Tara Pratt

31243142
READING 5:

Planning Lessons For Everybody" In Secondary Classrooms

Young, K., & Luttenegger, K. (2014). Planning "Lessons for Everybody" in Secondary Classrooms. American
Secondary Education, 43(1).

The article by Young and Luttenegger addresses the six tenets of inclusive instructional planning
that, if adhered to, will create an environment where inclusive learning is more readily
employed. Too often do teachers create one lesson for the majority of a class and then another
separate lesson for students with learning disabilities instead of creating a lesson that is inclusive
of every students learning needs. The six tenets of inclusive instructional planning include high
standards for everyone in the class, multiple entry and exit points, authenticity, flexibility, broad
use of specific educational strategies, and purposeful student collaboration. These tenets address
are designed to cater to students who may suffer from physical and mental disabilities as well as
students who may be at different academic levels.
The six tenets are summarized as follows;
High standards and Enduring Understandings
A teacher should never enter a unit with pre-conceived lower standards for different standards. A
teacher should not presume to know what a student is able and unable to achieve. Instead it is a
teachers job to plan for a broad range of assessment tasks that support enduring understanding
(understanding that will extend beyond the classroom and for a prolonged period of time).
Multiple entry and exit points
When starting a new unit with students, a teacher must have multiple entry and exit points that
help a variety of students access the curriculum. Students require a variety of ways to
demonstrate what they have learnt (evidence) and have access to several ways in which they can
engage with and process the core concepts of the unit.
Authenticity
Authenticity in the classroom is a hall-mark of a successful lesson. Authentic tasks can help to
engage student goals, interests and identity. A way in which to gauge these and to create
authentic tasks is to employ inquiry-based learning approaches and strategies.
Flexibility
The teacher is responsible for determining what essential idea they want students to grasp and
then thinking about how to extend the lesson. Tasks can meet the curriculum but can be modified
at varying standards of difficulty. Teachers need to be flexible with the level at which they
deliver content but must still expect a students best and set achievable challenges.

Tara Pratt
31243142
Broad use of specific educational strategies
Instead of specifying strategies for solely for particular sub-groups (for example autism or ESL
students), the section argues that what works for one group may work on a larger scale as well.
Strategies that work for particular groups often work for larger groups too. For example it is said
ESL students learn better with visual cues, why not teach the whole class with visual cues?
Purposeful student collaboration
Each student brings something important to a group; nevertheless, groups need to be constructed
carefully so that students can get the full benefit of collaborative learning.

Reflection
This article reinforced a lot of my standing attitude towards inclusive learning- especially
purposeful student collaboration and higher standards for everybody. I favour group-work and
peer-learning within my classroom so I feel as though this specific tenet will be more readily
employed. I do believe that you need to expect students to achieve, if a student is made aware
that a teacher has lower standards of their capabilities, they are less-likely to be motivated to
achieve. I have found this true in some of the schools I have worked in. There have been great
teachers who have expected the best off of students and sadly there have been teachers who have
expected less off their students- the outcome of student attitude proves to me that this article
argues valid points. I have been guilty in delivering two different lessons to one class- I will
deliver a lesson for the majority of the class and go around the room with a modified lesson for
other students (I have experienced mostly ESL students). I have used Authentic tasks in my
assessments and it has definitely helped me to not only inform students why we are doing the
task but also it motivates the students.
Questions raised
I second-guess the extent to which I allow for inclusive education, I would like to know if there
are personal development seminars available for this topic and whether the Broad use of specific
education strategies really is applicable in a class-room. I have my reservations on this tenet.