If we are to achieve a richer culture, we must weave one
in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.
- Margaret Meade
Reflecting on the past 15 years of being an educator, there are a hand-full of "moments" that I will never forget. I was lucky enough to have one of those "unforgettable moments" today at San Padro Roman Catholic School. What makes this moment even more special is that two others experienced the same "moment" and I think it made an impact on them that will change their perception of students with disabilities forever.
I arrived at San Pedro RC School this morning just before the students lined up to enter their classrooms. My focus for the day was on a student, Johanna, in the Standard VI class (grade 7) with a developmental disability (possibly Downs Syndrome). In Belize students must pass a national exam before they can continue on to high school. Because of this, most students range from 12 to16 years of age in the Standard VI class. Johanna is 21 years old.
Since many teachers in Belize do not have formal teacher education training, their understanding of disabilities seems to be nonexistent. With that said, Johanna attends class (most students in Belize with more significant disabilities do not attend school) and loves to learn, but she is often excluded from instructional activities. It is not because the teachers do not care, rather they do not know how to teach students with more significant disabilities in the general education classroom.
The morning started with a group activity that involved writing a final draft of a story about San Pedro Town. Johanna was in a group of three and was quietly sitting while the other twp group members printed (by hand) the final copy. I noticed they were going to include pictures that they had cut out of magazines to illustrate their story. That is when I made the suggestion that Johanna could contribute to the group activity by cutting out and pasting the pictures onto the final copy. All group members agreed, and Johanna was actively engaged (for the first time) in an instructional group activity. At the end of the activity, I suggested that Johanna collect the colored pencils and markers from the students. Again. Johanna was actively engaged and was a contributing member of the class. I saw her smile for the first time that morning.
After the activity, I got a chance to meet one-on-one with Johanna to briefly assess her academic skills. To my surprise, she was able to write a simple sentence ("I love learning some book at school."), reduce simple fractions, and read words like culture and visitor from her spelling list. I hardly think that the psychological report was correct in stating that she functioned at the level of a three year old. I do not know any three year olds that can reduce fractions and write a sentence with no spelling errors. Granted I only had 10 minutes to informally assess Johanna, but I would be confidant in saying that the psychological report was way off.
At recess, I had a great conversation with Johanna's teacher. While I was filling her head with simple strategies that would allow Johanna to participate in classroom activities, I saw the light bulb go off. Her teacher "got it" in only 10 minutes of conversation. I was ecstatic.
Now on to the unforgettable moment. Ms. Jessie, a UNCW student intern, had a fabulous cooperative group lesson on forming opinions on relevant school issues (e.g., Should students at RC have to wear uniforms?). Before this lesson, Jessie and I discussed how Johanna would participate in the group activity. Again, Johanna was participating in the activity with ease. The unforgettable moment happened when she went to the front of the class, with her group, and stated her opinion statement (out loud) to the class. After she finished, the entire class applauded and Johanna was smiling from ear-to-ear. It does not get any better than that.
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