Participation
For all students, but especially those with complex needs, having an active role in the classroom is of the utmost importance to their learning and well-being. āBeing part of the group and having an active role in the group activity increases feelings of participation and inclusion for students with disabilitiesā – Kramer et al., 2012.
As educators, we can identify 4 distinct levels of participation at which our students with complex needs will fall into…
- Doing what everyone else is doing
- Fringe Participation (when a student participates in a small part of an activity)
- Watching and waiting
- Doing something different
The greatest feelings of belonging, contribution and inclusion have been reported when a student is doing what everyone else is doing. Fringe participation provides fewer opportunities for authentic interaction but is still preferred over participating in activities alone or not at all. When these students are forced to watch and wait while the group is doing an activity, is when feelings of frustration and exclusion are reported. Finally when a student is instructed to do something entirely different from the group, the strongest feelings of exclusion occur.
To give our students the best chance of success, they must be comfortable in the classroom and feel like they belong and are included. As educators, it is our responsibility to include all students directly in the main activity with the rest of the class as often as physically possible. In a classroom this could look like positioning these students directly in the main group to avoid isolation when possible. If a student works with an Educational Assistant, having conversations with the EA’s about our learning goals for the unit or that day will best set the team up to include our students with complex needs as much as possible. Ideally having a student do what everyone else is doing is best (the difficulty can be adjusted to individual circumstances), and when not possible Fringe participation should always be implemented. A student should never be made out to watch and wait, or made to do something entirely different.