Church Saturday Onsite Presentation Session 1

Inclusive Pedagogy

Session Chair: Maria Efstratopoulou

09:30-09:55

69986 | Supporting Youth Resilience in Under Resourced Communities with Digital Out of School Programs (OSP)

Yigermal Demissie Ayalew, Loyola University Chicago, United States

Kevin Miller, Dominican University School of Social Work, United States

Overcoming trauma due to violations of human rights and marginalization of individual and collective identity is essential for youth, especially to enable those marginalized due to poverty and racism to become conscious social actors capable of participating in socio-political life. This presentation reports on conceptualizations from an OSP, “Law Under Curious Minds: Narratives of Social Justice” (LUCM), which engages youth as active agents in developing remedies for the human rights violations they experience. The study provides a “mid-level theory” of the development and implementation of virtual out-of-school group programs for underserved youth in diverse contexts such as schools, churches, and community centers. A human rights and transitional justice framework is used to create critical pedagogical spaces for youth to negotiate and co-construct knowledge, narratives, and action strategies towards social justice. Participation of youth in program design/implementation is foundational and achieved using an emergent curriculum. Respecting individual tolerance for a degree of self-revelation, including participation and camera status, are instrumental to fostering an environment of trust. Opportunities for collective discussion and critical inquiry must be backed by individualized scaffolding. Several digital tools are available to model virtual spaces as stimulating and engaging contact zones, which bring the personal and collective together to elevate participation to material consequences individually at the emotional level, relationally by building positive youth modeling and alliances, and collectively in leveraging such alliances for advocacy and social action. Digital OSPs can enhance physical safety despite community violence, give youth relative control over their schedules, and expand OSP access.

09:55-10:20

68004 | Task-based Design and Interaction Patterns: Exploring Multidimensional Engagement Among Young ESL Learners

Randy Magdaluyo, University of Technology and Applied Sciences - Salalah, Oman

Claire Orpilla, University of Technology and Applied Sciences - Salalah, Oman

Anwaar Ahmed, University of Technology and Applied Sciences - Salalah, Oman

One crucial aspect of language teaching is designing and providing meaningful contexts for student engagement. Second language acquisition (SLA) studies argued that engagement is a multidimensional construct that encompasses the learners’ mental, behavioral and social aspects (Lambert & Philp, 2015; Fredricks, Blumenfeld & Paris, 2004). As such, the learners have to display focused attention and construct their own knowledge (cognitively engaged); show positive willingness and autonomous disposition in tasks (affectively engaged); and interact with others and initiate responses (socially engaged) (Svalberg, 2009). This study presents the task-based interaction patterns in a third-grade English as a second language (ESL) class with 25 Asian-American immigrant students in a public K-8 charter school in Philadelphia. Based on Svalberg’s model of engagement with language (2009) and Boyd and Rubin’s concept of student critical turns (2002), the students engaged in a series of small group narrative and information-gap activities. The students’ interactions were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed based on a coding scheme (Baralt et al., 2016) using data from audio recordings and transcriptions, classroom observation records, and student motivation questionnaires. The results showed limited interactions in task with instructions or examples only, and elaborated interactions in task instructions followed by on-task guidance and feedback. Moreover, students’ task interactions included asking voluntary questions, formulating predictions, and noticing linguistic features (cognitive); expressing willingness and empathy (affective); participating in negotiations and taking roles (social). Thus, the study highlights the need for multidimensional and developmental task designs with inclusive teaching methodologies for increased engagement among ESL learners.

10:20-10:45

67341

| Assessing Children at Risk: Psychometric Properties of the Arabic Version of the Motor Behaviour Checklist (MBC) in Primary School Settings

Maria Efstratopoulou, UAEU, United Arab Emirates

Max Opoku, United Arab University, United Arab Emirates

Hala Elhoweris, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates

Children’s emotional, behavioral and developmental problems can be properly identified and assessed based on observations from their teachers and parents. The Motor Behavior Checklist (MBC; Efstratopoulou, Janssen, Simons, 2012) was designed to assist classroom teachers and Physical Education (PE) teachers in assessing their students’ motor-related behaviors. The present study aimed to apply the newly developed Arabic version of the MBC checklist at mainstream Schools in UAE, examine the structural and discriminant validity of the Arabic version of the MBC and to assess the effect of gender, age and type of disability on children’s behavior. A sample of 304 children (aged 6-12 years) were rated by their teachers using the 59 items of the MBC checklist. A Confirmatory Analysis of the data revealed that the Arabic version of the MBC is a valid measurement to assess behavioral problems in children in UAE. A MANOVA analysis indicated that there were differences among children rated by their teachers due to gender -with boys scoring higher in all problem scales- and due to the type of disability- with children with ASD and ADHD scoring higher than their typical developing peers on most of the problem scales. Finally, a path analysis on the data revealed that Internalizing behaviors could predict Externalizing behavior problems. Strategies to Identify and support students with behavioral problems in School settings are discussed. 10:45-11:10

68041 | Reflective Practice and Whole Brain Teaching in Reading and Writing Classes: A Case Study of a Novice ESL Teacher

Randy Magdaluyo, University of Technology and Applied Sciences - Salalah, Oman

Claire Orpilla, University of Technology and Applied Sciences - Salalah, Oman

Leah Alconis, University of Technology and Applied Sciences - Salalah, Oman

Reflective practice has become an increasingly essential skill among English language teachers. Recent studies have indicated that reflective practice actively and systematically engage teachers in examining and improving their teaching assumptions, expectations, actions, and decisions. As a result, reflective practice helps teachers transition from being curriculum transmitters to being autonomous decision makers who continually learn and reconstruct their teaching experiences through reflection (Widodo & Ferdiansyah, 2018; Crandall & Christison, 2016; Larrivee, 2008). This paper presents a case study of the instructional practices and reflections of a novice English as a second language (ESL) teacher in a Philippine university who implemented the whole brain teaching method in reading and writing classes during his first year of teaching. Anchored on Farrell’s (2015) framework for reflecting on practice that encompasses five levels (philosophy, principles, theory, practice, and beyond practice), the teacher’s reflections were qualitatively coded and analyzed using data from teacher logs, peer observation records, semi-structured interviews, lesson study reviews, and teaching portfolio. The results revealed recurring themes of (1) establishing morality, (2) welcoming diversity, (3) fostering curiosity, (4) inspiring creativity, (5) negotiating authority, (6) sharing accountability, and (7) constructing global-local identity, which significantly influenced the personal and professional decisions and actions of the novice teacher. Thus, implications for adopting a holistic approach for reflective practice in the pre-service and in-service ESL teacher programs were discussed.