Facing complexity of inclusive classrooms through reflection on simplex principles

Erika M. PaceProf. Paola Aiello

Facing complexity of inclusive classrooms through reflection on

simplex principles17th International Conference on Education

18th May, 2015Athens, Greece

Department of Humanities, Philosophy and Education,

University of SalernoResearch Interests: Inclusive and Special Needs

Education, Teacher Education, Non-linear Trajectories in Didactics, Technology in Education

Motor Activity, The Role of the Body in Educational Research, Health and Wellbeing

Project OutlineResearch aim: To develop a resource to guide reflective processes during teacher education courses that will positively impact teacher efficacy to deal with the complexity characterising inclusive school settings.

Specific Objective: Create and pilot test the effectiveness of a specifically-designed professional development journal to be used during teacher education courses to guide reflective processes aimed at increasing teacher efficacy to work in inclusive contexts.

Project Outline

Core Project Phases: • Design and develop a professional

development journal to be used during a teacher training course;• Teacher efficacy will be measured prior

to and at the end of the course using the Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices (TEIP) scale, a validated tool designed by Sharma, Loreman & Forlin (2011);

Project Outline

• Pilot test the resource during a teacher training course and gather feedback on journal use.

Rationale

3. Reflective practice – acknowledged as an essential competence for lifelong learning and continuous professional development;

4. The theory of simplexity: its application to didactics may provide a key to face complexity.

1. Complexity: in inclusive contexts, teaching-learning processes and inclusive teaching;

2. Teacher agency: depends on teacher efficacy, which is underpinned by personal, behavioural and environmental factors;

Complexity in 21st Century Classrooms

Fast social, cultural, economic and technological change leading to: obsolescence of knowledge and

skills (Michel, 2001) within knowledge-based economies (OECD, 1996);

an unpredictable environment in constant evolution (Putman, 2012; Sibilio, 2014).

Shift from dual track to single-track inclusive systems

Implications of Inclusive Education

A radical shift in attitudes and a willingness on the part of schools to transform practices: • in the curriculum on offer, • the assessment, • recording and reporting of pupils’

achievements, • the decisions that are taken on the

grouping of pupils within schools or classrooms, • pedagogy and classroom practice, • sport and leisure and recreational

opportunities (Mittler, 2000).

The Construct of Self-efficacy

SELF-EFFICACY: “what you believe you can do with what you have under a variety of circumstances” (Bandura, 1986 p. 37).

Individual’s overall perceptions

of his/her abilities - SELF-EFFICACY

Motivation to change

PersonalFactors

Behavioural Factors

Environmental Factors

Self-efficacy and Teacher Agency

Self-efficacy is an essential component within human agency, defined as the intentional completion of actions (Bandura, 1986), as it influences:• the choice of tasks, • the effort one puts into the application

of such tasks and • the persistence over time (Putman,

2012);

all fundamental elements when working within complex scenarios as are

inclusive classrooms and systems.

Self-efficacy and Teacher AgencyA strong predictor of various variables linked to effective inclusive education such as:• willingness and openness to

innovation (Berman, Mc Laughlin, Bass, Pauly & Zellman, 1977, Guskey, 1988, Stein & Wang, 1988); • persistence when faced with low-

performing students (Gibson & Dembo, 1984; Pajares, 1996);• lower inclination to refer a difficult

student to special education (Meijer & Foster, 1988; Podell & Sodak, 1993; Soodak & Podell, 1993); and • a higher likelihood to implement

effective methods of instruction (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Bandura, 1997).

Reflective Practice

“it is through the development of knowledge and

understanding of the practice setting and

the ability to recognize and respond to such knowledge that the

reflective practitioner becomes truly

responsive to the needs, issues, and

concerns that are so important in shaping practice” (Loughran,

2002, p.42).

The Theory of Simplexity – Alain Berthoz Based on simplifying principles, a

complex adaptive system finds solutions “to process complex situations

very rapidly, elegantly, and efficiently, taking past experience into account and anticipating the future” (Berthoz, 2012, p.3).

Simplexity complements complexity – it’s not an anytonym. Nor is it a synonym of simplicity. Simplexity is an ensemble of solutions that appeared in the course of evolution to allow living organisms to survive despite the complexity of natural processes.

Simplexity – 6 Characteristics or Properties

Specialisation and Modularityneeded for the breakdown of a complex task into various functions to facilitate better control of action

needed for the ability of decision making when anticipating and predicting consequences of actions, capitalising the results of past experiences and betting on the behaviour of others

Speed

Simplexity – 6 Characteristics or Properties

Reliabilityto reduce the margin of error to a minimum

the ability to select the right strategy from a repertoire of choices to resolve a problem, perceive, capture, decide, or act depending on the context

Flexibility, Vicariance and Adaptation to Change

Simplexity – 6 Characteristics or Properties

Memory

present action relies on this

characteristic to predict the future consequences of

an action

the ability to capitalize patterns of interactions in similar situations

Generalization

Six Simplex Principles as Tools for Life

1. Inhibition and the Principle of Refusal

•Enables competition, and consequently decision making, plasticity (flexibility), and stability. • It enhances speed to select from among the complex constituents that make up any phenomenon, act, or situation.• Selecting one action over another requires inhibiting all the actions one does not choose and disinhibit the one acted.

Six Simplex Principles as Tools for Life

2. The principle of specialisation and selection

•Every species scans the world only form cues important to its survival, creating one’s own umwelt (subjective universe).• It involves the selection of pertinent information needed to reach the goal of action. • It is induced during a stimulus-response process, but it is also intrinsic to adopting a perspective to project one’s intentions and hypothesise onto the world.

Six Simplex Principles as Tools for Life

3. The principle of Probabilistic Anticipation

• Prediction always involves probability, and to take action the brain has to make some hypotheses, deciding on what probability that hypothesis has of being correct on the basis of the information available in the present as well as taking the memory of past experiences into account. •Key to innovation thanks to its unique spatial and temporal organisation.

Six Simplex Principles as Tools for Life

4. The Detour principle•Essential to solve non linear problems.• Inextricably linked to creative thought and action. • Short-cuts should not be ignored, but systems need to ensure that taking the longer way is not faster.

Six Simplex Principles as Tools for Life

5. The principle of Cooperation and Redundancy•Redundancy refers to the duplication of components or function of a system with the intention to increase reliability of the system to make it fail-safe. •Cooperation refers to the process of combining the information available to ensure that the information is coherent and therefore mitigate the risk of error.

Six Simplex Principles as Tools for Life

6. The principle of Meaning• Since “simplex solutions are motivated by intentions, goals, or functions”, it implies affirming the principle of meaning whose foundations are in the act itself.

Erika M. Paceepace@unisa.it

Thank you