Articles - modèles de rôle

My name is Ute Ackermann Boeros. Currently, I am teaching High School and IB History and Theory of Knowledge at the American International School in Cyprus. I am also Department Head for Social Studies. As such, I am involved in curriculum development from Elementary to High School Besides teaching at the school, I am also a member of the Teaching and Learning Team for Historiana and have been involved in many Euroclio projects. A more recent project was the creation of teachers guide for online and blended learning.

Our school is an inclusive school at many different levels: Academically but also with students with many different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds. In addressing students with different academic attainment levels, we have a dedicated, special needs department which collaborates with subject teachers in developing individualise learning plans. There are regular meetings between the teachers and the support team. Students are externally assessed by an educational psychologist so that we have a clear picture of each student’s needs. At the same time, the needs of students with higher attainment levels are addressed through differentiation both in process, content and assessment.

We always involve the students when planning our teaching and learning. This involves also formative and summarise assessments. For example, in grades 9 and 10 and for the non-IB students we provide different avenues such as project-based learning, differentiation or even modification of both the content as well as the assessment. Students can choose how they want to demonstrate their learning – orally rather than written, e.g., during a conversation or as a podcast.

The teacher supports the students in different ways depending on the needs of each student. The aim is to enable students to work as independently as possible by strengthening their meta cognitive skills through goal setting and reflection.

The size of our classes does not exceed 15 students which enables teachers to differentiate and address individual needs.

In terms of having a recipe for inclusion, I would say that the involvement of parents is crucial as they can learn how to support their children at home. Another important factor is regular communication between teachers, parents and students in order to reflect upon next steps. Furthermore, extracurricular activities can provide many opportunities for all students to have the feeling that their contribution is valuable, e.g., beach clean-ups with eco club or creating a rooftop garden.

I would define inclusive education as an approach which aims at supporting each student in the classroom so they can reach their full potential.

Inclusive education is important because societies are diverse. Inclusion means also striving for equity and offering opportunities to grow and become responsible and involved citizens, both on a local as well as on a global level.

Inclusion has many dimensions. On a global level, I think the biggest challenge is how migrant children are or are not included – this has important social and political as well as economic consequences. There lies a great opportunity in this challenge as all stakeholders involved need to rethink their view on education in order to create the framework to provide equal chances and opportunities.