Today is our Changemaker presentation day!! A bit nervous, but excited to see how everything works out. We spent most of our morning working together as a group to finalize who would say what and what exactly we wanted to touch on. All of our work led up to this moment (crazy!). Our presentation focused on our findings, both quantitative and qualitative, and results of our entire project. From the beginning with our emails to each other back and forth discussing the achievement gap and how we reach each of our students in our classroom, our convening day where we worked together to find real solutions to issues we had in the classroom, the Ignite Day in which we presented with the other educators, and finally the last email we sent asking each educator from USD, Marymount University, Limpopo and Soweto what their Changemaker pledge was and what they would take back to their own classroom and communities. With the guidance and dedication of Dr. Rebekka Jez and all of my fellow classmates, including: Kassidy Brown, Shelby Dorrance, Stephanie Giertsen, Jeffrey Hilbert, Kadesha Martin, Eleni Stang, Antonio Marques, Sarah Eichler, and Amelia Hobart, we presented as a united front and it went extremely well! We all worked so hard and were very dedicated to this project and I believe it definitely showed today at the conference.
Not only did we have the privilege of presenting today, but most of us also had the privilege of listening to Hannah Godfrey and Dr. Lawrence Meda present about Learning Support at a South African School. (Godfrey & Meda, 2018) Hannah is a student from Capetown University that we were so lucky to have met so we were all excited to hear about her work. (Godfrey & Meda, 2018) found through their work at a school in South Africa that the only way to truly implement inclusion into a classroom, there has to be support in order for it to succeed. That's to say you can't expect to implement this if not everyone is on board with it or if everyone doesn't understand what has to be done in order for it to work. They found that differentiated academic support improved academic performance and individualized support was very beneficial. In addition, learners helping learners benefited both; those who needed the help and those who aided in helping others. In their study they also saw the need to support the schools and learners financially. The learners needed to have basic necessities like transportation to and from school, a meal and even clothes or shoes. In conclusion, they found that no standards should be lowered in order for the learners to get over these barriers, they and their school just need more support. Dr. Rebekka Jez added that South Africa and California specifically both share the issue of needing support. We both share the multiple languages, poverty and need for resources and when we are able to bridge those similarities I believe that, and as we have learned through this project, we can help each other in finding the best solutions and ways to truly implement inclusion.
1 Comment
Rebekka
7/29/2018 09:55:44 am
And you all did a fantastic job! I was so proud listening to the group- especially with your responses to the Q and A.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Study AbroadThis June I have gotten the opportunity to travel to South Africa to observe policies and practices of the education systems. I will be working with students and educators from the U.S. and South Africa on a Changemaker Project. Our hope is to bring awareness to the different types of diverse learners in the U.S., South Africa and all over. Archives
August 2018
Categories |