Inclusiveness in the classroom

A classroom that celebrates the uniqueness of each of its members, the special gifts and talents within the learning space and encourages each other ensures a productive and successful school year.

This hub will outline a number of units/activities that can be used at the beginning of the school year which promote individuality, family and community. In this way children will become aware that when they come to the classroom, they bring with them the people and communities they belong to and learn about the communities of others.

This unit provided a nice visual for students that served as a reminder that they are all travelling this learning journey together and that each of them possess skills, talents and gifts that can be shared and utilised among the group.

As a class, each student participated in the making of the boat (waka, canoe), this one is a Maori Waka. Then each student created their own Hoe (Maori Oar/Paddle) to represent themselves. On one side of the Hoe the students illustrated their names and decorated with anything they wanted others to see that represented themselves. This side is what is visable in the photo.

On the reverse side, students represented other details about themselves:

• Family information/representation (showing how many in their family)
• Favourite things (colour, food, sport, games etc)
• Clubs they belong to
• Communities they belong to
• Beliefs they may have (christianity for example)
• Talents and Skills
• anything else that they feel contributes to the person they are.

The aim of the unit is to express yourself, explain yourself and learn about others.

Make a feathered cloak (Maori Korowai) to hang on the classroom wall.

1. Weave a background (square) and staple to wall.
2. Each student is provided with a feather (sectioned into 7 segments) which they decorate seperately to present different aspects of who they are and who/what is with them.
3. Segment 1: Name
4. Segment 2: Family
5. Segment 3: Clubs
6. Segment 4: Sports / Hobbies
7. Segment 5: Favourite things
8. Segment 6: Belief/Faith (if applicable)
9. Segment 7: Unique gift, talent or skill (everyone has one).
10. Feathers are collected and stappled to the front of the woven cloak.
11. A band is added to the top with a moral, cultural or unique quote which will be referred to throughout the school year to promote togetherness and success.

In New Zealand, the native Maori people have family houses called Wharenui's. The Wharenui is constructed in a particular way, with each part representing symbolic cultural references. I am sure this unit can be adapted to others around the world as I am sure various buildings hold significant meanings in many cultures.

Using the labelled aspects of the Wharenui (refer picture and website), students represented the classroom culture in the following ways:

• (Amo) Each student decorated a koru that was linked to the others using their choice of colour, objects to represent family and what was important to them.
• (Whatetoka) The cornerstone values that we live by (respect, responsibility, care, kindness, consideration, obedience, honesty, truthfulness, etc) - everywhere we walk.
• (Maihi) Classroom Subjects, Thinking tools, Classroom resources (especially those specific to the individual classroom)
• (Koruru) Our classroom had a 'star of the day' and the star represents this. Above the Star is our Autistic boy who the children decided to put at the top as representation of us all help him in his journey (he is wolverine - his favourite character at the time).
• (Roro) Centre pillar which defines us - the children chose Tolerance and Understanding.
• (Whakawae) The door way
• (Matapihi) The window - the children wanted the e-learning aspect of our journey represented so used the window for the computer monitor and the ledge for the keyboard.

The above are only a suggestions - the students decided on all aspects of the mural and this is the important part of the unit - the mural needs to be something they explore culturally and present their thoughts and feelings with.

Any theme can be used; petals on a flower, leaves on a tree, fish in the sea, stars in the sky, bugs in the garden or signifant item/idea from your culture.

The important thing is to ensure the students are 'invested' in the topic, sharing themselves, celebrating each other and reflecting on this joint venture throughout the school year as this can be used a form of class treaty also.

Have fun with it, incorporate crosscurricula planning, take lots of photos and share with us all.