'A study at Vanderbilt University showed that there was a 15 point increase in academic achievement for "typical students" - where there was an inclusive classroom model without segregation through ability. This happened because of increased collaboration with peers, and this raised focus on understanding the curricular content - particularly when providing assistance or coaching peers.' (Habib, 2014)
As Dan Habib at TEDx Amoskeag Millyard on Disabling Segregation posed the question, "What kind of world do you want your kids to grow up in?". A study at Vanderbilt University showed that there was a 15 point increase in academic achievement for "typical students" - where there was an inclusive classroom model without segregation through ability. This happened because of increased collaboration with peers and this raised focus on understanding the curricular content - particularly when providing assistance or coaching a peer.' (Habib, 2014)
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This raised two questions we need to consider in our classrooms:
In order to have the benefit of an inclusive classroom and encouraging mixed-ability groupings, we need to facilitate the benefit by creating positive relationships. Dudley (2016) suggested in his article, Working with Mixed-Ability Groupings, “it takes time to establish working methods”. As teachers we should also showcase each student’s strengths. In the first few weeks of the school year try...
- How can I support a mix-ability classroom? and
- How can I create a safe, and caring classroom environment to support a mixed-ability classroom?
In order to have the benefit of an inclusive classroom and encouraging mixed-ability groupings, we need to facilitate the benefit by creating positive relationships. Dudley (2016) suggested in his article, Working with Mixed-Ability Groupings, “it takes time to establish working methods”. As teachers we should also showcase each student’s strengths. In the first few weeks of the school year try...
- getting to know your students - who are they,
- also allow opportunities for the students to get to know each other,
- what do they find interesting,
- ask them what their hopes and fears are,
- Assign responsibilities within the classroom which rotates bi-weekly such as a class runner to get, desk detoxing team or class encouragers - be creative, and
- Explore The Tribes Trail, in Figure 1, which works with four essential agreements which develops a sense of belonging, values differences and encourages community.
Figure 1: Creating a community requires work which supports inclusive practices which builds on the meaning of belonging. It has tremendous benefits in various factors in building collaborative skills. (Educational Facilitators: Tribes, 2020)
I really appreciated this from Alston & Sobel’s (2020) article:
“The key with group work is to balance the academic demands and the social needs. The greater the academic demand that we are making of a child, the lower we should make the social demands, and vice-versa.
If we are asking the child to tackle new material or learning in an area which they find particularly difficult, we should minimise the social demands by allowing them to work on their own or in a very small group. Equally when the learning is something that they feel confident with, we can increase the social demand.”
Yes as educators we should be differentiating and there are a lot of benefits with mixed ability groups. However, by looking at inclusion through a multi-layered lens of social, academic and physical inclusion - it brings great depth/thought to our teaching, as discussed in Missy Pfaff's (2016) article - Social Inclusion is not Enough. It is a balancing act because as we see the benefits of inclusion we also need to make it meaningful and purposeful for our students (Moore, 2017). Figure 2 demonstrates what factors we need to think about when making inclusive groups. Particularly when creating mixed ability groups, simply putting them together isn't enough. We need to consider the student's needs and whether we have created a classroom environment which supports positive relations.
“The key with group work is to balance the academic demands and the social needs. The greater the academic demand that we are making of a child, the lower we should make the social demands, and vice-versa.
If we are asking the child to tackle new material or learning in an area which they find particularly difficult, we should minimise the social demands by allowing them to work on their own or in a very small group. Equally when the learning is something that they feel confident with, we can increase the social demand.”
Yes as educators we should be differentiating and there are a lot of benefits with mixed ability groups. However, by looking at inclusion through a multi-layered lens of social, academic and physical inclusion - it brings great depth/thought to our teaching, as discussed in Missy Pfaff's (2016) article - Social Inclusion is not Enough. It is a balancing act because as we see the benefits of inclusion we also need to make it meaningful and purposeful for our students (Moore, 2017). Figure 2 demonstrates what factors we need to think about when making inclusive groups. Particularly when creating mixed ability groups, simply putting them together isn't enough. We need to consider the student's needs and whether we have created a classroom environment which supports positive relations.
Figure 2: It's a balancing act. (Alston & Sobel’s 2020)