Academic norms are important to follow in order to ensure equality in the learning process. This relates to timely submission of students’ academic work in order to meet general course requirements. However, if students have extenuating circumstances which cause a delay in their submissions, they need to negotiate them with teachers beforehand; but what if those circumstances are caused by psychological issues brought about by misunderstanding and pressure in their families? There are certain situations where fairness and equality do not help to tackle the situation while those students are in the classroom. This case illustrates the impact of family relationships on students’ learning and the importance of teachers being considerate of their students’ individual backgrounds by avoiding stereotypical assumptions concerning academic norms and behaviors.
In order to protect the identities of the participants, pseudonyms have been used in the case.
Keywords: inquiry-based course, summative assessment, assumptions.
Case Narrative
An inquiry-based course requires students to work on different sections of their term project paper as they go through different stages of the research process. The summative assessment for each term is based on the written paper that students submit at the end of the term. It is important for a teacher to ensure that every student goes through the process of secondary and primary data collection and is able to write papers in academic and succinct language by providing constructive feedback. Another important aspect of such a research-based course is timely submissions of the paper by the deadline which is negotiated with students and set by the teacher on educational platforms.
A predicament occurred in the inquiry-based class of a secondary school teacher, Ms. Aliya, and her Grade 11 Kazakh track students. The students in the class were diligent and seemed to enjoy the research process. The mid-term submissions of the first drafts of the project papers were made for the teacher’s feedback and the subsequent improvement of the final drafts. The teacher felt that the students were doing quite well, though they were all working at a different pace, which was acceptable according to the research process. Ms. Aliya was aware that her students may have had different learning styles as well as individual educational backgrounds as the course drew significantly on their previous experiences in other project-based subjects at school. The teacher tried to approach each individual student differently, considering their previous academic backgrounds, learning interests, and strengths. As claimed by the leading authors in the field, differentiated approaches to teaching are deeply grounded in the values of diversity and respect for learner differences (Tomlinson, 2000). It views the diversity of learning styles as an opportunity to adopt a supportive teaching approach and create an engaging learning environment towards the individual academic growth of each and every learner (Norwich, 1994). The teacher did her best to ensure that every student was meaningfully participating in the process of research paper writing and achieving the learning objectives. One of her students, named Diana, was progressing well in writing her project paper as she was engaged in the process and seemed enthusiastic about her research topic on the influences of modern gadgets on students’ learning. She was timely when sending her rough drafts and regularly attended afternoon tutorials in order to receive feedback and guidance from her teacher for further work.
When the time came for project paper submission at the end of the first term, the teacher received all her students’ work, except for Diana’s. The students were aware that overdue papers would be penalized by a subtraction of 10 % from the total grade. Also, as the project was the last one to be graded in the summative assessment week, students knew that the teacher had only five days to mark their papers before putting the grades into electronic and paper registers. The grading process at school was rigorous as all grades had to be registered and reported to the school vice-principal in a timely fashion by the end of the summative assessment period.
When Diana’s paper was not received and she did not attend class the next day, Ms. Aliya wrote her an electronic letter, asking her to send her project paper as soon as possible; however, no reply was received. Ms. Aliya talked to Diana’s school counselor and learned that she was having issues with other subjects as well. The counselor told Ms. Aliya that Diana was having communication problems with her mother, a strict and demanding parent who tended to put pressure on Diana during summative assessment term periods, and showed her mistrust in Diana’s potential to do well in the exams. Ms. Aliya asked the counselor to arrange a meeting with Diana. When Diana came to class the following day, she was pale and seemed depressed. Diana said that she had not been able to submit her paper because she had lost all her electronic and physical drafts. Surely, Ms. Aliya might have objected to that claim by saying that she had other midterm submissions and there were still a few days to restore and send the whole work. However, she felt that the problem was not only with the term paper. It was evident that the child was under psychological pressure as she was shivering, always casting her gaze downward, and seemed confused. Ms. Aliya realized that Diana needed her moral support and encouragement to cope with the situation, not merely the assistance of a writing advisor. When Ms. Aliya talked to other colleagues at the department, they were skeptical about Diana’s situation. They said that the student was simply too lazy to finish her work by the deadline and had fabricated the story about her paper. However, Ms. Aliya felt that it was not due to laziness, but to Diana being overwhelmed, misunderstood and unsupported by her family. Furthermore, the assessment period placed additional pressure on her. Ms. Aliya realized that the situation might worsen, and that she therefore needed to extend herself beyond academic norms and principles to help her student. The teacher put a grade into the register for Diana’s paper and reported that all students had submitted their summative assessment work in a timely fashion.
When Diana came to class the following day, Ms. Aliya told her that she had been graded for the course, but they still had a lot of work to do together. It was important to let her know that she was not alone and would be supported in every possible way by her teacher. Diana attended Ms. Aliya’s class every day and worked on her paper. She decided to change the research topic of her project and selected a topic that really fascinated her. By the end of the fall break, the teacher received a well-written paper on Korean pop culture influences on Kazakhstani youth.
From that time on, Diana worked hard on her project throughout the academic year and didn’t miss any more submission deadlines. The following year, when the course ended, Ms. Aliya received a New Year card from Diana in which she thanked her for making a difference to her, and for supporting her and believing in her potential.
Looking back and reflecting on that situation, Ms. Aliya could see the importance of a teacher being supportive of every student in the classroom, taking into consideration their individual backgrounds. Misunderstanding and distrust in families may strongly affect and disturb students emotionally. The pressure can be intensified by teachers’ distrust as they tend to build assumptions of individual students based on expected norms and behaviors. Brookfield (1995) called these “prescriptive assumptions” (p.2) concerning various situations that happen in the classroom. Teachers may hold certain beliefs of what is expected to be happening in the classroom and they tend to form stereotypes for behaviors which do not fit the norm. However, this way of thinking may prevent them from being able to critically reflect on every individual situation in order to meet not only the educational needs of their students but their emotional needs as well. Teachers need to take into consideration an affective aspect of teaching which includes the emotions and feelings of learners (Van Garderen & Whittaker, 2006). As Brookfield (1995) elaborates, teachers may lose the essence of what is meant by “meeting the needs” approach in education by holding assumptions which cause them to approach every individual situation that occurs in the classroom in a biased way. He proceeds by claiming that it is important to account for learners’ emotions and feelings to be able to critically tackle unexpected situations in the classroom. Otherwise, students and teachers may get trapped inside the vicious cycle of miscommunication which, in turn, breeds exclusionary educational practices, barring students from meaningful academic participation and achievement.
Moreover, in order to create an inclusive school environment, teachers need to make tough decisions which require them to reconsider their teaching principles and values. Brookfield (1995) asserts that the first step in building restorative relationships in inclusive school practices is to reframe one’s expectations of the norms and free oneself from stereotypical beliefs (p. 28). Thus, teachers need to show their willingness to make a difference for students by supporting them in difficult situations. What Ms. Aliya did instead of just giving Diana extra time to complete the paper was to work with her throughout the whole process of writing her research paper. This process involved creating a research question, finding and selecting secondary and primary sources, and discussing different aspects of the topic together during the vacation period. It was important for Ms. Aliya to support Diana by being emotionally bound to the process, and for them to work together in the classroom. Brookfield (1995) called this approach “a connecting conversation” (p.28) that helps teachers to create trustful relationships and improve communication with their students. Ms. Aliya could build a trustful relationship with Diana by taking an inclusive approach to address the situation. She reconsidered her values and beliefs in teaching and empowered her student to achieve.
References:
- Brookfield, S (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
- http://media.open.uwi.edu/OCcourses-archive/level_3/EDTL3026/EDTL3026/read/EDTL3026_readings_UNIT01_opt.pdf
- Norwich, B. (1994). Differentiation: from the perspective of resolving tensions between basic social values and assumptions about individual differences. Curriculum studies, 2(3), 289–308.
- doi.org/10.1080/0965975940020302
- Tomlinson, C. A. (2000). Reconcilable Differences? Standards-Based Teaching and Differentiation. 58,1, 6–11.
- http://esblogin.k12albemarle.org/attachments/7b8c23a2–1dd0–4aab-943f-d417df093124.pdf
- Van Garderen, D., & Whittaker, C. (2006). Planning differentiated, multicultural instruction for secondary inclusive classrooms. Teaching Exceptional Children, 38(3), 12–21.
- doi.org/10.1177/004005990603800302
