The evidence provided above is a table summary I created from observations, of five students and their physical, social/emotional and intellectual development and characteristics and how these might affect their learning and what implications would need to be considered for my teaching. It is important to know my students and acknowledge that they all have varying ‘funds of knowledge’ which are accumulated and culturally developed knowledge and skills they bring to the classroom (Moll cited in Zipin, Sellar & Hattam 2012, p. 181). Knowing students holistically allowed me to plan for the students who had additional needs and become prepared for any problem behaviours that could occur.

For example, Layla is diagnosed with autism and experiences sudden outbursts of anger when she feels that the teacher is going really fast. I took this into consideration during planning, by ensuring that I explain tasks clearly and gave enough time for activities. I also utilised calming strategies she uses at home when she got angry, which I learnt from talking to her teacher and her mum. Connecting some of her home routines to school allowed me to build a better relationship with her, and she started to trust me as her teacher and approached me for help instead of getting angry.

Another student, Braxton, would just suddenly walk out of class and head to the playground to cool off. His teacher informed me that his sudden anger stems from his experiences with domestic violence at home. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model states that individuals have varying contexts, which can affect individuals in many ways and vice-versa (Shelton 2018, p. 12). I witnessed how this student’s home contexts affected his school contexts, which motivated me to develop ways in assisting him with his learning. When he felt the need to cool down, we allowed him some time and then gave him extra support when he came back to the classroom. I found that this strategy worked really well, because he always came back more cooperative and on-task.

Witnessing learner diversity allowed me to understand the importance of being an empathetic and compassionate educator, for it is only then can I truly respond to learner’s diverse needs appropriately and understand their complex circumstances. Knowing students individually is very significant in planning to help their learning.

References:

Shelton, L 2018, The Bronfenbrenner Primer: A Guide to Develecology, Routledge Publishing, New York.

Zipin, L, Sellar, S & Hattam R 2012, ‘Countering and exceeding ‘capital’: a ‘funds of knowledge’ approach to re-imagining community’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 179-192.