Case 4
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case 4 Always Challenging Sam Bentley stood at the window and watched the children from his Grade 3/4 class playing tag on the schoolyard. He thought to himself, “It’s a good thing they can make their own fun because there aren’t many jungle gyms out there for them to climb on.” Sam had been teaching at Red Lake School on the Red Lake Reserve for eight months. He continued to be impressed with the children’s enthusiasm for toys they had made themselves. They didn’t expect a park full of painted climbing apparatus, but Sam had suggested that the school and the community join forces to design and make some swings and climbing bars. Sam loved to build; it used to be his main hobby. He had brought some of his tools to Red Lake. But in the autumn he hadn’t known the com- munity well enough to make any suggestions. Even though Sam had taught for three years before deciding to move to Red Lake, he had felt awkward and shy in the autumn. He had taken courses in Native studies in university but had never taught First Nations children before, and there was a lot to learn. Like all isolated communities, Red Lake had to rely on its own resources. This appealed to Sam, but he also knew that it was important to find ways to bring fresh resources and ideas into the community. Now Sam felt that he understood how Red Lake functioned and some of the roles he could play. Sam smiled when he thought about the success he had had recently in getting a friend of his who runs a bookstore “in the south” to fly in with boxes of books to Red Lake. The children had earned the right to choose new books for the school library by reading. For every book they had read in the month before the books arrived, they could select a new book for the school. Sam and the other three teachers had put half their sup- plies budget into the project. Every book in Red Lake—from school, home, and the teachers’ collections—had been read and reread in that month by children eager to ‘ 36 v— Case 4: Always Challenging 37 choose new books. Now the school had an exciting collection of new books for children and teachers to use and a simple system to keep track of who was borrowing them. This simple system told Sam that Brian had already read half the new books. Sam thought about Brian—with his smudged glasses, his outbursts, and his love of reading. Brian would be the first student to have read every new book in the library. Indeed, it was because of Brian that Sam had come up with the plan to get the new books in the first place. Brian was the most challenging aspect of Red Lake for Sam. Brian questioned every idea Sam presented to the class, “And he’s often right,” Sam said out loud. In addition, Brian seemed to be always testing the limits. Or doing something he knew was wrong. When asked why, he would say, “Just to see what would happen.” For example, this morn- ing Brian had stuck out his foot and tripped Tim when he walked by Brian’s table. Howling, bleeding, and reprimands had followed. Sam looked around the classroom. The children’s seating was in clusters of three and four at round tables. Piles of new books sat in the middle of the round tables. About five of the children were still in the early literacy stages, excited to be reading pattern books like Drummer Hoff. On Sam’s desk was one of his favourite new books, Windows on the World: Plays and Activities Adapted from Folk Tales from Different Lands, open to a play Sam planned to read that afternoon. The walls were decorated with the children’s artwork. Fresh paper was laid out at the painting centre because Sam expected that the children would paint the characters from the play he was going to read today. When he scanned the walls to see where they might put the mural, Sam was surprised to see the Classroom Rules poster that he had made on the first day of school was still up. He had forgotten about it. As the children ran to the door of the school, Sam wondered what Brian would get up to that afternoon. And why. Brian was in Grade 3, but his results on intelligence tests and W suggested he functioned more like a sixth grader—jn everything but cit- izenship. Suspecting that Brian was gifted, the teacher who had taught him in Grades 1 and T had requested an individual intelligence test when Brian was six. The itinerant psy- chometrist who had given Brian the test 12 months later was sure that it was not an accu- rate reflection of Brian’s high ability. Even so, his score on the verbal test was 133; on the nonverbal, 129. Sam knew that the average was 100, and that in many school districts a score of 130 would qualify a student for a gifted program. There was no gifted program in Red Lake and, unless the teachers changed the entire organization of the school, Sam would teach Brian in Grade 4 next year. The students were milling around. “Sit down, people,” Sam said gently. As Sam recounted later to his friend and senior teacher, Doris Hill, “For 14 children they sure were making a lot of noise and chaos.” Because Sam was soon to start an action research project in his classroom, he had decided to tape his discussion during language arts this afternoon. Hoping for a quiet afternoon, Sam reminded the children that he was going to read the Australian Aboriginal play, “The Great Frog.” Sam read the play to them in an animated voice. As Sam later told Doris, “This Australian folk tale takes place in the Dreamtime long ago before humans came to earth. It tells of a frog who swallows all the water on earth. The other animals try to make him laugh so he will release the water. They all fail. The smallest animal, an eel, says that he can make the frog laugh. No one believes the eel. Undaunted, the eel dances, contorting his body wildly. The frog laughs and releases the water.” Sam told Doris that after he had finished reading, he stood by the window and began to lead a discussion about “The Great Frog.” Of course, by this time he had forgotten about
&f()\: 1 v kc,lf’ Teaching Exceptional Children and Adolescents the tape recorder. After ensuring that the children understood what took place in the play, Sam turned his focus to the way the eel, the smallest animal, might have felt when no one believed him. SAM: Sometimes parents, like those larger animals with the eel, just don’t seem to believe what their children say. Have you ever had your parents not understand or not believe what you say or feel? [Loud chorus of yeses.] SAM: [encouraging)] Let’s read between the lines in our story. I mean let’s imagine what Eel must be feeling when nobody believes him. It did not say this in the story, but we can put ourselves in Eel’s place, can’t we? ANN: [eagerly] | think Eel must have been sad, and maybe he cried. BRIAN: [from the table at the back of the room] That’s stupid. Boys don’t cry! [He laughs loudly. Some other boys laugh too.) SAM: Brian you have a point. Perhaps boys don’t let people see them crying. But Ann is right too. BRIAN: Ann is a crybaby. She thinks everyone’s a baby like her. [Under his breath.] i "7 She's stupid. : [ignoring his last comment] What do other people think? How must Eel have N B S {%’d\% elt? Yes, Charlie. o CHARLIE: Eel maybe thought they didn’t trust him. Maybe he won’t tell them things after that. SAM: [nodding] Yes, I can see how Eel could do just that. BRIAN: [bursts out] Eel would feel mad at his parents. And he’d just tell them he did- n’t care how they felt. If they didn’t believe him, he'd just tell them they were dummies. BARB: You aren’t supposed to call your parents dummies. BRIAN: [loudly] That’s stupid. If they’re dummies, they’re dummies. [His voice rises to a shrill note.] Sam realized he had to take this situation in hand, and thought, “I let it go too far.” When he told Doris about his emotion-filled afternoon, he started to laugh. “You won’t believe that I captured the whole thing on tape. Only audio, thank goodness. Because I was trying out taping my teaching, getting ready to do action research. So I can listen to it, if I can bring myself to hear the way I let the class get away.” Doris asked in her quiet way, “Do you think the real problems started earlier than this afternoon?” She went on, “What a break. You have a tape of a class that can help you change the way you teach and figure out how to engage Brian in what you’re doing. Your action research topic has fallen into your lap.” Sam knew she was right. “I wonder where I should start? They all seemed to listen to me and each other more in the autumn than they do now. And Brian seems, if anything, to challenge me more now. But this was a great play. It should have worked better than it did.” QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION 1. What are the facts/key elements of the case? 2. What do we know about Sam, the teacher? What do we know about Brian, the student? . A Case 4: Always Challenging 39 3. Describe the major dilemma(s) in the case. 4. What are some underlying issues in this case that might arise from the context in which the case takes place? 5. What actions should Sam take to resolve the dilemma(s)? Consider the consequences of these actions for Brian, for other students, for Sam. 6. How can Sam use action research to help him improve his teaching? 7. What can we learn from this case? What widely held assumptions or beliefs might be called into question by this case? About groups of students, teaching, classrooms? EXHIBIT 4.1 | Planning Guide for Teaching Gifted Students How can I adapt my teaching to meet this student’s unique learning needs? A. How can I change the content so it is more complex, more challenging? » Accelerate the student to a higher grade for appropriate subjects. » Compact the curriculum to free the student to extend learning in other areas. Use broad-based themes with interdisciplinary connections. * Provide authentic problems or cases, or independent study of student-chosen topics. * Encourage the student to pursue personal interests and passions. B. How can I change the learning processes so they are more independent, more meaningful for this student? * Involve the student in open-ended tasks that encourage critical thinking or problem solving. * Involve the student in research activities with primary and secondary sources of information. * Consider programs with intellectual peers like Odyssey of the Mind. * Listen to the student’s ideas about processes that would be meaningful. C. How can I change the learning environment to engage the student? * Make the classroom more engaging for everyone by consciously changing teaching (consider using action research). * Create a community of learners in the classroom; use collaborative learning. * Think of the learning environment as the classroom, the school, the community. * Consider mentorships or advanced placements for appropriate subjects. D. How can I change the products that show what students are learning? * Focus on application, products made for real audiences (reports to town coun- cil, displays, works published in children’s literary magazines). * Consider student choice of products (dramatizations, multimedia productions). * Encourage the student to negotiate products and criteria that meet personal learning goals.
40 Teaching Exceptional Children and Adolescents EXHIBIT 4.2 | Creating a Classroom Learning Community Sam decided that he would begin to emphasize the importance of community in hig classroom. He thought of community as the general feeling we create when we treat each other with respect. Sam read Tribes by Jeanne Gibbs. The following table wag developed after reading Tribes. Communication and Community Building Norms for Communities What to Do Negotiation Replace hostility and confrontation with give-and-take discussion. Don’t assume all students know how to negotiate. Cooperation Increase the role of cooperation. Create situations that enable individuals to share goals, efforts, and outcomes. Consensus Use consensus to build community. Find areas of agreement. Use these to work toward consensus in new areas. Decentralized management Share decision making when that is feasible rather than practising authoritarian management. Work teams Use work teams to accomplish shared goals. Make work into fun by enjoying one another’s company. Shared responsibility Foster more ideas, better ideas, strength, and continuity. No one has to feel overwhelmed when people work together. Source: From Inclusion of Exceptional Learners in Canadian Schools by N. L. Hutchinson, 2002, Toronto, ON: Prentice Hall. Reprinted with permission by Pearson Education Canada Inc. Resources to consuit: Gibbs, J. (2000). Tribes. Sausalito, CA: Center Source Systems. Putnam, J., & Burke, J. B. (1992). Organizing and managing classroom learning communities. Toronto, ON: McGraw- Hill. I Case 4: Always Challenging [EXHIBIT 4.3 | Strategies for Aboriginal Education ; Strategy Examples Break down stereotypes Start with the present; provide examples of Aboriginal Web sites, musicians, artists, professionals, urban and northern dwellers (Shared Learnings). Engage students in Invite storytellers, singers, dancers, painters, Aboriginal culture weavers, other artists from the Aboriginal through the arts community to collaborate (Butler, 2000). Help students to understand Provide readings, efc., at the students’ Aboriginal perspectives developmental level: fiction, reports, films from an Aboriginal point of view (Reed, 1999). Invite speakers who are comfortable telling their stories and providing their perspectives (Shared Learnings). Use Aboriginal communication The talking circle, where the right to speak is and participant structures indicated by passing a concrete object such as a feather (Ward, 1996). Explicitly discuss Aboriginal Teach environmental education through an values Aboriginal perspective, “caring for the earth” (Caduto & Bruchac, 1988; Pohl, 1997). Help students to think Deal with sensitive issues and controversial critically topics about complex issues like racism, cultural identity in a caring and proactive way. (Shared Learnings). Use video series like First Nations: The Circle Unbroken to teach about current issues (Williams, Henderson, & Marcuse, 1998). Source: From Inclusion of Exceptional Leamers in Canadian Schools by N. L. Hutchinson, 2002, Toronto, ON: Prentice Hall. Reprinted with permission by Pearson Education Canada Inc. References: Butler, C. M. (2000). Cultural awareness through the arts: The success of an Aboriginal antibias program for inter- mediate students. Unpublished master's thesis, Queen's University, Kingston, ON. Caduto, M. J., & Bruchac, J. (1988). Keepers of the earth: Teacher's guide. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing. Pohl, A. (1997, April). Teaching Natives studies. OPSTF News. Reed, K. (1999). Aboriginal peoples: Building for the future. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press Canada. Shared Learnings: Integrating B.C. Aboriginal Content, K-10. (B.C. Ministry of Education, 1998). (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/abed/shared.htm). Ward, A. (1996). Beyond “sharing time": Negotiating Aboriginal culture in an urban classroom. English quarterty, 28(2/3), 23-28. Williams, L., Henderson, M., & Marcuse, G. (1998). The circle unbroken: The teacher’s guide (videos 5, 6, 7). Montreal: National Film Board of Canada. a1
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. o 42 Teaching Exceptional Children and Adolescents EXHIBIT 4.4 | Action Research Action research is a way to study your own teaching practice. The intent is to change and improve your practice. Whether you focus on one student or your whole class, the question is, “How can I help my students improve the quality of their learning? " The four steps to follow are: 1. Identify a concern in your practice. 2. Decide what you will do about this concern. 3. Select the evidence (one or more indicators) that will allow you to make a judgment about what is happening before, during, and after your action research. 4. Think about how you can validate any claims you might make about the suc- cess of your action research. Select evidence to show that you have done what you claim to have done. Typically, action research is carried out over several weeks or a few months. Some improvements in teaching practice take longer to accomplish than others and some require more time for you to demonstrate improvement. Teachers usually start with a concern that they can do something about, something that is important to them and to their students. Talking about your action research with one or more colleagues is a good idea. What you will do about this concern could be a small change, anything that will be likely to improve the quality of learning for students or even for one student. Starting small and achieving success is more likely to mean you will continue to use action research to improve your practice. When you try to find out if your actions have made a difference, look for indicators of improvement that you can see in what the students do, or what they learn, or in how they treat one another during discus- sions in the classroom. In the fourth step, always prepare a written report, even if it is very brief. It should summarize the four steps you have taken. Always protect the identity of your students and colleagues in your report. You can use pseudonyms or initials. If you carry out your action research in a university course, you may have to submit your proposal to an ethical review committee in the university. Discuss the report with other teachers and ask for suggestions. Perhaps you and your colleagues will find that you want to support one another in action research as each of you sets out to study your own teaching practice to improve it. Sources: Adapted from: (1) The August Week: A Guide for Teacher Candidates by R. Luce-Kapler and colleagues, 1998. Unpublished manuscript. Kingston, ON: Queen’s University Faculty of Education. (2) You and Your Action Research Project by J. McNiff, P. Lomax, and J. Whitehead, 1996. London, UK: Routledge. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING Brant Castellano, M., Davis, L., & Lahache, L. (Eds.). (2000). Aboriginal education: Fulfilling the promise. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press. A thoughtful and thought-provoking volume based on research conducted to inform the edu- cation section of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report. The emphasis is on mod- els of education that seek to address the needs and dreams of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Case 4: Always Challenging 43 British Columbia Ministry of Education. (1995). Gifted education: A resource guide for teachers. Victoria, BC: Queen’s Printer for British Columbia. A practical classroom guide to understanding what giftedness is, and how you can recog- nize it, that describes many approaches for teaching gifted students in the regular classroom. Gibbs, J. (2000). Tribes: A new way of learning and being together. Sausalito, CA: CenterSource Systems. This practical resource not only includes dozens of community building activities, but also shows teachers how to use collaborative learning in the curriculum subjects. McNiff, J., Lomax, P, & Whitehead, J. (1996). You and your action research project. London, UK: Routledge. These three authors share their experiences with action research to produce a highly read- able source. Many examples help to show the wide range of aspects of professional practice that teachers could choose to improve in action research. Putnam, J., & Burke, J. B. (1992). Organizing and managing classroom learning communities. Toronto, ON: McGraw-Hill, Inc. An unusual resource on classroom management that focuses on the challenges of creating a learning community in the classroom. Practical yet idealistic. Renzulli, J. S. (2001). Enriching curriculum for all students. Arlington Heights, IL: SkyLight. This readable source describes the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, one approach to increasing the challenges at school for all students. Winebrenner, S. (2002). Teaching gifted kids in the regular classroom: Strategies and techniques every teacher can use to meet the academic needs of the gifted and talented. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. This great book describes many strategies that teachers have used successfully, including “Most Difficult First,” “Compacting the Curriculum,” learning contracts, reducing the amount of time students spend on a unit when the general pace is too slow for them, independent study, and more challenging activities. .§°§WEBLINKS http://www.firstperspective.ca An online newspaper called The First Perspective: News of Indigenous Peoples of Canada that reports on community events, news, culture, and the arts. http://www.schoolnet.ca/aboriginal/ This government-sponsored Web site includes lesson plans for teachers and links to pro- grams, research, news, and services. http://edu.yorku.ca/caas A site intended to help teachers introduce all students to Aboriginal-perspective curricu- lum content. http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/giftedcanada/ A forum for Canadian teachers and parents of gifted children, as well as researchers, to share information, resources, and ideas.