Dec

9

Why don’t kids with learning disabilities get to do the cool stuff that gifted kids get to do?

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Special Education | 8 Comments

Why don’t kids with learning disabilities or kids who are taking applied level classes get to do the cool stuff that kids who are identified as gifted get to do? That was the question one of my students, let’s call her Cindy, asked in class this past week. Cindy who has a learning disability and is taking mostly applied level classes and getting good marks ,by the way, was indignent because she had been told by a teacher that she could not be part of the Student Activity Council because that was for the gifted kids. She almost didn’t get to go to a conference she really wanted to go to either because someone thought that only the gifted kids should go to that conference. Fortunately for Cindy, another teacher got wind of this and advocated on her behalf so that Cindy and another student who is also taking applied level classes could attend the conference. In a similar vein, recently one of my colleagues was asked to select some students to be part of a really cool activity outside of class. My colleague chose some kids that would really enjoy the activity, and the kids and their parents were really excited about it all. Then, my colleague was told that the activity was only for gifted kids and those kids who were originally chosen couldn’t take take part in the activity. My colleague was left with the unpleasant task of telling the first group of kids that they couldn’t go.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that students who are identified as being gifted shouldn’t be able to participate in enrichment activities. I think all kids should have the opportunity to take part in enrichment activities. I’m arguing that excluding certain groups of students from certain activities just because they are identified as being part of a specific group like students with learning disabilities or students who are taking applied level classes needs to stop. Equity for all students is what I’m advocating. Students who are identified as having a learning disability, students who are identified as having behavioral difficulties, students who are identified as being gifted, students who are not receiving special education support, all students need to be treated equitably . It’s time to stop the discrimination that is fostered through linguistic bias, stereotyping, exclusion, imbalance and fragmentation. Changes in school policy, changes in instructional strategies, changes in curriculum content, changes in school and classroom management and changes in family and community involvement can foster equity for all students in and out of the classroom.

How are we going to do this? The first step is to recognize that equity doesn’t exist and that biases do and then the next step is to re-culture the school community so that all students and teachers will be treated more equitably. I’m pleased to say that, that is beginning to happen. I’ve been part of the first group of teachers at our school who as part of the Board’s Grades Six to Ten initiative has just completed the Tribes Learning Communities training and hope to help more people at our school see with new eyes . I’ve been told that the Tribes training is only the first step, and I am looking forward to learning about and helping people take the next steps.

What is a Tribes Learning Community. Before I answer that question by quoting a passage from their web site, I want to make it clear that I am not connected to the organization in anyway other than I’ve taken the Tribes training course and believe that it will help us achieve equity in schools, among other very important outcomes. A Tribes Learning Community is a new way of learning and being together.

Thousands of schools throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries have become Tribes Learning Communities, safe and caring environments in which kids can do well! After years of “fix-it” programs focused on reducing student violence, conflict, drug and alcohol use, absenteeism, poor achievement, etc., educators and parents now agree, creating a positive school or classroom environment is the most effective way to improve behavior and learning. The Tribes TLC® process is the way to do it.

Students achieve because they:

  • feel included and appreciated by peers and teachers
  • are respected for their different abilities, cultures, gender, interests and dreams ( that’s an outcome that I would really like to see given the demographics of my school)
  • are actively involved in their own learning
  • have positive expectations from others that they will succeed. ( this is another outcome that I would like to see given that I work with kids who often are not expected to succeed by others or themselves for that matter)

The clear purpose of the Tribes process is to assure the healthy development of every child so that each one has the knowledge, skills and resiliency to be successful in a rapidly changing world.

I encourage you to go to the site and explore it for yourself by clicking on the link I’ve provided.

Just an aside here, I want to say that I really like working at my school. It has an unusual mix of students and programs. There are about 1700 students enrolled in grades 7-12 . The school is home to one of the regional centres for the gifted and has about 450 students enrolled in the enhanced program and most of them are bussed to the school. It also has a high population of English Language Learners formerly known as English as a Second Language learners. But, since for some of the kids English is not a second language but a third or fourth one , English Language Learners is a more appropriate description. There are are about 60 languages besides English spoken in all. The school looks like a mini United Nations with students from different parts of the world sitting in classrooms, navigating through the halls and sharing the cafeteria during lunch. The school also has about 120 students who are identified as needing special education support and plenty more that need and get support but haven’t been formally identified, for one reason or another. A class for developmentally challenged students is also housed in the building and these kids are integrated into school life as well. It is a busy, busy place and I love it. But, that doesn’t mean that some things don’t need to be improved. I guess because I’ve spent over 22 years working with and advocating for students who need extra support of one sort or another I’m delighted to see the Board and school’s administration commit time and money to the new initiatives that will enable students to be successful in our rapidly changing world. Its actually a very exciting time to be teaching at our school.

 
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Dec

2

It’s time to implement the restorative justice process to help make schools safer

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Behaviour Management, Computers In The Classroom | 1 Comment

Keeping schools safe continues to be a hot issue and rightly so. We want our schools to be a safe place where the only thing kids have to worry about is learning the curriculum. But, sadly that’s not the case. It’s painfully clear that schools are a place where bullying, harassment, fighting, assaults, theft, vandalism, weapons offenses and even murders occur. The traditional approach of trying to deter inappropriate behaviour by punishing the offender through detentions, suspensions and expulsions hasn’t been as effective as hoped. It’s time to try another approach. It’s time to implement the restorative justice process into all school to help keep schools safer.

The restorative justice process is not a new process. Quite the contrary. It’s long been part of North American traditional aboriginal justice systems and more recently has been accepted by the Canadian judicial system in its Youth Criminal Justice Act.

What is restorative justice? Ron Claassen founder of the Fresno Victim Offender Reconciliation Program explains

Restorative justice is a process to “make things as right as possible” which includes: attending to needs created by the offense such as safety and repair of injuries to relationships and physical damage resulting from the offense; and attending to needs related to the cause of the offense (addictions, lack of social or employment skills or resources, lack of moral or ethical base, etc.).

Restorative Justice recognizes that crime (violation of persons and relationships) is wrong and should not occur, and also recognizes that after it does there are dangers and opportunities. The danger is that the community, victim(s), and/or offender emerge from the response further alienated, more damaged, disrespected, disempowered, feeling less safe and less cooperative with society. The opportunity is that injustice is recognized, the equity is restored (restitution and grace), and the future is clarified so that participants are safer, more respectful, and more empowered and cooperative with each other and society.

I like the fact that the restorative justice process recognizes that both the victim and the wrong doer have needs that should be addressed. The restorative process gives victims a voice and requires “‘wrong doers to face the victim, consider the impact of their behaviour , and come up with ways of making amends, it holds them accountable for their actions “. From what I’ve seen in my role as a special education teacher specializing in behaviour and as a teacher of students who are at risk academically, the traditional ways of dealing with inappropriate behaviour by punishing wrong doers with detentions, suspensions and expulsions hasn’t been all that effective and often further alienates students and exacerbates the problem. Many students continue to rotate through a series of detentions and suspensions to the point where the detentions and suspensions become a joke. I’ve heard lots of kids laughing about getting detentions and suspensions. They get to stay home and don’t have to come to school, and that suits them just fine. Thank you very much! What has that accomplished to change their inappropriate behaviour and their poor emotional and social skills.

Expelling students doesn’t really address the needs of the victim or wrong doer either. Oh, expelling students from school removes the students from school, but doesn’t change their behavior or address their needs related to the cause of their inappropriate behaviour. Now to be fair, there are programs in place for students who are expelled and want to continue their education. Students call these places the last- chance -school where they learn things like anger management. Usually kids who are on probation go to those schools as a requirement of their probation, at least that’s what the kids tell me. Other kids who are expelled from school just drop out feeling more disrespectful, disempowered and disconnected from school and take their unresolved issues with them into the community. But since school and the community are inter-related, these unresolved issues continue to affect the school.

Now of course not all of the wrong doers will want to participate in the restorative justice process and some wrong doers will pose serious safety risks . In those cases, restorative justice calls for authorities to impose consequences that are reasonable, restorative, and respectful of the wrong doer, the victim or victims and the community. They need to be in a safe settng that emphasis the values of safety, responsibility, accountability and civility where they can learn empathy and other skills that will enable them to make productive contributions to society and lead a more satisfying life.

Some schools have begun to implement the restorative justice process to try to make their schools a safer place. Almaguin Highland Secondary School, a rural school near North Bay has been using the restorative justice process for the last couple of years and has been so encouraged by the results that they have expanded it to use student trained facilitators. The process at the Almaguin Highlands Secondary School begins with a conference in a neutral place in the school, not the principals office, and is attended by the victim and the offender, each with support people such as parents, a facilitator trained in the process , a vice-principle and sometimes a police liaison. Others people like custodians, bus drivers, friends of the student who are affected by the incident can also attend. They all sit in a circle facing one another during the conference. Anyone can ask questions about what went on, who was affected, what others were thinking, what they think needs to be done to write this wrong.

Sean Ruddy, a former vice-principal at the Almaguin Highland Secondary School notes that the process is not punitive. It’s inclusive and brings the offender back into the school community with an agreement to move on. Sometimes the solutions are simple; sometimes the solutions are more serious and could involve things like anger management counseling. Anger management counseling does work. I’ve had students in my senior classes who have participated in anger management counseling,and they’ve have told me that it was helpful . In conversations during the semester, these kids would tell me how they would have handled situations in the past before anger management counseling and how they handle situation now after participating in the counseling. I find that so encouraging to actually see these kids deal with the vicissitudes of daily life in a healthier way.

It’s important to note that the resolution to the issue happens with the participation and agreement of everyone in the circle. It is not something that is done to the offender like a punishment that is imposed by a higher authority. The participants in the circle all have equal standing and the resolution is a function of everyone there. Once the resolution has been arrived at, the participants break bread so to speak and enjoy snacks while waiting for the facilitator to type up the agreement so that it can be signed by everyone. Then everyone who participated in the circle can hold the person accountable.

The Waterloo Region DSB also has a restorative justice program in most of their schools. The program takes a different form that the one used by Almaguin Secondary. Students are sent to the offfice to complete a form that requires them to reflect upon what they have done, who was hurt by the action and what they can do to rectify the situation.The Waterloo Board also has a Making Amends program. In this program wrong doers do not get suspended but instead are required to reflect upon what they have done and the impact that their actions have had.The Board also has provided restorative justice process training to the 100 police officers who work in the schools. It’s nice to see that Lynn Zammit, the co-ordinator for the Waterloo’s restorative project was honoured for her contribution to the project’s success by a provincial Attorney Genera’s Victim Services Award of Distinction.

It’s time to expand the restorative justice process to include all the schools in the province. We know that it works. We owe it to all students to do all we possibly can to help schools become a safer place. We owe it to all students to teach them the emotional and social skills that will enable them to have a more satisfying, productive life. The restorative justice process has demonstrated that it can do this. Let’s have the will to do this and we’ll find the way.

Ron Claassin’s article “Fundamental Principles” and Melodie McCullough’s article “Restoring Justice for Safer Schools” in the December 2007 Issue of Professionally Speaking were used as references in writing this post. I have created a link to each so that you can read their articles in full. Both, are well worth taking the time to read in full.

 
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