Managing class of diverse learners

Andrew Leichsenring :
You are an early career Elementary school teacher and it is the start of a new school year. You walk into your assigned classroom for the year and as you begin the morning session of the first day, before you are seated 26 students. From dialogues you have had in staff meetings during the days prior to the commencement of the school year you will have gained an understanding of the mix of different learners presented before you. Upon identifying the specific needs of the number of diverse learners in your classroom, how will you manage their learning to develop a harmonious and productive learning environment for your learners? Let’s look at some straightfoward approaches that can be used to facilitate learning for the following:
ESL learner
Indigenous & Minority group learner
Shy learner
Gifted learner
Autistic learner
Classroom & School bully
Refugee learner & State Welfare Care learner
Disruptive learner
Let’s look at some tips for managing these specific cases and how to maximize their integration into the class group.
Case 1: ESL learner
 Use short and simple sentences when communicating in class. Communication can be improved by avoiding figures of speech and idiomatic language. Instead, use standard English and provide clear instructions to learners. Reinforce oral langage by modeling and using body language. For group work, a peer support system can be
implemented. With group activities, use a peer support system that allows the option of learners reading aloud and supports the teacher’s acceptance of standards set within the group.
Case 2: Indigenous & Minority group learner
 Encourage the cultural inclusion of learning activities by integrating Indigenous or minority group traditions with class lesson learning. This can be done by using appropriate curricula and open-style questioning. It could be advantageous to keep in mind support strategies that can be used to assist ESL learners.
 Case 3: Shy learner
 Encourage increased responsiveness from shy learners. Shy learners may feel comfortable to be seated with either friends or learners in class with whom they get along well.
Case 4: Gifted learner
 Provide new challenges to gifted learners and this can be achieved through task extensions. In the long term, gifted learners can be offered an expert helper role. Also, try to minimize teaching things that they already know. Encourage these learners to join after-school interest groups. Additionally, include peer & cluster group activities for them to join.
Case 5: Autistic learner
Inclusion into a mainstrean class learning environment begins with teacher encouragement. Focus on strengths rather than weaknesses in learning and give lots of positive feedback. Provide a buddy or peer styled support system for them. Some autistic learners may be sensitive and uncomfortable with being touched by other students in class. Allow autistic learners to use a small shield at their desk so that they can concentrate on their individual work. Often place autistic learners in small group work settings for learning and be aware that they may have difficulties with delayed language production. Finally, consider using ESL learner strategies, guided learning and curriculum overlapping and, if required, offer a time-out tent for use if there are emotional outbursts.
Case 6: Classroom & School bully
Restorative Justice can be used to consistently apply established consequences for either bullying or by-standing in the event of bullying, for example, time-out, detention, suspension, expulsion, etc. A class meeting can take place to democratically make rules for appropriate behaviours and this can help to discourage bullying. Ensure that administrators, teachers and parents are contacted about incidences of bullying. Try to support all victims of bullying in developing significant friendship-based relationships and teach assertiveness skills so that victims can feel safe to counter bullying by saying “No!” and by reporting all cases of bullying to their teachers or school support staff.
Case 7: Refugee learner & State Welfare Care learner
Encourage pair work and small group work to offer opportunities to share and risk, rather than use large group settings. Try to develop strong communication with the parents or the state provided guardians of these students. Employ a buddy system for these learners. Encourage leaners to use journals to tell stories, draw and write with a feeling of privacy so that they have opportunities to reveal as much as they are comfortable with when they want to share with others. Consider implementing ESL learner strategies with these learners.
Case 8: Disruptive learner
With your whole class of students, construct a list children’s agreed rules and classroom expectations in order to encourage students to develop positive and approproate behavior. Put this information on a poster and place it somewhere in the classroom where it is highly visible. Use Restorative Justice to consistently and fairly manage disruptive behaviour. A time-out area of a classroom can be used, if required.
Classroom Management Philosophy: The Big Picture
As an early-career teacher, use an aligned approach to classroom management and apply non-competing approaches to guide the way teaching and learning practices are managed in the classroom. By doing so, you can provide clarity of the methods being used to manage diverse learners in a whole classroom setting. A class group may consist of members who have come from diverse cultural, socio-economic backgrounds and who may have had variously different educational experiences in their lives. Consider developing a priority list of students who presently require particular care and consideration in terms of how you will shape the classroom physically and as a place of learning where appropriately modeled behaviour can be taught so that positive learning experiences are optimized.
Social Justice / Productive Learning / Openness to Parents
A productive learning experience for all class members exists when all students are respected. Build strong relationships with students, understand their learning experiences in other classes prior to joining your class group, and better understand the background of each student’s parents by opening lines of communication through email, phone and face-to-face meetings at different times during the school year. Aim to build strong, honest and open relationships with the parents of students so that learning and behaviour related developments can be managed professionally and with full use of the resources around you. Encourage parents to organize a small monthly birthday party celebration for the children whose special day falls within that time.
Recognize the value and learning experiences of each student as individuals learning in a group setting and formulate class activities that benefit all members in order to focus on helping each student to fulfill their potential. Utilize the concept of social justice to assist disadvantaged students in their learning and this means that, at times, your attention and teaching efforts or activities will be unequally weighted to assist these students in achieving learning outcomes. Productive learning involves students gaining knowledge through authentic activities based on real-life contexts. Encourage students to accept the role of being learners who are gaining expert knowledge and constructing knowledge either by themselves or in groups through collaborative learning. Try to assist students in their productive learning so that their gained knowledge is explicit, not only tacit learning. Use the K-W-L strategy (Marzono & Pickering, 2006) to help students construct meaning by asking them a few questions – (at the beginning of the activity) What do you know? What do you want to know?; (at the end of the activity) What have you learned?. As an extension to the KWL strategy, ask students at particular times throughout any activity what they have learned and what stage of the activity are they doing. As a rough time guide, ask them every 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Act as a facilitator of learning and role model of appropriate behaviour in the classroom.
Classroom Layout – (hypothetical example Classroom of Grade 3A)
A productive learning environment includes the physical features of a classroom. Commonly, classrooms include the following features: storage areas; movement corridors; entry and exit points to direct students away from others who are working; groups of table/work stations; a teacher’s desk, located in a position for effectively monitoring students; clearly labeled and easily accessed areas that are used for learning activities, including student drawers, a book rack, a class library, educational games shelves and classroom/office supplies. Class aesthetics, such as a display area for student work and over-hanging strings to hook-up presented work can foster an inspirational learning environment. A classroom design needs to maximize the benefits of a purposefully designed layout and stimulate active learning, free movement with minimal disruption to others, a sense of belonging, a safe and secure environment in which students can learn.
Class layout Grade 3A
Managing Diversity within the Classroom
Productive learning in a diverse classroom can be enhanced by including students in the process of developing and implementing classroom rules so that students gain a sense of belonging, develop an awareness of their rights, learn both standards of appropriate behaviour and consequences for inappropriate behaviour. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs highlights the importance of self-esteem, being respected by others, respecting others, belonging and being safe.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Preventative Leadership
Support the learning experience for students as being one in which they feel that they belong, are able to develop a sense of social interest and recognize that it is to their advantage to contribute to the welfare of the student group. Make a list of rules and a list of expectations that both teacher and students can benefit from. Democratically chosen through class discussions, these rules and expectations can be written on posters and located next to the classroom’s entrance. All class members are to use them for guidance, as required. Strive to be fair and consistent in the application and interpretation of class rules and expectations. Consider using a home-made measuring meter for class noise levels, in general, or for various activities, whether they might be class discussions, group work, pair work or individual learning. Classroom rules should be brief, measurable, stated positively, referred to by students and their necessity reiterated through clear reasoning, when required.
 Modeling Behaviour
 Try to use a range of reinforcers to encourage appropriate behaviour. Give students the freedom to behave in a manner that they choose and be clear about your expectation that students need to be willing to accept the consequences of their actions. Reward previous behaviour with the goal of encouraging students to do things happily, willingly and with the belief that they are choosing to do things that they want to do. Use negative reinforcers sparingly and briefly but primarily use positive reinforcers generously and frequently. Through the use of a “positive count” scheme you can reward students for being helpful, attempting to answer questions, doing their best work, etc. For each positive action that you recognize, a student can be awarded a positive count sticker which can be placed beside their name on a student list. The list should be visibly located for all members to see in the classroom. Upon receiving, say, ten stickers, a student might be able to enjoy a class session of forty-five minutes playing with educational toys or doing artwork while regular class activities take place for the rest of the group.
Intervention through Restorative Justice
Try using Restorative Justice (RJ) to support the development of an inclusive environment in which all members can feel safe, respected, are valued and heard. RJ can be used to resolve conflicts in both small and large group applications. Depending upon the severity of the conflict, the number of parties involved and the frequency of the conflict occurring, RJ can be a small, medium or large scale intervention process involving students, teachers, parents, school administrators, etc. The people best placed to resolve a conflict or a problem are those who are
directly involved, and imposed solutions are less effective, less educative and possibly less likely to be honoured. The following active questions can be used in RJ led intervention:
What has happened?
Who has been affected?
How can we involve everyone who has been affected in finding a way forward?
How can everyone do things differently in the future?
Use RJ to heal harm done to people and relationships rather than try to assign blame and dispense punishment.
Teaching for Diversity
For students who require learning support, especially in relation to ESL, you need to work with school administrators, co-teaching peers and parents to establish better communication and teaching practices. In the classroom, use guided teaching, curriculum overlapping, and scaffold learning to enhance learning opportunities. Also, be accepting of the different ways that students work together.
Teacher’s Review Process
Monitor the effectiveness of classroom management practices by using the following methods:
Open yourself to receiving and learning from constructive feedback from professional peers, administrators and the larger school community; Undertake Professional Development (PD) training, for example, for RJ; and
Frequently reflect upon the success or failure of strategies implemented and modify or exclude them.
Also, you may choose to introduce new strategies. The review process should be ongoing. It will require modification as student behaviour and learning based achievements accelerate or decelerate. Finally, the arrival of new students will need to be considered.