Introduction: Diverse Minds and Diverse Needs
With greater inclusion, today's classrooms encompass a vast range of needs and abilities. Despite unchanged sizes and structures, teachers are expected to provide tailored support to each child, fostering positive behaviour and keen learning. However, addressing the diverse needs and behaviours of every student remains a formidable challenge.
In this complex landscape, educators frequently grapple with critical questions: How do you create an environment that is conducive to learning? How do you support challenging behaviours so that they do not impact the child’s learning or the learning of others? How do we cultivate curious minds rather than mere memorisers? How do you engage every student in the classroom?
Meaningful Engagement
Engagement in learning is not merely about the content; it's fundamentally about its relevance and meaning to the learner. But what exactly does 'meaningful' mean? Meaningfulness goes beyond serving a function. It is when the activity or ideas resonate deeply with the learner's interests and past experience.