Through a series of interviews with differents teachers, I would like to share their impressions and a little of their daily reality of inclusive school. We will start with Mrs R ...., professor of Mathematics in a vocational high school.
1. Introduce yourself / Who are you ?
I have been teaching for more than 30 years in the same private establishment which prepare for different professional fields. I'm a math and science teacher. My students range in age from 13 to over 20 years. We opened a class to meet special needs: helping students who are dropping out of school (truancy, school phobia, behavioral problems, learning difficulties, etc.)
2. What do you think of inclusive school ?
It is a way of teaching that highlights the qualities and abilities of each individual. Inclusive school is a good way to allow a student to re-motivate them by reconciling them with a more positive image of themselves and the school system.
3. What are / were your fears regarding the reception of students with disabilities ?
Depending on the type of disability, it is more or less complicated to integrate a student into a class. The entire educational team must agree with this inclusion and must do everything possible to take on this heavy and tedious care. There are many fears:
• will the pupil have means adapted to his handicap ?
• as a teacher, do I have all the supports at my disposal to help him move forward ?
• have I been trained to receive it properly ?
4. Do you currently have a student (s) with a disability in your class (es) ?
I have in my class several students who have disabilities, two of them have an AESH but not in all classes. These students have attention deficit as well as behavioral problems, in addition therefore problems of dys- orthography. Others have problems with dysgraphia and dyscalculia.
5. Do you know how to adapt your supports,(for one type of handicap/several) ? if so is this time consuming for you ? Easy or hard ?
The size is small, that's why I can adapt my lessons to suit each. I have not had any specific training but I am trying to understand how each of my students works and I observe them while working. I motivate them differently, at the start of the year I do math tests to find out a little bit about everyone’s level and then I adapt.
I pay attention to the font "ARIAL 14"; I don't write too much, I make short sentences, I air the assignment and place pictures or photos, so that it is more meaningful. Most of the lesson is very brief, the exercises are many repetitive and each one goes at his own pace
6. Do you know if there are training courses to help you ?
If yes, did you follow it ? and did you find it easily ?
Yes there are training courses, in our establishment we have this year a relay teacher who will gradually train or at least guide our way of doing things
7. Do you have an AESH in your class ? is this person a real help or rather an embarrassment ?
In recent years, I have worked with various AESH, their help is invaluable and the students who benefit from it are generally delighted. When writing the course it allows students to be less focused on taking notes and thus their attention can be focused on the oral explanation, some are quite exhausted by a day in class or by having to stay in front a computer . Having someone close to the student can help them focus on their work if they have trouble staying focused. On the other hand, the personality of the AESH can sometimes disturb the teacher, his too intrusive attitude in the course can sometimes require a reframing of the functions of each
8. If you had a magic wand, what would you change from inclusive school ?
Inclusive school is a positive way to help pupils with difficulties progress. But in my opinion, it would be more necessary to target pupils with special needs much earlier in their schooling and to promote compulsory therapeutic follow-up for each child with even a minor disorder and this from very early childhood. The means available should be much more numerous and new teachers, especially those intended for the youngest, should be trained to detect problems as soon as possible but also to know the means to put in place to best help the child and teach him to live with it, help him develop tips so that he gets out of it and can follow an education like the others.
interview made by Sabrina.