Black-Hawkins,
K., Florian, L., & Rouse, M. (2007) Thinking about achievement, inclusion
and the use of evidence (chapter 1, pp 1-12), Achievement and Inclusion in Schools. London: Routledge.
(Response to Una Carroll's reading of the text)
Thanks Una, really enjoyed reading your response! I’d like to see educational achievement being measured
by all five areas listed in the text; academic, social, emotional, creative,
physical. Thinking back to our discussion today, Nicola Sturgeon is talking
about introducing the National Developing Framework to measure more accurately
the achievements/lack of achievements. If there was a framework designed to
incorporate the five educational achievements listed in the text, that may give
a fairer and more in depth analysis of educational achievement, which falls into
place with the curriculum for excellence. Like you have said Una, these five
achievements, and possibly others- e.g. problem solving, motivation to learn
etc., would be things that I would also consider and influence my teaching
methods in the classroom.
I agree skills should be assessed on an
individual basis – so as to accommodate and benefit a child’s development.
Again I agree, peer comparisons occur naturally
within classrooms and schools. For a teacher to highlight these differences is
unhelpful. I wouldn’t want my math skills to be compared with a professional
mathematician of my age, and it wouldn’t make sense to compare the two.
Individual achievements and developments should be the focus. I remember Paul
said today in our discussion group that he likes some forms of competitiveness,
I agree, competition between peers can encourage and motivate learners, but is
not right for everyone, and may contradict inclusive practice. Primary school children
should not be driven to meet governmental quotas, they should be encourage to
be motivated learners.
We had a great discussion today centred on
achievements and social backgrounds. Again Una I agree, we certainly must not
make judgements on children, this would be detrimental to the individual and
may well ‘kick-start a self-fulfilling prophecy’. However, this is a challenge
when considering behaviour management. Children who show continuous low-level
disruption within a classroom test the teacher’s approach to that child. Teachers
may find themselves ‘stuck’ in behavioural management techniques that are
effective in the short term, but not the long term. (I’m thinking about my
placement school here, and the challenges ahead!!) It’s so important to break those
attitudes towards children who are ‘known’ to be disruptive.
I really like your questions regarding equal
educational opportunities for all students: ‘How do we ensure that we are doing
this? How can we fully measure inclusion in an education setting?’ It’s
certainly a challenge. Anyone else care to share their thoughts?!
To
conclude, I believe that educational achievement should be twofold. Firstly it
should be based on the expected age-related achievements, i.e. what we expect a
child aged seven should be achieving over a wide range of areas; academic,
social, emotional, creative etc. (some of you may disagree with me?) Secondly, and
most importantly, it should take into account individuals and individual
achievement. These two points must work together in order to measure
educational achievement, and be underpinned by inclusive practice. How can this
be transferred into a workable format for government to use as an effective
means to measure achievement and make improvements nationally? Not sure about
that. Perhaps it is possible, but there’s no quick fix.
Thinking back to our
discussion today- how do we uphold expectations of educational achievement,
when something as fundamental as a child’s upbringing contradicts schooling and
education? We set educational achievements with the knowledge that these will
not be achieved by every student at every stage. Individual assessment and
inclusive practice are key to the development of the learner. My aim is to be a
teacher who enables children to become self-motivated learners for life.
Cami Carter
28/09/15
quack.