, so that they can efficiently construct better written dialogues. This will help English learners and students with special needs. This fosters affirmation, safety, and equity. Johnson and Freedman (2001) state that "by creating classroom environments where students can story together, teachers help students build their social skills, scaffold their knowledge of school subject matter, and become critical thinkers." This will allow my students, who are EL's to construct knowledge, get more confident in speaking, and foster new ideas by sharing. This is contingent that the students are in a safe sociocultural environment. 

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
Culturally relevant pedagogy requires empathy from the instructor. In social science, much is focused on the dominant culture. This requires to put the students needs above all. Howard (2003) states that the "call for a culturally relevant pedagogy is situated on the belief that many of the current educational practices and philosophies that permeate schools have failed miserably when it comes to educating students from culturally diverse and low income backgrounds."  The stakes are too high to teach a Eurocentric social science curriculum. The standards may drive lessons in Social Science, but they can be interpreted so that the representation of all communities is addressed, not just the dominant culture. Culturally relevant pedagogy also means teaching about oppression, which requires high levels of empathy, while maintaining a safe environment for all learners.

Sheltered Instruction
To ensure appropriate access for EL's and special education students,  I have incorporated several Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) methods, ensuring fairness. Echevarría and Graves (2011) state that sheltered instruction entails: "1. Vocabulary work done in small groups, 2. Reported definitions aloud, paraphrasing, 3. Read aloud in groups with support, 4. Class discussion with visuals, 5. Hands-on activity." These strategies would ideally be implemented in an ELD class or for my special education students.

These ideas are also discussed in by Ralabate (2016) in regards to universal design. The graphic  organizer on page 80 states that when taking notes to encourage students to use formats of their own choosing and permit the use of multiple forms of media. She also discusses providing examples for students and implementing digital response models.

The next generation of students respond well to technology, I believe implementing various mediums, such as Google class can help me provide constant feedback. They will also provide ways to consistently modify lessons for all learners.

Data Driven Instruction:
Bocala (2015) provides a guideline for how educators can evaluate their students. There is a glaring need for collaboration. This will help me consolidate behavior and academic issues within my class.  As a future teacher, I plan on collaborating with the special education instructors frequently to ensure that I provide a SAFE environment for all learners.


Conclusion
By using the model of SAFE, I can effectively look at what strategies can meet all the criteria. Most of the strategies There is also issue of providing less restrictive placements for students, allowing them to move, and incorporating the least restrictive environment. I believe that all of these methods can meet the criteria so that students can have more mobility, since all methods are student centered. In terms of special education here are my views. There are “activity setting features that promote success... the environment is dense with occasions for authentic problem solving and communication of the process and products of problem solving, "(Rueda, et, al 2009).

References
Candice Bocala, Kathyrn Parker Boudett. 2015. The Data Wise Improvement Process, Cambridge, MA. Harvard Education Press.

Ralabate, Patti K. (2016). Your UDL Lesson Planner. Paul H. Brooks Publishing Company.

Edward Fergus, Pedro Noguera, Margary Martin. 2015. Schooling For Resilience: Improving The Life Trajectory of Black and Latino Boys, Cambridge, MA. Harvard Education Press.

Camangian, P. November 2010. Starting with Self: Teaching Autoethnography to Foster Critically Caring Literacies. Teaching of English. 2nd ed., Vol. 45. National Council of Teachers of English. 191-195. Retrieved from Ares.

Tyrone C. Howard, 2003, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Ingredients for Critical Teacher Reflection. Theory Into Practice. Ohio State. Volume 45, 3. 191-1995. Retrieved from Ares.

Jana Echevarría, Anne Graves, Sheltered Content Instruction: Teaching English Learners with Diverse Abilities. Pearson. Boston, Pearson. Retrieved from Ares.