ClinicalField Experience Observation of Learning Environment
ClinicalField Experience Observation of Learning Environment
Theconditions of classrooms affect every student in one way or theother. The degree of these effects varies depending on factors suchas the nature of the students and the quality of the teachers.Students with exceptionalities may become vulnerable to the hazardsof classrooms. These students could find classrooms rather perilousin many ways that may not be noticeable. A total of nine hours ofresearch was conducted in classrooms that provide services for peoplewith exceptionalities. Some of the issues noted in the field arehighlighted below.
K-8and 9-12 Classrooms
Howthe Environment is designed
Mostof the classrooms were majorly crowded environments. It could just bebecause the classes are designed in a manner that it capitalizes ongeneral observation of the students. The K-8 classrooms were morecrowded than 9-12 classrooms. Students with exceptionalities foundthese crowded classrooms unsafe since they require close monitoring.
LearningDemands
Studentswith exceptionalities do not seem to function within the flow oftime. There is more pressure on time with occasional interruptionsand transitions. These students get frustrated when they lose thegrip of time and could feel the teachers enjoy not letting themcomplete whatever they are doing. There most crucial demand in allthe classrooms were about completing assignments within a specifiedtime frame.
SocialExpectations
Classroomsare always a very busy environment where there are constantinteractions from time to time. Students engage in a lot of verbalcommunication especially when teachers are not around. Most of theseverbal exchanges end up confusing students with exceptionalities.They end up not understanding lots of things but fear to askquestions since they believe it is a sign of stupidity.
Demandson other students
Studentsview classrooms as public arena whereby every student is expected toshow their worth. While this could be an opportunity for otherstudents, those students with exceptionalities consider attention asshame even if it is not necessarily true. On the other hand, failingto identify such a student makes him, or her lose that morale to try.
Demandson the teachers
Teacherslook at classrooms as private domains where they occasionallyencroach for a specific duration while another adult observes. Theobservation does not give teachers the freedom to interact andidentify what is going on among all the students, especially thosewith exceptionalities.
ClassroomManagements
Mostof the instructions given by the teachers were done as a group. Itled to the lack of particular attention to students withexceptionalities. Clarifications were minimal, probably due to time.The students with exceptionalities mostly remained rather confused inthe group and lagged behind.
Teachersdominated the discussion in the classrooms. It happened mostly duringthe intentional teaching and students played mostly the role oflistening. Students with exceptionalities needed to talk more forthem to understand and remember most of the things.
Activities
Mostof the instructions came in during the action stages. The teachersexpressed satisfaction when they believed that everything was on theright track and the students were mainly enjoying the activities.However, students with exceptionalities did not seem to be on thesame page with the rest of the students. They did not learn a lotfrom these activities as other students, and mostly felt terrified.
Expectationsof personal and social behaviors
Althoughthere was frequent monitoring of the performance of the students,this was not done in an even manner. Individual student’sperformance was probed. Students with exceptionalities neededcorrective feedbacks in their activities. Most of their activitiesare slower than the rest of the students.
Conclusionfrom the Observations
Themajority of teachers believe that students with exceptionalitiesneeded to be treated just like any other students so that they feelwelcomed and accepted in the environment of the classroom. Thebelief, therefore, does not allow the teachers to treat thesestudents differently. The fact is that students with exceptionalitiesneed to be treated differently from the rest of the students (Farmer& Farmer, 1996).They require more attention and care. It is important to ensure thatthese students ask more questions and contribute a lot to discussionsso that they understand better. The students with exceptionalitiesfurther need someone to constantly guide them, especially throughactivities that they mostly find challenging such as mathematics. Thestudents who feel ashamed in class need to have private discussionswith teachers and let them understand that they are not laughingstock in class and need to be open and free in the classrooms. It isfurther important to involve the students with exceptionalities a lotduring class activities and let them be the pace setters.
Teachersneed to ensure that they give instruction to the class while keepingthe keen eye on the students with exceptionalities to ensure they geteverything. At that moment, most of the classrooms make fewadaptations that fit students with special exceptionalities. There isthe need to include adaptation so that the teachers and otherstudents work with these students. The classrooms require someremolding so that it becomes a friendly environment for students withexceptionality. It is not an easy process but very necessary andneeds the cultural shift so that both the teachers and other studentscan understand these realities. It is a thing that is possible butcannot be done overnight. It requires the willingness from everyonein the environment.
Reference
Farmer,T. W., & Farmer, E. M. (1996). Social relationships of studentswith exceptionalities in mainstream classrooms: Social networks andhomophily.ExceptionalChildren, 62(5),431-450.