In this course, you will learn about key concepts and methods related to teaching English in heterogeneous and inclusive settings. The focus is on providing you with some of the knowledge and tools you need to meet the needs of second language learners who have various cognitive, physical, familial, ethnic, socioeconomic, linguistic, and gender backgrounds.
Because every student is an individual, the factors that shape how they learn are equally unlimited. Learners are always more than a label or group of labels, such as disabled, poor, or impaired. Their strengths and the challenges they bring to learning a new language make each child unique. Moreover, learners are complex individuals who may be both gifted and impaired, both rich and impoverished, in myriad ways.
How, then, can a course focusing on heterogenity and inclusion identifying certain types of learners according to specific features help prepare you to teach them? The aim of the course is, while recognizing the complexities each child brings to the classroom, to convey theoretical and practical knowledge of instruction to learn how to address the needs of these learners. Examining the specific needs faced by certain groups of learners will enable you to design instruction that will better enable you to meet not just those needs discussed in the course, but to develop reflective and expert practices that accommodate all students.
- Teacher: Jonna Charlotte Kaßner
- Teacher: Torben Marco Schmidt