HOW DO CHILDREN WITH LEARNING AND ATTENTION DIFFICULTIES COPE IN A WALDORF

CLASSROOM?

RESEARCH REPORT

Presented by

MEGAN ARCHER

An Individual Educational Study in part fulfilment of the requirements for a Bachelor of Education Degree

Submitted as a Fourth Year Full-Time Student at THE CENTRE FOR CREATIVE EDUCATION

October 2007

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DECLARATION

I, Megan Archer, declare that this is my own original work. It has not been

submitted for any other qualification or to any other educational institution or

university.

________________ MEGAN ARCHER

Date:_____________

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my gratitude and acknowledge those who have helped me

and supported me during the process of my dissertation.

My family, without their help and constant support, my degree would be only a

dream.

Jade De Wet, for giving me the inspiration to research this subject.

Dean Archer, for making the time to proof read and edit my dissertation.

My colleagues, for their support and inspiration during the process of

preparing my dissertation.

Professor Clive Millar, for being so patient, supportive and encouraging, right

through the whole process of the dissertation.

The Centre for Creative Education, for making allowances in the timetable for us

to undertake our research.

To the teachers and children of Class 5, Waldorf School 1 and especially to Joan

Sleigh, for allowing me to observe in your classroom and for sharing your

knowledge and expertise with me.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: DESIGNING THE RESEARCH PROJECT 61.1 Introduction: Trying to find a research focus 6

1.2 The Research focus 7

1.3 Research questions 8

1.4 Purposes of the research 9

1.5 Conceptual framework 10

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD 122.1 Using a qualitative approach 12

2.2 Description and justification of research method 13

2.3 Selection of research sites 14

2.4 Methods of recording data 14

2.5 Ways of dealing with possible threats to validity 14

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS 163.1 Introduction 16

3.2 Report on classroom observation - John 17

3.3 Report on classroom observation – Michael 30

3.4 Report on interview – Jane Temple 37

3.5 Report on interview – Pam Tew 40

3.6 Review 42

CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 434.1 Introduction 43

4.2 What kinds of pressure are put on the teacher who has children with 44

learning difficulties in her class?

4.3 Professional skills in coping with disruptive behaviour 45

4.4 What forms of support do these children receive and require in order 48

to stay in this alternative mainstream classroom?

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4.5 How might the inclusion of these boys interfere with children who need 49

to be challenged more academically?

4.6 What do children who have learning difficulties gain from being in 50

this alternative mainstream classroom? Are the demands worth it?

4.7 Are there limits to how inclusive a class can be? 51

4.8 Conclusion 52

CHAPTER 5: BIBLIOGRAPHY 54

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CHAPTER 1:DESIGNING THE RESEARCH PROJECT

1.1 Introduction: Trying to find a research focus

One of the main reasons I wanted to become a teacher of young children

(apart from the fact that I believe the profession “chose me”), was that while

growing up I watched my niece battle through her schooling career, moving

from one school to the next. The reason for this was that there was no place

for her.

She had learning difficulties and she did not fit into the school system. At the

age of fifteen, I remember thinking:” How on earth can someone not teach

her?” “Do you have to be bright to go to school?” “Do you have to be of a

certain IQ to have a nourishing education?” I felt disappointed that the

schooling system in which I wanted to teach did not have a place for people

like her.

There are schools that cater for children with learning difficulties, but they are

very few and far between. Some of these schools only take children with an

IQ below a certain level and others only take those with severe disabilities.

My questions were: “What happened to the children in the middle?” And:

“Why couldn’t they go into a ‘normal’ school?”

When we were told that we had to decide on a topic for our dissertation, I

knew exactly what I was going to do. I was going to do a case study on

children at a school who did not fit into the mainstream schooling system.

Through my training, I had learnt of a school that caters for children with

learning difficulties. I wanted to use this school as my research site, and do a

case study on children who had been in a mainstream school, but had been

“failed” by it.

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I knew that this was important to me and something I felt very passionate

about. It was after all one of the main reasons I wanted to become a teacher.

I had my research focus and my site. However, when I began to think ahead

of the things I would need to do, besides observing children, I began to

realise that carrying out my research project would be far harder than I

thought. One of the main questions that came to mind was whether parents

would open up to me and tell me about the journey their child had taken to

find a school that catered for children with learning difficulties. I wondered too

how the children would respond to my questions about their journeys and the

difficulties they had encountered.

I then realised during a practical training block at a Waldorf school that there

were children in my class with difficulties, not necessarily as severe as those

considered in my initial focus but difficulties none the less. I decided that I

should not focus on the fact that there are children who have been failed by

the mainstream school system, but rather look at this holistic alternative form

of mainstream school that has included children who have some sort of

difficulty, and see if this situation works.

1.2 The Research focus decided on

Throughout my teacher training, I have realised that my ideals concerning

education are at times just that, ideals. Maybe my dream of reforming the

schooling system was not as easy as I previously thought. I have realised

that some children need far more attention and help than others. One of the

problems of focusing my research on children who had been failed by the

mainstream schooling system was time. It was not practical for me to do my

dissertation research at one school and at the same time do my practical

training at another school. I knew that it would be far more time efficient to do

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my research and practical training at the same school and even more so in

the same class.

In the very class that I was doing my practical training were two boys with

learning and attention difficulties. I decided that this might be a good

opportunity to look at this particular situation of inclusion and to see whether it

worked and how it worked. This would also enable personal involvement in

the research situation.

My eventual focus became the following –

I wished to carefully study and understand how two children with learning and

attention problems were included in an alternative form of mainstream

schooling, how they cope with the demands and processes of an alternative

mainstream Waldorf classroom, and how their teachers and peers coped with

their being in the classroom. I wanted to clarify the positives and the

negatives of the situation. I wanted to observe the two boys in their

classroom as well as interview their classroom and remedial teachers.

1.3 Research questions:

Given the focus defined above, the research questions that guided my

research were:

Testing the limits: are there limits to how inclusive a Waldorf

classroom can be?

As I observed the two boys with learning and attention difficulties in

this Waldorf classroom, I began to realise that having these boys in the

class could not have been an easy task for the teacher or the other

children in the class. It seemed to me that they were not meeting the

academic expectations of the class and would often test and push

social boundaries and therefore often interrupt the flow of the lessons.

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These observations brought a few further questions to mind:

o What pressures are put on the teacher by having these boys in

the class?

o Do the other children in the class not get frustrated?

o Are the needs of children who need to be challenged

academically being neglected by having these boys in the

class?

o What is going to happen to these boys after grade 7? Will they

cope in high school?

How do children with learning and attention difficulties actually cope

in a Waldorf classroom?

I began to think that if these boys had been in this class since grade 1,

then somehow they must have been coping. From this the following

questions arose:

o What are these boys actually learning from being in this

classroom?

o How do they cope: what are their strengths and what are their

weaknesses?

o Do the other children in the class gain anything from having

these boys in the classroom?

o What support is needed for these boys to stay in this class?

1.4Purposes of the research:

As I have mentioned, this research topic was not my initial choice. For

personal reasons, I do however feel that the topic I have researched will give

me great insight into dealing with inclusion in the classroom environment. I

used to believe that children of all learning abilities should be in a mainstream

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school. However, through my training to become a teacher, I am realising

that this is not as easy as I thought

I wanted to explore the aspects of inclusion in the classroom in order to

prepare myself as a classroom teacher. It become clear to me that each child

that comes into a teacher’s classroom has different learning needs and as a

teacher you need to meet those needs as best you can. However there are

some needs that demand far more attention and I wished to explore the

practicalities of such inclusion.

I wanted this research project not only to help me obtain my degree, but to

enable me to develop new skills which I could incorporate in my teaching.

As a future teacher, this research project would give me a better

understanding of inclusion and what the children gain and possibly do not

gain from it. Through observation and interviews I would be able get a real

idea of what the positives or the negatives are for the teacher having these

children in the classroom.

1.5Conceptual Framework

My conceptual framework – the ideas I had about the situation I was going to

investigate - were common-sense.

My view was that the teacher of the class I had selected for study had a

difficult task in educating these two boys with learning difficulties, and at the

same time addressing all the other children’s needs. However, I had no idea

of what the teacher had done to control these boys, to encourage them to

work, while not losing the flow of her lessons. I also did not know what it was

that these boys had or had not learnt, being in this class, and what the costs

of having these boys in her class might be.

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I was aware that my common-sense assumptions might have turned out to be

wrong or misleading as the study progressed. Answers to my research

question might have differed depending on which teachers I interviewed;

however I did not know in which ways.

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CHAPTER 2:RESEARCH METHOD

2.1Using a qualitative approach:

The way in which I wanted to conduct my research could be described as an

anthropological perspective, as anthropologists use qualitative research to

study how people live, work and think in a natural, day-to-day setting, and I

wanted to do the same in my study. I understood qualitative research as

follows: “In order to understand any human phenomenon we must investigate

it as part of the context with in which it lies.” (Maykut and Morehouse,

1994:68)

I wanted to undertake qualitative research on whether or not inclusion worked

in this alternative mainstream classroom. While doing so, I kept the following

strengths and limitations of qualitative research in mind, drawing on Maycut

and Morehouse (1994: 43 – 47) and on Maxwell (1996: 17 – 21).

My aim was to explore and make sense of the situation

studied.

My attempt was to make sense of small-scale, real-life classroom

situation, not experimental situations.

I would describe and interpret what was happening but not attempt to

measure it.

I would try to avoid any preconceived understandings or ideas which I

might have had as to what might be happening.

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I wanted to include insights and new questions, which would arise from

the research process.

I would not claim to generalise beyond the situation

studied.

2.2 Description and justification of research method:

The methods I used to conduct my research project were to observe and to

interview. My observation was one guided by a simple framework: I was

particularly interested in the interaction of my pupils with the tasks required of

them, with the teacher and with their peers. Within this framework I wanted a

detailed record. My interviews were similarly guided but not constrained by an

‘interview guide’ consisting of a sequence of key questions. “A series of topics or

broad interview questions which the researcher is free to explore and probe with

the interviewee is usually referred to as an interview guide. An interview format

consisting of a detailed set of questions and probes is called an interview

schedule.” (Maykut and Morehouse 1994:83)

I wished to observe the two boys in a Waldorf School, the site within which I

conducted my research, in their natural day-to-day school environment.

Observing these boys in their classroom would give me a good idea of how they

behaved in class, how they related to their classroom teacher, how they

managed their tasks and how they related to their peers.

Through interviews with their classroom teacher and their remedial teacher, I

would be able to pursue questions which arose from my observations. I wished to

invite the respective teachers to speak open and frankly about the inclusion of

these two boys, and through this I wished to get a better understanding of

inclusion in an alternative mainstream classroom.

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Through interviewing two different teachers, I hoped to receive different points of

view about these boys.

2.3 Selection of research sites:

I have called the research site at which I conducted my research project Waldorf

School 1.

Through doing my practical training in this class, two boys in particular began to

spark my interest and helped me to realise that I could change my view of “how

the mainstream system failed children.” I noticed through my own teaching in the

class that these two boys required a lot of additional attention from their teacher.

I therefore decided that this site would be a valuable one for my research project.

2.4 Methods of recording data:

My observations would require that I sit in the class for four mornings during the

main lesson period and take detailed notes of the boys’ behaviour. I would then

transcribe my notes into a coherent and accurate report of my observations.

During my interviews with the class teacher and the remedial teacher I would use

a dictaphone to record the interviews. I would later write up the interview

questions and answers from the recording.

Both the observation report and the interview reports would provide evidence on

which to base later interpretations.

2.5 Ways of dealing with possible threats to validity:

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My qualitative research project relied on interpreting the different kinds of

evidence which I had gathered. Therefore I needed to be very careful to record

my data accurately and make sure that my interpretations did not distort my

evidence.

I wished to guard against invalid findings (again drawing on Maycut and

Morehouse (1994) and Maxwell (1996)) in the following ways:

By not generalising beyond the study

By making the grounds for interpretation as explicit as possible

By avoiding sweeping statements

Having data cross-checked

By inviting my research subject to read and comment on draft reports

By exposing my on-going interpretations to critique by an informed

outsider

By attempting to explain to the reader of my research project what I was

assuming and the direction my thoughts were taking

By having a reflexive attitude to my work, where I could share my doubts

and uncertainties.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS

3.1 Introduction:

In order to study these boys in their classroom environment, I spent four

consecutive days in their classroom observing them. I was observing the children

during their Life Skills main-lesson, which was taught by Mrs Green, who was not

their regular classroom teacher. A main-lesson is a two hour lesson in the

morning, which involves a variety of activities such as, singing, verses or poems,

times tables with movement, birthday verses (a verse which is written by the

teacher for each child, portraying qualities of themselves. Each child says their

verse to the class on the day of the week on which they were born.) As well as a

morning verse which the whole class says together. After these activities, the

lesson continues. The training teacher in this class is Nicola.

In this chapter I structure my reports on observations and interviews as follows:

Report on day to day classroom observations, divided into two sections:

John: Report on four days of classroom observations

Michael: Report on three days of classroom observations

In each of these sections, I report on the boys in the classroom, their

relationship with their peers and how they manage the work tasks set to

them. I have made every effort to keep these recordings as authentic as

possible.

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Interviews:

with Jane Temple, Waldorf School 1, class 5 teacher

with Pam Tew, Waldorf School 1, remedial teacher

3.2 Report on classroom observation - John

Day 1:

John in the classroom

The children have just greeted the teachers at the door and are doing a

stretching exercise. John does the stretching but occasionally looks around.

The teacher asks John not to distract the class. After the stretching exercise,

someone asks where Michael is, John calls out: “He’s dead.” The teacher asks

John not to say such things.

While the children who are saying their birthday verses, John leans over to his

neighbouring friend to whisper. The teacher asks him to be quiet.

The teacher asks children to listen to her so that she can give instructions. She

has to ask John to turn around in his desk and to listen. While the teacher is

giving instructions, John turns around to look at the rest of the class. A while

later the teacher reprimands another child, John shouts out “They are trying to kill

each other!” Everyone ignores what John said. The teacher asks the children

how they have to behave in the hall, John shouts out: “Absolutely good!”

In the hall the teacher asks the children to sit down. John runs to stand behind

her. When Nicola goes to speak to him, he runs away and goes to sit right in

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front of the teacher. When the teacher mentions who is not behaving, John

questions the teacher: “Me?”

While the teacher is giving instructions he gives a big fake yawn. The teacher

hands out plastic bags with apparatus inside, she passes John and his partner

Daniel. John shouts out: “Mrs Green you missed us!”

After the activity in the hall the teacher tells the children about Helen Keller and

another blind swimmer. “How can he swim if he is blind?” asks John. The teacher

carries on her explanation about the blind people, John then says (still in relation

to his previous question):”He’ll bang into the wall.” The teacher ignores him and

carries on with what she was saying.

The children then perform the task set to them. When John has finished, he and

Michael begin to fight in the front of the class. The teacher walks over, separates

them and reprimands them. “I just won’t have it,” she says. When the class is

settled again, the teacher tells the class that she is going to explain what they

need to do, John gives another great yawn. After the teacher gives the

instructions, John goes to wash his hands (the activity involved using ink). The

teacher goes to help Michael. While she is walking back to the front of the class,

the teacher asks John to go and sit down. John finally sits down after the teacher

has asked him three times to sit down.

John is fidgeting and restless, so the teacher moves his desk forward a bit. John

tries to negotiate with the teacher about moving the desk. “Why are you moving

my desk?” he asks. “Because you are not concentrating where you are sitting”,

replies the teacher. “But can’t I sit here?” he asks moving the desk back. “No,”

replies the teacher, pulling the desk forward. John tries to pull the desk back

again. “John, either you sit here or you can go for time out,” warns the teacher.

John sits down where the teacher tells him to.

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While the teacher is walking around the class she sees John’s effort and praises

him for his good work. John does not respond to what she said.

John gives a fake sneeze and then starts drumming on his desk while the

teacher is speaking to the class. Nicola walks around the classroom to see what

the children have done. John covers his task with his arm and tells her that she is

not allowed to look at his work.

Out of nowhere, John starts singing: “I believe I can fly.”

Immediately after the teacher gives an instruction, John asks: “What must I do

now?” The teacher comes over and kneels down to face him and help him, he

then does the work, step by step.

John and peers

In the recap of yesterday’s lesson, children speak about things that some people

can and others can’t do. One of the children tells the teacher that he can not roll

his tongue (was one of the questions in the questionnaire they did yesterday),

John shouts out to the child: “Just do it!” The child ignores what John has said.

In the hall the teacher tells the children that they are going to partner up. “I am

with Daniel,” calls John, grabbing him and giving him a bear hug. Daniel carries

on listening to the teacher and does not pay John much attention.

Michael comes into the classroom after music, someone calls him ‘Micikins’. The

children all laugh and then calm down again. When Zane came in John calls him

‘Zanikins’, Zane ignores him. John then goes on to calling Michael, ‘Micikins’,

Michael called out to John, “I am going to gogga you”. The teacher had to ask

Michael and John to be quiet.

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After John completes a task (to trace both their hands onto a piece of paper), set

to the class, he walks past Candice, looks at her drawing and calls out: “You are

not allowed to do your nails.” (Implying, that they were not told to draw nails on

the drawings of their hands). “Go away John,” responds Candice, and carries on

with her drawing. Straight after this he walks past Mark and says: “He is doing

both his right hands”. (That is not the case).

John later walks to the back of the class (the last row of children in the class are

all girls), and he sees the girls in this row have written about horses in their task.

As he walks back to the front of the class he shouts out: “Horses, Horses,

Horses!”

John and tasks

During morning verse, the children stand in reverence as they say the verse with

their hands next to their sides. John turns around to look at everyone behind

him.

While teacher asks about yesterday’s questionnaire the children give their

answers, John turns around in his chair to see who is speaking.

In the activity in the hall, each member in the team of two, are given a bag with

shapes in them. The children have to sit back to back. One child has to use the

shapes and design something, that same person then has to instruct their partner

on which shapes to use, and where and how to place them to get a replica of

their design.

John first designs and then instructs Daniel. He does not instruct Daniel very

well. Daniel now designs his object and instructs John. John’s replica of

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Daniel’s design is very good. The teacher tells me she is really surprised how

well John is listening to Daniel’s instructions and how well he is following them.

In the class children are giving feedback to the teacher about the activity they

have just done in the hall. John gets up to have a drink of water and then makes

a loud noise as if he is clearing his throat.

The teacher sets the next activity for the children: they have to trace both their

hands onto an A4 page, but they first have to make sure that they will be able to

get both hands on their page. As John starts the activity, he tells the teacher it is

difficult. The teacher tells him he must concentrate. After walking around the

class to make sure everyone is getting on with the task, the teacher goes back to

help John. The teacher asks John to go and help Mark. John does not help

Mark very much and Nicola helps Mark.

The next part of the activity is for the children to use inkpads. They are to place

each finger on the inkpad and then place their finger prints on the corresponding

fingers on the traced hand drawing. As the inkpad makes its way around the

classroom John quietly watches the girls behind him use the inkpad. The inkpad

is now on Sally’s desk (behind John), so he uses the ink pad from her desk.

While he is placing his finger on his page, Lynden, who sits slightly to the left of

John takes the ink pad from Sally’s desk as she was now finished (Lynden did

not realise that John was using the ink pad). John notices that the ink pad is

gone and sees that Lynden has got it and says to Lynden, “Lynden I have

booked that pad after you are done.”

The teacher explains the next part of the activity to the children. On each finger,

of the left hand the children have to complete the incomplete sentences given to

by the teacher on the board on the drawings of their hands. (I have included

John’s answer following the ellipses)

Left hand:

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I like… ‘cars and food’

I believe…’I can fly’

I belong…(no answer)

I enjoy…’soccer or sleeping’

I am proud of…(no answer)

Right hand:

Children have to choose three special things they can offer others: the class, my

family, friends, school, country and write one thing on each finger.

John’s answers: ‘Brave, peace, love, courage, proud’

Day 2:Michael is absent today.

John in the classroom

During the stretching exercise (which is done every morning before the morning

verse) John slaps his arms down while all the other children place them down

gracefully. The class and teacher ignore him. He then mimics a word that the

teacher says. The teacher has to ask him to be quiet.

The children who say their verses on a Wednesday are at the front of the class

and are waiting to start. John has turned around in his seat to look at Miriam, the

girl behind him, the teacher asks him to turn around - John turns around. One of

the children who says their verse on a Wednesday is absent so the teacher

reads their verse. “Wao!” shouts John during one of the lines in the verse. The

children go back to their desks and the teacher sees that John is fidgeting with

something. She demands that John gives whatever he is playing with to her. He

reluctantly hands it over. Fatima, the receptionist, comes into the class with a

present for Jane (Mrs Green goes and speaks to Fatima to tell her where she

can find Jane). When John sees the present he calls out: “Look Fatima has a

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Christmas present. Christmas has come early Daniel!” When Mrs Green comes

back into the class, she speaks to John on his own and sets him a challenge – to

try and keep very quiet while she does the register. After she has done the

register she says to him: “John you have done so well.” “Can I go play football

now?” replies John. The teacher ignores him.

John interrupts the teacher’s instructions by commenting ‘cool’ and ‘wao’ while

she talks. He then tries to stand up. As the teacher tells him to sit down, he tells

her that he wants to be a helper (to hand out the paper she is holding in her

hand). She asks him to please wait. She then starts to tell the children about

their task for the day and mentions that they are going to work in groups and be

detectives, John immediately calls out: “I’m a detective”. John is working well

with his group for this task.

For the next task, the teacher tells the children that she is going to give them a

guideline. John repeats ‘a guideline’ after her. The teacher ignores him.

While the children are all working on their tasks the teacher comes over to the

group John is in to speak to Richard. John starts talking and shouting at the

teacher, “Mrs Green, Mrs Green, Mrs Green”. She asks him to be quiet and tells

him that she does not like him shouting at her. Mrs Green has finished speaking

to Richard she comes around to John and together they make a promise that he

will be quiet. A few minutes later he starts talking again. The teacher tells him

that she does not want to hear him. “ok, ok, ok” he replies.

The teacher is marking someone else’s work and John comes up to her and says

“Mrs Green, I did some crazy stuff” (referring to the writing he did for his task).

“Why did you do that John”, asks the teacher. “Because” he replies and walks

back to his seat.

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The teacher is walking around the class to look at the children’s work, when she

sees John’s work she says: “Your work is looking lovely”. John then turns to

Daniel and says, “You see Daniel”.

John and peers

While the children are doing there morning stretching exercise, John turns

around and calls out: “stretch”, the class ignores him.

While the “Wednesday children” were waiting at the front of the class to say their

verse, John has turned around to look at Miriam, she does not respond to him.

While the children are working in groups, John does not stop giggling, Richard

who is sitting next to John tells John to stop it. All the children in the class are

getting irritated with him and the teacher tells the class not to react to him.

Later on, the children are busy with another task. “Yeah!” screams John out of

nowhere. Brian and Richard (both in the same group as John) laugh and say to

each other: “What was that for?”

A child calls out: “Mrs Green, I have …(mentioning some problem he/she was

having with the task). John mocks the child in the same voice, saying: “Mrs

Green, I have a broken leg.”

John says: “Oh Zane” in a mocking way. “Oh John you are disgusting,” retorts

Zane.

John and tasks

At the end of saying the morning verse and while the other children are still

standing in reverence, John’s whole body slumps forward over his desk.

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The teacher sets the children a task: a seven-lined poem. She has written the

following on the board:

Task Choose

I am a animal that loves/hates (movement word)

I am a colour that feel….when…..

I am a wind/fire/water/earth that (sound word)

I am a bird/insect that enjoys…..

I am a tree/flower/plant that smells like….

I am a time of day that is (describing word)

I am (your own name)

John gets on with the task. He speaks a bit, but carries on writing afterwards.

John’s completed poem reads:

I am a lion that its reds

I am red

I am wind

I am bird that fly into walls

I am a tree that look at lady

I am day

Day 3:

John in the classroom

John arrives late for school, the teacher greets him when he enters the

classroom and asks him to go to his desk quietly and he does so.

When the teacher finishes marking the register, she says: “There are 22 children

in the class.” John repeats what she said.

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While the teacher is giving instructions for the next task, John whispers to his

friend.

In the hall the teacher asks the children to sit down. John, Michael and Mark

stand next to the teacher while she is giving instructions, John starts mimicking

her, no-one pays attention to him, then he stops.

After the task in the hall, the children go back to the classroom. John makes

such a noise coming into the classroom, the teacher sends him out and tells the

class to be quiet while she goes outside to speak to him.

For the next task, the teacher asks the children to answer five questions, one of

them being, “I always try to…” John walks towards the teacher and tells her he

does not know what he always tries to do. The teacher tries to prompt him. John

then says: “I always try hard at killing”. The teacher responds, “No John, I don’t

think that is what you try to do at all”. John walks back to his desk.

A while later the teacher has to ask John to finish his work, “I don’t know what to

do,” he replies. “Come here and I will give you a hand”, says the teacher. John

walks over to the teacher.

(Nicola tells me about an incident that happened yesterday after main lesson

while Jane was teaching. Jane told the class they needed to stay 10 min after

school. Zane explained to the teacher that he really could no stay after school.

John commented – “I can’t stay. I have to go to a funeral, my uncle died” – with

a smile on his face.)

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John and peers

John works well with his peers today. Most of the lesson involves group work

(see tasks) and he is working well with the group. There is a lot of shouting at

each other, but this appears to be because of the pressure of the task at hand.

There is no time for misbehaving. He communicates with his friends in a ‘normal’

manner.

As John is walking towards the teacher for some help he says: “I’m sad today.”

“Why are you sad?” asks Lynden.

“Because I died yesterday,” replies John.

John and tasks

During an activity in the hall, each group has one builder, building materials and

runners. Each runner has a turn to run and look at the built object behind a

desk, they then have to run back to the builder, and without showing the builder

with their hands they have to explain what apparatus to use and how and where

to place it before then the next runner has a turn. This continues until the object

is built.

Acting as the runner, John runs to look at the built object behind the desk, but

can not remember what he saw when he gets back to the builder. He then runs

back to look at the object. (This is not allowed) John gets caught out by the

teacher for using his hands to help the builder. “I can’t help using hands to show

what to do,” he says. Later on, John runs to look at the picture, he runs back to

his group and takes a piece of apparatus and attaches it to the object as he saw

it on the original one.

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Back in the class, each child gets a page with an empty coat of arms on it. The

coat of arms is divided into quarters. The class has a discussion about what a

coat of arms is. The children have to fill-in in each quarter: (John’s answers

follow after the ellipses)

My favourite place…’soccer field’

My happiest day…’my birthday’

I always try to…’goal’

I would most like to succeed at…’cricket’

At the bottom of the coat of arms is a scroll, divided into thirds. The children

have to choose three words to describe themselves and write it in the scroll. John

chooses: ‘wild, angry and sporty’.

John works quietly while completing his task.

Day 4:

John in the classroom

John comes in late and starts talking to his friend Brian. The teacher asks him to

keep quiet and to sit down. After all the verses the teacher sets a challenge for

John. “Find the strength inside and ignore other people to day. Try and stay in

your own bubble today,” she instructs him. The teacher is now ready to give the

instructions, but the children are all talking. The teacher tells the children that if

she can’t give the instructions, they will all have to stay in the class, bored.

“Shoosh!” shouts John to the class.

At the end of the lesson the class have a reflection on the week. While one of the

children is speaking, John begins talking to Brian. The teacher asks John three

times to turn around and tells him he is interrupting Jacques. After a while John

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turns around and asks: “Who am I interrupting?” The teacher ignores him. At

the end of the reflection period one of the children asks the teacher if they can do

a ‘me box’. “We’ll be doing that next term,” replies the teacher.

“Can we do bullying next term?” asks John. The teacher ignores him.

In assembly, Michael and John are sitting next to each other. They begin

slapping each other through the face. Nicola moves them apart. During the

assembly, John manages to manoeuvre himself back to sit next to Michael.

Being asked to keep quiet does not stop them from whispering. In the classroom

Mrs Temple tells the children that after break they will re-write the story that they

heard in the assembly, because some of them were not listening.

John - peers and task

For this task two leaders are picked. They then have to pick their teams. Brian,

the leader on one of the teams, picks John to be a part of his team. Each team

has a long rope, with 13 knots on it (all spaced out). Each child in the group has

to stand at a knot. “People, stop pulling,” says John to his group as they all

space themselves with the rope. Children have to use their dominant hand to

hold the rope and the other hand to undo the knot (one knot feeds into the next,

so the children would have to work together to realise that they would have to

climb through the ‘knots’ too.)

John keeps getting reprimanded by the teachers, because he is trying to undo

the knot with both hands. The group John is in does not get the concept of the

task. Due to the fact that the other team is working well together, they have

completed their task and are using the rope to skip with.

“What happened to the team?” the teacher asks John’s group. The children start

to give her all sorts of answers and blame each other. She tells them that they

needed to work as a team to complete the task. This group has decided that they

will also skip. While skipping John and Michael seem to be weighed down by

their own bodies, they both use lot of energy to lift their bodies to skip.

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The two girls who have been holding the skipping rope now want a turn to skip.

John decides to stand with them, ready to skip, they both get upset with John as

he has had a turn to skip. Brian, who is standing holding the rope, pushes John

and tells him to ‘get out’. A few more girls come to skip and so did Kyle. John

runs into the skipping rope as they are skipping and breaks the rhythm. All the

children in the vicinity of the skipping rope shout at him.

Reflection of the week’s main lesson:

John turns around to see the other children speaking. “I liked the building thing

‘cause I could run around and I liked the back to back thing because Daniel and I

were partners,” he offers

3.3 Report on classroom observation - Michael

Day 1:

Michael in the classroom

(Michael has been at music from 8-9am, so he has missed out on the activity in

the hall)

The teacher tells the children to use lead pencils for the activity they are going to

do. “Mrs Green not everybody has a lead pencil’,” says Michael.

“Please borrow one then,” replies the teacher.

Michael has finished the task, he wants to show the teacher his work and she

praises him for his efforts.

The teacher gives the children instructions on what to do for the next bit of the

task. Michael comes to ask the teacher where he should start and she shows

him. Michael goes back to work at his desk quietly. Michael completes his task,

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he goes to show the teacher. “You have done such beautiful work today

Michael,” she says.

Michael and peers

John keeps on calling Michael ‘Micikins’, even though the teacher tells him that

that is enough. “I am going to gogga you,” shouts Michael to John. The teacher

asks both Michael and John to be quiet.

Michael sits behind Zane in the class, they are fighting in the area of their desks

because Michael tried to take Zane’s pencil. The teacher asks them both to sit

down.

Michael finishes his task and puts his picture right in Kim’s face. She ignores him

and carries on doing her picture. He then walks over to talk to Zane for a bit and

then goes to show the teacher his work.

Michael then walks around to Nathan and Mark’s desk. He asks Mark: “Why is

your hand so small, do you have a miniature hand?” (Referring to their own hand

they had to draw for their task.)

Michael tells me that he wants to get John. When I ask him why, he replies:

“’Cause he has been ‘dissing’ me all day.” John and Michael then start fighting in

the front of the class. The teacher has to separate them and she tells them that

she won’t be having it.

Michael and tasks

The teacher gives the children the task to trace their hands onto the A4 paper,

but to first work out how they will get both hands onto the page, Michael shouts

out: “Oh that’s easy”.

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Michael later calls the teacher to tell her that he is having difficulty tracing his

right hand so the teacher asks Candice to go and help him.

The teacher sets the class the task of placing their fingers onto the ink pad and

the transferring it to their fingers on to the outline of their hand they have traced,

Michael gets himself an ink pad and quietly completes the task.

The teacher then tells the children that they must wash their hands when they

have finished using the ink pad. Michael walks over to the sink and starts singing

a song in an American voice, but I can not make out what he is singing. As he is

washing his hands, he is aware that there are other children waiting to wash their

hands too, but he just carries on washing his hands.

The teacher explains the next part of the activity to the children. On each finger,

of the left hand of their drawings, the children have to complete the incomplete

sentences given to by the teacher on the board.

(I have included Michael’s answer following the ellipses) Michael got on with this

task very quietly.

Left hand:

I like… ‘Ice-cream’

I believe…’in God’

I belong…’to South Africa’

I enjoy…’soccer’

I am proud of…’South Africa’

Right hand:

Children have to choose three special things they can offer others and write one

thing on each finger.

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Michael’s answers:

I can offer kindness to the world

I can offer happiness

I can offer help

I can offer sharing to the world.

(Michael was absent on Day 2)Day 3:

Michael in the classroom

Michael greets the teachers at the door; he comes into the class, sits down and

puts his head on his arms.

All the children are in the class and are ready to do their stretching exercise.

Michael stands up, with his back to the wall. The teacher asks him to stand up

straight. The teacher asks everyone to stretch ‘nice and tall’, to encourage those

who are not giving their best (Michael included).

The children who say their verses on a Thursday are waiting for Michael, he is

getting papers out of his bag and putting on his jacket.

“We are just waiting for Michael to sit down,” says the teacher to the children in

the front, Michael sits down, but first moves his desk, back and forth. He then

settles down.

The teacher calls out Michael’s name while taking attendance. Michael has his

head on his arms and does not answer. A few of the children call him, he does

not respond. The teacher ticks off his name and calls the next person’s name

out.

During one of the tasks Michael gets up to talk to Mark, the teacher asks him to

sit down and to complete his work. “I don’t want to do this”, he says.

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The teacher says to him: “Please colour this picture in”. Michael sits at his desk

and colours in, but not very neatly.

Michael and peers

Before the stretching exercise:

Ashleigh comes in a bit late. As soon as Michael sees her he calls out: “Fluffie,

you got a red card”. (Red cards are usually for misbehaving or not completing

homework. Fluffie is Ashleigh’s nickname). She ignores him. He calls out again:

“Fluffie you got a red card”. “Because of you,” responds Ashleigh.

“I didn’t do anything” replies Michael. Teacher then calls children to do the

stretching exercise.

Towards the end of the lesson, when Michael has completed his tasks, he walks

past Ashleigh and calls out: “Ashleigh’s got a red card, Ashleigh’s got a red card”.

Mark walks past Michael as he is saying this and tells him to ‘shut up’. At that

moment the teacher tells the children to pack their stuff away.

Michael and tasks

In the hall, where the class is doing an activity, each group has one builder,

building materials and runners. Each runner has a turn to run and look at a built

object behind a desk, they then have to run back to the builder and without

showing the builder with their hands they have to explain what materials to use

and how and where to place them. Then it is the next runners turn. So it

continues until the object is built.

Michael is a runner, he runs to look at the original object. Mark runs at the same

time as Michael (they are in the same group), back at the group, Michael does

not give any instructions. Mark is giving most of the instructions and Michael is

assisting him.

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In this task most of the children are finding it very difficult not to use their hands.

In class each child gets a page with an empty coat of arms on it. The coat of

arms is divided into quarters. The class has a discussion about what a coat of

arms is. In each quarter the children have to fill in:

My favourite place: main house

My happiest day: when I got my cow

I always try to: ride my horse

I would most like to succeed at: soccer

At the bottom of the coat of arms is a scroll, divided into thirds. The children

have to choose three words to describe themselves at write it in the scroll.

Michael writes: “I am nice, kind, I am not good.”

Michael sits at his desk and quietly does his work. Towards the end of the task

Michael gets restless and begins to walk around the classroom. The teacher

asks him to sit down. “I don’t want to do this,” he replies. The teacher asks him

to colour in a picture on his page, he walks back to his desk and rushes to colour

in his picture.

Day 4:

Michael in the classroom

The teacher asks the children to stand so that they can begin the morning.

Awhile after everyone had stood up, Michael decides to stand up and says that

his back is hurting where John threw a ball at him. The teacher asks Michael to

be quiet.

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While the class is doing the stretching exercises, Michael stands with both hands

in his pockets. He carries on standing like this while the children say their

morning verse. Michael does not say the verse.

In assembly Michael and John are sitting next to each other. They begin

slapping each other through the face. Nicola moves them apart. During the

assembly Michael manages to manoeuvre himself back to sitting next to Michael.

Even though both John and Michael are asked to keep quiet, it does not stop

them from whispering. In the classroom after the assembly Mrs Temple tells the

children that after break they will re-write the story they have heard in the

assembly because some of them were not listening.

Michael: peers and task

For this task two leaders are picked. They have to pick their teams. Brian, the

leader of one of the teams picks Michael to be a part of his team. Each team has

a long rope, with 13 knots on it (all spaced out). Each child in the group has to

stand at a knot. Children have to use their dominant hand to hold the rope and

the other hand to undo the knot (one knot feeds into the next, so the children

would have to work together to realise that they would have to climb through the

knots too.) While the children are trying to figure out how they can undo all the

knots, Michael shouts, ‘let go’, as the group was not giving the rope enough

slack. “What happened to the team?” The teacher asks Michael’s group. The

children give her various answers and blame each other. She tells them they

needed to work as a team in order to complete the task.

The group Michael and John are in decide to skip, as the other team is doing.

While skipping, John and Michael seem to be weighed down by their own bodies,

they both use a lot of energy to lift their bodies to skip

At the end of the lesson the children are all sharing their thoughts of the week

with the teacher and the class.

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Michael faces forward while all the other children were speaking. “I liked the

hitchhikers’ thing and la,de,da and I liked the building,” he offers.

3.4 Report on interview:

Jane Temple

After observing Michael and John for four days, a few questions came to mind.

Although I did not observe Jane Temple during my four day noted observation, I

have observed her teaching during my previous teaching practical’s in her class.

In order for these questions to be answered, I set up a meeting to interview their

class teacher to help answer my questions. This meeting took place in the

classroom after school hours.

How do you as the class teacher cope having these boys in the class?(By) Always loving them, and you have to work with that. It is the most

powerful tool. Getting a connection with them, an individual connection. I use

the connection with them to motivate them to try.

Do you feel that this is the right place for both these boys to be?(We have an) agreement with Michael’s parents, because there was a

question right after his school readiness test: is he going to manage here, or

should he go to a remedial school? According to his school readiness test,

he had huge difficulties. We said, because he knew a lot of the boys from

nursery, we should keep him in his known environment for as long as it would

work. We decided and agreed upon always having an open communication.

They would not have any high expectations and then blame it on the school.

He has found his motivation; he is so keen that he is coping very well. He

has remedial all the time and will have to have. Because of his learning

difficulty he has learned to cope. He has got coping mechanisms, which are

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amazing. One has to be careful that they don’t hide behind there difficulties;

the danger is, is that they are both lazy.

For John, I have sometimes wondered about that, but I think it is. If he went

to a government school, I think he would be put in the whole sporting thing,

he would get more competitive than he is already on that level. He would be

put down on the mental level, because he would fail and he would not

manage. I think for his self-esteem – he is coming on fine.

What was Michael like when he came to your class? How has he grown or changed?Neither of the boys could sit on chairs, they could not join in the rhythmical

part, they could not hold hands, they could not join in on any of the circle

things. (Such as songs, movement activities and games)

Michael’s progress has been phenomenal. He really wanted to read at one

stage, and he practiced and practiced. He is so determined.

What was John like when he came to your class? How has he changed?Could not manage sit on his chair, he did not last a whole morning. He would

start and during main lesson he could sort of keep up, but then he just

disintegrated more and more. He just did not have the energy to hold himself.

What do these boys gain from being in this class?Social interaction. Both boys are very well socially integrated. Our whole

system is good for them, because it sees their strengths. The variety of what

we do will help them on all levels.

What are the positives and negatives for the other children having these two boys in the class?A positive would be that the class has to learn to concentrate and focus on

their own thing and not get distracted. The more diverse one group is, the

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more social awareness one can develop, it is just a matter of being able to

find a balance. Both boys bring so much fun and life and warmth and charm

into the class. These are both very special beings and one must see that

through the struggles and challenges that they have and bring.

The negatives would be is that there are times when the lesson can’t flow and

one must be aware of the other children who are not being nurtured or

challenged. Generally it is fine.

Have any of the other children’s parents complained about these boys being in the class?Yes, there are some who have complained, but I think now they trust me. It is

understandable; we want to keep the balance between nurturing the really

talented children and helping those who are struggling to keep up.

How do they push the acceptable limits of the classroom? What do you see as the limits? They both try by not doing their homework; Michael has got much better

though. They push the limits especially with subject teachers, they don’t

behave, they mess around, shout out, attack each other.

If children start coming to detention every single Friday because they have

had three red cards in the week, then there is a problem. I then discuss it with

the parents and I put down conditions after awhile.

How do you know when to ignore them?At some point the lesson has to flow and that is a very difficult thing to gauge.

A lot of it depends on ones own state of well-being. If I can stay calm and not

let them rattle me and just keep the pace, then one can draw them into it.

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What would you say are the costs of having these boys in your classroom?There are costs and rewards. The rewards is to see John and Michael are

both developing fine and that they will both be fine if we can keep their self

esteem going, they can go far in life. It is also a social thing for everybody to

encompass people who are different.

The costs are energy of the teacher: staying on top of things, not letting things

slip. For the class, the lessons go slower than would otherwise be possible,

at least some times.

3.5 Report on interview: Pam Tew

During my observation in the classroom, I noticed that both boys go for remedial

lessons regularly during the day. I set up a meeting with the remedial teacher to

get an idea of what it is that she concentrates on during these remedial lessons

and what her insight is into these two boys.

What learning difficulties do each of these boys have?Michael did an IQ test, which was invalid, as he did not take it seriously

and fooled around. I feel that Michael is bright, but he has difficulties. His

difficulties lie in language: language processing and difficulty in

articulating words. (He has a lazy tongue.) He does not have a very

verbal life at home; they lead a more physical and warm loving life. I think

had his IQ test scores been valid, he would have scored higher on the

nonverbal part. When Michael came to me, he was struggling to blend his

sounds because of auditory problems. He had to learn reading from

scratch and his reading is getting better. His spelling is taking time.

Michael does better in non-verbal activities; his maths is not too bad. He is

eager and loves challenges, even though he might not do well. He gives

of his best.

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John does not take work seriously; he hates reading and often tries to

avoid lessons. He has an attention disorder and is lacking in his will.

John never really realises the consequences and constantly pushes

boundaries. He does have a lovely warm side. His lack of progress

worries me.

Is there anything you give priority to?My focus shifts as the child’s needs shift, but we have spent a lot of time

on reading, spelling, writing and maths.

Could you explain what you do with each of these boys in the remedial lesson?In general (as it is not set), we do spelling words (old and new),reading

and writing and we end every lesson with a game linked to what we have

been working on. I also help them with work they are struggling with in

class, such as comprehension tests, maths and main lesson work.

How long have they been having remedial lessons with you?Michael: Since January 2004

John: Since January 2006

What kind of a relationship do you have with these boys?I have a good relationship with Michael, he calls me ‘Pammy’ and he

responds well, one on one.

With John, I have to be tough and strong with him as he pushes the

boundaries. He does not look forward to the lessons.

Do you have any insight as to what will happen to these boys after class 7? Will they be able to attend a Waldorf High School?Michael would need continued support, and a scribe and special

dispensation if he does the matric exam...

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John might be recommended to Constantia after Grade 10. It all depends

on his development and behaviour.

What successes have you had with these boys?Michael has gained confidence and retains his positive outlook

and feeling of self-worth.

John has grasped maths. He has not achieved as well, not what I hoped

he would have.

Have you been discouraged?I have been discouraged by John’s slow progress, his lack of taking things

on and his failure to shift within himself.

3.6 Review

After meeting with Jane, the class teacher, I realised that the inclusion of

these boys within an alternative mainstream school goes far deeper than

being able to produce academic work. In the following chapter I will look at

what answers to my research questions have emerged.

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CHAPTER FOURANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction: Two major questions guided my research:

How do children with learning and attention difficulties actually cope in

a Waldorf classroom?

Testing the limits: are there limits to how inclusive a Waldorf classroom

can be?

As I progressed with my study in this class- five classroom I began to

observe answers to these research questions emerging. These will be

dealt with here within the framework of sub-questions below:

What pressure does having these boys in the class put on the teacher?

Do the other children in the class not get frustrated?

Does having these boys in the class interfere with the children who need

to be challenged even further academically?

What are these boys actually learning from being in this classroom?

How do they cope: what are their strengths and what are their

weaknesses?

Do the other children in the class gain anything from having these boys in

the classroom?

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What support is needed for these boys to stay in this class?

In the sections that follow, I would like to discuss each of these questions

in detail drawing on my observation and interview data, in order to

conclude my research task.

4.2 What kinds of pressure are put on the teacher who has children with learning difficulties in her class?

During my observation of the two children studied, I noted the demands

their teacher was faced with. These demands can be divided into two

categories: those relating to discipline and order in a classroom and the

other to ensure effective learning takes place for all in the classroom.

The type of behaviour I observed on the part of these two boys that

caused disruption in the classroom included: continuous shouting, ignoring

the teacher’s instructions, disrupting other pupils and fighting with other

children in the classroom.

These disruptions meant the lessons were often interrupted in order for

the teacher to deal with the boy’s behaviour. John in particular had

difficulty with raising his hand before answering a question; he would just

shout his answer out. This would disrupt the lesson as the children would

either get irritated that he just shouted the answer out, or the teacher

would reprimand him for not listening to the instruction to put up his hand

to answer the question.

This then lead to the teacher having to deal with both kinds of pressure

simultaneously. She had to ensure that the boys knew that that sort of

behaviour was unacceptable and that she did not lose the flow of the

lesson for the sake of the other children.

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To maintain this sort of balance made great demands on her professional

skills. I discuss these in the section that follows.

4.3 Professional skills in coping with disruptive behaviour:

“Exclusion is seldom the measure of a child’s capacity to learn; it is an

indication instead of the teacher’s refusal to be challenged.”(Hornby,

Atkinson and Howard 1997:100)

Through my observation and interviews it became clear to me that

teachers committed to retaining children with learning problems in their

mainstream classroom required a range of crucial skills. The following

seemed to me the most important of these:

Ignoring:

I noticed that there were often times when the teacher would ignore the

boys when they were misbehaving, while at other times she would

discipline them if they had done something wrong. From observing this

and then interviewing the teacher it became clear that as a teacher of a

class such as this one knowing when to ignore things is a useful skill. This

skill is not an easy one. “At some point the lesson has to flow and that is a

very difficult thing to gauge,” says Jane Temple.

Being Firm

When disciplining these boys, I noticed the teacher was firm, but not

aggressive with them and always maintained her composure. During our

interview the teacher mentioned how her own state of well-being helped

her to stay calm and this is what she used to bring the boys back into the

lesson. This skill seemed to be a very powerful tool, to bring the boys

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back into the lesson while at the same time keeping the pace of the class

and not losing the focus of the of the other pupils.

An example of this would be: The teacher of this class has a rule that if

she has had to ask a child a few times to settle down while she is giving a

lesson and they don’t, their name goes on the board in red chalk (if they

are well behaved their name goes on the board in white chalk). The

teacher never went into a discussion about it, she would just carry on with

her lesson. If their behaviour improves during the lesson or during the day,

their name is rubbed off, however, if it has not improved they have to stay

in class for five or ten minutes of their break. Through my observations, it

seemed as though by doing this, the children realised that they had

crossed the boundaries with the teacher and most times their behaviour

improved. Significantly, this technique avoided interrupting the flow of the

lesson.

Using the ‘Temperaments’:

In Waldorf training one is taught to use ‘the temperaments’ in the

classroom, to capture the attention and imagination of children. Waldorf

teachers relate the four temperaments to the four elements of nature, fire

– choleric, air – sanguine, water – phlegmatic and earth – melancholic.

They believe that one temperament tends to predominate in each child. “It

is not possible to change a child’s temperament because it is deeply

rooted in his constitution. It is, however, possible to help a child to achieve

a balanced outlook on life by working with the temperament in a positive

and conscious manner.” (Maher and Bleach,1998:40)

Jane Temple incorporates the use of temperaments in her class very well,

with these boys in particular. Jane by nature has the temperament of a

choleric, someone who has a strong character and is well grounded.

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When Jane asserts her temperament, the children become more aware of

the matter of seriousness. The change in the teacher’s voice lets the

children know the teacher is in charge and they now need to pay attention.

At times, when the teacher is not trying to set boundaries, she uses the

temperament of a phlegmatic: one who is clam, peaceful and motherly.

Through this temperament it is possible to observe how the teacher takes

time to speak to the children and nurture them, attending to their individual

needs.

Acknowledgement

Through acknowledgement, such as the teacher praising the child when

he or she has done well - or even for the effort they had made - letting the

child know that he or she is special, I was able to observe how motivated

these boys felt and really put more effort into their work. Sometimes this

acknowledgment would be as simple as ‘you are working so well’. Just this

gave each boy tremendous pride in their work. Sometimes the teacher

would say to one of the boys: “Please be my helper and hand out the paint

brushes”. (I observed that this was often at times when they were playing

about and just to re-direct their attention). As the boys completed their

task, I was able to observe how pleased they were that they were the

teacher’s helper.

It became clear to me that these skills of being firm, ignoring, the use of

temperaments and acknowledgement, were not technical or superficial

skills that could easily be learned. Rather, they were grounded in the

teacher’s very personality. Knowing when it is that she can ignore these

boys, comes from her own intuition. To keep calm and retain her

composure depends on her own state of well-being. During my

observations, I was able to get a real sense of her passion for teaching

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and for teaching these two boys in particular. She showers all the children

in her class with love, and these two boys receive just as much as

everyone else. She uses this love that she has for these boys to motivate

them and she has such confidence in these children.

4.4 What forms of support do these children receive and require to stay in this alternative mainstream classroom?

In the classroom studied, the crucial form of support these boys receive is

in the form of a teacher who has the intuition and the state of well-being

within her self to keep the balance between those who need to be

challenged more academically and those who need special interventions.

Furthermore, these two boys are supported by the syllabus offered by

Waldorf curriculum. A Waldorf School incorporates the so-called ‘Seven

Lively Arts’ into their syllabus, these being: Drama, Drawing, Movement,

Modelling, Music, Painting and Speech. These arts are there to give the

child a holistic education. By incorporating the above range of art forms,

the content of work is delivered to the children through different mediums.

This school also has a remedial teacher with whom these boys have

lessons on a regular basis. The remedial teacher works mainly on maths

and language with these boys. She works at their pace and so the lessons

progress as they progress

Through my observations in the class studied, I was able to see how

variety of the arts supported children who do not just learn intellectually.

These children were able to explore and or learn the content of their work

through the various arts offered. This allows the children the opportunity to

learn through their own strengths.

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4.5 How might the inclusion of these boys interfere with children who need to be challenged more academically?

Through my observations, I noticed that many of the lessons that Jane

Temple taught were not severely interrupted. The skills of ignoring, being

firm, use of temperaments and acknowledgement seemed to work well, in

order not to lose the flow of the lesson for the sake of the other children in

the class. As she is their class teacher, Jane has a good relationship and

understanding of each child’s needs and is therefore more conscious of

what the other children need from her, emotionally and academically.

Through this she has good insight into what a good balance this

classroom can achieve.

However, it became evident to me that Michael and John often seemed to

push the boundaries more with their subject teachers than with their class

teacher. I noticed how some of the subject teachers tried to discipline the

boys by reprimanding, telling them constantly to be quiet, do their work,

stop talking etc and therefore these boys would be getting all the teacher’s

attention as well as interrupting the lessons for the other children. These

teachers did not seem to use the same skills as Jane Temple did to

discipline these boys.

If the boys interrupted the subject teacher while he or she was giving a

lesson, this then meant that the other children in the class would have to

wait until the teacher had finished reprimanding the boys to carry on with

the lesson. I noticed how the other children in the class would become

annoyed with this interruption in the class, especially the academically

stronger children. Some children would reprimand the boys themselves for

causing the disruption In saying that, the way in which the other children

reacted towards John or Michael, appeared to be in a very normal way, as

if it was nothing new to them.

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Jane Temple insisted that the class be quiet when it was time to work in

their workbooks. If Michael or John tried to interrupt this work time, many

of the academically stronger children would ignore them and get on with

their work. The problem in the class seems to arise for those children who

are less strong academically, as these children would be the ones to get

distracted by John or Michael and it would take a long time to settle them

again, to get them focused and working.

4.6 What do children who have learning difficulties gain from being in this alternative mainstream classroom? Are the demands worth it?

“If these boys, especially John, were in a Government school, he would

not manage on the academic side of things and this would not be good for

his self-esteem,” says Jane Temple. From my observations I was able to

observe two things in particular: social behaviour self esteem, that these

boys were gaining from being in this class. .

Social behaviourBoth John and Michael are very sociable boys who get along and play

with many of the other boys in the class. However, there were times in the

class where they said something rude to another child in the class or they

would fight with each other or one of the other boys in the class, or they

were rude to one of the teachers.

Through these observations, I was able to see how the class teacher

would handle these situations. When John or Michael were behaving in

an unsocial manner, the teacher would address the issue immediately and

would let the boys know straight away that their behaviour was

unacceptable. By being included into this class and having a teacher who

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addresses the matters appropriately, these boys are able to learn the

unwritten rules of social behaviour.

Self esteemAlthough these boys have learning and attention difficulties, the variety of

the ‘Seven Lively Arts’ lends itself to incorporate different styles of

learning. One does not ‘pass or fail’ in a Waldorf school and therefore

pupils are not being made to feel inadequate. In a Waldorf school, pupils

are encouraged to explore their talents in various ways through the ‘lively

arts’ and find areas where their strengths lie.

When I observed these boys being praised for doing well in something, I

could see how proud they became of work they had done and could see a

sense of achievement within them.

4.7 Are there limits to how inclusive a class can be?

There definitely have to be limits as to how inclusive a class or a school

can be. I am still not sure if I know what those limits are and maybe there

are no hard and fast rules as to what they are. Through my interview with

Jane Temple, it became clear that teachers develop an intuition for what

they can cope with and what they can handle.

I have discovered that the relationship the teacher has with the children

plays a critical role in making inclusion work. I have observed the

difference between Jane teaching these children and how a subject

teacher teaches these children and I was able to observe these

differences and their outcomes. It was very clear that each teacher had a

different kind of relationship with these boys. The unique connection Jane

has with each of these children motivates them and opens them to

lessons beyond the scope of academic learning.

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During my observations I noticed that often when the boys misbehaved,

the other children would ignore the situation, almost as if it was not

happening. I began to wonder why this was. In my interview with Jane

Temple, she mentioned that having this mixture of dynamics benefits all

the children in the classroom. Jane highlighted that this taught children to

cope with things that deviate from their norm. In society we often have to

tolerate thoughts, ideas and cultures etc, which differ from ours. In the

class under observation the children are constantly challenged by different

behavioural patterns, instead of only being exposed to it them later life.

4.8 Conclusion:

My initial concept for this research project was to look at inclusion in

schools generally. However, due to time constraints, my focus became a

Waldorf class and I therefore cannot speculate as to what the outcomes

would have been, had my focus been at a government school, for

example. The Waldorf methodologies are different from those of

conventional schooling and that in itself creates opportunities for inclusion.

I have learnt that, regardless of what school one teaches at, in order for

inclusion to work, a great deal depends on the teacher. Teachers need to

build a relationship with all the children in their class, regardless of their

strengths or weaknesses. Intuition and sense of well-being are critical in

order to know which professional skill to use at the right time, to create a

balance between competing needs in the classroom. According to

Grenot-Scheyer, Bishop, Jubala and Coots (1996:1), inclusion is defined

as follows: “Inclusion is really about school change to improve the

educational system for all students. It means changes in the curriculum,

changes in how teachers teach and how students with and without

disability labels interact with and relate to one another.”

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During my own studies, as well as through observing in this classroom, I

have become more aware that it does not always help to discipline or

control children by “ruling with an iron fist”, so to speak. The two boys

whom I studied have numerous difficulties and a short attention span is

one of them. This does not necessarily mean a lack of respect, therefore

trying to discipline them is not always the best solution to a problem

caused by their behaviour. I have heard it said, that each child is in their

own play and they are the lead role in their play. If the adults closest to

them cast them in a negative role, then this is the part they believe is

theirs and their behaviour later in life can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It is up to us as teachers and adults to show them, that this is not the role

they need to play.

I have learnt that as teachers we have our own role to play and that we

need to constantly let children know they are special and capable, but that

needs to come from within oneself.

This research project gave me the opportunity to explore a subject, which

had intrigued me from a young age. I feel that the fact that I was able to

undertake detailed observation in this particular classroom was a major

strength for my research project. This classroom teacher interviewed has

many years of experience and she is a passionate and dedicated teacher

who really considers the interests of each child in her classroom.

By undertaking this research project I have learnt new skills, which I may

not have otherwise, such as thinking outside the box, looking at things

more objectively and not making immediate assumptions. Due to the time

constraints mentioned above I have learnt to set deadlines for myself and

manage my time more effectively. The research process has also taught

me to write more academically and to express thoughts in more detail.

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CHAPTER 5:BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grento-Scheyer M., Bishop K.D, Jubala K.A. and Coots J.J.(1996) The

Inclusive Classroom. Teacher Created Materials, Inc.

Hornby, G, Atkinson M. and Howard J. (1997) Controversial Issues in

Special Education. Great Britain: David Fulton Publishers.

Maher S. and Bleach Y. (1998) “Putting the heart back into teaching”.

Cape Town: Novalis Press

Maxwell, J.A. (1996) Qualitative Research Design. London: Sage

Maykut, P. and Morehouse, R. (1994) Beginning Qualitative Research, A

Philosophic and Practical Guide. London and Washington: The Falmer

Press

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