Student Diversity: Addressing the Needs of All Learners in Inclusive Classroom Communities

Reneé B. Meloche is an instructional consultant with the Halton Board
of Education.

Student Diversity is a worthy attempt to describe and promote an
instructional program based on the notion of an inclusive classroom
community. In such a community, the classroom teacher works with a
resource teacher to develop and implement a plan that will support the
learning of students with special needs. Creative writing is the basis
for planning and instruction.

The authors describe a variety of activities and outline practical
instructional strategies. They also provide candid explanations of areas
where problems may arise. (For example, the writers’ workshop approach
works well only when students have been appropriately trained in using
the strategy.) There are some lapses in editing: references, graphs, and
images are not always clearly identified, and the text is at times
disjointed. That said, Student Diversity introduces novices to
tried-and-true techniques and reminds veterans of good teaching
practices.