Inclusive, Student-Centred Course Design in the Undergraduate and Graduate Context

Lessons from the P-12 Classroom

Abstract

As an instructor of inclusive practices courses in a B.Ed. program, my extensive experience with implementing inclusive teaching practices with children, has facilitated my ability to provide student-centred postsecondary courses as I model the principles of inclusive education for emergent pre-service teachers and strive to ‘practice what I teach.’ In this way, my concurrent experiences as a classroom teacher and instructor in teacher education, offer me the unique perspective of instructor-practitioner. What I have learned and practiced as a public-school teacher has made me a more effective university instructor. Drawing on emerging literature on inclusive practices along with concrete examples from my practice, I will relate how I endeavor to include such pedagogical practices as formative assessment, choice boards, exit tasks, flipping the classroom, flexible grouping, scaffolded instruction, collaborative and interactive learning strategies, and use of exemplars to develop more inclusive and accessible course design, while maintaining high academic standards and expectations.