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Module 1 Inclusive Education Lecture 1 & Introduction - Online

This document provides an overview of the TAST 107 Diverse Learners I course for the Fall 2021 semester. The course examines the philosophy of educating students with diverse needs in Alberta, as well as theoretical information related to specific disabilities. It also looks at the role of educational assistants in implementing students' individual program plans. The course will be delivered in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online components. Assessment will include online quizzes, two assignments, and a final exam, and will cover topics like defining disabilities, person-first language, Alberta's categories of disabilities, and diverse learning needs. Students are asked to read chapters in their textbook for the next class.

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Sharon Shen
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129 views

Module 1 Inclusive Education Lecture 1 & Introduction - Online

This document provides an overview of the TAST 107 Diverse Learners I course for the Fall 2021 semester. The course examines the philosophy of educating students with diverse needs in Alberta, as well as theoretical information related to specific disabilities. It also looks at the role of educational assistants in implementing students' individual program plans. The course will be delivered in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online components. Assessment will include online quizzes, two assignments, and a final exam, and will cover topics like defining disabilities, person-first language, Alberta's categories of disabilities, and diverse learning needs. Students are asked to read chapters in their textbook for the next class.

Uploaded by

Sharon Shen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TAST 107

Diverse Learners I

Special Needs Educational Assistant Program


Fall 2021

1
Introduction

• Instructor
–Dr. Natalia Rohatyn-Martin
–[email protected]
–Office hours: email to set up
appointment
A little about this course…
• This course examines the philosophy and educational concepts
associated with educating students with diverse needs in Alberta.
• In addition, the course examines theoretical information related to
specific disabilities noted in the course schedule.
• The role educational assistants have in implementing the objectives
identified in students’ individual program plans is also examined.
• Students explore in-depth program modification strategies,
documentation strategies and the effects of specific medications.
A little bit more about this course…
Blackboard

• Course outline
• Course calendar
Assessment Components
Assessment Weight
Quizzes (7 quizzes, 5% each) - online 35%
  
Assignment #1 15%

Assignment #2 25%

Final Exam - online 25%


(Cumulative)
A little bit more about this course…
Hybrid

• This course will be a hybrid – a mix of online


work and in-person lectures
• In class: masks are required
• Online: work is to be done on your own time
and is expected to be complete by the
deadline on your course schedule
(blackboard) and/or the following class
What does diversity in the classroom look
like?
Classroom Diversity

• Today’s classrooms comprise a wide diversity of


students who are coming to school with
– limited proficiency in the language of instruction,
– learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, or other
disabilities,
– “at-risk’ factors due to poverty (low SES), or coming from
culturally or linguistically different backgrounds.
Alberta Education, 2003; Ontario Ministry of Education, 2005
WHO are these diverse students
in Alberta schools?

The following stats are from Alberta


Education (2019-2020)
Defining a Disability

• How do you define the term disability?


• What synonyms would you have for the term ‘disability’?
Person First Language

• What terms are your familiar with? What do we hear in society


and the school yard?
• Are those terms representative of person first language?

• Along with the changes in services for students with


disabilities, the language we use has evolved away from
identifying the person with a label or diagnosis

• We are now using people first language, in which the person


comes before the disability, and the individual is not defined
by it.
People First Language
• Disability is Natural website (Kathie Snow)
– https://www.disabilityisnatural.com/people-first-language
.html

• “People First Language Chart”


– https://cdn.naaee.org/sites/default/files/people_first_lan
guage_chart.pdf
Person-Centered/ Identity-First Language
• The notion of identity-first language has been taken back by those who have
disabilities (e.g., Autistic population)

• For people who prefer person-first language, the choice recognizes that a human
is first and foremost a person: They have a disorder, but that disorder doesn’t
define them.

• For people who prefer identity-first language, the choice is about


empowerment. It says that their disability isn’t something to be ashamed of.

• When in doubt – ASK


– As with any group, especially any group of marginalized people, it’s the people who
we’re talking about who should be dictating what they’re called.
– The same word that’s empowering for some people might be retraumatizing for others.
Respect
the Military Special Needs Network,
a group that supports military
families, devised the helpful chart to
outline when -- if ever -- it’s OK to
use the word "retard.“
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry
/r-word-advocacy_n_6064196
Students with Exceptionalities
(textbook)
• Exceptionalities
– Textbook: students who are gifted and those with disabilities
– All students can learn and reach their full potential through effective teaching and
appropriate resources

Take a look at:


https://youtu.be/hKQXXHfGNoU
(Dis)abilities

• Umbrella Term
– Impairments – problem in a body function or structure
– Activity limitations – difficulty in executing a task
– Participations restrictions – problem experienced in life situation

• Interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society.

• Requires Interventions to remove social and environmental barriers


World Health Organization (n.d.). Disabilities. Retrieved from the WHO website http://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/

• Term is frequently used when referring to specific categories of “need” (e.g., learning
disability)

• Disability rights
https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/resources/disability-rights-are-human-rights
Diverse Learning Needs

– Categories vary province to province


• Alberta Education (n.d.) updated its approach to inclusive
education in 2010 and adopted the “Action on Inclusion”
framework, which is “about ensuring that each student
belongs and receives a quality education no matter their
ability, disability, language, cultural background, gender, or
age” (An Inclusive Education System section, para. 2).
Diverse Learning Needs

Consider we are all on a spectrum


Students with Disabilities

• Which disabilit(y/ies) are you familiar with?


Alberta’s Categories of Disabilities
• Learning disabilities • Visual impairments
• Speech and/or language disorders • Auditory/Hearing
• Intellectual/Developmental impairments
disabilities • Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD)
• Emotional and/or behavioural
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
disorders Disorder (FASD)
• Mental health issues • Traumatic brain injury
• Multiple disabilities • Gifted and/or talented
• Students at risk
Students with Disabilities

• Do you notice any ‘category’ of disability


missing?
For Next Class

 Meet IN Class

 Read Chapter 1 pp. 18-29 & Chapter 8 pp. 227-230

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