Reflection is Important - Here's An Article That Stood Out for Me

For this post, I decided to reflect on an article that I read in my undergrad that really stood out to me and stuck with me for all these years. I feel that the components of this article are beyond beneficial for any educator working with students with exceptionalities and I think it is so important for educators to reflect and apply what they've taken away from it into their field. 

"To be an effective teacher, remember that regardless of individual needs, children are first and foremost children—and best practices for young children are best practices for all young children" (Brillante, 2017, para 3). There are many ways early childhood educators can help make the classroom more inclusive for children with disabilities. When working with children with diverse needs in the classroom, early childhood educators take on a role of ensuring the child feels just as a part of the classroom as any other child in the room. According to the article Every child belongs: Welcoming a child with a disability by Pamela Brilllante, it is important to establish a program that is developmentally appropriate and will suit the needs of all children, regardless of their differences by making small accommodations and modifications where a child may need more support.

Because every child learns and develops differently, it is also important that ECE's are available to support children one on one as some with or without disabilities are unable to or work better with guidance from a teacher (2017). Brillante lists seeing the child as a child first as the first practice early childhood educators should follow when working with children with diverse needs. It is best to eliminate the biased thought of what a child with a disability can or can not do in comparison to a child without one. Setting the same standards for all children will aid in creating an inclusive environment (2017). When planning activities for example, it should be done with the mentality that all children can participate and not that it is limited to who physically can or can not because of what they are diagnosed with, which ties into the first method educators should use to make all children feel included which is seeing the child as a child first.

She goes on to discuss that getting to know the child as a person as opposed to treating them according to their disability or label is key. A way of building that bond with a child is by talking and playing with them as well as determining their interests through observations in the classroom (2017). Making simple changes in the classroom is another practice that can be done by educators according to Brillante. Changes such as modifying the classroom, routines and activities in a way that is equally accommodating for all children (2017). There are different areas in the classroom that can use modifications to help children with disabilities complete tasks easier. Making changes to materials for example is a major one. Small things such as adding pencil grips to writing utensils and gluing wooden knobs on puzzle pieces go a long way for children who may have difficulties. Educators can even go as far as moving classroom furniture around to make it more accessible for children with physical disabilities for example (2017).

Loud noises, on the other hand, can easily become a classroom distraction for children and can in turn affect their learning abilities. There are in fact "sound absorbing" materials that can limit or decrease the amount of noise that enters a classroom such as carpets to reduce the sounds of footsteps, and chairs with tennis balls attached to the legs to reduce sounds of a dragging chair. Drapes also help with limiting the sound of outside traffic, shutting the classroom doors help with any hallway distractions and perhaps having a silent fan would keep the children more focused on what the teacher is saying.

I believe that this article really opens the eyes of educators as it did for me, in regards to realizing that even though all children are unique in their own ways as they learn in different strategies, and at different paces, at the end of the day, they are all children. Each child, regardless of their developmental background, is capable of learning. They are capable of completing any task they put their mind to and can reach their full learning potential just like anyone else. But it starts with the educator. It is important for educators to first become aware of said difficulties, learn new teaching strategies and also to learn how to establish an inclusive learning environment to help increase the confidence of the child. With this, comes learning different ways to modify lessons and activities and like the article said, eliminate biases and labelling of children. I hope this post becomes useful to the readers and is applied in practice as it can do wonders in the advancement of a child's learning.

Teresa@NU