Special Education Tools, Concepts and Design for Children in Need

Cristina-Maria Povian, Vlad Gabriel Gurza, Cristian Dumitrescu

 

Polytechnic University from Timisoara, Faculty of Architecture , Traian Lalescu Street, No 2/A, Timișoara 300223, Romania

 

This article tries to give a special attention to the way teachers educate and form children. They are responsible for the future generation achievements or failures. Nowadays, researchers from different fields (psychology, education, sociology, architecture, urbanism, politics, economics, etc.) are paying a special attention to the situation of children in need. Unfortunately, they can distinguish a special category, with bigger problems- the street children.

There must be a clear goal to implement the children’s needs in education. It is not only as routine activities for them but also a preparation for their future.

THE IMPACT OF SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS ON CLASSMATE PERFORMANCE

Nienke Ruijs

Amsterdam School of Economics, University of Amsterdam, TIER, Valckenierstraat 65-67, 1018 XE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

 

 

This article elaborates whether the presence of special needs students in regular schools affect the academic achievement of their classmates. The researcher examines this question in the context of primary and secondary education in the Nether- lands, where the per student budget for special needs students in regular schools is roughly twice the amount of the regular student budget. The researcher uses three independent identification approaches: student fixed effects models, school fixed effects models, and neighborhood variation. For both education levels and all three identification approaches, the estimates indicate that special needs students do not have a statistically significant effect on the academic achievement of their classmates. The estimates are precise enough to rule out even modest effects.

The effort to integrate students with special needs with normal students in regular school can be a breakthrough in education field. It teaches equality among the students. Conducting such innovation is not easy. The teacher and the school facility should accommodate the learning needs.

Analysis of Educational Needs Assessment Methodology of Children with Special Educational Needs in Bulgaria

Venelin Terziev*

University of Agribusiness and Rural Development Bulgaria, 4000 Plovdiv, 78, Dunav Bul.

 

This journal article explains the finding of the integration of children with special educational needs in Bulgarian school and society. The modern contemporary educational and social model used for identification and the subsequent processes of intervention and development are discussed. An analysis is made of a performed research of the assessment methodology of these educational needs in Bulgaria.

The methodology has a role to determine whether a student categorized as special needs or normal student. It uses CEAT (Comprehensive Educational Assessment Teams) conducted by the government as the instrument, and the result of this test is still believed as a valid result.

Though it has been implemented nationally, there are some disadvantages of this assessment method. First, CEAT professional capacity needs good and suitable qualification as the committee. Second, the committee does not have minimum and maximum participant limitation of an assessment batch.

MALL: Global Prospects and Local Implementation

By:

Jack Burston (jack.burston@cut.ac.cy)

Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus

 

After reading this journal, I can achieve new innovation of technology implementation in language learning. The innovation is developed from CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) which is called as MALL (Mobile Assisted Language Learning). The writer tries to investigate this case since there many smartphone users through the world. Therefore, the impact of MALL implementation is investigated in global prospective.

There two challenges faced to implement MALL in English language learning. First is technology access which cannot be accessed by all people. The second is pedagogical technology which should be conquered well by teachers.

SPEAKING AS AN INDICATOR OF GENERAL PROFICIENCY IN PLACEMENT TEST

By:

Zahra Shirinzadeh Aghdam and Ali Akbar Farahani

Payam-e-noor University, Tehran, Iran. And University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

 

This research investigates whether there is a strong correlation between the speaking abilities of Iranian learners of English and their general proficiency as reported in placement tests (Proficiency of English Test). Thirty intermediate learners from three English conversation classes at an English language Institute in Tabriz participated in the study. A standardized 300 D test of Nelson English Test was used to determine their overall English language proficiency. In addition, an oral interview was conducted to test their speaking ability. The scoring criteria for assessing the oral interview were pronunciation, vocabulary, and fluency. The results obtained were used as indicators of learners’ English proficiency levels and their oral abilities. A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the strength of the correlation between the accuracy rates drawn from the Nelson Test and those from the oral interview. The finding indicated that there was a statistically significant correlation between the two types of testing indicating that learners’ general proficiency shown in the Nelson placement test could be easily achieved by evaluating their speaking ability.

FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL?

by: Ahmad Lizamuddin*)

Are you a teacher? Or are you a lecturer? Well, if you are a good teacher or a good lecturer, of Corse, you must understand what we will be discussing.
Anyway, as we know that learning can take place at various times and in various situations. For example, a 5 year old boy who touches a glass of very hot water. He would have learnt in order not to touch hot water again. However, we cannot conclude the same where teaching activity is concerned. Teaching does not happen incidentally especially for the context of professional teaching.

Therefore, a lesson plan is an important tool which all teachers or lecturers must deal and have before teaching. With a ready lesson plan, we, teachers and lecturers can focus on executing the plan maximally and not stay stuck thinking of what to do next.

Discussing about this, I have an interesting experience in this semester. I get to teach 8 English classes. All of them focus on TOEFL. Before teaching, I always prepare all of classes very well with my best effort of lesson plan. Someday, I had very tight schedule causing that I could not prepare the lesson plan for all classes. I only made 1 for all. See, what happened? A class of economics faculty majoring on accounting could run smoothly while other rest classes of engineering, and education could not.

The lesson learned from this practical experience is that using lesson plan must be switched to the learning condition.

A good lesson plan

What are the components of a good lesson plan? The truth is there are no hard and strict rules as to what are the components of a good plan. Plain logic will show us that a successful plan must have at least two components which are: learning goals for student learning and sequences of activities. In addition, there must be also mechanisms to check students’ understanding as the lesson progress. It is easier said than done isn’t it?

Experience will tell us that there are some basic principles to follow. First, all learners may vary in many ways: age, gender, ethnicity, proficiency level, and so on. There are also differences in attitudes in the class which are usually governed by factors such as motivation and cultural background. Hence, we should take into consideration such variations while planning lesson. This will be able to ensure that the lessons are delivered at the proportional level of majority of the students in the class.

Another factor that should be considered by teachers is the learning style (using visual teaching aids such as: pictures, diagrams, etc). moreover, we must also be aware of at least two other learning styles in language classroom which are auditory and kinesthetic learning styles. Choosing appropriate learning styles is also dependent on personal traits. The more extrovert learners will enjoy speaking activities while the introvert ones may prefer something quieter like reading or listening. Here, teachers must understand well what learning styles are appropriate and when they apply them.

The two principle factors can be considered by teachers to respond students’ needs that re implemented on lesson plan. So, let’s start make lesson planning a habit. There are a lot of reference materials available on the internet and books that provide innovative and creative learning activities. Let’s invest our time for reading them and planning our lesson well. The more innovative and creative we are, the more credible we will be.

*)The writer is a teacher of CILAD Unissula, a student of mater degree program, Sebelas Maret University. He is also an awardee of LPDP Scholarship.

 

CREATING VIRTUAL CLASSROOM OUTSIDE CLASSROOM, QUITE FUN!

by: Ahmad Lizamuddin

In 2013, a friend asked me to buy an Android base smartphone. He said that we really need it as our facility nowadays. We can connect to internet and social media easily. Although I was that interested, however I bought this one with my limited budget and have not regretted it since. Why?

In the past, I used to think that having a smartphone means I must provide more money for internet quota instead of regular credits. I often used it to connect me with friends who are far away so that I could feel them very close. I could join some groups based on my previous education institution it was nice.

Time by time, I start thinking to combine this trend of technology advancement with learning activity. Then, I have implemented this idea to support my learning activity since in the middle of 2013. It is very helpful. Why?

Realizing my limited IT skill, I cannot implement advance program such as moodle, etc to facilitate my ambition to combine between technology advancement and learning activity. Therefore, I use some free social media application such as Facebook, Line, Black Berry Messenger, and Whatssapp which are very easy to operate. With miscellaneous features, those help me a lot.

How to conduct? It is a piece of cake. I only create some groups based on classes containing my students of each class. In the group, my students and I discuss each other. I can share the materials. Then, they also can ask questions relating class materials. Even, they can submit their assignments here. It is very nice. I do not need to bring home my students’ papers every day which weight more than 4 kg.

Testimonies,

After finishing class term, I always ask my students to evaluate my class. And the result “ they are quite happy with my breakthrough.”

Here I can conclude that I do not “need” to master IT skill until advance level. Only with limited ability, an innovation on learning activity can be initiated. So, “ not the Gun capacity is the most important but the man behind the gun is.”

 

Note: Make sure that your cellphone has good specification min. memory 1 GB if you do not want to get trouble on your cell phone device (HP Rusak) hikssss

 

Never Late to Start Learning

“A, B, C, D, E,….” Heard clearly by me when I was entering camp for women and children in Bayeun, Aceh. My purpose visiting here was to conduct my students for getting prepared to study in School for Refugees Dompet Dhuafa. I was surprised when hearing the voice. I got approach to the voice source. Then I found mama Nur Jahan, 60 years old reading her note of Alphabet. Nur jahan is one of our students in School for Refugees DD. Because of her old age we call her mama.

Mama has big spirit to study in SFR. Although she is the oldest student, she never feels nervous to study. She has had problem with her vision because of her age. That Every small thing she sees is unclear. That is why she needs a teacher to accompany during learning process.

Teaching her is rather more challenging than the younger students. Patience is the most important provision for teaching. Although she must repeat for many times to know a letter, she never gives up that easily. This big spirit boosters the teacher in order to give all efforts totally.

Mama Nur Jahan’s effort for learning alphabet teaches us a very valuable lesson. It tends to tease young generation that almost never studies hard. Of course, it has proven that “never late to start learning” is a special booster to remind us for learning many things. Never feel ashamed to learn although you have been old.

“Malaysia No, School Yes, but Police boxing-boxing”

Her name is nur begom. She is 19 years old. She is one of students of school for refugees Dompet Dhuafa 2015. She is one of Rohingyanese refugees, Myanmar.

In school, nur is one of best students. She is a highly motivated woman. With all effort she learns all materials given. At the beginning she could not read at all. Now, her improvement can be seen very well.

“Malaysia No, School Yes, but Police boxing-boxing”. Said, nur with her English.

Yes, in Birem, Bayeaun, Refugee Camp, some of them choose to escape to Malaysia as their choice. This country is assumed by refugees as heaven where they can live with prosperity. Some of people from this ethnic live successfully there. They do not escape by themselves. Of course, many agents (read. human trafficker) try to persuade them to succeed. The escapees of refugees must pay an amount of money to the agents.

This uncomfortable condition of camp environment is also caused by safety issues. nur’s statement is not only accusation without any proof. The security members often act violence to refugees. Even, some of women become the victims of sexual harassment. Besides that, their imam was also the victim of violence done by security members of the camp. It was responded by refugees for attacking security members of the camp.

Two causes above are not absolute reasons why they prefer leaving than staying. Nur’s story is one of evidence that women refugees also need education. Nelson mandela said “education is the strongest weapon to change the world”. So, let’s educate them..

Guru, Pemuka Agama Harus Siap Menjadi Tauladan (baik)

Oleh: Ahmad Lizamuddin*

Beberapa hari lalu ada peristiwa yang gencar menjadi sorotan media di negeri ini yaitu muktamar NU ke 33. Dari serangkaian agenda dari hajatan tersebut ada sebuah momen yang sangat menyentuh ketika seorang guru mampu menenangkan muktamirin yang ricuh. Beliau adalah gus mus. Dengan kharismatiknya dan nasihatnya mampu menyentuh banyak orang. Tidak salah jika banyak yang mengapresiasi apa yang beliau lakukan.

Sosok gusmus, mampu mempraktikkan kedudukannya sebagai guru sekaligus pemimpin. Sudah tidak diragukan lagi jam terbangnya untuk mendidik santri, hingga mendidik ummat yang rutin beliau lakukan dengan sangat baik dalam balutan mauidhoh hasanah. Selain itu, beliau mempraktikkan bagaimana seorang pemimpin harus bertindak. Pemimpin yang baik tidak akan haus jabatan. Hal ini dapat dilihat ketika beliu bersedia mundur walau secara sah beliau terpilih sebagai rais ‘am demi kepentingan ummat.

Beralih kenegeri tetangga Myanmar, ada juga peristiwa hampir mirip tentang sosok pemuka agama dan apa yang telah dilakukannya. Ceramahnya tersebar melalui rekaman Video berisi tentang kekerasan terhadap manusia dan antar ras, serta antar agama. Banyak orang terprovokasi dari apa yang telah disampaikannya. Beliau adalah seorang budha extremist Arshin Wirantu yang memimpin gerakan extremist ultra nationalis.

sebelumnya, wirathu pernah menghabiskan Sembilan tahun di penjara pada tahun 2003 karena ceramah yang berisi hasutan hingga menimbulkan konflik agama.

Apa yang telah dilakukannya juga menjadi salah satu penyebab terjadinya pengusiran, tindakan kekerasan, dan penindasan terhadap warga etnis Rohinya. Sebagaimana yang diketahui bersama, warga rohingya ramai-ramai secara bergelombang meninggalkan Myanmar untuk menyelamatkan diri ke berbagai negara termasuk ke Indonesia.

Dari pemaparan singkat tentang dua profil sosok diatas memang memilki perbedaan apa yang telah dilakukannya. Namun, kedua tokoh tersebut memiliki persamaan yaitu mereka sama-sama seorang guru sekaligus pemimpin ummat.

Peran seorang guru sangat penting sekali dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Masyarakat mengenal sebagai seeorang yang layak digugu dan ditiru sudah sewajibnya para guru menyampaikan hal-hal yang baik. Semua orang percaya apapun jenis agamanya diantara ajarannya berisi tentang kebaikan dan perdamaian. Mengutip dari seorang kyai muda dari bojonegoro, KH. Anwar Zahid, beliau berkata “banyak orang yang pandai memberikan mauidhoh hasanah tapi jarang yang bisa memberikan uswatun hasanah.”

Jadi, kita semua berharap, para guru dan pemuka agama di dunia ini tidak hanya piawai dalam menyampaikan ceramahnya, tetapi juga mampu menjadi tauladan bagi muridnya dan ummatnya.

*) penulis adalah seorang pemerhati pendidikan khususnya pendidikan dalam situasi-situasi darurat