Teacher Training In Using Effective Strategies For Preschool Children With Disabilities In Inclusive Classrooms

Research has shown that inclusion benefits children with disabilities and typical developing peers. Children with disabilities enrolled in inclusive settings were found to achieve better developmental outcomes than children with similar abilities enrolled in traditional special education settings (Hundert, Mahoney, Mundy, & Vernon, 1998), higher scores in language development, social, and academic skills (Downing & Peckham-Harding, 2007; Rafferty, Piscitelli, Boettcher, 2003), improved behavioral outcomes (Lee & Odom, 1996), development of friendships and social networks (Fryxell & Kennedy, 1995; Hall & McGregor, 2000), and happiness behaviors (Ryndak, Morrison, & Sommerstein, 1999). Studies also suggested that inclusion benefits typically developing children (Bentley, 2007; Cross, Traub, Hutter-Pishgahi, and Shelton, 2004; Guralnick, 1990; Mclean & Hanline, 1990; Peck, Staub, Gallucci, & Schwartz, 2004). The most commonly mentioned advantages include character development of typically developing children into more accepting, tolerant, and sympathetic individuals. While assisting their peers with disabilities, they also pick up additional skills such as sign language or assistive technology (Downing & Peckham-Harding, 2007). Moreover, Bentley (2007) observed through interviews with typical peers, that they find a teacher and role model in their friend with disabilities. As our field continues to make significant progresses in legislation (e.g., Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 2004, 2007) as well as evidence-based practices to serve diverse learners, inclusion for children with disabilities remains a challenge in the classroom practices. Many classroom teachers felt inadequate in teaching children with disabilities (Leyser & Kirk, 2004). However, once teachers experienced successful inclusion with children with disabilities, they became stronger advocate themselves in supporting the merit and practices of inclusion (Cross et al., 2004). The key to making inclusion successful is the availability of effective inclusion strategies and teacher training. More successful inclusion stories and experiences will then attract more teachers to include children with moderate to severe disabilities in their classrooms. There is a need to bridge the gap between research and practice by investigating the extent to which practitioners view strategies supported by research as useful and relevant in their classroom practice. In this survey study, 26 early childhood/early childhood special education practitioners shared their views on a list of peer-mediated strategies in serving children with disabilities in the general education classrooms. By investigating educators’ views on these naturalistic peer-mediated strategies derived from several research projects (Schepis, Reid, Ownbey, & Clary, 2003; Thompson et al., 1993; Yang, 2000), this study was designed to obtain practitioners’ input on the practicality and observed usage of strategies in the classroom practices. Research-based strategies supported by educators’ feedback will also be shared in this paper

Using Debate As A Pedagogical Tool In Enhancing Pre-Service Teachers Learning And Critical Thinking

Research has shown that using debate in higher education as a pedagogical tool has effect on promoting higher order and critical thinking (Camp & Schnader, 2010; Ng et al., 2004; Roy & Macchiette, 2005; Ryan & College, 2006). Debate has been implemented in various disciplines with adult learners, such as psychology (Budesheim & Lundquist, 1999), medicine (Koklanaris, Mackenzie, Fino, Arsland, & Seubert, 2008 ), political science (Omelicheva, 2005), marketing (Roy & Macchiette, 2005), accounting (Camp & Schnader, 2010), science & technology (Scott, 2008). Based on the previous studies, students viewed the use of debate as a new and innovative way to teaching and learning, while being more informative, and eye-opening (Kennedy, 2009; Munakata, 2010). The non-traditional method of teaching also increased students motivation and interest level (Munakata, 2010) as it gave a real sense of drama (Roy & Macchiette, 2005, p. 271). However, in teacher preparation, the implementation of debate as a pedagogical tool to promote learning as well as the research on this topic is relatively limited (Erduran, Ardac, & Yakmaci-Guzel, 2006; Ng, Lan, & They, 2004; Munakata, 2010; Sadler, 2006).  This study aims to implement debate as pedagogical tool to enhance pres-service teachers learning on the subject matter and investigate the effect of using debate in teacher training in Singapore context. The following research questions were posed in the study: (1) whether debate stimulated students thinking on the subject matter more than textbook readings and lectures (traditional teacher-directed methods), (2) to which extent students found debate helpful to their learning on the subject matter, (3) to which extent debate helped students to make connections between the subject matter and the real life, and (4) what was the qualitative feedback from students in their learning through the debate activity. Fifty-six pre-service teachers participated in a course evaluation survey to provide feedback on their learning. The results have shown that 83.9% of teachers agree that debate stimulated their thinking more than textbook readings and lectures, while 14.3% of teachers felt neutral, and 1.8% of teachers strongly disagree. Eighty two percent of teachers found debate very helpful to their learning while 16.1% felt neutral. In addition, 80.4% of teachers agree that debate helps them to make connections between the subject matter and the real life experiences while 17.9% of teachers felt neutral. Several observations emerged from students qualitative feedback on using debate in learning. Students expressed that the debate activity helped them to expand the understanding of the subject matter, retention of crucial concepts and knowledge, and comprehension of essential issues on the subject matter. Students felt debate helped them to understand different perspectives, and reduce bias. Some students reported change of their positions and perspectives after the debate. More importantly, many students stated that debate helped them develop critical thinking and higher order thinking skills in comparison to traditional methods