Remoción de Fluoruros en Agua de Consumo Humano por Medio de

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Developing Inclusion in the Schools: The Strategies For Establishing Successful Inclusive Classroom

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1. Inclusive Values and Beliefs - - - - —

2. Inclusive School Policies - - - - —

3. Collaboration and Consultation for Inclusion

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4. Inclusive Practice - - - - —

Instructional Strategies in Different Levels - - - - —

Part III Strategies within Inclusive Classroom

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Integrating Children with Autism into Inclusive Classes

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Strategies for Working with Children with Autism

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Support, Therapies and Alternative Options

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The guidelines were organised into two parts for peer tutors and three parts for the other four key personnel. This was based on the role and relevance of the material for the key personnel who interacted with the children with autism. The peer tutors’ guidelines contained two parts:

Part I: Understanding Children with Autism and Part II: Strategies for Helping Children

with Autism. The first part provided the background information about children with autism

which was told through the stories. There were three stories at three different levels: kindergarten, primary and secondary. The stories had different levels of complexity. The second part contained the strategies to help the children with autism including their role and

172 ideas on helping their friend with autism to communicate with peer tutors. For teachers, paraprofessionals, parents and school principals, the guidelines were organized into three parts: Part I: Children with Autism;, Part II: Strategies for Helping Children with Autism;

and Part III: Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom. Four key personnel: teachers,

paraprofessionals, parents and school principals had the same background information about children with autism in Part I. These included sections on understanding autism in general, the definition of autism and the possible causes of autism. Both, teachers and paraprofessionals who collaborated closely in inclusive class had the same information in Part II which contained 20 strategies for managing children with autism. These 20 strategies were chosen from the checklist by five Thai professionals who had experience in teaching children with autism (Appendix I). In Part III the contents were different as they followed the roles of the key personnel. For parents and school principals, the guidelines Part II and III were organized for different contents as shown in table 5.10. Then, the feedback and reflection from the key personnel were analysed to determine the strength and weakness as the result of cycle one in order to redevelop the guidelines in the next cycle.

The feedback and reflections from observations, semi-structured interview and focus groups of the five key personnel who participated in this research study were summarized individually as illustrated in Figure 5.17. Reflection on the findings resulted in redeveloping and modifying the information in the guidelines before implementing them again in the next cycle of the Deming Model.

Figure 5.17 The Steps of Action’ stage •Peer Tutor's feedback A-1 •Teachers' feedback A-2 •Para- profesional s' feedback A-3 •Parents' feedback A-4 •School principals 'feedback A-5

173 A-1) Data on using the guideline booklets was gathered from nine peer tutors using classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. In addition, the opinions of the children with autism, gained from semi-structured interviews, were included to ensure that they were satisfied with the actions of the key personnel who accompanied them. The main points that emerged from this data were:

ƒThe usefulness: overall the peer tutors found the guideline booklets helped them to

better understand their friend with autism. They gained knowledge about such things as the particular character of children with autism, their role as a peer tutors and the assumptions regarding what their friend might be thinking about.

ƒ The possibility of practical implementation: the peer tutors reported that it was

possible to use the guideline booklets to help them. When they did not know how to manage a situation with their friend with autism they could find suggestions from the guideline booklets before asking the teachers or paraprofessionals.

ƒ The appropriateness: the peer tutors indicated that the guideline booklets were

appropriate for peer tutors as the information was not complicated. However, some suggested that adding more stories and pictures was required.

ƒ The accuracy and reliability: None of the peer tutors rejected the information

contained in the guidelines. The kindergarten and elementary peer tutors gained knowledge and were encouraged by the teachers and paraprofessionals. The secondary peer tutors read the booklet by themselves and did not mention any inaccuracy of the contents.

ƒ The effectiveness for children with autism: Peer tutors trialed the guideline with their friend with autism. They found that being peer tutors did not disturb the friend with autism or themselves. It was assumed that the guidelines had a positive effect on both the children with

174 The summary of strengths and weakness of the guideline by peer tutors is as follows:

Strengths Weakness

1. Introduction on Part I “Getting to know

about autism ” was very interesting;

2. Enjoyed listening to teacher read the story to the class; (Kindergarten and elementary) 3. The content was appropriate and not too long or short;

4. The guidelines clarified the role of peer tutors.

1. The size of book was too big;

2. Need more booklets to distribute to other students in class;

3. Teachers had no time to give guidance to the peer tutors;

4. The designs for pictures and story needed to be more professional.

A-2) Data from the nine teachers’ reflection on using the guideline booklets was gained from the focus groups discussion session. They agreed to participate in this research study as they indicated that being part of the research study was not only about helping children with autism but also gave them the opportunity for more professional development. A number of teachers gave positive feedback regarding the use of the guideline booklets. However, some teachers suggested they preferred to gain knowledge in easier ways that might give them a better understanding i.e. through DVDs because they did have not much time to spend on reading as they had to teach both peer tutors and children with autism for this research study. There were five main points that emerged from the feedback and reflection:

ƒ The usefulness: the teachers found that the guidelines had clarified their understanding of autism. This was very useful and effective for the development of the students. Moreover, the guidelines had clarified the teaching and learning process.

ƒ The possibility of practical implementation: teachers said that the guidelines could be

employed with students with autism. However, kindergarten teachers said that the guidelines should be easier so that the kindergarten peer tutors were more able to access the information by themselves with some teacher explanation. They suggested a storybook design.

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ƒ The appropriateness: the teachers were satisfied in the contents particularly the 20

strategies were very useful especially in inclusive classes. Everyone who was working with the children with autism could use them.

ƒ The accuracy and reliability: the content was approved by the teachers who said that

it was consistent with their priorities and fulfilled their needs. Some of the teachers suggested (and the others agreed) that the guidelines should be distributed to all teachers in this school.

ƒ The effectiveness for children with autism: the teachers stated that when comparing

the behaviour of the children with autism at the beginning and now the children liked to come and be with their friend inthe inclusive class. Teachers had been worried at the beginning of the semester but now the students had significantly changed their behaviour in inclusive classes to be more positive. Moreover, the teachers felt that having all of the stakeholders collaborating together in helping children with autism made for a very good atmosphere in the demonstration school.

The summary of strengths and weakness of the guideline by teachers is as follows:

Strengths Weakness

1. The Understanding Autism section in Part I provided brief and clear content;

2. The 20 strategies chosen by professionals were explicit and reliable;

3. Providing the comparison of the instructions at different levels ;

4. The guidelines provided and clarified the concept of inclusion.

1. Should provide more examples regarding the practice strategies;

2. Should provide a checklist to help estimate progress at the end of each section of the guidelines;

3. Needs more meaningful pictures; 4. Should include a presentation on DVD.

A-3) The reflection on using the guideline booklets by paraprofessionals was based on observations and semi-structured interviews with children with autism. In this research study, the paraprofessionals spent more time closer to the children with autism than the classroom

176 teacher. As they were the part of the staff at the Autistic Centre and had qualified in special education, they mostly accompanied the child with autism in the inclusive class. The reflections from paraprofessionals on using the guideline booklets were found to be very reliable as there was agreement about which strategies were useful and good practice.

In the same way as with the other personnel, this reflection is evaluated under five main points. These are:

ƒ The usefulness: the paraprofessionals, like the teachers, reflected that the guidelines

were very beneficial, especially the 20 strategies. This supported the good collaboration between teachers and paraprofessionals to work effectively to assist children with autism.

ƒThe possibility of practical implementation: It was pointed out by the

paraprofessionals that it was possible to use the guideline booklets for working with the children. They would like pictorial, step-by-step guidance that would help to clarify the strategies. These could be shown to other teachers and paraprofessional who are not involved in special education to help them understand how to treat the children with autism.

ƒ The appropriateness: the paraprofessionals confirmed that the guideline booklets

were appropriate for them. However, they should be continually developed and modified to keep the information up-to-date as knowledge in this area is moving rapidly as they have found during this research study.

ƒ The accuracy and reliability: the paraprofessionals pointed out that some of the

information retrieved from international resources was not appropriate in the Thai context and the researcher should consider this when revising the guidelines.

ƒ The effectiveness for children with autism: the paraprofessionals’ reflected that they

were satisfied to be working in collaboration with key personnel in this research study. They strongly believed that the way to assist children with autism would be significantly improved if everybody were involved in this.

177 The summary of strengths and weakness of the guideline by paraprofessionals is as follows:

Strengths Weakness

1. All three parts of the contents were relevant to helping children with autism; 2. Enjoyed working collaboratively with key personnel via the guideline booklets;

3. The 20 strategies strongly confirmed what were necessary and useful.

1. The design, size and layout do not motivate the reader;

2. The Thai language translation is not smooth.

A-4) The information about using the guideline booklets for parents was gained from the discussion in the focus group session. The parents felt that the guidelines booklet was very useful but they thought there could be easier ways to access the knowledge i.e. DVD or story books. As some parents pointed out, they have not much spare time for reading. However, the parents stated that Part II was very helped and suggested that this part should include demonstration pictures and step-by-step explanations on how to intervene in the correct way. In Part III, the section on the common interventions for children with autism should also provide more information for each strategy.

The main points of reflection on the guideline booklets are identified as:

ƒ The usefulness: the parents found the guideline booklet useful to assist their child with autism as it provided knowledge and best practice for them. They were pleased that the school had initiated this research and all stakeholders had a good chance to discuss issues with each other.

ƒ The possibility of practical implementation: the parents agreed that it was possible to

use the guideline booklets to help their child with autism. The parents reflected that it would be useful to have more instructional media including examples related to the home situation.

ƒ The appropriateness: the parents indicated that the guideline booklets were

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ƒ The accuracy and reliability: the parents confirmed that they had confidence in the

guidelines as they were developed from both Thais and New Zealand expertise. Therefore, they were happy to have them trialed with their children.

ƒ The effectiveness for children with autism: A number of parents stated that the child

was keener to go to school; this was shown in their behaviour. They would wait for their parents in the car or stay calm before going to school. Parents assumed that the guidelines had resulted in there being a positive outcome for the child with autism as these behaviours developed after the guidelines were used.

The summary of strengths and weakness of the guideline by parents is as follows:

Strengths Weakness

1. Having a positive attitude to issues helped parents try to learn more about supporting their children with autism;

2. Made a better link between home and school which helped with learning and assessment issues.

1. Not enough examples;

2. No instructions for practicing in the home situation;

3. Need more information about IEP.

A-5) The information about using the guideline booklets from school principals was gained from the semi-structured interview. Three school principals’ reflection on the guidelines was used.

The main points of feedback and reflection are identified using five points of evaluation. They are:

ƒ The usefulness: the school principals commented on the usefulness of the guideline

booklets as a set of resources to support teamwork for helping children fulfill their needs. All three parts of the contents were very helpful for establishing a successful inclusive classroom.

ƒ The possibility of practical implementation: the school principals agreed that the

guidelines contained good practice that would serve the community well by providing opportunities in inclusive schools.

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ƒ The appropriateness: the guideline booklets for school principals were appropriate for

them but they would like more information than what was contained in the guideline booklets.

ƒ The accuracy and reliability: The school principal trusted theses guideline because

experts approved them.

ƒ The effectiveness for children with autism: when school principals put this project in

the school policy and participated in this research study, they stated that the school’s new innovation and collaboration to support children with autism integrate in inclusive classes was working well.

The summary of strengths and weakness of the guideline by school principals as follows:

Strengths Weakness

1. The relevance of content, children with autism and inclusive education ;

2. Satisfied with the suggestions about supporting team work;

3. Confidence in the quality of the guideline as it was derived from the research;

3. Strongly agreed with the possibility of building inclusive classes in general schools; 4. Understood the role of peer tutors.

1. Needs less content;

2. Needs a basic evaluation test by educator of student who is at risk because of a disability;

3. Add more variety in the examples; 4. Provide the suggestion of assistive technology for helping the children with autism.

5.3 Chapter summary

The Deming Cycle One used in this research process for the implementation and evaluation of the set of guidelines has been very effective for key personnel. The PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Action helped the researcher to implement quality control for the launch of the research study in the schools. There was careful planning for an effective schedule in the Plan

180 stage. Information provided for stakeholders to help them understand the benefits of the research was distributed in the Do stage. In addition, the individual analysis of children with autism was done at IEP meetings in the Do stage. This resulted in the participants and stakeholders, home and school personnel, having a better understanding and realisation of special education matters in Thailand. Next, the Check stage investigated the effectiveness of guidelines as used by the key personnel through observations, focus groups and semi- structured interviews. The reflections from key personnel in the Action stage were used to redevelop the guidelines for the next cycle.

Finally, the results from Deming Cycle one were summarised in five themes: the usefulness, the possibility of practical implementation, the appropriateness, the accuracy and reliability and the effective on children with autism.

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6.1 Introduction

The previous chapter presents a summary of the results of the Deming Cycle Process One. This chapter examines further implementation and analysis of the guidelines, using the Deming Cycle Process Two. The information gained from Cycle One is used to improve on the guidelines and make changes in Cycle Two. In order to produce change and improvement, the researcher has used the results from the reflection in the action stage to re- develop the guideline booklets. In this chapter the Deming Cycle Two repeats the four stages of Plan, Do, Check, Action (PDCA). Deming (2000) suggests that using of PDCA for more than one round can ensure a quality outcome because participants have more chance to modify their feedback. Further reflection from the user can also strengthen the material for future implementation.

6.2 Overview of Deming Cycle Process Two

The ongoing Cycle Two included i) Plan: preparing the re-development of the set of five guideline booklets to distribute to the research participants; ii) Do: training and practising the stage of learning the skills that are specified in the guideline booklets. This was to ensure that all participants understood the ways that changes had led to improvement; iii) Check: using the guidelines in the schools and the inclusive classes. Then, the research was again investigated through observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups, investigating the roles and responsibilities of key personnel, as well as the development of behaviour and the achievement of the children with autism who were integrated in inclusive classes using the strategies and the information from the guideline booklets. Opinions regarding the effectiveness of the guidelines were also gained from research participants; iv) Act: Improvement of the final guideline booklets. As a result of the feedback given, the guidelines

were redesigned to take into account the participants’ opinions and experience of using them.

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Figure 6.1 Overview of the Deming Cycle Process Two

6.2.1 ‘Plan’ stage

In the planning stage, the new material for the guideline booklets was prepared and parts of

In document Flúor y arsénico en agua de consumo humano, retos y perspectivas (página 68-72)