Accommodations for Diverse Learners

 Accommodations for Diverse Learners

Part 1: The Importance of Having a Curriculum in Art That Accommodates Diverse Learners

Learning institutions and art classes constitute diverse learners, so the curriculum should accommodate them. Besides teaching the learners how to create art, educators should create a learning setting where all learners feel motivated, included, and valued. Typically, an art curriculum that accommodates diverse students can enable every student to learn at their capacity or level. Children with intellectual or emotional problems might not have the comprehension abilities equivalent to those of other students. Accordingly, they may require more attention to grasp a particular concept. In addition, such a curriculum provides a platform to meet the needs of all learners. Children’s needs in an art class may vary depending on various aspects. Paying attention to the needs of every learner ensures that the teacher comprehends the learners’ aptitude and the areas that require more emphasis in the learning course.

Moreover, varied teaching and learning strategies should be used for diverse learners, and the curriculum can give such recommendations. Notably, a student with visual impairment may require a different learning approach than a child with emotional and intellectual challenges. Therefore, a diverse curriculum promotes respect, acceptance, and validation of the learners. The differences among the students are less regarded, and the goal is to meet their learning needs. As such, it helps create an inclusive and secure environment. By including all students, children can learn from a range of perspectives, making them well-rounded artists and individuals.

Part 2: Examples of Activities for Diverse Children

Emotional and Intellectual Challenges

One of the activities that could be used on children with emotional and intellectual challenges is singing. This could entail composing a song on given concepts, teaching the children, and having them sing it repeatedly. Essentially, music could be a significant part of the learning process for any learner. Still, when it comes to children with emotional and intellectual challenges, it is an extremely powerful motivator. As a result, singing can help the learners retain information and provide more involvement in the art concepts. In addition to singing, the children can listen to music linked to the learning topic. Singing and exposing the children to music could help establish emotional comprehension in kids and inspire communication, empathy, and responsiveness.

Additionally, it encourages connectedness and empowerment of emotions that could significantly impact the learners. Art is all about creativity, which is a dominant instruction tool. Contrary to the conventional classroom setting, singing enables the children to engage in diverse strategies. Rather than writing or speaking, the children can sing to express their encounters. Most kids with disabilities have challenges with words, making it hard to express their emotions and communicate. Therefore, music has a significant role in bridging the communication gap and eradicating the obstruction of turning inner emotions into verbal expression (Rickson, 2008). Singing and listening to music assimilate creative interaction, and these activities are some of the perfect teaching tools for learners with emotional and intellectual challenges.

Visual Impairments

An activity that could be used on children with visual impairments is gardening. Engaging in gardening activities in the early years can help the child develop touching and smelling senses. According to Spring (2016), gardens inspire sensory environments for therapy, instruction, and recreation. Accordingly, this activity presents an extremely soothing emotion and could become a favorite activity for learners with visual impairment. Children should smell the flowers, feel the stems, and touch the leaves. This helps them familiarize themselves with the environment and learn about nature.

Varying plant types can be incorporated into the garden to change the children’s encounters. However, the teacher should ensure the garden is safe to accommodate visually impaired kids. If there is anything that could harm them in the garden, it should be eliminated before gardening begins. Only plants without thorns should be included since thorns could hurt children due to impaired vision. Zajadacz & Lubarska (2019) state that the entrance to the place, garden composition, and plant choice should be planned to facilitate the independent usage of the partially sighted and the blind. This includes elevated elements and contrasting colors. In the gardening process, the children weed, dig, water, trim, and care for the plants, and this has the aptitude to enhance their cognitive development levels, increase their concentration span, and lessen stress and anxiety levels. Essentially, this can decrease aggressiveness. Additionally, gardening is an extremely hands-on undertaking, and kids with visual impairment necessitate opportunities to engage in as many activities as possible. Lastly, gardening has the added advantage of being exceedingly hands-on.

Hearing Impairments

Children with hearing impairments could engage in role play and pretend experiences. Role plays can be retelling narrations through intended language. When children with hearing impairments dress up and play varied roles, this expands their imagination. Even though dressing up might help bring up their artistic sides, it does not have to be done. Also, introducing games that engage varying characters can facilitate teaching a new connected language and expand the children’s creative play abilities. For instance, if the game involves pretending to be a firefighter, writing and having the children view the different words that could be utilized in the game is vital. In addition, when children pretend in varying activities, they become conversant with what happens in the real world. For instance, when the children act in a restaurant undertaking, such as ordering the food, they can learn and understand the process through play. If the pretend experiences are real, the children could have fun in the game.

Orthopedic Impairments

Learning disabilities and mental retardation could affect children with orthopedic impairment; as such, they could have modified anticipations for knowledge and abilities they ought to obtain. An activity that could be used on children with orthopedic impairments is familiarizing themselves with technology devices and their usage. Technology has become highly applicable to learning owing to technology development. However, the extent to which children with orthopedic impairments may require using technology may be high because they, in most cases, utilize assistive technology. Learners with orthopedic impairments often need assistive technologies to facilitate reading, communicating, physically moving around the class, or recording notes. As such, learners must familiarize themselves with such technologies and learn how to utilize them. Educators should work closely with special education instructors to provide suitable assignments, quizzes, and tests that fit learners with this disability. The activity can incorporate various assistive devices which they utilize under inspection. Guidance should be offered to ensure that the learners utilize the devices effectively. The children could learn to use a device such as a graphic organizer, which reduces the amount of physical writing and visual processing.

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References

Rickson, D. J. (2008). The Potential Role of Music in Special Education (The PROMISE)-New Zealand Music Therapists’ Consider Collaborative Consultation. New Zealand Journal of Music Therapy, (6).

Spring, J. A. (2016). Design of evidence-based gardens and garden therapy for neuro disability in Scandinavia: Data from 14 sites. Neurodegenerative Disease Management, 6(2), 87–98.

Zajadacz, A., & Lubarska, A. (2019). Sensory gardens in the context of promoting the well-being of people with visual impairments in outdoor sites. International Journal of Spa and Wellness, 2(1), 3-17.

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Imagine that you are in an early childhood education setting, and you are the lead art teacher. Using this information, support, and guidance from lesson 3, Creative Thinking and Art-Based Learning. By Joan Packer Isenberg & Mary Renck Jalongo, determine how you would create an art curriculum that accommodates diverse learners. You may use ideas from the book as springboard but do not copy them.

Accommodations for Diverse Learners

Part 1: Explain why it is important to have a curriculum that accommodates diverse learners.

Part 2: Provide an example of inactivity for children with each of the following:
a. Emotional and intellectual challenges
b. Visual impairments
c. Hearing impairments
d. Orthopedic impairments
4 pages in length