Theme II: Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Education

2.2 Learner Exceptionalities

2.1.6 Compare theories and philosophies of education and training impacting learners with

exceptionalities

Through the study of many theorists we have learned ways to accommodate and help

students with exceptionalities. These theories have helped create guidelines to further

accommodate students who need extra help. Students who struggle with special needs have the

opportunity to obtain IEP’s and 504’s to help them reach their academic goals and help them

learn life skills.

Some of the theorists we researched(Pizza Project Evidence 2.2.1) included Benjamin

Bloom, Jean Piaget, and John Dewey. They studied the development of the human mind and

those concepts have taught teachers how to use differentiation in a lesson. Jean Piaget's theory

explains how the brain develops in specific steps. This allowed teachers to understand the

development of early childhood brains and develop lesson plans based on their development. For

example students with special needs learn at a different speed unlike everyone else, they have to

learn at their own level. Benjamin Bloom developed Cognitive Taxonomy. Taxonomy is a series

of steps that start with the basic foundations and builds upon knowledge leading students to

progress on their own. The teachers are able to use this knowledge to help write IEP’s and lesson

plans for students with exceptionalities by building a step by step process to help progress a

students goals. John Dewey's theory is based on a hands-on approach, where students should be

given the opportunity to learn how to adapt to the real world. This helps students with

exceptionalities learn how to produce life skills on their own.

 Students with exceptionalities will struggle to meet the school standards of academic

achievement, especially compared with a student who does not have challenges. A student's

physical, mental, and emotional health can affect the way a student learns. Physical health can

cause limitations in the classroom and socialization, for example, blindness and deafness, a

teacher may have to help the student after class by giving an explanation about the lesson.

Poverty (evidence 2.2.4) is an example of emotional health. This may cause a student to not

come to school on days where they have no clothes available or have to wear the same outfit

everyday without washing. Absences cause these students to get behind on school and affect

their learning. The teacher should build a relationship with the student, so the student feels cared

for, supported, and included. However, a student who is not financially struggling does not have

the same challenges as that of students in poverty, but can still have differing struggles. Through

viewing a Ted Talk(evidence 2.2.5) I learned about students with gifted exceptionalities. Gifted

students may be above grade level and as a teacher they should support the student by

empowering them to take action and to contribute to the world. A teacher needs to keep them

challenged and engaged while still teaching and supporting the other students. Students at a

normal grade level should not be left behind, they should be challenged with criteria based on

their level of learning compared to a gifted student. A teacher should be prepared for any type of

student to walk into their classroom and have assignments that will accommodate their needs.

Children with exceptionalities have certain accommodations so that they may reach a

certain goal in academic achievement. Listening to an intervention specialist (Evidence 2.2.3), I

learned the difference between accommodations and modifications. Accommodations are

helping students by giving them “extras” (extended time) to help them succeed. While
modifications are modifying the curriculum and to meet the student’s needs. Knowing this as a

teacher I can help meet the accommodations and modifications in order to help the needs of all

my students. A teacher may need to modify their classroom management and the set up of a

classroom for students who have physical impairments, like students who are wheelchair bound.

Emotional Impairments can be students who can’t stay focused or have extreme stress around

them and may become too much. Students have a life outside of school that teachers do not know

about that could already be stressful adding more anxiety over an assignment may cause a

student to combust. A teacher should be lenient and accommodate their needs and give them

more time on the assignments. The student may need the teacher to break assignments into

smaller tasks that will build up to the final assignment. In my first placement, I interviewed Mrs.

Troyer(Evidence 2.2.2) she said that students who may have ADHD need movement around the

classroom. So instead of staying at the desk all day doing the same tasks a teacher may put

stations into their lesson plans to keep movement to complete different tasks towards the same

goal. Social Impairments are students who are unable to understand social cues or not being able

to build relationships with others. Furthermore, for students who may have social impairments

like Autism may need the teacher to modify and accommodate the classroom. A way to modify

for students' needs is to differentiate(evidence 2.2.7) by putting the classroom into groups or

stations based on how the student needs help. They may also need the teacher to set up a space

just for them to have individual work and help teach the student social competencies(Evidence

2.2.6). This is by helping the student learn self-confidence and impulse control, the list is

endless, so that the student may be able to go out and use these skills on other tasks. Through the
study conducted by these theorists, solutions have been made in order to help the needs of the

students to reach academic achievement.

Through an Intervention specialist(evidence 2.2.3) I have learned the different solutions

to help students with exceptionalities. IEPs are individual education plans for teachers to help

students reach an academic goal. This is making big tasks into smaller goals so they may reach

the bigger picture of their academic goals. Teachers may need to put aside time to individually

help these students reach their goals and improve. They have to keep progress reports in order to

keep good communication with others and to know what the students have achieved and where

they need to go. While, 504 Plans are giving students accommodations in order to help them

succeed in school. This is giving them extended time, putting them in small group settings, and

overseeing the students through checking on them individually. There are also Individualized

Family Service plans for students from birth to 3 years old, to help start closing the gap early.

This is to help infants get to or reach their age appropriate developmental level. It is used in

speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.

Differentiation(evidence 2.2.7) is how students learn at different rates. Students who may

have different disabilities may learn in different ways. So, a student who has Down Syndrome

may need assignments with pictures and simple words that they can understand. A teacher may

need to repeat/rephrase instructions for students with low processing speed. The educator needs

to check that the students can demonstrate the knowledge and can do this by making them

produce a certain product, so the teacher will have to give an assignment. For a student with

Down Syndrome, they may need to produce a product in smaller steps, so they do not become

overly stressed. There are also students with dyslexia that have difficulty reading due to
problems identifying letters and speech sound. This causes a teacher needing to differentiate by

alternating with audiobooks, helping them with spelling, and with reading activities. As teachers

we have to help our students achieve the very best and we can’t do that by letting them do it all

on their own. We have to help them by accommodating and modifying the classroom to fit their

needs to learn.