Promoting inclusion towards English lessons

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(1)Running head: PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. Promoting Inclusion towards English Lessons Gonzalo Sandoval Quiñones Universidad Alberto Hurtado. November 2015.

(2) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 2. Abstract The following Action Research (AR) project analyzes the importance of participation, cooperation, and responsibility during English lessons in 7th grade C from San Damian School in order to create an inclusive learning environment. The importance of this AR process is to contribute to the pedagogical field of English Language Teaching (ELT) since some teachers experience problems while we are teaching such as students’ lack of interest, motivation, participation, commitment, even exclusion as a result of arbitrary punishments. This work explores some methodologies to identify those learning environment difficulties such as behavior checklists and reflective notes and improve them considering the apprentices’ opinion and perception about their educator, classmates, and own performance through surveys and a group project. Keywords: participation, responsibility, cooperation, learning environment, inclusion..

(3) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 3. Abstracto El siguiente proyecto Investigación en Acción analiza la importancia del desarrollo de la participación, cooperación y responsabilidad a lo largo de las clases de inglés en 7mo grado C del Colegio San Damián con el fin de crear un ambiente de aprendizaje inclusivo. La importancia de este proceso es contribuir al campo pedagógico de la Enseñanza del Idioma Inglés tomando en cuenta que muchos profesores se enfrentan a problemas mientras están enseñando tales como falta de interés, motivación, participación, compromiso, incluso exclusión de los estudiantes como resultado de castigos. Este trabajo explora algunas metodologías para identificar aquellos problemas de ambiente de aprendizaje tales como listas de comportamiento y notas de reflexión, con el fin de mejorarlas considerando la opinión y percepción de los estudiantes sobre su el desempeño del profesor, compañeros de clase y propio a través de encuestas y un proyecto grupal. Palabras claves: participación, responsabilidad, cooperación, ambiente de aprendizaje, inclusión..

(4) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 4. Acknowledgment Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to each professor that provided me enough methodologies, guidance, and vast knowledge to become the professional I would like to be. I especially thank those tutors that trusted on my abilities such as Prof. José Callado – your memory will be eternal –, Prof. Andrea Pardo, Prof. Pablo Silva, among others. Secondly, my sincere thanks go to each person that accompanies and supports me, directly contributing or not during this period of time such as Rocío Pavez, Macarena Gutiérrez, Carla Aravena, among others. Last but not the least, I would like to express gratitude to my each family member: my parents, Berta Quiñones and Fernando Sandoval, my grandparents, Berta Mejías and Miguel Quiñones – I will be ever grateful for his life lessons –, and my sister, Fernanda Sandoval, for supporting me emotionally and spiritually throughout writing this project and my life in general. I am sure that I would not be in this crucial professional moment..

(5) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 5. Index. 1. Introduction. 5. 2. Context. 7. 3. Research Question. 10. 4. Rationale. 12. 5. Literature Review. 14. 6. Research Methodology. 21. 7. Data Analysis. 27. 8. Reflection and Analysis of Intervention. 37. 9. Conclusions. 48. 10. References. 50. 11. Appendix. 53.

(6) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 6. Introduction Nowadays, English is taught in Chile in the majority of the educational institutions and from diverse levels as part of our curriculum. Actually, the Chilean government has stated many objectives in order to promote the learning of this foreign language since the very first moment in which students attend lessons inside our schools. However, it is crucial to consider how difficult is to teach a foreign language bearing in mind that most of the Chilean learners are used to learn different subjects that are taught in their mother tongue. This particular situation may cause one out of two possibilities in terms of language acquisition: either to draw the learners’ attention, generating interest to learn or to cause a lack of interest and/or motivation on learners. In other words, to include or exclude our pupils from our lessons and their opportunities to learn English. While some apprentices feel that they belong to English lessons and put effort to learn, some others described may feel frustrated, unmotivated and, even excluded from English classes. Additionally, it is important to consider the effort that teachers put on convincing them to participate actively during the lessons, which can be misunderstood by them depending on how this is carried out. The following Action Research project is founded on my experience with 7th grade C at San Damian School, in which I have been dealing problems in terms of classroom management. Those difficulties are affecting the way in which I treat my students during my lessons since I have been punishing or excluding them instead of promoting an inclusive learning environment. As a consequence of my current teaching practice, some.

(7) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 7. learners have been feeling that they do not belong to the English classes, making them lose their interest and motivation on a second language learning. For that reason, I would like to, as Blum (1988) states, “win the control of [my] own classrooms against the restless and poor academic motivation of many of the pupils.” (Blum, 1988, p. 124) and give all my students the place and opportunities they deserve during my lessons. Considering that most of the teachers have faced a similar situation, I do not want to let this problem continue. For that reason, the importance of this AR project is to find some alternatives to include those pupils in English lessons rather than exclude or punish them. In order to carry this Action Research out, some steps will be followed: To begin with, the context of the school will be introduced from the general to the most specific aspect of it. This means, presenting the school history first and finishing with the particular situation experienced towards the English lessons. Then, I will present the problem I have been coping with during this semester in order to set my Action Research question. Along with this, I will include the reasons why I decided to carry out this Action Research in the Rationale part, by explaining to whom this Action Research project will benefit. Afterward, in the Literature Review will be included the literature and theory that will help me to answer my question. Next, I will include the procedures that will be applied later in the Research Methodology section in order to influence in the improvement of the current situation. Moreover, the data I have collected before, during and after the intervention is going to be presented in the Data Collection part. As a result of the collected data, some reflections about the process will be expressed. Finally, to close this Action Research project, some conclusions will be offered in the Conclusions section..

(8) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 8. Context About the school San Damian School was built in 1996 in La Florida as both, scientifichumanist and technical school. However, this school became a full-time school, maintaining as a scientific-humanist educational institution. Nowadays, San Damian is a subsidized coeducational school that houses approximately 900 learners from Pre-K to 12th grade, with nearly 35 pupils per classroom. Regarding the school’s vision, this school was created based on Father Damian’s values and beliefs. According to San Damian School’s headmaster, it is promoted the development of spiritual, emotional and intellectual individual aspects. Quoting the headmaster’s words, “the aim school of our school is the academic and active development of students [...] who will be able to participate critically but adapting themselves in a process in which some values are promoted such as discipline, respect, and order” (Sandoval, G., personal journal, September 23, 2015) About English as a subject In San Damian’s School, English has been taught since it was founded. Instead of teaching two English modules as it was compulsory at that time by the Chilean Ministry of Education, this school has been teaching four modules until the present. Two years ago, San Damian School promoted the use of textbooks bought by pupils’ parents. However, this situation was modified due to economic reasons, since some parents were not able to afford this. Nowadays, the school takes advantage of what the.

(9) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 9. Ministry of Education provides and uses the textbook called ‘Travelers’ that given by this governmental entity. About the class This particular AR project will be focused on 7 grade C. This is a class composed th. by 31 apprentices, where you can find 15 boys and 16 girls. In terms of EFL lessons, their schedule contains four modules per week: two modules on Mondays - from 8:15 to 9:45 and two modules on Thursdays - from 12:00 to 13:30. In other words, students are exposed to 90 minutes of English lessons each day. In terms of the classroom arrangement, they are sitting in pairs, structuring four rows in total, as it is shown in figure 1:. Figure 1: 7th grade’s classroom arrangement About the problem The problem I have been facing in my teaching performance of this year deals with classroom environment problems. The situation relies specifically on my complications managing the lessons and its apprentices as both, group and individuals. Due to my.

(10) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 10. difficulty, some arduous situations are generated during the English lessons. Some examples about those challenging situations are a lack of time to deliver instructions and the planned lessons, students’ misbehavior such as pupils shouting, listening to music, bothering their classmates, among others. In fact, some classes has been unfinished because of their behavior and the invested time trying to convince them to let the class continue. Following my host teacher’s pieces of advice and the headmaster’s vision about the order and discipline previously mentioned, I have been inclined to apply punishments against the apprentices that misbehave without reflecting beforehand that they are not the problem. Actually, I realized it when I started working in this Action Research project. In other words, 7th graders’ behavior is a reaction to my teaching problems. Nevertheless, I do not want to be seen as a dictator who punishes learners who disregard my instructions. Instead, I would like to create an inclusive classroom environment in which every single apprentice would be able to learn English and feel they belong to the lessons. To do so, my interventions to reach this objective will be based some concepts such as First, cooperation in which every classroom participant will help each other to progress toward the subject. Second, responsibility which is going to be improved in order to let 7th graders understand the importance of their learning process. Finally, inclusion since I want to change the exclusive attitude I have been assuming during this year..

(11) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 11. Research Question Bearing in mind the spiritual, emotional and intellectual individual development that San Damian School promotes, the purpose of this AR project is to connect those values with the learning process aimed by the researcher. In other words, to complement the values promoted by the school with some important concepts that I am going to develop during this Action Research project such as responsibility and cooperation, in order to create an inclusive learning environment. At the same time, to change the attitude I have been assuming before doing the following project. The situation I have been experiencing in 7th grade C in San Damian School is a personal dilemma. On the one hand, I have been facing problems in terms of classroom management, applying punishments and excluding some students from the learning process instead of implementing any other methodology to improve the current situation. On the other hand, I would like to create an inclusive learning environment in which every single participant inside the classroom would be able to feel comfortable and responsible about his/her personal and the others’ learning process. According to my host teacher’s thought, she agrees to apply punishes to 7th graders who misbehave or disrupt during the lessons. Actually, this logic is repeated by many other colleagues in this school since they argue that “those students only respond to punishes; otherwise, they will continue disrupting.” (Sandoval, G., personal journal, April 13, 2015). Nonetheless, instead of feeling overwhelmed about this problem, as many teachers expressed to me when I asked them, I would like to change that common mentality towards.

(12) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 12. the San Damian School’s instructors, identify the problematic situation and find possible solutions in terms through respect and inclusion. Considering the provided information in the previous paragraphs, this action research aims to answer the following question: How can I promote an inclusive learning environment in English classes with 7th graders C? I truly consider this question allows me to find enough information in order to enhance my performance as a future teacher. I consider myself as a person who worries about the rest of the people’s opportunities. What I am actually doing with my current practice is to deny one of the students’ chances to learn. For that reason, even if my Action Research does not provide me a clear answer, I will continue working on this situation and consider this first project helpful enough to continue my growth as a professional. Due to the attitude previously described, I am going to consider my teaching practice according to the whole class, in which every single student’s reactions will be analyzed before, during and after my Action Research intervention, and personal reflection, in which the collected information will help me to conclude what I need to improve my teaching skills..

(13) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 13. Rationale The reason to carry this project out is to promote an inclusive classroom environment through adequate teaching methodologies based on certain concepts such as cooperation and responsibility. In other words, instead of using punishments against 7th graders and exclude scholars from English lessons, establish a respectful learning environment, in which every pupil would be responsible about his/her own and pairs’ learning. In other words, I would like to create “small-group work [that] encourages students who may be reluctant to participate in the large-class setting to become active learners.” (Teaching and Learning Transformation Center TLTC, 2014) To do so, apprentices’ cooperation and inclusion will be strengthened during this Action Research intervention in order to achieve the goals previously described. Bearing in mind the reality in which I am working, this problem’s relevance has to do with the values and beliefs that San Damian School promotes such as responsibility, and the ones I would like to develop in this context like cooperation and inclusion. Considering that those values are crucial in any human interaction, this project’s expected result is to develop them inside the classroom in order to be recreated in society by them. This Action Research project’s impact is divided into three categories: First, at the community level, second, as professional development and third, as personal progress. Firstly, through exposing the experience I have been dealing with in 7th grade C at San Damian School, to be a contribution on the school’s context and encourage some teachers to overtake the problems they are facing instead of losing their faith and overreact to their students, applying punishments instead of giving opportunities. Secondly, to expose my.

(14) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 14. main problems in terms of teaching practice, to provide myself different methodologies which give 7th graders enough opportunities to learn and, as a consequence, to improve as a professional. Finally, to strengthen my conviction that teachers are agents of change through the values we promote inside the classroom; the same ones that our pupils replicate in the society in which we belong..

(15) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 15. Literature Review As a result of my teaching practice, some problems have emerged in terms of classroom management. The most difficult for me to solve is when students who feel that they are do not belong to the lessons, start doing other actions such as disrupting the lessons and bothering their classmates instead of being focused on the English contents or activities. In some particular moments, I have been thinking what Rogers (1998) perfectly exemplifies when I have been facing some consequences of my teaching practice: It is not easy to rate a disruption as ‘low’, ‘medium’ or ‘high level’. To one teacher pen-tapping may be no problem; something which can be ignored. But if it is persistent, pen-tapping, on a hot day, in the middle of an important explanation by the teacher, can be quite a different matter. (Rogers, 1998: 52) As Rogers says, if my problems dealing with classroom management persist, more difficult will be to solve this situation. Actually, as a consequence of what I have described, some additional conflict emerge. There are some students who want to be concentrated during the English lesson and they reproduce the actions the instructor does. This means that some of them confront their pairs who are punished by the teacher. The problem gets bigger since both the educator and apprentices have exclusion as a tool. For that reason, I would like to change that reality “by including students [in order] to develop a culture of respect and a mutually agreed upon academic ‘code of conduct’.” (Schwartz, n.d., p. 3) and “[…] by fostering a supportive environment in.

(16) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 16. which every member has a voice, where each individual is entitled to a view and respect between peers develops.” (Westergaard, 2009, p. 132) Thus, before overtaking this Action Research project, it is necessary to define the key concepts in which my work will be based on. Those concepts are the following: Learning environment Based on the problems I have been facing, some methodologies are needed to make my lessons better enough to let apprentices learn. This concept has to be developed and improved by the educator since, as Moore (n.d.) clearly exemplifies, “[teachers] waste precious energy and create more distraction when we jump on every single thing students do.” (Raffaeli, 2014) In other words, I have been overreacting to some pupils’ behavior instead of managing the classroom properly. In fact, my way of reacting has been reproduced by the learners who are interested in English lessons. This means that some apprentices, following the teacher’s reactions, get mad and confront some of their classmates that do not let the lessons continue. Regardless of the situations I have been dealing with in 7th grade C, I would like to create an inclusive classroom environment by planning the English lessons carefully. In my position, this is a crucial part of my intervention that is going to be described later on. The importance of preparation and planning beforehand is perfectly demonstrated by Dunn (2005): Many of the teachers I have known over the years who have had the most problems engaging with youngsters have been those whose planning and preparation have been the poorest. So being prepared, well planned and.

(17) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 17. organized has as much to do with behaviour management as anything else. (Dunn, 2005: 14) Even when my focus is on the most challenging 7th graders, the rest of my pupils do not have to be excluded from my lesson plans. As Rose (2007) states, “teachers do need to be aware that when planning lessons particular attention will need to be given to ensuring that the work provided is at an appropriate level to meet the needs of all pupils.” (Rose, 2007, p. 12) Through planning some classroom management methodologies I hope to “influence the nature of the activities [students] undertake, engage seriously in their study, regulate their behavior, and know of the explicit criteria and high expectations of what they are to achieve.” (Queensland Department of Education, 2005) In fact, the citation previously quoted exemplifies perfectly the way in which I would like to manage the classes during my lessons. In comparison to the concept described above, the following ones need to be developed by both the teacher and students during my intervention since, as it was mentioned before, learners reproduce the way in with their tutor acts: Cooperation. As I mentioned before, this is a shared concept since the educator has to promote cooperative learning in order to “structure positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction, the appropriate use of social skills, and group processing” (Gillies, 2007, p. 19) and learners have “to help and rely on one another to complete a task, and to learn to work with people who may be different from them.” (McLaughlin, 2005).

(18) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 18. For that reason, I have been designing a group project in which every single learner will have the opportunity to participate while being cooperative, responsible and inclusive since “by working together, students have many opportunities to learn and develop a greater understanding of others with diverse social, interpersonal, adjustment, and learning needs.” (Shachar, 2003; Stevahn & King 2005) This could happen if the teacher is seen as an example for learners. What it is expected from this intervention is to generate future cooperative learning environments in order to highlight the importance of responsibility, cooperation, and inclusion among apprentices. As Gillies (2007) perfectly explains “the more cooperative learning experiences students are involved in, the most mature their cognitive and moral decision making and the more they will tend to take other people’s perspectives in account when making decisions.” (Gillies, 2007, p. 19) In fact, there is an opportunity to change the teacher and pupils’ attitude by doing this intervention. Responsibility. This Action Research project is going to rely on how responsible the instructor and students are during this process. Quoting Gillies’s work (2007), “responsibility forces are increased when there is group and individual accountability.” (Gillies, 2007, p. 22) If anyone fails, everyone will fail too in terms of cooperative learning. In other words, responsibility is strongly connected with cooperation since each member of the learning process depends on the others. I consider this is a shared concept since both the teacher in charge and the learners have to develop the sense of responsibility. For that reason, it is necessary to state how this concept relies on the classroom participants’ role. On the one hand, we as professionals are the ones “who are concerned with the responsibility of ensuring that students ‘appropriate the artefacts and practices that embody the solutions to problems encountered in the past’.”.

(19) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 19. (Fisher, 2002, p. 111). On the other hand, “every student is accountable for his or her own actions” (Schwartz, n.d., p. 4) and how those affect their and their pairs’ learning. Consequently, I would like to create the sense of responsibility in the classroom participants and I while implementing my intervention. I truly consider that cooperation and inclusion will be developed by 7th graders during the lessons if every participant of the English lesson is responsible for his/her and others’ actions. As Matsui (n.d.) states, “when a person’s performance affects the outcomes of collaborators, the person feels responsible for their welfare as well as his or her own.” (Gillies, 2007, p. 22) In this case, if I feel responsibility about my students’ learning, they are not going to be excluded by the teacher or their pairs during English lessons. Instead, everyone is going to be responsible about the learning process. Inclusion While I was investigating about this concept. I realized that is commonly used to refer about special needs’ students since they are discriminated and even excluded by our society. However, this Action Research project aims to apply this term for those pupils that are considered part of a particular group but they are not accepted as it is supposed. In this particular case, those 7th graders who are not considered or even expelled by both the teacher and their classmates. For this reason, both the educator and pupils roles depend on this concept. On the one hand, the importance of the instructor relies on considering that “all effective teaching begins from a positive attitude and a desire to achieve what is best for all the pupils in a class” (Rose, 2007, p. 13) specifically, to stop excluding or punishing students because of their behavior beforehand. Rather, to start designing and using “strategies and approaches which are directly aimed at encouraging positive interaction and fostering learning for all.

(20) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 20. pupils.” (Rose, 2007, p. 12) On the other hand, the importance of the learners is going to be observed when every single apprentice realizes they are part of a group instead of being excluded. In fact, this is going to be achieved if “individuals perceive that they can reach their goals if and only if the other individuals with whom they are cooperatively linked also reach their goals.” (Gillies, 2007, p. 11) As it has been mentioned, there are three concepts that support the idea of developing an inclusive learning environment such as participation, cooperation, and responsibility. In fact, each one depends on the other as it is demonstrated in the following diagram (see figure 2).. Figure 2: Concept diagram. Bearing in mind that “teachers have a duty to consider how each pupil will access learning, and to identify how individual learning needs and preferred learning styles can best be addressed.” (Rose, 2007, p. 12), the focus of my intervention is to promote an inclusive classroom environment in which, as Rose (2007) exposes, “pupils must be afforded opportunities to learn at an appropriate pace and level and be enabled to socialize.

(21) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS with their peers whilst taking their place as equal members of the school community.” (Rose, 2007, p. 11). 21.

(22) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 22. Research Methodology The following Research Methodology section is going to be divided into three categories: 1. Pre-intervention data collection, 2. Intervention and 3. Post-intervention data collection. Pre-intervention data collection Behavior checklist. Before observing the 7th graders’ interactions during the Action Research intervention, a checklist will be prepared. The mentioned material will include the most repeated positive and negative situations by both the professor and students. Those circumstances are going to be written when happening by my host teacher. In the period of one week (two classes of four modules), this information will be recorded by my host tutor. In the following table, a sample of the material is going to be applied (see figure 3). Some changes could be applied during the process:. Figure 3: Behavior checklist..

(23) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 23. The idea of this methodology is to compare a number of times 7th graders and I provoke a problematic situation during classes before and after the intervention and realize if there is a change or not. Reflective observations. As a complement to the methodology previously described, some reflections will be done concurrently. In these observations, some events made by both the teacher and learners will be recorded plus a brief description to the students’ reactions. Intervention The following Action Research intervention will be divided into two different methodologies that are going to be developed by both the teacher and 7th graders at the same time: Building better a relationship with students. This first situation I noticed when I started doing this Action Research was the fact I considered my apprentices as the main cause of my problems during my teaching practice. There were some circumstances such as noises, chatting, and movements made by pupils in which I overreacted. According to Francis (1975), “none of these sources, by themselves, are a major challenge to the teacher’s authority, but each if wrongly handled, can develop from a minor irritation into a major confrontation”. (Smith, 1993, p. 34) However, while reflecting about my Action Research project, I realized that my teaching practice was the main cause of my difficulties. Actually, my thoughts changed when I started teaching to another grade in the second semester. During the first three lessons, the same situations that are still happening in the studied grade were repeated. On the contrary to the actions I have been doing in 7th grade C, I did not punish students. There was a huge change of attitude from the fourth lesson until the present in that grade. For that reason, I asked myself the following questions:.

(24) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 24. ‘Why am I applying punishments in 7th grade C? Why am I not changing my attitude in 7th grade C?’ The immediate answer for both questions that came to my mind was ‘because of the predisposition I had beforehand.’ In fact, I neither transmit 7th graders my intentions to stop the current reality nor to change that situation. Thus, I did not do what Ives (2000) clearly suggests, “let students know what your personal teaching style is and how you like to be treated [...] to make […] clear to the class that you are committed to helping them learn and you know the material well.” (Ives, 2000) The expected outcomes are to have a positive and inclusive attitude with 7th graders in order to stop applying punishments or exclusions and to build a better relationship with the studied pupils inside and outside the classroom. Group project. In view of the semester’s schedule, I thought in this particular kind of intervention in order to promote the development of an inclusive learning environment based on responsibility and cooperation. Bearing in mind the dynamism of the English lessons, I would like to, as Rose (2007) states, “explore different teaching approaches and strategies and to manage their classrooms in ways that encourage pupil participation and full access to learning.” (Rose, 2007, p. 12) For that reason, I decided to implement a group project to do a science fair. Regarding the topic of Unit 4, each group has to prepare and present three ecologic alternatives to prevent our planet’s destruction. In each group, two apprentices will be the group’ leaders: a strong learner and one of the excluded pupil. By doing this, the projected effect of this methodology is that pupils who are not as motivated as expected with English will be engaged to their pairs, including and cooperating to each other, and being responsible for their chance to learn. What is expected is what Schwartz (n.d.) states, who argues that “active learning can develop positive relationships among students, as well as improve performance in required competencies and critical thinking.

(25) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 25. skills.” (Schwartz, n.d., p. 5) In addition to the teacher’s mark, this activity will be assessed by the groups’ members. To do so, each pupil will receive the surveys previously shown to assess his/her pairs in terms of cooperation, responsibility and inclusion. It is crucial to mention that the learning objectives are going to be announced to 7th graders. However, there are some hidden aims that are not going to be said to them since I would like to analyze if they notice them while answering the survey. Yes/no survey. By applying this kind of methodology, students will be allowed to assess their classmates, their educator’s and own performance class by class. During the whole project, 7th graders are going to complete this survey. In fact, two surveys will be answered by some group’s members during three classes in order to check their progress. At the end of the process, each learner will provide his/her opinion about every participant of the lessons. In the following table, a sample of the material is going to be applied (see figure 4 and 5). Some changes could be applied during the process:. Figure 4: Self-assessment..

(26) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 26. Figure 5: Peer assessment. In both parts of the survey, the questions are related to cooperation, responsibility, and inclusion. To be precise, the first and second questions are about cooperation, the fourth one is related to responsibility and the third and the fifth interrogation are associated with inclusion. In the case of the last inquiry, it is asked in order to know the students’ opinion related to the project. Additionally, the learners’ perception about the teacher’s performance is going to be registered in the following part of the same survey (see figure 6):. Figure 6: Teacher assessment. This section of the survey follows the same order explained beforehand. However, the question associated with the interest on English lessons because of this project has been removed..

(27) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 27. Post-intervention data collection After applying the mentioned instruments, the methodologies made at the beginning will be repeated in order to collect the required data to be able to compare and analyze the results at the beginning and the ending of the Action Research cycle. Accordingly, these methodologies I have already mentioned and defined are going to be put into practice as it is shown in the following Gantt chart (see figure 7). Some dates could vary during the process:. Figure 7: Gantt chart.

(28) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 28. Data Analysis Bearing in mind the purpose of this Action Research, the collected data is going to be presented chronologically. Since I started working on this project, I realized that both the teacher and students complement each other in order to achieve learning. However, educators are in a crucial position because our decisions affect the way in which learners learn. There were some actions in my teaching process that I considered inadequate after applying them such as punishing or expelling 7th graders from the classroom. As Smith (1993) states, the reality I have been facing “[…] should not be seen as a battle for power or an attempt to gain revenge, although these motives may soon become involved if the situation is mishandled.” (Smith, 1993, p. 35) Rather, I wanted to handle it and provide an adequate learning environment to 7th graders. That is why I decided to be analyzed during this project in terms of teaching practice and to observe the scholars reactions about it. After doing this reflection, I decided to register the main positive and negative features of my teaching practice in 7th grade C by using behavior checklists. My host tutor was in charge of registering both the teacher and the apprentices’ actions in order to avoid biased interpretations. As it is demonstrated in the following table (see figure 8), these were the actions I did in a particular class before planning and applying my intervention:.

(29) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 29. Figure 8: Teacher’s behavior checklist – October 5th, 2015 Additionally, the students’ reactions as a consequence of my teaching practice were recorded during the same lessons (see figure 9):.

(30) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 30. Figure 9: Students’ behavior checklist – October 5th, 2015 Based on those numbers, I realized there was a problem. At first, I considered my learners as the main cause of my teaching practice. Then, I noticed that I was avoiding my responsibility rather than dealing with them. In other words, instead of being accountable of my actions during my teaching process, I was blaming someone else. Actually, the following reflective notes were written when the focus of my Action Research was considering 7th graders as my problem to be analyzed (see figure 10):.

(31) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 31. Figure 10: Reflective notes written before the Action Research intervention. Even though I was blaming those students about the difficulties that were produced during my English lessons, the situation was not improving. At this point of the process, a change of attitude became relevant. In other words, I decided to “[…] look for a series of responses which are cool, calm and carefully calculated.” (Smith, 1993, p. 34) Consequently, I decided to think on a possibility to change my negative attitude towards the English lessons with 7th graders. The first concept that came to my mind was inclusion since I realized that some apprentices were excluded by me from the learning opportunity that English lessons provide to them..

(32) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 32. When my main concept was stated, some others appeared as components of this Action Research project such as responsibility since I realized the importance of being accountable of the acts done by me and how those affect my students’ development when they are learning, and cooperation as a way to improve the current situation altogether. As it was mentioned before, 7th graders were repeating the same actions that were done by the teacher. For that reason, I expect to be a person to be followed by them during this intervention. In other words, I decided to include some hidden objectives in this project such as encouraging both the instructor and pupils to work cooperatively, developing responsibility on each participant and promote an inclusive learning environment. In that moment, I was able to design my intervention that includes all the concepts already stated. I thought in a science fair in which 6-learner groups have to demonstrate how to save our planet from diverse environmental issues by doing three recycling experiments. I emphasized the importance of being responsible and cooperative to achieve the project’s purpose. For that reason, I projected that the apprentices who were used to be excluded from the English lessons by both the teacher and their pairs are going to be included during this intervention. In addition to the methodologies previously mentioned, students’ opinions were registered during this process. For that reason, they were asked to complete a survey during my intervention in order to consider their perception about the classroom participants’ development. I consider this step crucial since they will provide me enough information about possible improvements in this particular context. During this project, 7th graders were able to realize about certain situations without being told about the hidden purposes of my Action Research intervention. By answering a survey (see Appendix 1: Teacher, pair, and self-assessment), they mentioned how.

(33) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 33. responsible, cooperative and inclusive the classroom participants were, as it is demonstrated in the following table (see figure 11): Has my teacher helped my group during this project? Yes. 29. 96%. No. 1. 4%. Has my teacher listened to me and my classmates' opinion? Yes. 28. 93%. No. 2. 7%. 0. 0%. Has my teacher guided my group to do this project? Yes. 30. 100%. No. Has my teacher integrated me and my classmates in classes? Yes. 25. 83%. No. 5. 17%. Has my teacher been interested in my learning during this project? Yes. 18. 60%. No. 12. 40%. Figure 11: Teacher’s assessment results. As a complement to the learner’s opinions, a behavior checklist was done in order to register the teacher’s development during the intervention, as it could be observed in the following table (see figure 12):.

(34) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 34. Figure 12: Teacher’s behavior checklist – November 5th, 2015 The same process was followed in order to observe the students’ performance made during the lessons in 7th grade as a consequence of my teaching practice and compare the results registered at the beginning of this Action Research project (see figure 13): Have I participated actively in this project? Yes. 25. 83%. No. 5. 17%. 6. 20%. 0. 0%. 8. 27%. Have I cooperated actively in this work? Yes. 24. 80%. No. Have I listened to my classmates' opinion? Yes. 30. 100%. No. Have I been responsible during this project? Yes. 22. 73%. No.

(35) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 35. Have I felt integrated by this group's members? Yes. 29. 96%. No. 1. 4%. 18. 60%. Have I felt interested in English because of this project? Yes. 12. 40%. No. Figure 13: Self-assessment’s results. As a complement to the results presented above, the previously described reality was also recorded in the behavior checklist that was applied during this project. As it can be seen in the following students’ behavior checklist recorded when 7th graders were preparing their experiments for the science fair (see figure 14):. Figure 14: Students’ behavior checklist – November 5th, 2015 Finally, some reflection notes were written during and after the Action Research intervention in order to analyze both the teacher and learners’ performance (see figure 15):.

(36) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. Figure 15: Reflective notes written during and after the Action Research intervention. After collecting the presented data, I consider this information could provide enough evidence to check if there was any improvement or not. In fact, I highlight the. 36.

(37) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS importance of the students’ perception about my Action Research intervention since they are the ones who are affected by my teaching practice. In other words, this project is not going to be biased by my perception.. 37.

(38) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 38. Reflection and Analysis of Intervention According to the data previously presented, I figured out there was a problem to be solved. Based on the behavior checklist done during the lesson on October 5th, my teaching practice was mostly characterized by negative aspects such as shouting, applying punishments, even expelling students from the classroom. In fact, every negative aspect was repeated at least three times. Even when there were some attempts to change that situation, those were insufficient to manage the classroom environment during the English lessons. Otherwise, the registered negative actions were unnecessary to be done and repeated at that moment. This means that there was not an insight of an inclusive learning atmosphere. Those decisions I took at that moment had consequences on the apprentices’ learning process. Indeed, more problems emerged from the initial one as it is presented on the learners’ behavior checklist such as talking with their classmates, running, and the most difficult one, being answered back by some pupils. Bearing in mind that information, I decided to build a better relationship with students while they were preparing their experiments for the science fair. I had the opportunity to be close to them. In fact, I was able to listen to their opinions about the school community, my lessons, among others aspects. Additionally, more time was invested in being part of 7th graders' learning rather than reprimand them. In other words, fewer problems occurred from my teaching practice and more opportunities emerged from this chance to build the sense of an inclusive learning community..

(39) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 39. The situation narrated above let me realized about some important outcomes in view of the students’ opinion in the surveys they received: About the teacher’s development Based on to the percentages from the scholars’ perception, the educator’s attitude have changed positively since they noticed some changes that aimed to promote integration. Indeed, four out of five questions have more than 80% of the learners’ approval (see figures 16, 17, 18 and 19). This means that 7th graders realized that an additional effort was made by me in order to improve the classroom environment in which we all are involved. Has my teacher helped my group during this project? 3%. 97%. Yes. No. Figure 16: Teacher’s assessment answered by 7th grade students – Question 1.

(40) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. Has my teacher listened to me and my classmates' opinion? 7%. 93%. Yes. No. Figure 17: Teacher’s assessment answered by 7th grade students – Question 2 Has my teacher guided my group to do this project? 0%. 100%. Yes. No. Figure 18: Teacher’s assessment answered by 7th grade students – Question 3. 40.

(41) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 41. Has my teacher integrated me and my classmates in classes?. 17%. 83%. Yes. No. Figure 19: Teacher’s assessment answered by 7th grade students – Question 4 In comparison to the context in which 7th graders were learning before the intervention, there was no space to create a context similar to what Smith (1993) exemplifies: “When there is a confrontation between teacher and pupil, it is as if the classroom atmosphere becomes contaminated by the invisible poisoned gas given off by anger and tension.” (Smith, 1993, p. 38) Instead, I was able to help, guide, integrate and listen to them during this process, allowing myself to be part of their learning process rather than punishing of excluding them. As the collected data demonstrates, the instructor’s attitude was helpful enough to improve the classroom environment. In other words, “the teacher’s tactic [was to] provide some assistance, not to collude at avoidance.” (Smith, 1993, p. 38) As a support to what I have been exposing in this part of the Action Research project, the records taken from the students’ behavior checklists made before and after the intervention demonstrates that there was the intention to change the context previously.

(42) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 42. described and an impact on 7th graders behavior during the lesson. As a result of the teacher’s change of attitude, the apprentices’ reactions to my teaching practice improved (see figure 20). Students' behavior 50 40 30 20 10 0 October 5th, 2015 Positive aspects. November 5th, 2015 Negative aspects. Figure 20: Graphic about the students’ behavior taken from the checklists. Finally, the fifth question about teacher’s interest on the pupils’ learning is going to be analyzed later on. About the students’ development In order to identify if learners were able to develop the same the actions done by the educator in terms of cooperation, responsibility and inclusion, the results taken from their opinion reflected the following: Firstly, most of the learners recognized that they participated and cooperated actively during this group project as it is demonstrated on the following graphics (see figure 21 and 22)..

(43) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 43. Have I participated actively in this project? 17% 84%. Yes. No. Figure 21: Self-assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 1 Have I cooperated actively in this work? 20%. 80%. Yes. No. Figure 22: Self-assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 2 In both questions, more than 80% of the 7th graders exposed that they accomplished an important role during the science fair. In a way, most of them were able to generate a participative and cooperative atmosphere while they were working on this project according to their perception. Secondly, a similar result was obtained from the question related to responsibility (see figure 23). As it could be perceived, 22 out of 30 students realized they demonstrated responsibility during this group project. In other words, more than 70% of them considered responsible enough to carry this project out..

(44) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 44. Have I been responsible during this project?. 25 20 15. Yes. 10 5. No. 0 No. Yes. Figure 23: Self-assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 4 There were some particular situations in which students were absent. Even in those particular situations, they were able to recognize that they do not contribute during this project. As Gillies says, they realized that “failing oneself is bad, but failing others as well as oneself is worse.” (Gillies, 2007, p. 22) In my opinion, they were accountable enough about their situations even when they considered themselves as irresponsible apprentices. Thirdly, a fascinating result was produced from the questions associated to inclusion (see figure 24 and 25). In both interrogations, more than 95% of the learners recognized they were able to listen to their classmates’ opinion and they were integrated at the same time by their pairs even when they were not working with people they were used to..

(45) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 45. Have I listened to my classmates' opinions?. 0. 10. 20 30 No. Yes. Figure 24: Self-assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 3 The main difference in these questions is that students were able to recognize inclusion towards the English activity even when they were implicitly and explicitly asked about it. Have I felt integrated by this group's members?. 4%. 96%. Yes. No. Figure 25: Self-assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 5 Bearing in mind these percentages, a positive situation was observed in this intervention since “individuals [were] encouraging and facilitating each other’s efforts to complete tasks, achieve, or produce in order to reach the group’s goals.” (Gillies, 2007, p. 13).

(46) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 46. Regarding the last question of both the teacher’s and self-assessment survey, some ideas need a further analysis. On the one hand, an important result emerges from the survey students answered in terms of their interest on English learning because of the project in which 7th graders were involved (see figure 26). Have I felt interested in English because of this project?. 40% 60%. Yes. No. Figure 26: Self-assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 6 Even when most of them did not see a clear purpose of this project in terms of language acquisition, I consider there is a specific reason from that result: I realized English lessons are not just an opportunity to learn a foreign language. Rather, they are a chance to develop values and beliefs by reflecting, giving opinions, participating, cooperating and being part of them. I know most of the pupils are used to be taught to fulfill a test or to follow grammatical formulae, but I tried to change that paradigm during some lessons. On the other hand, particular number resulted from the question related to the teacher’s interest on 7th graders learning (see figure 27)..

(47) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 47. Has my teacher been interested in my learning during this project?. 40% 60%. Yes. No. Figure 27: Teacher’s assessment answered by 7th grade students - Question 5 Principally, 40% of them considered their instructor is not interested in their learning process. It is an alarming number since some pupils still realize the consequences of the teaching problems I faced and the methodologies wrongly used before applying this methodology. Probably, the results could be worse without the intervention. However, as it is shown in the following graphic about the teacher’s behavior (see figure 28), there was a change of attitude between the results registered before and the after of this process. Teacher's behavior 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 October 5th, 2015 Positive aspects. November 5th, 2015 Negative aspects. Figure 28: Graphic about the teacher’s behavior taken from the checklists..

(48) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 48. According to this graphic, there was a difference in terms of attitude by the educator. It is observed that the positive aspects of the instructor’s behavior increased four times on the second registration when comparing to the results taken from October 5th. In a different manner, the negative characteristics decreased in nine times on November 5th in comparison to the first observation. Nevertheless, this attitude should continue. In other words, more concern about apprentices’ learning is still required since the negative aspects marked the pupils’ perception at the before starting this Action Research process. For the reasons previously shown, what it is expected is to continue promoting the positive attitudes mentioned beforehand instead of the negative ones that prevailed in the past. Nonetheless, as it has been demonstrated, there is the concern by the teacher to reinforce the positive attitude that has been prevailing during this Action Research project..

(49) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 49. Conclusions Bearing in mind the whole Action Research project that has been previously described and its results, some significant conclusions arise: Firstly, I would like to emphasize the importance of this project since it provided me another perspective to manage my lessons and pupils. As it has been proven, I was used to applying punishes to 7th graders such as shouting, reprimanding, expelling them from the classroom, among others. On the contrary to the teacher’s first impression, our students are not the responsible of our complications. However, it took me some time to be able to realize I was the real problem, and also, that I was generating other ones such as lack of interest, motivation, participation, cooperation and inclusion. By putting into practice a group activity in which 7th graders perceived an involved and responsible educator who was inviting them to learn while being able to guide and participate on their learning process, the invisible boundaries between the instructor and his/her pupils tend to disappear and the sense of belonging during English lessons is recovered. Secondly, I truly consider that inclusion is not an issue related just with special needs’ students since anyone could be not considered or accepted by the group we suppose we belong. As it has been narrated beforehand, there were some punished or excluded learners from the lessons as a result of my difficulties managing the 7th grade classroom. However, by promoting participation, cooperation, and responsibility in both teacher and learners during the intervention, a change could be identified since everyone contributed on the establishment of an inclusive learning environment. In other words, there are more.

(50) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 50. methodologies and options for educators to be applied after reflecting in an Action Research project rather than implementing some indiscriminate and capricious ones such as reprimands or expulsions. Thirdly, there is a difference between my thinking before and after applying this Action Research project since I realized socio-emotional involvement should be developed in order to become a better professional. As I have exposed during this work, I invested some much time and energy blaming 7th graders for the problems inside the classroom. Nevertheless, this work demonstrated me that there is an alternative to be involved with human beings, encourage them to take advantage of their opportunity to learn, and make them aware of the roles they play in their learning process. Finally, I would like to highlight that this process is unfinished. In fact, I consider that a single intervention does not change a reality of a particular context. Even when it worked, further analysis and methodologies are required to achieve a tremendous change of paradigm. This means, to avoid or stop unreasonable punishes to our students. Considering the main Action Research’s purpose, For the conclusions mentioned beforehand, I encourage to my colleagues to analyze the context in which they are teaching and reflect on diverse manners of improving it instead of applying the first (and mostly arbitrary) methodology to keep the lessons and its learners under control, as I was used to do before working on this Action Research project..

(51) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 51. References Brookfield, S. (2006). The skillful teacher: On technique, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom (2nd ed., p. 297). San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass. Blum, P. (1998). Surviving and succeeding in difficult classrooms. London: Routledge. Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A guide for practitioners. New York: Routledge. Dunn, R. (2005) Dos and don’ts of behaviour management. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Fisher, R. (2002). The literacy hour at Key Stage 2. In Inside the literacy hour: Learning from classroom experience (First ed., p. 190). London: RoutledgeFalmer. Gillies, R. (2007). The teacher's role in implementing cooperative learning in the classroom (Vol. Seven, First ed., p. 266). New York, NY: Springer. Ives, S. (2000, March 22). A survival handbook for teaching large classes. Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://teaching.uncc.edu/learning-resources/articlesbooks/best-practice/large-classes/large-class-handbook McLaughlin, J. (2006). Creating a positive classroom environment. Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/mclaughlin_portfolio/creating_a_positive_classroom_ environment.

(52) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 52. Raffaeli, L. (Ed.). (2014, August 20). The Dos and Don'ts of Classroom Management: Your 25 Best Tips. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/discussion/dos-and-donts-classroom-management-your25-best-tips Rogers, B. (1998) You know the fair rule, 2nd edn. London: Financial Times, Prentice Hall. Rose, R., & Howley, M. (2007). The practical guide to special education needs in inclusive primary classrooms (First ed., p. 136). London: Paul Chapman. Schwartz, M. (n.d.). Classroom civility: Creating a culture of respect. Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/lt/resources/handouts/Classroom_Civility.pdf Smith, C., & Laslett, R. (1993). Effective classroom management a teacher's guide (2nd ed., p. 153). London: Routledge. The State of Queensland - Department of Education and the Arts (2004). Substantive conversation. Retrieved July 16, 2005, from http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/pedagogies/pedagog.html Teaching and Learning Transformation Center TLTC (2014). Large classes: A teaching guide collaborating cooperative learning. Retrieved October 1, 2015, from http://www.cte.umd.edu/library/teachingLargeClass/guide/index.html.

(53) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. 53. Westergaard, J. (2009). Managing challenging behaviour and attitudes. In Effective group work with young people (p. 175). Maidenhead, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill International (UK). Wilcox, S. (1997, June 24). Leadership in the Classroom. Retrieved October 26, 2015, from http://ddi.cs.unipotsdam.de/Lehre/WissArbeitenHinweise/teachingassistant/hand/leader.html.

(54) PROMOTING INCLUSION TOWARDS ENGLISH LESSONS. Appendix Appendix 1: Teacher, pair and self-assessment. 54.

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