Demonstrating Knowledge of StudentsIn order to most effectively engage all students in instructional activities, teachers must know their students well. Charlotte Danielson (2007) wrote that, “Teachers do not teach their subjects in a vacuum; they teach them to students. To maximize learning, teachers must know not only their subject and its accompanying pedagogy, but also their students” (p. 46). Distinguished teachers demonstrate a range of knowledge about both students in general and the individual students in their classrooms. In order for instruction to be most meaningful, appropriate, and engaging to each student in the class, teachers must know their students and their individual needs well.

Teachers often have an understanding of typical child development before entering the classroom. The cognitive, social, and emotional stages are critical in planning and implementing developmentally appropriate instruction for students. Similarly, it is important to know how an individual student’s development may differ from general patterns as children’s progress often does not adhere to a linear sequence (Santrock, 2011). Deep knowledge of child and adolescent development, when matched with knowledge of individual students, can be used to inform instructional planning to meet the needs of specific students.

In addition to knowledge of developmental stages, distinguished teachers demonstrate knowledge of the learning process and understand that individual students’ needs must be taken into account when planning appropriate instruction. How students learn may be influenced by a range of factors, including their own learning styles, interests, cultural heritages, and language proficiency. As Gardner, in an Edutopia video (1997), noted: students demonstrate a range of intelligences and (as other researchers have also noted), learn in diverse ways (Clark, 2004). Teachers can gather information on how students learn through inventories, observation, and through a range of other means.

Students bring a variety of prior experience and knowledge with them into the classroom. Often, these are informed by their interests and cultural heritage. Researchers have recommended incorporating learning experiences that “draw on the diversity of languages and skills” (Campbell, 2009) that students bring with them to school. Developing a deep knowledge of students’ experiences and skills, distinguished teachers demonstrate a responsive approach that reflects an understanding of how to make connections between home and school, and build upon students’ prior knowledge. Further, recognizing the ways that cultural differences shape approaches to learning, communication, and decision-making can critically inform instructional planning, thereby enhancing experiences for students.

Distinguished teachers make efforts to know their students well, developing a robust understanding of each child and as Danielson (2007) writes, “engage in ongoing efforts to understand the various factors that shape their world” (p. 49). Continuously collecting and maintaining information on each child’s unique needs and interests, teachers apply their knowledge through thoughtful instructional planning that takes into account students’ needs and builds upon their interests and prior knowledge.

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Information AlignmentMaterials presented in this eBook align with the following:

Module Questions • How can knowledge of cognitive, social, and emotional stages inform instructional planning to better meet the

needs of students? • How can knowledge of various individual student needs be used to inform instructional planning? • What methods for gathering and maintaining information about students’ needs, backgrounds, interests, skills,

knowledge, and language proficiency would be useful in planning appropriate learning activities?

Learning Outcomes • Identify cognitive, social, and emotional stages that are common amongst students and examine strategies for

planning and modifying developmentally appropriate lessons. (1b1, 1b2) • Reflect on how individual student needs may differ from general patterns and analyze the implications for

instructional planning. (1b1, 1b2, 1b5) • Explore methods for gathering and maintaining information about students’ needs, backgrounds, and interests as

well as their skills, knowledge, and language proficiency. (1b2, 1b3, 1b4)

Topic FocusLearning about students’ histories, families, culture, past performance and special considerations. (Include 1b3 how to maintain these findings)

Developing caring academic relationships with students.

Understanding the cognitive, social, and emotional development stages of elementary school age students.

Understanding the cognitive, social, and emotional development stages of middle school age students.

Understanding the cognitive, social, and emotional development stages of high school age students.

Planning a differentiated instruction lesson that focuses on three or more groups of students and that maps the approaches and outcomes to student developmental stages.

Modifying lessons to accommodate special student needs.

Modifying an existing lesson to make it more engaging and participatory for students.

Developing lessons that incorporate cultural diversity.

Using evidence to adapt teaching plans to learner needs.

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At time of publishing, all of the website information was accurate. Due to the nature of the internet, some of the website information may have changed or become unavailable. Please see the references section of the corresponding online module for the most up-to-date information.

Table of ContentsDemonstrating Knowledge of Students —2

Information Alignment —3

Learning about students’ histories, families, culture, past performance, and special considerations —5

General Knowledge of School-aged Children in the USA —6

Developing Caring Academic Relationships with Students —9

Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of Students —10

Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of Elementary School Age Students —12

Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of Middle School Age Students —13

Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of High School Age Students —14

Planning a Differentiated Instruction Lesson —15

Developing Lessons that Incorporate Cultural Diversity —21

Using Evidence to Adapt Teaching Plans to Learner Needs —23

Conclusion —24

References —25

Learning about students’ histories, families, culture, past performance, and special considerations

Teachers who combine their knowledge of child and adolescent development with specific knowledge of the children they teach provide a powerful understanding from which to construct thoughtful, effective learning experiences for their students.

The Cumulative FileEach student has a school record that contains a variety of information about him or her. This cumulative file is what is generically referred to in American culture as the student’s permanent record. This file starts when the student joins the school system and continues until he or she graduates high school. The cumulative file is typically transferred when a student changes schools or school systems.

The cumulative file contents may differ from one school system to another. Generally, cumulative files contain the following:

• Academic performance, per subject, per year for all years • Any special accommodation for the student, including any Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) • Documented student progress relating to special services (such as physical therapy, speech therapy, etc.) • Any documented behavioral issues • Any noteworthy information about the student’s health or family which could impact the student’s ability to learn

Getting to Know the FamilyEach contact with a student’s family is an opportunity to be a good listener and observer. Things a teacher needs to know about a student may not necessarily all be conveyed verbally and proactively. Family conferences and events are an opportunity to learn more about students at the same time as they learn about one another. The Examples section of this module includes ideas for helping students share their own cultures. As they get to know one another, the teacher benefits from knowing them better as well.

The Family as a Fund of KnowledgeAssessment plays two roles in standards-based instruction: Monitoring student progress and guiding instruction. (Resnick, 2006).

A way to view the rich stores of information that each family has to offer is the concept of Funds of Knowledge. As described by Lopez (n.d.), the idea is for a teacher to view himself or herself as a student of each student’s families’ cultures and histories. These Funds of Knowledge from “the households of...students contain rich cultural and cognitive resources and...these resources can and should be used in their classroom in order to provide culturally responsive and meaningful lessons that tap students’ prior knowledge” (Lopez, n.d.).

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General Knowledge of School-aged Children in the USAExamining background knowledge of the lives of school-aged children in the USA provides foundational information. When combined with other child-specific evidence, this information can help in developing a rich understanding of student behavior and achievement.

HealthThe Centers for Disease Control tracks the health of the people in the US and reports on their findings regularly. The table below summarizes the number of children in the US who suffer from each of the conditions or situations listed. The latest Census data shows that there are approximately 76 million school age children in the US. Keeping the total number of school aged children in the US in mind while reviewing Table 1 will help you to estimate the likelihood that you have a child with this condition or situation in your class.

Table 1. Childrens’ Health Status. Data Source: Centers for Disease Control. Summary Health Statistics for US Children (2011)

This statistical analysis also shows that students have better health when in households with higher levels of income or parents who had graduated college. They also noted that children in two parent homes have better health than those in a single parent home (CDC, 2011).

Outside ActivitiesIn 2004, a US Census Bureau study described American children based on a study of about 48,000 children. Among those children, 42 percent were enrolled in extracurricular sports, nearly 32 percent took lessons (art, music, and so on), and about 32 percent belonged to clubs (Boy Scouts, 4-H, and so on). They noted a clear relationship between children’s participation in outside activities and higher levels of engagement in school.

Engagement and RaceAfter multivariate analysis (to weed out mistaken appearance of cause-and-effect where there is none) the US Census Bureau (2004) observed relationships between race and engagement levels. A word of caution - the relationship the Census Bureau noticed was not described as causal. In other words, a student’s race does not determine his or her engagement level: “Looking at school engagement by race and Hispanic origin, Asians were more likely to be highly engaged (71 percent) than Hispanic (59 percent), non Hispanic White, and Black children (54 percent each).” Almost 80 percent of all students are achieving at grade level (US Census Bureau, 2004).

Knowing the students in the classroom means that teachers must adapt their instruction in order to most effectively engage all of their students. Culturally responsive pedagogy can enhance the engagement of all students, but requires that

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teachers have deep knowledge of their students’ backgrounds, cultural ways of knowing, and cultural learning preferences. While all students of a particular race or ethnicity may demonstrate similarities, teachers must pay close attention to the differences that exist between individual children. Doing so can ultimately work to improve the engagement of students from a range of racial and ethnic groups.

Home LifeThe US Census Bureau also found student engagement to be higher for children whose parents are married and children whose parents spend time interacting with the child. These were found to be causal factors for engagement. Engagement and performance were also negatively impacted by disruptive changes in the child’s life such as divorce or changing schools. The extent to which parents communicate their high expectations to their children has a positive impact on student performance and engagement. Active family involvement in school activities (fundraising, committees, PTA and so on) is nearly 90 percent (US Census Bureau, 2004).

LanguageAlmost 11 million children have a primary language at home that is other than American English. In certain states that can be up to 45 percent of the student body. After English, the most frequent first languages spoken in American homes are: Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, French, Vietnamese, German, and Korean (US Census Bureau, 2010).

Home NationalityIn 2010, the US Census Bureau published several interesting facts about school-age US children (age three and above).

Basic facts about home nationality:

• There are 76 million school age children in the US. • Twenty two percent of school age children have one parent who is foreign-born (up to 50 percent in some states).

Foreign-born can mean people who were born elsewhere and are now US citizens. It can also mean:

1. “immigrants, a nonresident alien admitted for permanent residence

2. refugees admitted to the US outside of normal quota restrictions based on a well-founded fear of persecution

3. asylum-seekers applying to the US for refugee status, or

4. undocumented persons entering the US without the documents to reside legally in the US”

(Jezewski, 2001).

In descending order, the foreign-born US population comes from the following regions of the world:

Table 2. Where US foreign-born populations originates. Data Source: (US Census Bureau. May 2012).

This language data provides a general idea of the languages spoken at home. Of course, different school district will likely have data that accurately reflects the languages spoken in the homes of your students. Reviewing that information will prepare you to make culturally diverse learning experiences that resonate with the students’ home experience.

When one or both parents are foreign born, the Census data also found that compared to households with no foreign born parents, they were more likely to:

• be married (less likely to be divorced) • be family households (with children under 18) • be multigenerational households • live in poverty

(US Census Bureau, May 2012).

Developing Caring Academic Relationships with StudentsA literature review of research on early childhood development identified several essential characteristics of caring relationships between adults and children. Evangelou et. al. (2009) noted that the following features and experiences are essential:

1. Warm relationships as experienced “through positive conversations with caring adults”2. Personalized relationships where adults speak specifically to the interests and concerns of the child3. Regular, elaborate conversations used to create and sustain those relationships4. Adult appreciation of the uniqueness of the child

Interactions like those described above create the conditions for the child to develop strong self-esteem and “pro-social thinking and behavior” (Evangelou, et al 2009).

Teacher InitiativeWhen students feel safe and respected in school they are able to relax and focus on their academic goals. The relationships that develop between teacher and students are critical to student growth and achievement. One of the characteristics that students value in a teacher is when “they hold high expectations for their students, convey these expectations to their students, and help their students meet these expectations” (Campbell, 2009). To assure sufficient challenge for students, teachers “design learning activities that are worthy of students’ effort, [and] are relevant to students’ lives” (Campbell, 2009). By proactively answering the students’ questions (Why should I care? When will I ever use this?), the teacher enhances his or her engagement.

To encourage students to adopt the view that they can achieve academic success, teachers must be conscious of their words and behavior. Campbell wrote that “words and actions make it clear that student achievement depends on hard work and effort and is not set in stone by past performance.” Campbell expands on these goals with specific, actionable ideas for educators which include: “Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback, Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition, and Cooperative Learning.”

Fostering Kindness Among StudentsAnother way that teachers can demonstrate how much they care about their students is by teaching them to be respectful of each other. Campbell (2009) noted several problems that can arise if the students don’t feel safe and respected in the classroom. Among them, she described:

• increased conflict between students • decreased trust in the teacher • symptoms of stress, anxiety, and alienation • schools serving more as warehouses of children than places of learning

In contrast, when students do feel safe and respected, there are several positive benefits, including that students “develop a sense of self-worth and competence [and] ...come to expect to succeed at classroom and social projects” (Campbell, 2009). Students in grades 4 through 8 “also improve their sense of self-worth by learning to set immediate, accomplishable goals and establishing clear criteria for achieving them” (Campbell, 2009).

To achieve the benefits of this safe classroom, Campbell recommends that teacher foster environments where students “receive recognition, approval, appreciation, and respect from their peers” (Campbell, 2009). Moreover, Campbell advises that “students need to be recruited and encouraged to support the positive aspects of school through clubs, team building, conflict resolution, and leadership development programs” to keep them from opting to use their free time for counterproductive behavior. This can be especially challenging “in secondary schools, [where] teachers have more students and therefore often know them less well” (Campbell, 2009).

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Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of Students

Each school year, for the most part, teachers encounter students who are new to them. Some students will also be new to the school. Teachers who have a fundamental understanding of the developmental patterns of students are able to provide a firm foundation for learning about the unique strengths and challenges each student brings to his or her academic work.

Theory and PracticeSantrock (2011) describes development as a “pattern of biological [body, genetics], cognitive [thinking, intelligence, language], and socioemotional [emotion, personality] changes that...continue through the life span.” Among the developmental concepts often used to describe people, there is the dyad of nature or nurture as the cause of growth in people: “The nature proponents claim that biological inheritance is what mainly determines development. The nurture proponents argue that environmental experiences are more important” (Santrock, 2011). It is helpful to know how both contribute to development in order to avoid adopting a fatalist view that student achievement is limited to their biological gifts alone.

A well-known child development theorist, Jean Piaget, proffered a four phase development sequence for people including: “Sensorimotor (0–1.5 years), Interrelational stage (1.5-5 years), Dimensional stage (5–11 years), and Vectorial stage (11–19 years)” (Santrock, 2011). Critics of Piaget have said that the main shortcoming of his model was that it assumed a child would progress through development in a tidy sequence, completing all development of the first phase before entering the second (and so on) (Santrock, 2011).

More recently, detailed developmental milestones reveal that an individual can progress at different speeds across many domains - which makes each child unique. Another notable developmental theorist, Lev Vygotsky, proposed the “Zone of proximal development...[a] term for the range of tasks that are too difficult for children to master alone but that can be learned with guidance and assistance from adults or more-skilled children” (Santrock, 2011). We employ the zone of proximal development when we practice scaffolding, or guiding the learner to increasingly difficult challenges. The idea is to keep them challenged enough that they are engaged and growing, but not so challenged that they feel sure to fail (Santrock, 2011).

How Children Grow

Before children start school, their mental and physical development is well underway. The preschool years involve development “in a wide variety of skills—physical coordination, perception, attention, memory, language, logical thinking, and imagination” (Berk, 2008). Recent developments in medicine, specifically functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has “revealed especially rapid growth from 3 to 6 years in frontal-lobe areas devoted to attention and planning and organizing behavior” (Berk, 2008). As language develops, the brain also enables the child to “increase control over behavior, also mediated by the frontal lobes” (Berk, 2008).

Environmental Impacts on Development

While there is less concern now about lead in household paint or gasoline than in the 1970s, children who live “near industries that use lead production processes, or where lead-based paint remains in older homes, [have lead] blood levels [that] are still markedly elevated” (Berk, 2008). Medical research has repeatedly shown that “higher blood levels [of lead] were also associated with deficits in verbal and visual-motor skills and with distractibility, overactivity, poor organization, and behavior problems” (Berk, 2008). Other issues associated with high lead levels include lower IQ than non-exposed peers and a possible greater likelihood of severe behavioral problems in adolescence (Berk, 2008).

Other Health Issues

Berk also notes that other health habits, such as sufficient sleep and high quality nutrition, make a significant difference in a student’s ability to learn. It is also important to realize that even the combination of private insurance and publicly funded social programs don’t guarantee that all students have access to adequate medical care. Some are without coverage because their families don’t have private insurance and don’t qualify for public programs.

Preventable Deaths

Berk (2008) notes that approximately 10 out of every 100,000 US children die each year from preventable accidental injury. As an educator, working safety and prevention into the curriculum may help students and families avoid this

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terrible experience. According to Berk (2008) “auto and traffic accidents, drownings, burns, falls, and poisonings are the most common injuries during early childhood.” The Examples section includes references to educational materials and activities for use with students and families.

Note: The next three sections offer developmental information about children, separated by their age groups. You may read only the section that applies to the age group you teach, or you are invited to read all three for a more robust understanding.

Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of Elementary School Age Students

Jean Piaget’s work describing childhood development concerns younger children more than older. Piaget held that children use schemas or frameworks “to organize and interpret information” about their world (Santrock, 2011). Children use “two processes … [to] adapt their schemas: assimilation (incorporating new knowledge into existing) and accommodation (adjusts the schema to fit the new information) (Santrock, 2011).

Two of Piaget’s stages of development (sensorimotor, preoperational) are typically complete before the child reaches school age. The remaining two stages (concrete operational and dimensional stages) are experienced in the elementary and middle school years. (Santrock, 2011). The concrete operational stage is characterized by “logical reasoning replacing intuitive reasoning, but only in concrete situations. Classification skills are present, but abstract problems are difficult” (Santrock, 2011). Further, in the dimensional stage, students use “mental representations [that] involve categories ... and dimensions such as height and weight and happy and sad.” (Santrock, 2011).

Table 3. Shaping teaching and learning around developmental milestones, five to six year old students. Sampling of milestones from: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Child Development Guide: Five to Six Years.

To plan how to modify a lesson for varying developmental levels in students, it helps to reflect on milestones and how to accommodate students who are more developed or less developed than the milestone. Table 3 provides a suggestion of one method to think through how a student’s developmental status can impact teaching and learning. A blank copy of this worksheet, to support the application of this method is in the Resources area, at the left side of the Investigate screen.

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Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of Middle School Age Students

It is noteworthy that Piaget’s developmental stages for children do not take place at set ages, but overlap. While the sensorimotor and preoperational stages are usually complete by the time a child starts elementary school, the dimensional stage (also called concrete operational) can overlap elementary school years (as young as age 5) and middle school years (as old as 11). Also, starting in the middle school years (age 11 and up) children enter the formal operational (also called vectorial) stage (which can last to age 19) (Santrock, 2011).

Edwards et al, of Flinders University, illustrate one of the differences between dimensional and concrete operational stages is the child’s ability to “develop logical thought about an object” (Edwards et al., n.d.). In the concrete operational stage, the child is only able to “develop logical thought about an object, if they are able to manipulate it” (Edwards et al, n.d.). An example of this would be asking a child to determine how many different numbers (dots) can be shown if a six-sided die (as is used in board games) is rolled. A child in concrete operational stage will pick up the die, examine each side, count the dots and report their findings. A child in formal operational stage will be able to determine that a six-sided can show six different numbers because it has six sides. The child can create this logical thought without touching or manipulating the die. Toward the end of the concrete operational stage a child will begin to understand the concepts of conservation, “that objects are not always the way that they appear to be” and reversibility (that a manipulated object can be put back to its original state). (Edwards et al., n.d.)

As students grow into the formal operational stage, they develop the ability “to operate logically on symbols and information that do not necessarily refer to objects and events in the real world” (Edwards et al., n.d.). Subjects such as algebra which use symbols to represent abstract concepts become a reasonable challenge for these students. Edwards et al further describes the students in this stage are able to formulate a range of hypotheses to explain a phenomenon and then test them to determine reality.

Table 4. Shaping teaching and learning around developmental milestones, 11 to 12 year old students. Sampling of milestones from: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Child Development Guide: Eleven to Twelve Years.

A blank version of this table is available to you under Module Worksheets in the left side of the Investigate page. Completing the worksheet can help you imagine ways to adapt your teaching for students who are either less or more developed than their peers. The milestone lists provided by Washington State are detailed at each age, not just 11-12 years old.

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Understanding the Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Development Stages of High School Age Students

Jean Piaget’s Formal Operational stage overlaps some with the prior stage (Concrete Operational), starting at 11 years and ending by age 15 (Santrock, 2011). Students in this stage may “move beyond reasoning about only concrete experiences and think in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways” (Santrock, 2011). These students may exhibit “egocentrism...reflected in [their] belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are. Adolescent egocentrism also includes a sense of personal uniqueness. It involves the desire to be noticed, visible, and ‘on-stage’.” (Santrock, 2011).

Table 5 shows a small sample of developmental milestones for 16 to 19 year olds. This is included as an example of how to generate ideas for how to reach students who may be more or less developed than their peers.

Table 5. Shaping teaching and learning around developmental milestones, 16 to 19 year old students. Sampling of milestones from: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. Child Development Guide: Sixteen to Nineteen Years.

The source of this data offers specific milestones for each age (not just 16 through 19 years). A blank version of this table is available to you under Module Worksheets in the left side of the Investigate page. Completing the worksheet can help you imagine ways to adapt your teaching for students who are either less or more developed than their peers.

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Planning a Differentiated Instruction LessonPlanning a Differentiated Instruction Lesson that Focuses on Three or More Groups of Students and that Maps the Approaches and Outcomes to Student Developmental StagesDifferentiated instruction means approaching the teaching of material in a variety of ways in response to the identified needs of students. We can use many different criteria for differentiation, such as students’ past performance or students’ preferred learning styles. Even in the absence of specific information about our students’ performance and preferences, it is helpful to students to present the material with more than one approach.

Tomlinson and Imbeau recommend that we don’t rely on pre-packaged methods for differentiated instruction because “if we only learn methods, we are tied to those methods, but if we learn principles, we can develop our own methods.” They define differentiation as a “classroom practice with a balanced emphasis on individual students and course content” (Tomlinson and Imbeau, n.d.).

How do students differ?

Figure 1. Customizing curriculum to uniquely fit students.

As Figure 1 shows, Tomlinson and Imbeau map out four ways that educators can adapt curriculum to suit the variety of students in a class. First, teachers can make some decisions about the content. Most teachers work within established curricula that are required by legislatures, boards of education, or other governmental authority. To some extent teachers can decide what to include or leave out and how to supplement the curriculum to make it deeper or richer. Next, the teacher can make alterations to the proposed sequence and teaching methods the curriculum may offer to align teaching with how students learn. Additionally, the teacher can devise new ways for the students to demonstrate that they’ve acquired the relevant knowledge. Where the packaged curriculum might offer a test, the teacher can decide to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge by constructing a working model or putting on a play. Last, the teacher is uniquely placed to understand the emotional lives of students in the classroom. Knowing where each child is with his or her emotional development enables the teacher to take it into consideration when adapting how the content will be taught.

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The multi-dimensional student

While approaching modifying the content, the educator should be mindful of the students’ Readiness, Interestest, and Learning Profile (Tomlinson and Imbeau, n.d.), described further as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Criteria considered when modifying curriculum

What’s in a Learner Profile?A learner profile is made of four components: Learning style, intelligence preference, culture, and gender. (Tomlinson and Imbeau, n.d.). As shown in Figure 3, none of these components naturally ranks higher than the other or exerts more influence on the student. Due to the uniqueness of each student, the teacher may find that one or two components have much stronger influence than the others in the individual.

Earlier this eBook discussed Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences as a way of understanding how students can approach learning in diverse ways. Another view is offered by Robert Sternberg, who groups intelligences into three combinations Analytic (linear, traditional), Practical (contextual, mechanical), and Creative (problem solving, innovation) (Tomlinson, n.d.).

Figure 3. Components of a Learner Profile.

Tomlinson also mentions several paired learning methods where the student’s culture can influence his or her preferences. Figure 4 illustrates how two different cultures might shape how the student approaches learning.

As with many of the ideas discussed in this eBook, Tomlinson warns that culture is not a sole determinant of learning preferences and styles and that “there is huge learning variance within every culture.” Tomlinson further advises that “the goal of the teacher is, therefore, not to suggest that individuals from a particular culture ought to learn in a particular way, but rather to come to understand the great range of learning preferences that will exist in any group of people and to create a classroom flexible enough to invite individuals to work in ways they find most productive.”

Understanding students’ learning preferences

X Tomlinson (n.d) recommends a few ways to explore and use learning preferences. First, she suggests that a teacher become familiar with his or her own learning preferences. Once teachers understand their own preferences, they are more likely to be mideful that others may not have the same preferences. Next, teachers can guide students through exploring the variety of learning styles and methods so they can identify what they like best.

Figure 4. How culture can influence learning.

Then, teachers can build a curriculum by combining activities and options from which the students can select. Last, teachers need to avoid teaching every type of learning preference and style all at once. Selecting two or three learning preferences that are most common in a class will accustom to teachers to approach teaching from different perspectives. Over time teachers can explore teaching and learning with other learning preferences as well.

Modifying lessons to accommodate special student needsUS Census Bureau (2011) data collected and analyzed in 2010 described school-aged children enrolled in public schools who have disabilities by their difficulties with: hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care. The national averages of children in metropolitan areas who have one or more disabilities is 5 percent compared with children outside of metropolitan areas at 6.3 percent. Pennsylvania had 6.2 percent of children in metropolitan and 7.6 percent outside metropolitan areas with disabilities. The Census Bureau decided to report data by metropolitan or nonmetropolitan area because of the fact that school systems in metro areas typically “provide children with more schooling options [such as] private, charter, and magnet schools” (US Census Bureau, 2011).

While it is not possible to exhaustively cover every teaching strategy for every type of student, following are some descriptions of ways to approach teaching students with certain types of special needs.

Disabilities that impact learning

Santrock et. al. (2010) described that “children with learning disabilities demonstrate... impairments in one or more psychological processes related to learning despite having average to above-average intelligence.” Santrock provides an overview of several types of disabilities, for which summarized definitions are provided in Table 6.

Table 6. Definitions of common disabilities that impact learning.

Santrock et al. (2010) provides several sets of recommendations for approaches to teaching for students with certain kinds of disabilities that can impact learning.

When working with students who have ADHD, the teacher should:

• “Use explicit or direct teaching methodologies • Activate and use students’ relevant prior knowledge • Provide accommodations as required • Provide modifications as required • Facilitate students’ organizational and study skills • Facilitate students’ reading and writing skills • Use behavior management techniques when necessary” (Santrock et al. 2010).

For students with receptive language disorders, Santrock et al. (2010) recommend that the teacher:

• “Use a multisensory approach • Monitor the speed at which information is presented • Provide students with extra response time”

In the case of expressive language disorders, Santrock et al. (2010) recommend that the teacher:

• “Focus on content of message versus delivery of message • Provide alternative formats for students to demonstrate knowledge • Provide students with choices or provide the initial sound • Prepare students for verbal question-answering”

Teaching the Gifted

The process of identifying gifted students is varied and not universally viewed as effective. Gifted or talented can be described as “those who have above-average intelligence and/or superior talent in some domain, such as art, music, or mathematics” (Santrock et al. 2010). Students with extraordinary talents might or might not have been identified prior to joining class. Santrock et al (2010) notes a few ways that schools support gifted learners. Students may be permitted to progress through their curriculum at their own pace of mastery which is faster than their peers. They might also be allowed to enroll earlier than normal in kindergarten or skip entire grades. Additionally, some students are provided opportunities to take honors or advanced placement classes or engage in supplemental educational activities outside the normal school day.

Lesson planning for English Language Learners

While this section of the eBook has focused heavily on teaching to accommodate disabilities, and touched briefly on gifted learners, another group of students who require accommodation are English Language Learners.

To customize learning to the needs of English Language Learners, Haynes and Zacarian (n.d.) recommend that teachers modify their usual planning process in the following ways:

1. “Thinking about what we want students to learn,

2. Identifying methods of assessing student learning,

3. Identifying and addressing ELL-specific challenges inherent to the lesson,

4. Deciding how to activate prior knowledge and build background knowledge, and

5. Designing ways to explicitly guide ELLs as they practice using new language and content”

Some final advice from Santrock et al. (2010) on how to make the classroom effective and inclusive is to “increase your knowledge base (about exceptionalities), use relevant support services (don’t go it alone), avoid using diagnoses as explanations (or as excuses), help all students understand and accept those with exceptionalities, and remember that all students benefit from effective strategies.”

Modifying an existing lesson to make it more engaging and participatory for studentsDavid Sousa (2011) shared a story of a teacher who surprised both him and the teacher’s own students by using a physical movement activity to teach Pythagorean Theorem instead of traditional lecture and calculation practice. He explained her approach as “ [recognition] that today’s students come to school with different expectations, with a desire to participate in their learning, and with the recognition that school is just one—and certainly not the only—source of information.”

Sousa describes teachers as “brain changers, [who] realize that the more they know about how the brain learns, the more likely they are to design creative and interactive lessons...and to be more successful at helping their students achieve and succeed” (Sousa, 2011). He cautions that the emerging field of educational neuroscience much be approached without leaps of logic that suggest causal relationships between new knowledge about the brain and learning. He explains that “this fledgling field explores how research findings from neuroscience, education, and psychology can inform our understandings about teaching and learning, and whether they have implications for educational practice” (Sousa, 2011).

Sousa discusses several genuinely useful developments in neuroscience that can help shape approaches to teaching and learning. Among them, scientists have:

• “Reaffirmed that the human brain continually reorganizes itself on the basis of input (neuroplasticity) • Startled the scientific world with evidence that neurons in the brain do regenerate (neurogenesis) • Challenged the notion that the brain can multitask • Discovered the brain pathways involved in reading • Updated our understandings about the capacity limits of working memory • Shown how emotions affect learning, memory, and recall • Recognized the critical role of movement and exercise in learning and memory • Tracked the growth and development of the teenage brain • Developed a deeper understanding of how circadian cycles affect focus • Studied the effects of sleep deprivation and stress on learning and memory • Recognized that intelligence and creativity are separate abilities that are not genetically fixed, and that both can be modified by the

environment and schoolingHighlighted the degree to which a school’s social and cultural climates affect teaching and learning” (Sousa, 2011).

Note: If educational neuroscience interests you, the Sousa article is worthwhile reading through in full.

Engagement is key

In an interview with Edutopia, Howard Gardner said, “there is now a massive amount of evidence from all realms of science that unless individuals take a very active role in what it is that they’re studying, unless they learn to ask questions, to do things hands on, to essentially re-create things in their own mind and transform them as is needed, the ideas just disappear” (Edutopia, 1997). As teachers, we have the opportunity to plan our teaching in ways that make the content vibrant, relevant and memorable for our students.

Diverse teaching approaches

As teachers, we often work with pre-approved curriculum which may be static, linear, or voluminous. Curriculum providers are making the move to provide more variety. Considering the large amount of content now taught in a school year, it can be a real challenge to make time for teaching a subject in a variety of ways. Gardner cautions against going overboard, saying, ”everything can be taught in more than one way...I don’t believe because there are eight intelligences we have to teach things eight ways.” Instead, teachers need to focus on reflection and our answer to the question “are we reaching every child, and, if not, are there other ways in which we can do it?” (Gardner, 1997).

Learning Styles

Learning professor and researcher David Kolb developed the theory of learning styles and a descriptive learning cycle. There are several approaches learners take to understanding new ideas. Someone who is Diverging likes to take an “innovative and imaginative approach to doing things.” Assimilating likes to “pull a number of different observations and thoughts into an integrated whole.” Converging enjoys “decision-making, problem-solving, and the practicable application of ideas, and Accommodating “uses trial and error rather than thought and reflection.” (Clark, 2004)

Kolb advocates viewing learning as “a continuous process grounded in experience...a holistic process of adaptation to the world...involving transactions between the person and the environment” in which the learner “creates knowledge” (Clark, 2004).

Developing Lessons that Incorporate Cultural DiversityIn order to adapt lessons to incorporate cultural diversity reflective of students, it is important to recognize the elements of culture.

What is Culture?Culture is:

“An integrated pattern of human behavior that includes thoughts, communications, languages, practices, beliefs, values, customs, courtesies, rituals, manners of interacting, roles, relationships, and expected behaviors of a racial, ethnic, religious or social group; the ability to transmit the above to succeeding generations; is dynamic in nature” (NCCC, 2004).

Seeing Culture in Action

To adapt the culture of our classroom to accommodate the traditions and customs of all students in a way that enhances rather than disrupts our ability to teach and learn, it is important to be aware of how cultural differences become visible in daily life. According to Berg (2010), “Cultural differences are generally manifested in how we approach learning, communicate, deal with conflict, complete tasks, make decisions, and reveal information about ourselves to others.” This list provides a framework for observing how the culture of each of student appears as part of classroom activities each day.

Acculturation

Students are already working to fit in by observing what their teachers do and joining in modeled behaviors, discussions, and activities the best they can. Each student adapts himself or herself to the local culture to different degrees. Educators need to be aware of the variety of ways that one culture can differ from another. Doing so can provide insight about student behavior and preferences. Rather than thinking that students are disobedient when they fail to assume all the norms of a teacher’s home culture and classroom, understanding culture opens their eyes to ways to adapt the classroom culture to fit the students. The diverse cultures of students provide an opportunity for all teachers to be more globally aware of peoples and cultures. It is a teachable moment that is available all year long.

Stereotyping

According to Jezewski (2001), “Stereotyping refers to action that is based on the assumption that all members of a group share the same characteristics, values and beliefs, and basing one’s actions on this premise.” Teachers can recognize stereotyping when they see biased action.

How does a person end up stereotyping? “When we first begin to learn about different culture groups, the tendency is to take the facts we learn and apply them to everyone who is a member of the group” (Jezewski, 2001). Many educators have taken deductive logic or critical thinking courses and recognize this mistake as generalizing. Taking something a person learns about an individual and trying to apply it to everyone else who shares characteristics such as race is an error in logic. Teachers in particular can’t take the liberty of applying a piece of information about one individual to another, even if they seem to be of the same group. Educators have a responsibility to be aware of their own thinking and to question conclusions to determine if they are based on real evidence about the student or on past observations and experiences with people who seem to share characteristics with a student. This is a shortcut of the thinking process that may lead us to misperceive students and then take actions that are misguided.

In addition to ensuring that one’s perception of and treatment of the students is fair, as the leader of the classroom and students, the teacher is also a cultural ambassador. The teacher can be the catalyst who “liaises between and bridges cultures to help bring about mutual understanding by interpreting and explaining cultural differences” (Berg, A. et al, 2010). This is an opportunity to nurture a broad and objective style of thinking in students.

What Students Experience

Each classroom is composed of students from a variety of cultures. If they stand out compared to their peers, they may “face overwhelming challenges, such as: trying to be accepted by peers, learning a new language, acting as an intermediary for family, dealing with mental illness caused by trauma, and trying to understand confusing and sometimes conflicting cultural norms” (Berg et al, 2010). Some students are new to the country and have migrated under happy

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circumstances. Others are here because of serious conflict in their home countries. In both cases, they may be learning American English for the first time and as quickly as they can. Students from other cultures have been raised in and grown accustomed to their own cultural ways which can include how they speak to adults and whether they make eye contact when listening to an adult. This may mean that some students won’t respond or look at a teacher when those students are spoken to. Many people grew up with the admonition from parents, “Look at me when I talk to you” and interpreted a lack of eye contact as willful disrespect. However, in some children’s home cultures, making eye contact or responding when an adult speaks may be considered very disrespectful. Teachers need to keep this in mind if students do not make eye contact or respond, even when they’ve been posed a question.

How culture differs from race

Here are two different views of what race means:

• “Race is a tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock; a division of humankind possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and sufficient to characterize it as a distinctive human type;

• Race is a social construct used to separate the world’s peoples. There is only one race, the human race, comprising individuals with characteristics that are more or less similar to others” (NCCC, 2004).

The first view encourages people to emphasize the differences and to consider other people as separate from ourselves. The second focuses on the fact that we are a single species with an array of characteristics that do not need to stand between us. While race is commonly viewed as a social construct, many students’ experiences are racially-bound. It is important to recognize and respect racial differences, as well as differences that exist within members of a particular race. Either way, teachers should acknowledge students’ differences, some of which may be race-bound.

Parts of culture

When considering culture, it is helpful to view it not as a single construct, but as a having a multi-layered, richly textured set of features. Cultures have many different features, including:

“...normative codes (ways of behaving) such as: food practices, religion and religious practices, child rearing practices, communication codes (both verbal and nonverbal), common language, a body of knowledge (information necessary to function as a member of a culture group), problem solving strategies (how everyday problems are resolved), a set of relationships (family and social), and methods of transmitting culture to the young, or new members of the culture group” (Jezewski, 2001).

Exploring cultural food practices

A fun way to get to know about students’ cultures is to create a Foods of the World Day. Ask each student to work with their family to create a dish that they feel most represents their family culture. Have students write vivid descriptions of the food, how it is produced, and on what occasion it is served. For your convenience we have started a teacher planning worksheet for you. It can be found under Module Worksheets in the left side of the module page. In class, you can consider using the Gonna Eat That? slideshow from PBS to diplomatically explore the idea of exotic cuisines. This provides an opportunity to coach students about how to respond and inquire about the foods respectfully.

Students can produce a poster that describes the food behind the plate. As the students visit each plate they can read about the food, see it, smell it and possibly decide to eat a bite. You could also hold this event as a family night. Having the families present may increase the chances of the students learning even more about the cultures. Just prepare the families to be understanding of the variety of responses they may get when the children see their food. Children can be spontaneous and energetic in their responses to new experiences.

American culture

Being aware of dominant cultures helps us identify areas where our students may be diverse. “Some of the values held by the majority of Caucasian, middle class Americans, often referred to as dominant U.S. values are: Democracy, Individualism, Privacy, Change, Progress, Optimal health, Informality, Achieving/Doing, Working, Materialism, Cleanliness, Time, and Directness/Assertiveness” (Jezewski, 2001). Awareness of American cultural values can help teachers to be alert to how other cultures may differ - enabling them to embrace the rich diversity in students.

Language

For students who started life speaking a language other than English, teachers need to be alert to the fact that their pronunciation may not sound native. All students should be encouraged to appreciate that when someone has an accent; it means they know an additional language - which is to be admired, not ridiculed. To connect with the families, teachers can learn a few words in each student’s home language in order to tell their families hello, welcome, wish them a happy holiday, thank you, and other niceties.

Inclusion

Campbell (2009) recommends using learning experiences which “draw on the diversity of languages and skills students bring to school.” If the curriculum is not representative of students, teachers need to “make every attempt to recognize leaders, authors, scientists, filmmakers, and teachers from all cultural groups.”

Using Evidence to Adapt Teaching Plans to Learner NeedsUnderstanding students’ learning preferencesTomlinson (n.d.) recommends a few ways to explore and use learning preferences. First, she suggests that you become familiar with your own learning preferences. This will help you understand your own preferences and make you mindful that others may not have the same preferences. Next, guide your students through exploring the variety of learning styles and methods so they can identify what they like best. Then, build your curriculum by combining activities you have selected and options the students can select. Last, do not try to teach every type of learning preference and style all at once. She recommends you select the two or three learning preferences that are most common in your class to get accustomed to approaching teaching from different perspectives. Over time, you can explore teaching and learning with other learning preferences as well.

Try it

If you’d like to discover more about your own multiple learning styles, you can try an online survey at Edutopia. Teachers should always keep in mind that simple tools such as this are best used to facilitate reflection on how you or others learn best.

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Conclusion This eBook has shared a number of ways to increase knowledge of students. When teachers enhance their knowledge of child development and its challenges, they have a framework for increasingly effective instruction. With the methods described, teachers can demonstrate deep knowledge of their students - an awareness that no student falls neatly into a single category of ability or challenge - and use this knowledge to customize and diversify an approach to teaching.

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