Mainstream Classrooms Research Articles

Perceived effectiveness of assistive devices and support services provided to students with visual impairment in mainstream classrooms in the United Arab Emirates

AbstractStudents with disabilities such as visual impairment (VI) face challenges in accessing education, mainly owing to their inability to participate in learning activities in the classroom. While experts in special education have discussed the deployment of assistive technology (AT) to support the learning of students with VI, research on its impact is very scarce, especially in non‐western countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To bridge this gap, this study explored special education teachers' perceptions regarding the effectiveness of AT in supporting the learning and mobility of students with VI in schools. A total of 228 special education teachers from three regions in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, participated in the study. The participants completed an assistive technology for VI scale, and the data were subjected to mean score computation, multivariate analyses of variance and correlation and hierarchical multiple regression. Participants rated the impact of AT highly with regard to the reading, writing and orientation and mobility skills of students with VI. Interestingly, the orientation/mobility sub‐scale showed an association with teacher experience and location. The article discusses the practical implications of the findings as well as directions for future research.

Factors Preventing Teachers from Effectively Implementing Inclusive Education in Mainstream Classrooms in a Selected Combined School in South Africa

Inclusive education (IE) was introduced in 2001 in South African schools. Still, its implementation in mainstream classrooms has not attained optimum potential. To highlight the shortcomings, this study explores factors preventing teachers from effectively implementing IE in a combined school. Qualitative data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, and document analysis. Thematic analysis results revealed teacher preparedness, among other factors, is impeding the effective implementation of IE in schools. Bronfenbrenner’s theory emphasised the need for collaboration to achieve systemic goals. The study recommends education authorities consider the shortcomings to strengthen teacher efficacy and student support, including endorsing school infrastructure IE compliant.

Norwegian classroom teachers’ and specialized “resource” teachers’ dyslexia knowledge

AbstractStudents with reading difficulties such as dyslexia receive most of their instruction in mainstream classrooms, but many teachers feel inadequately prepared to teach students with dyslexia and/or report that dyslexia was inadequately addressed in their training. However, depending on a school’s organization, it may be sufficient that classroom teachers know enough to realize when to ask for support with identification and accommodation from specialized teachers with greater knowledge. In the present study we first investigate dyslexia knowledge in a sample of Norwegian upper-elementary-school teachers (N = 269). Second, we examine whether specialized (“resource”) teachers are more knowledgeable about dyslexia than classroom teachers. Finally, we explore whether teaching experience and having encountered reading-related themes in formal training predict dyslexia knowledge. Overall, we find that only a small share of teachers holds misconceptions about dyslexia. However, a notable proportion of them are uncertain, especially regarding the role of visual deficits in dyslexia. Somewhat surprisingly, resource teachers have only marginally higher dyslexia knowledge than classroom teachers. Finally, neither experience nor reading-related course content in formal training are substantial predictors of dyslexia knowledge. The large extent of uncertainty concerning dyslexia suggests a need to reconsider teacher training curriculum and opportunities for teacher professional development.

Teaching Experience and Self-Efficacy of Beginner Teachers in Mainstream Classroom

Teaching Experience and Self-Efficacy of Beginner Teachers in Mainstream Classroom

From Policies to Practices: Factors Related to the Use of Inclusive Practices in Portugal.

Inclusion is considered a foundation for quality education, and teachers' inclusive practices are essential for success in mainstream classrooms. Portugal has been making progressive improvements in its policies for inclusive education, although there is little consistency in school practices within or between schools. Moreover, data identifying the personal and career variables relevant to teachers' inclusive practices in Portugal are scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between teachers' inclusive practices and personal and career-based characteristics, including gender, level of teaching, years of experience, roles performed at school, and perception of inclusive resources. The participants were 924 teachers who worked in private and public schools in Portugal. Regression analysis showed that perceived inclusive resources, level of teaching, and gender predicted variance in inclusive practices. Mean difference analyses revealed that teachers at the lower levels of teaching, females, and teachers reporting more inclusive resources had the highest scores for inclusive practices. These findings are discussed in terms of their practical relevance for inclusive school systems.

Assessing the efficacy of online teacher training programs in preparing pre‐service teachers to support students with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms in the UAE: A case study

AbstractThe study aimed to explore the challenges and potential benefits of online delivery in preparing pre‐service teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for inclusive teaching. The study specifically examined their readiness to assist students with special educational needs (SEN) within the K‐12 education system. It employed semi‐structured interviews to comprehensively understand the perspectives and experiences of 11 pre‐service teachers enrolled in an online teacher education programme. The findings revealed that the participants expressed significant concern about their preparedness to teach students with SEN. They expressed apprehension about the limited opportunities they had during their teacher education programme to learn about and interact with students with SEN. The findings also shed light on the gap between theory and practice, underscoring the importance of contemporary teacher education programmes in re‐evaluating their curricula to address the emerging needs of both learners and teachers, specifically in the post‐pandemic era of COVID‐19. Lastly, the study provided implications for practice and suggested future research in this area.

Be(com)ing multilingual listeners: preparing (monolingual) teacher candidates to work with multilingual learners in mainstream classrooms

Classrooms across the United States today often include students from multiple different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The teaching force, by contrast, has remained predominantly White and Anglophone with little experience learning additional languages (Athanases & Wong, 2018; Deroo & Ponzio, 2023; Pettit, 2011). When teachers themselves have limited experience with linguistic diversity, how can teacher ­educators raise teacher candidates’ (TCs) critical multilingual language awareness (CMLA) over the limited duration of the teacher certification process? This article analyzes the implementation of a CMLA project which engaged secondary TCs in becoming language learners themselves to reflect on the experience of being an early language learner. We collected written reflections from 49 TCs about their language learning experiences over 30 h and drew on the five domains of CMLA (Power, Cognitive, Affective, Social and Performance) (Prasad, 2022) to code the data set. We focus on the domain of Power to examine how learning a new language even for a short time can engage TCs practically in attending not only to mechanics of teaching and learning with multilingual students but also more critically to recognize the systemic power relations among languages and language users in schools. RÉSUMÉ Aujourd’hui, les salles de classe à travers les États-Unis comprennent souvent des élèves issus de multiples origines culturelles et linguistiques différentes. Le corps enseignant, en revanche, reste majoritairement blanc et anglophone, avec peu d‘expérience dans l‘apprentissage de langues supplémentaires (Athanases & Wong, 2018; Deroo & Ponzio, 2023; Pettit, 2011). Lorsque les enseignants ont eux-mêmes une expérience limitée de la diversité linguistique, comment les formateurs d‘enseignants peuvent-ils élever l’éveil aux langues critiques (CMLA en anglais) des stagiaires pendant la durée limitée du processus de certification des enseignants? Cet article analyse la mise en œuvre d‘un projet de CMLA dans le cadre duquel des stagiaires du secondaire ont été amenés à devenir eux-mêmes des apprenants de langues afin de réfléchir à leur expérience d‘apprenant précoce de langues. Nous avons recueilli les réflexions écrites de 49 stagiaires sur leurs expériences d‘apprentissage des langues pendant 30 heures et nous nous sommes appuyés sur les cinq domaines du CMLA (pouvoir, cognitif, affectif, social et performance) (Prasad, 2022) pour coder l‘ensemble des données. Nous nous concentrons sur le domaine du pouvoir pour examiner comment l‘apprentissage d‘une nouvelle langue, même pendant une courte période, peut inciter les stagiaires à s‘intéresser de manière pratique non seulement aux mécanismes de l‘enseignement et de l‘apprentissage avec des étudiants multilingues, mais aussi, de manière plus critique, à reconnaître les relations de pouvoir systémiques entre les langues et les apprenants de langues dans les écoles.

The Listen to Learn for Life (L3) assessment framework

Listening is the primary gateway for children to learn in the mainstream classroom, but the dynamics and noise of modern classrooms can make listening challenging. This is especially true for children with hearing loss, language and communication difficulties, attention deficits, autism, other learning needs, and/or those communicating in a language other than their native language. It is, therefore, critical for researchers to realistically assess how children listen to learn in the classroom and to understand how listening can be improved to enhance children’s learning and wellbeing. The Listen to Learn for Life (L3) assessment framework is a tool to use when conducting this research which holistically incorporates frameworks from health, speech and hearing sciences, and education sectors. The L3 assessment framework has three main components: characterisation of activity (perceptual setting of lecture, group work, or individual learning activity), functioning assessment (hearing, listening, comprehending, or communicating), and impact (learning and wellbeing). These are affected by External and Internal Influences. Here, we present selected examples of how to apply the framework to assess children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing during different classroom activities as well as determine the effectiveness of a chosen intervention.

An interdisciplinary approach to enhance children’s listening, learning, and wellbeing in the classroom: The Listen to Learn for Life (L3) Assessment Framework

IntroductionListening is the gateway to children learning in the mainstream classroom. However, modern classrooms are noisy and dynamic environments making listening challenging. It is therefore critical for researchers from speech and hearing, education, and health sciences to co-design and collaborate to realistically assess how children listen to learn in the classroom and to understand how listening can be improved to enhance children’s learning and wellbeing – an understanding which is currently lacking. Such highly interdisciplinary thinking demands a holistic classroom listening framework that can integrate a range of varied assessments and outcomes.MethodsAn extensive review of literature into classroom listening was conducted but failed to identify a suitable framework. In this hypothesis and theory article we present a new framework that we have developed – the Listen to Learn for Life (L3) Assessment Framework.ResultsThe L3 Assessment Framework holistically incorporates frameworks from health, speech and hearing sciences, and education sectors. The framework accommodates a broad range of different factors that may affect listening, allowing for researchers to choose specific factors dependent on the context of use.DiscussionSelected examples of applying the framework are provided demonstrating how to assess children’s performance during different classroom activities as well as the effectiveness of a chosen intervention. For example, the framework can be used to assess the effectiveness of a wireless remote microphone intervention during group work activities for a child with autism.ConclusionThe L3 Assessment Framework provides a theoretical basis for the future development of research and practice as applied to listening in a classroom setting.

Resourced provision in mainstream schools for students with special educational needs and/or disabilities: Inclusive service or safe space?

AbstractAlthough the number of resource provision (RP) classrooms for the education of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in English mainstream schools has increased, very little is known about their functioning and impact. Through collaborative research, based on critical communicative methodology, this study aims to (i) evaluate with the participants the effective practices and challenges in educating students with SEND in RP and mainstream classrooms, and (ii) discuss the position of RP within the inclusion and exclusion debate. Reflective conversations, communicative focus groups and communicative observations were conducted with teachers, teaching assistants, mothers and students in three schools. Two different models were identified in the conceptualisation and practice of RP; either as a service to promote the education and inclusion of students with SEND in mainstream classroom/school, or as a space for specialised provision with opportunities for inclusion. These models reflect two different approaches in the education of these students, the rights‐ and the needs‐based approach respectively. We argue that RP as inclusive service should be prioritised. However, flexibility in its conceptualisation and functioning, either as inclusive service or safe space, can positively contribute towards a realistic approach to inclusion combining human rights and individual diversity perspectives.

Inclusion of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Saudi Arabia: A Study of the Perceptions of Teachers.

The researchers investigated how teachers perceive the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing (D/hh) students in mainstream classrooms in Saudi Arabia. They also examined how teachers' perception of this inclusion is influenced by their position (as a teacher in special or mainstream education). The researchers collected 196 teacher responses using an existing online survey (partly open-ended). They found that, overall, teachers in Saudi Arabia had slightly negative perceptions of teaching D/hh students in mainstream classrooms. But their teaching position did not seem to influence their perceptions. The researchers recommend that efforts be made to reduce negative perceptions of inclusion as a teaching practice in Saudi Arabia. Teachers working with D/hh children in mainstream schools should receive enough training to work successfully with these students. Awareness should be raised of inclusion's benefits and how inclusion differs from mainstream education.

Inclusive classroom climate development as the cornerstone of inclusive school building: review and perspectives.

Education institutional guidelines around the world agree that building more inclusive schools is a priority. The reality of school practice, however, belies this institutional will. To help fill the gap, this theoretical review documents the value that the construct of classroom climate brings to research and practice in terms of inclusive school development. The article firstly points out that the current main challenge is to develop Inclusive Mainstream Teaching (IMT) in diverse classrooms. Indeed, IMT is needed in all classrooms to guarantee the effectiveness of special accomodating measures in schools that are targeted at special education needs students. Intervening at classroom level is both a pragmatic and powerful way of developing inclusive schooling. However, developing IMT in the classroom remains a challenge for both teachers and researchers. Thus this review documents the central role that classroom climate should play in the development of IMT. More precisely, the factors of classroom climate that are associated with inclusive outcomes are identified. We also highlight how these factors and the measurements associated with them are efficient tools to guide IMT development. These measures are proximal, sensitive, complementary, and pragmatic indicators of effective IMT. Such indicators are very useful in helping research empirically document effective IMT, ensure that any small improvement is assessed, monitor teachers' progress, and assist their professional growth. Theoretically positioned as a mediator between inclusive teaching in mainstream classrooms and inclusive school outcomes, inclusive classroom climate is a tool that appears to be effective in supporting IMT development and, consequently, in the establishment of more inclusive schools.

An In-Depth Investigation of Parents' Experiences about the Developmental and Diagnosis Process of Children with Specific Learning

This study examines the developmental processes, diagnosis processes, and needs of children with specific learning disabilities based on their parents' experiences. The research was conducted with a qualitative research methodology. The study group in the research was formed by the typical sampling method. The study group comprises the parents of 12 students with specific learning disabilities educated in mainstream classrooms. The researchers developed a semi-structured interview form in the context of literature. Content analysis of the transcribed voice recordings was made. As a result, four main themes emerged “Developmental Process, Social Relations, Diagnosis Process, and Strengths and Weaknesses.” The parents have difficulties in their children's self-care skills, motor development, social development, cognitive development, and language development compared to their peers in preschool. The parents noticed their children's development needs during the homework process and pointed out the low level of knowledge of the teachers in both preschool and school periods. It was stated that the children had developmental needs in all developmental areas, especially language development in the preschool period. Also, parents expressed that their children have difficulties with often drawing attention to the difficulties experienced by their children in social relations.

Analysis of Phonological Errors Made by Grade 4 Learners with Communication Difficulties in Kieni East Sub-County

Inclusive education in Kenyan primary schools brings together learners with special needs and their peers without special needs in the mainstream classroom. Some learners in inclusive classrooms have challenges that hinder the acquisition of literacy skills. Official instruction in ESL in primary schools begins in Grade 4. Learners who fail to acquire basic language skills in Grade 4 will struggle to master ESL in the upper classes. Against this backdrop, this study set out to analyze the phonological errors made by Grade 4 learners of ESL in Kieni East Sub-County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Seven primary schools in Kieni-East were randomly sampled, and 11 students with communication difficulties purposively sampled for data collection. The 11 learners were observed during an ESL listening and speaking lesson. The researcher turned Sony ICD-UX570 Digital Voice Recorder on and left it on the learner’s desk for a 35-minute lesson. The study identified twenty-seven (27) words with phonological errors. The phonological errors were categorized into five classes such as cluster reduction (22%) followed by reduplication (19%), distortion (15%), deletion (15%), stopping (11%), backing (11%) and gliding (7%), respectively. The audio-recorded data was transcribed, and the correct forms provided in a table. Data was analyzed qualitatively using Error Analysis and Natural Phonology Theory to describe the phonological errors. The study found that Grade 4 learners with communication difficulties make phonological errors due to word complexities, biological disorders, and poor cognitive development. Further, the study established that inclusive schools do not have adequate assistive resources to instruct learners with communication difficulties. This study recommends that teachers should partner with speech therapists and language researchers to assist learners with communication needs. Further, EARC should equip all inclusive classrooms with assistive resources to address the needs of learners with communication needs.

Application and Relevance of the Orton Gillingham Structured Literacy Teaching Approach to Pupils with Specific Learning Disabilities in Kenyan Public Primary Schools

The Kenyan Government through the Ministry of Education has since independence been committed to improving education and inclusion of children with audio, visual, physical and mental disabilities. Despite the fact that considerable change and growth have been realized since the ratification of treaties such as United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the implementation of inclusive free and appropriate education for learners living with Specific Learning disabilities still remains a challenge. This limits the potential of students with specific learning disabilities especially in mainstream classrooms, to acquire basic literacy skills including spoken language, reading, writing, spelling and comprehension. Literacy skills are key in determining performance in other subjects taught in the school curriculum. The overall objective of this study is the exploration of the application and relevance of the Orton Gillingham structured literacy teaching approach to pupils living with dyslexia in Kenyan public primary schools. This qualitative study used content analysis to explore appropriate teaching methodology to pupils with such challenges. The study analyzed various studies that have been done on the appropriateness and effectiveness of the Orton Gillingham method and its application and relevance to the Kenyan school context.

Strategies for Including the Excluded in Education: A Case of Children with Intellectual Disabilities

This article has been prepared to disclose a number of strategies that need to be implemented to ensure the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities in education. This research is guided by interpretive paradigm accompanied by institutional ethnography. Eight special education teachers, four resource classroom teachers, and five experts working in the field of inclusive education were chosen as the sample of the study by employing purposive sampling technique. In-depth interview and desk review were used as the main techniques to collect information and then the information were transcribed, edited, classified, and thematized by considering the objective of this study. External audit, peer review and thick description have been used as major techniques to maximize the credibility and authenticity of this article. Results of this study reveal that almost all students with intellectual disabilities were receiving educational services in segregated settings though there are policy provisions of providing inclusive education. Therefore, different strategies such as providing multi-tiered supports, developing sense of belongingness, educating in the mainstream classroom, mobilizing peers, formulating alternative learning standards, creating cooperative learning environment, etc. should be employed to optimize the inclusion of these children in education.

Digital tools and social-ecological sustainability. Going beyond mainstream ways of understanding the roles of tools in contemporary eduscapes

All education in Sweden, or the Swedish eduscape, is permeated by discourses of compensation and inclusion, conceptualized in this study as a one-school-for-all ethos or perspective. This ethos contributes to a social-ecological framing, wherein the intentions are a society where everyone can participate as active members. This study scrutinizes the governmental strategy of 2017 to digitalize the Swedish educational system based on a one-school-for-all perspective. The study is framed by SWaSP (Second Wave of Southern Perspective) theoretical ideas, with a special focus on positionings, languaging, timespaces, and epistemological-methodological dimensions, including ethics based on the entangled tenets of sociocultural, integrationist, and southern perspectives. Furthermore, this study is anchored in three research projects and one societal developmental project. Materials - e.g., video recordings, audio recordings, photos, artifacts, fieldnotes – from these projects have been generated through (n)ethnographic methods from different institutions in the Swedish educational landscape i.e., eduscape. These span across compulsory schools to Swedish for Immigrants (SFI), within Municipal Adult Education. Three themes have emerged in the multi-scalar data analysis from across settings: (i) intended inclusion, (ii) unintended exclusion, and (iii) intended exclusion. The first theme highlights how digital tools (DTs) create inclusion for students with special needs, or those who are new to the named-language Swedish, in the classroom community, thus contributing to social-ecological sustainability. The second theme illustrates how DTs intended for inclusion in classroom practices morph into tools of exclusion for individuals in mainstream classrooms. The third theme highlights how students in the Swedish eduscape are intentionally excluded from mainstream classrooms. We argue that a social-ecological sustainable stance troubles the division of eduscapes into “mainstream” and “other” settings in contemporary societies, calling for the inclusion of all students irrespective of their positionalities. Our findings highlight that multimodal use of DTs potentially can facilitate inclusion, by providing tools where individual students can participate in and contribute to teaching and learning—what we frame as a third position of classroom organization.

English learner talk in mainstream classrooms: Examining classroom ecology

This qualitative study examines two multilingual, mainstream, secondary classrooms in the United States in which English learners consistently participated in classroom talk. Using an ecological perspective, this study unpacks these classroom environments and ways these teachers created and facilitated language use. Findings indicate that talk in these classrooms was grounded in classroom norms and structures that were established and then cultivated throughout the course. Highly-structured and familiar communication structures reduced many obstacles to EL participation and recognized all students, regardless of language proficiency, as knowledgeable members of the classroom community. These teachers accounted for language learning and language learners at the outset of the course in the overall structure, design, and delivery, not only within individual activities, lessons, or units. This suggests that teaching ELs in mainstream mathematics contexts can extend beyond EL-specific strategies and modifications to considerations for language learning that can be enacted on a classroom level.

Pedagogical Practices for Dyslexic Learners in Moroccan EFL Classroom

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that affects not only students’ first-language literacy skills but also foreign language learning. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition as well as poor spelling and decoding abilities. It does not indicate a lack of intelligence or idleness, but rather it is a typical condition that influences the manner the brain processes written and spoken language. In order to ensure that dyslexic students successfully acquire the necessary levels of foreign language proficiency, they need additional support. A total of forty-seven teachers took part anonymously in an online study. A questionnaire was used to provide a descriptive account of the training requirements of EFL teachers who face the challenge of teaching dyslexic students within the mainstream classroom in the six largest universities in Morocco. The findings indicated that foreign language teachers often lack adequate understanding of the nature of dyslexia and the challenges it poses in foreign language learning, and they are unfamiliar with the relevant teaching techniques and methods to support dyslexic students’ language learning processes. However, they expressed their interest in some courses that would help them expand their knowledge and skills and be able to teach dyslexic students more effectively and inclusively.

Foreign language pre-service teachers' perceptions of concerns before and challenges experienced during the first teaching practicum

The growing call among the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to recruit, retrain, and recertify foreign and migrant teachers in order to diversify the teaching force to reflect the increasingly diverse student population justifies the need to explore the experiences of foreign language teachers during their first teaching practicum in Australian mainstream classrooms. Semi-structured interviews were held with six foreign language pre-service teachers pursuing the Master of Teaching (Secondary) programme. The purpose was to explore their teaching experiences, concerns prior to the first teaching practicum in Australian mainstream classrooms, and how they dealt with the challenges encountered. The findings indicate that although teaching a foreign language in community language schools provided the teachers with some practical teaching skills, values, and opportunities to practice the knowledge and theories acquired in their master’s programme, they all had concerns before the teaching practicum and encountered some challenges while undertaking it. The study discusses the challenges that the participants encountered and how they addressed them. In addition, it highlights the need for universities to design retraining programmes that address the unique concerns of foreign language teachers and equip them with the requisite knowledge and skills to enable them to become effective teachers in their new context.