As our extended practicum gets closer and closer, I am starting to look at strategies for participation. In Morcom and MacCallum’s 2012 article, they examine how to increase participation through scaffolding. There are many reasons for a student’s lack of participation. The strategies suggested by Morcom and MacCallum provide support for students whether their participation is halted due to social, emotional, or developmental reasons.
One issue that Morcom and MacCallum’s work emphasizes is classroom safety. The teacher they observed “provided the scaffolds for boundaries for behavior that established the classroom climate and created psychological safety for participation” (Morcom & MacCallum, 2012, p. 1328). “Psychological safety” was created through routine communication in the form of a “daily social circle” that was centered around a class talking-stick (Morcom & MacCallum, 2012, p. 1329). I think talking circles are an excellent tool that teachers can use to create respectful, participatory spaces where students feel safe. One way to scaffold participation in talking circles is to allow students to pass when it is his or her turn. During my time so far in the BEd program at UBC, I have participated in my fair share of talking circles and I still continuously became nervous as the talking stick gets closer and closer to my turn. Being able to pass the talking stick takes some of the pressure off and makes participating active and selective as opposed to forced. Reinforcing that there is nothing wrong with passing is also important. Making these talking circles routine in a class also allows for more opportunities to try again. Morcom and MacCallum comment on how the “predictability of the [talking circles] allowed students to feel at ease participating to the level they desired” (2011, p. 1329).
Morcom and MacCallum also discussed group work and participation. Looing back at my time spent in classrooms, I have not yet facilitated much group work. I imagine, for some students, participating in a small group would be easier than participating in front of the class as a whole. Some fantastic and inclusive group activities were suggested such as “creating an animal or imaginary creature to reflect group interests, decorating a group shoe box, [and] choosing a group name and creating a logo” (Morcom & MacCallum, 2011, p. 1329). All of these activities have great potential for inspiring pride within the students. I am looking forward to experimenting with group dynamics in the future and hope to see its effects on participation.
As I have engaged more and more with literature on classroom participation, an underlying theme is starting to become clear: safety. In order to make the effort to actively participate, whether its by answering a question in front of the class, going above and beyond on a project, or just staying focused when other are not, students have to feel that they are safe. I consider a classroom a safe place when students are not worried about judgement, ridicule, and are free from anxiety. When these values are in place, participation can grow and develop and improve classroom community. I will end with one final quote from Morcom and MacCallum that I feel eloquently summarizes the process of scaffolding classroom community and participation…
“The process of raising awareness and a group consciousness to teach students how to care and support each other took time and a personal investment and commitment for all, including the teacher, who positioned herself as a learner.” (Morocco & MacCallum, 2011, p. 1332).
Source: Morcom, V. E., & MacCallum, J. A. (2012;2011;). Getting personal about values: Scaffolding student participation towards an inclusive classroom community. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 16(12), 1323-1334.