How does instruction around strengths, habits and mindsets impact the classroom environment and self awareness of students in a special education classroom?

Seminar Title

How does instruction around strengths, habits and mindsets impact the classroom environment and self awareness of students in a special education classroom?

Classroom Environment/Self-Awareness/Social Emotional Learning

Middle School

Middle School

Special Education

All Disciplines

Do you ever get frustrated by our special education system? Do you feel we tend to focus on the deficits, as opposed to the strengths, of our students in special education? If so, join me in my seminar where we can discuss a more neurodiverse perspective to thinking about our students receiving special education services. Neurodiversity is the belief that there is a range of differences in the human brain, and all those differences should be valued. Further, these differences can often offer an advantage to the greater human race. When we take this perspective in approaching social emotional development or instruction in our special education classrooms, we can build a more ideal classroom environment focused on identifying and supporting students strengths, habits and mindsets. My main overall concept was increasing student self-awareness with hopes they would be more successful students in various school environments. My research was applied in a setting III special education classroom, in which many of the students were in that setting for 60% or more of their school day. In addition, my hope was that staff learning alongside these students would feel more empowered and successful in building a classroom environment that supported this growth within students. If you are looking for an opportunity to engage in a conversation around social emotional learning opportunities which highlight students strengths, please sign up for my session!

The question guiding my research is as follows: How does instruction around strengths, habits and mindsets impact the classroom environment and self-awareness of students in a special education classroom? A review of literature highlighted that various researchers and theories support a neurodiverse perspective to thinking about student differences, and such a perspective could impact students positively. Neurodiversity is the belief that there is a range of differences in the human brain, and all those differences should be valued. Further, these differences can often offer an advantage to the greater human race. Also, by applying this perspective when bringing social emotional learning in the classroom, students can learn new skills, and apply those across their school day. As a result of my review of literature, I designed lessons and supported the development of a classroom environment, which would promote students and classroom staff to be more aware of their 1.) natural strengths and abilities 2.) current habits around learning 3.) desired and ideal mindsets to support learning. In addition to leading weekly lessons within the classroom, with a small group of students, I supported the ongoing development and understanding of the classroom staff supporting those students (classroom teacher, paraprofessionals and other service providers). Assessment of the ways these changes would impact 1.) the classroom environment 2.) student and staff perceptions and awareness of student strengths, habits and mindsets, included student and staff interviews, as well as ongoing observational data collected by myself and the classroom teacher. Through my research, I have seen how regular conversations with students around the development of social emotional skills can prepare them to tackle challenges in both the small group special education classroom, as well as in their general education classes. As time progressed, students showed fewer needs for adult redirection and prompts to shift their thinking around challenges, and instead showed more skills with self-regulating and using more positive language, across school settings. I also noticed that staff shifted their perspectives, when speaking about students from more of a deficit thinking model, to one that included language of growth and highlighted student strengths. As a result of my interest in bringing a neurodiverse perspective to considering social emotional development of students, I have decided to continue my weekly lessons in the classroom, to see if we can find more ways to generalize their learned skills, with hopes that down the road, parents will also be able to name and see the shifts in their child’s view of themselves. The hope is that this research could support the growth of students skills at school, home and in the community.