In Pakistan, most of us have been victims of the ‘one size fits all’ approach towards teaching, whereby you either learn through the method chosen by the teacher or you are yet another casualty of the traditional schooling and hurled a barrage of choice names including ‘lazy’, ‘careless’ and ‘slow’.

However, within the rapidly shifting environment our children are growing up in, the dynamics of their classrooms are also evolving. While changes are occurring in many areas, ‘diversity’ has garnered particular attention from parents, teachers and school administrators. Adults responsible for nurturing children into lifelong learners are increasingly interested in ‘how’ they learn and why different teaching methods resonate with different children.

As awareness of diversity increases, the growing interest is in children with disabilities and how they can be supported within mainstream classrooms. It is critical to remember that children with disabilities are ultimately children. Therefore, it is likely that supports put into place for them will prove to be of universal benefit for ‘all’ children in the classroom. In some instances of course, certain more individualized measures will be necessary and again, those are the right of every child, not just those with a diagnosed disability.

Before we consider specific adaptations, it is important to examine the larger classroom and ensure that the physical and temporal environment is conducive to learning. For starters, look around the physical space of your classroom and ask yourself if you have managed temperature, lightning, seating arrangements, noise levels, safety issues and traffic patterns to the best of your ability, keeping your children’s needs in mind. Then, run though the identified ‘temporal’ areas below and ask yourself the following questions: (adapted from “Designing the Learning Environment” in Blended Practices for Teaching Young Children in Inclusive Settings):

Is my class schedule designed to meet the needs of all children?

• Is there a balance in the type and structure of activities?
  
• Does it attend to length of activities?
  
• Is it implemented consistently?
  
• Does it minimize and plan for transitions?
  
• Does it use routines and transitions as opportunities for teaching?
  
• Have the children been taught the schedule and its expectations?
  
• Are visual prompts being used to communicate the schedule and related aspects for e.g. transitions, routines, choices

Are transitions supported within the classroom?

• Is consistency maintained within routines?
  
• Are transitions minimized, especially whole group transitions?
  
• Are transitions structured?
  
• Has ‘waiting with nothing to do’ time been minimized?
  
• Are children prepared beforehand for transitions?
  
• Have children been taught the expectations for transitions?
  
• Are individualized prompts used to help children needing support with transitions?

What is the role of rules?

• Are children expected to follow lots of rules or a few simple rules?
  
• Are children involved in developing rules?
  
• Have the rules been posted visually for children to see?
  
• Have children been systematically taught the rules?
  
• Are children acknowledged and encouraged when they follow rules?

The above areas, of course, do not constitute all aspects of physical and temporal learning environments, but for now have been highlighted for their particular relevance in supporting children with disabilities.

When considering how best to accommodate children with disabilities, the immediate focus is on assessment and instruction. Therein also lays our deepest concerns as teachers. But again, it is prudent to examine whether the broader umbrella within which children’s instructional goals are being set is favourable. Examine your class curriculum to determine whether it is truly ‘universal’ i.e. designed to meet the needs of all the children in your classroom. Ask yourself three questions:

• Have children been given multiple means of communication?
  
• Have children been given different means to actively participate in learning experiences?
  
• Have children been given various means of showing what they have learned?

Children need opportunities to communicate, participate and demonstrate learning in more than one way for e.g. through gestures, spoken words, pictures, bodily movement, written work and ultimately through their play. Providing children with diverse opportunities and addressing these three areas within your curricular framework to the best of your ability will set all the learners in your classroom up for success – establishing a sound foundation within which more individualized supports can be provided as and when needed.