Exploring Inquiry-based Professional Development in Inclusive Classrooms

Framework

Given that a classroom is “a multi-tiered system”, teaching is a complex social activity that requires teachers to make decisions on many issues. These include curriculum, methods of instruction, and the use of materials (e.g., Cuban, 2013; Fulan, 2016; Wenglinsky, 2016). In particular, special education teachers may often fill a number of roles that include co-teachers, speech/language therapists, school psychologists, paraprofessionals, and social workers. Also, teachers’ beliefs might hinder students’ academic success by perceiving students with disability as having deficits, designing curriculum with a focus on lower-order thinking skills, and not believing that their special needs students are capable of advanced learning (e.g., Haberman, 2010; Klehm, 2014).

Effective professional development (PD) offers an opportunity for fostering ongoing collaboration between learning scientists and special education professionals to redefine high-quality, high-impact opportunities for teachers (Borko, Jacobs, & Koellner, 2010; Desimone, 2009), especially in STEM fields (Meier et al., 2018). However, special education teachers have faced multiple challenges including teachers’ beliefs, knowledge, and pedagogical practices, which contribute to the quality of instruction for students with disabilities (e.g., Hagenauer, Hascher, & Volet, 2015; Revai & Guerriero, 2017).

To reflect “best practices” from our growing understanding of the learning sciences, AT has the potential to be used in the development of high-quality PD which may increase its effectiveness in changing teaching practices. These practices include but are not limited to design instructions to build on and expand knowledge and experience (Archer & Hughes, 2011), differentiated instruction to meet students’ special learning needs (Delisio, Bukaty, & Taylor, 2017), collaborative and inclusive environments for learning (Friend & Bursuck, 2017), and STEAM pathways to prepare students for the future workforce (Basham & Marino, 2013).

The Innovating Instruction PD model (Meier, 2018) has shown promise with mainstream teachers in research sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) The question explored in this research is how it may also serve the needs of special education teachers by introducing and modeling the use of AT in the context of learning student-centered pedagogical practices. Through new design practices, this approach may also help teachers shift their notion of ability and disability and consequently, contribute to an emerging knowledge base in special education for learning and teaching.

Methods

The research uses a mixed-method design to collect both quantitative and qualitative data to understand the extent to which a research-based professional development model, can be adapted by special education teachers. Quantitative data capture changes in the use of assistive technology in classroom teaching to support students with special needs while qualitative data captures the changes in pedagogical practices and teacher perceptions related to student abilities and disabilities.

Results

Pilot study results indicate that teachers made noticeable shifts in using AT to design curriculum after the professional development intervention. This research has the potential to enable special education teachers to tailor instruction for students with special needs as they design inquiry-based classroom practices using assistive technology.

Specifically, the quantitative results of the pilot showed that teachers started using technology differently as they started to design and implement projects. In quantitative data, teachers made noticeable shifts in considering the use of AT in curriculum planning and teaching based on classroom observations. The qualitative analysis was an iterative and continuous process as teachers and the researcher collaborated to analyze the effectiveness of the implementation on student learning using the data from field notes and interviews across the two schools. Through this situated professional development process, field notes suggested that teachers felt excited that their students were more engaged in the open-inquiry projects.

Emerging themes from the field notes and interviews from the pilot study suggested that teachers perceived the usefulness of assistive technology to differentiate instruction that supported students with disabilities. Also, the ongoing discussion involved the need to redesign the existing curriculum to more effectively tailor instruction to the needs of individual students.

Importance

The pilot study showed that the Innovating Instruction Model could be adapted to prepare special education teachers to design new inquiry-based approaches using assistive technology. The dissertation will continue to refine the study and reach a broader audience of special education teachers’ classrooms. To make the critical shift of the deficit paradigm, special education teachers need technology fluency and access in integrating AT into the curriculum to embrace the learning differences of students.

Professional development plays a critical role in preparing special education teachers, more research is needed to design PD to sustain teachers’ interests while positioning teachers as designers to construct a student-learning atmosphere. Future work needs to guide teachers to use AT to connect students’ prior knowledge, co-create authentic learning projects, promote self-reflective processes, and co-construct culturally relevant pedagogy (Darling-Hammond et al., 2019; Ladson-Billings, 1995).

Beyond teaching and PD, administrative support is critical in leveraging opportunities for students with special learning needs. Future studies should examine the extent to which administrators support teachers in curriculum development, pedagogical choices, instructional materials, and ongoing assessment strategies to support students with special needs.

References

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Meier, E. (2018) The Collaboration Imperative. In L. Lin & J.M. Spector (Eds.), Constructive Articulation Between the Sciences of Learning and the Instructional Design and Technology Communities. New York: Routledge.

Meier, E. (2015). Beyond a digital status quo: re-conceptualizing online learning opportunities. Bank Street Occasional Paper Series 34. Retrieved from
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Wenglinsky, H. (2005). Using technology wisely: The keys to success in schools. Teachers College Press.