No abstract
This paper addresses the question of spirituality in a religious setting, and prayer as an expression of ultimate values, as a discipline which inspires empathy, as an instrument for connecting us with nature, and as a compass pointing us toward God, meaning, and purpose. Spirituality in the general education setting will also be discussed, as well as the relationship that exists between the skills of critical and creative thinking and the traits of spiritual intelligence. Examples will be provided on ways in which the prompts of depth and complexity can be used to provide opportunities for students to develop understanding of content, knowledge, and skills, and how these can be integrated into classroom learning experiences through questions that teachers ask students.
The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled school districts into virtual instruction with little advanced planning or preparation. This chapter deconstructs the gaps in the virtual learning environment and provides pedagogical strategies for teachers to increase cognitive enrichment, engagement, and access. The shifts in pedagogy from in-person to virtual learning will be examined with concrete strategies to develop student-centered learning experiences in a virtual context. Emphasis will be placed on differentiation as a means to enrich and the art of questioning to engage students. Woven through enrichment and engagement, the student's cultural, familial, linguistic, and social capital are incorporated as assets, or cultural wealth, and used to facilitate equitable access. When combined, these three instructional strategies interrelate and reinforce rigorous cognitive instruction that is accessible for all students in the virtual classroom.
The concept of inclusiveness encompasses more than just the integration of students with special needs into the general education setting. It involves modifying and reorienting access to the curriculum so that the learning experience encourages talent development that reinforces scholarly traits that are reflective of the needs, interests, abilities, and cultural backgrounds of the learners in the classroom. In this chapter, the authors overlay two instructional strategies for classroom teachers—scholarly traits and the talent development model—and articulate how they can reinforce the building blocks of a culturally mediated and inclusive learning environment that broadens access to the curriculum. The goal of this chapter is to model how research-based pedagogical strategies can be altered to intersect, tailored to reinforce, and reworked to be responsive using aspects of universal design for learning and culturally-mediated instructional practices to create inclusive learning experiences for all students.
The concept and implementation of field trips have been a source of motivation and experiential learning for students of all ages. Field trips served as a hallmark feature of early childhood curriculum, and a way for young learners to access content across all topics and subjects. Traditionally, a field trip, whether in-person or virtual, has been considered a support to a lesson or unit of study. The contemporary emphasis on remote learning has created an opportunity for virtual field trips to become the source rather than a feature of a curriculum for young learners. This chapter will address (1) the educational implications of virtual field trips, (2) virtual field trips as a dominant feature in early childhood curriculum, and (3) the use of virtual field trips as a method of providing equity and access for all learners. Questions related to why virtual field trips are significant and how early childhood curriculum can be redesigned around virtual trips are addressed.
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