Meaningful Inclusion in the Classroom: A Classroom Newspaper Blog Case Study

What is “meaningful inclusion”? What does it look like in practice?

“Inclusive educational practice is more than a placement or setting — it refers to the academic and behavioural strategies that improve academic and social emotional outcomes for all students with and without exceptionalities in the general educational setting.” – Y. Penner, Supporting Inclusion

How does one go about implementing “inclusive educational practice” within their classroom?

Three frameworks form the foundational basis for exploring meaningful inclusion within this series: Universal Design for Learning, Positive Behaviour Supports and Social Emotional Learning. Teachers looking to delve deeper into these frameworks will find further resources and videos under the resource tab for this module.

In this introduction video, Rosa Oudt describes how she applies aspects of meaningful inclusion pedagogy into her practice, specifically within the context of a year-long digital, newspaper blog.

In this video, Rosa explores how intentional pedagogical design can support meaningful inclusion in the classroom. Rosa highlights tenets of Universal Design for Learning and Social Emotional Learning within her practice that promotes meaningful inclusion in her classroom learning opportunities.

As well, Rosa delves into facets of a learning community and authentic audience to provide positive social-emotional learning opportunities that build meaningful engagement in students.

This video explores an inclusive activity sample from the newspaper blog: An interview with the school principal Mr. Cortens.

Rosa describes her process for building an inclusive and engaging learning activity for her students through promoting authentic connections and collaborative learning within a community. Rosa highlights how she incorporates differentiated learning opportunities and multiple means of expression within the communal context of reporting for the Begbie Buzz newspaper blog.

This video explores the inclusive activity sample “Breaking News!”

In this activity, Rosa highlights the importance of building activities that capture the “teachable moment” that allows for student voice to emerge in the learning opportunities, which in turn, promotes meaningful engagement.

This video explores the inclusive activity sample “Peter and the Wolf: Show Reviews”.

In this activity, Rosa highlights the importance of student voice to support differentiated learning through goal-based design. Within the BC curriculum, goal-based design is exemplified through the “Big Ideas” section of each curricular subject.

“Stating the goal as a big idea or essential understanding creates more entry points for students who are functioning at different levels.” – UDL Resource

Rosa highlights the goal of the activity – that opinions are examples of different perspectives, and a variety of perspectives are valid – and from that starting point, moves forward to design her activity to fulfill that goal through multiple means.