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Considerations for Developing Inclusive Projects

• Students in Weelchairs
• Photography Project

Students in Wheelchairs

It is common to see students in a wheelchair watching fellow students and peers engaged in physical activities that cannot be done in a wheelchair. With just a little effort, you can make sure that all students in your class benefit from the service-learning experience and participate fully in all project activities.

The first steps in promoting inclusive service-learning projects is to ascertain what physical activities the students with disabilities can and cannot do and to find out what the students' IEPs dictate in terms of physical limitations. This task involves privately discussing the students' limitations with parents or school counselors who are assigned to work with the students as a part of their respective IEPs. Once you determine the level of activity that is feasible for students with physical disabilities in your class, designing a service-learning project will be much simpler since you will be fully aware of what physical activities can and cannot be introduced.

As the teacher, it is imperative that you monitor the students' discussions during the project design phase, making sure that activities that are impossible for students with physical disabilities are not included. For example, if the students determine that visits to certain agencies are essential to implementing the project, all of these destinations must be wheelchair accessible. If an agency is not wheelchair accessible, students with physical disabilities would not be able to enter the building or participate with their peers.

Developing a community needs assessment is one way to ascertain what community agencies are wheelchair accessible. If your students find an agency that is not wheelchair accessible, your classroom cannot partner with them on a service-learning project because doing so would exclude part of the class population. You might consider pointing out these non-accessible community places discovered during the community needs assessment to the Tech class or Vo-Tech program in your school. Perhaps they would consider helping these agencies become wheelchair accessible by helping to build a wheelchair ramp as a service-learning project!

It is important that the physical limitations of students with disabilities not be an afterthought of the service-learning process. If a project is designed only to be dramatically changed later because an isolated group of students with disabilities are unable to participate, the students with disabilities will no doubt feel as if they have disappointed the rest of the class. Not making such changes and leaving the disabled students behind is not an option either. Inclusion means that all students, regardless of ability, can fully participate. If you exclude one or two students, you are no longer promoting inclusion with your service-learning project.

Photography: A Tool for Service-Learning

Photography is an important tool to service-learning projects, and many teachers and students are incorporating photographs into their service work. With digital cameras and inexpensive disposable cameras, adding a photography component to a project has never been easier.

Photography can be an especially important tool for working with special education students. Photography allows them to express themselves in ways that they physically or cognitively may not be able to do otherwise. It allows them to show the world their feelings, concerns and hopes, in a very vivid and tangible way.

At www.kodak.com, teachers can find a great resource for lesson plans that involve photography. The site is divided into academic sections. The “Community Studies” section has a host of ideas that are service-learning related. One lesson plan that is posted involves special ed students developing a community skills slide show for other developmentally challenged students.

The students began by studying maps of the city until they could find their homes, schools, grocery stores and parks. They then used flashcards, games, slides and other aids to drill on specific community features, such as food items, bus fare, words from traffic signs and directional indicators.

Students and their teacher went on community excursions during which they shopped, took public transportation, visited a farm, mailed letters, studied traffic signals and went to the library. During these experiences, half the students joined the teacher in taking photos while the other half practiced relevant community skills. Once their slides and prints were developed, the students sorted the "keepers," selected themes and categories for displays and built bulletin boards. Their several hundred slides and a report on the project are being made available for use and duplication by others.

The teacher reported in the lesson plan that his students not only became enthusiastic photographers, but showed marked increases in all the skill and independence areas tested. These included planning and mapping, appropriate and safe traveling behaviors, cooperative group functioning and dealing with a wide range of community situations.

Grant Opportunities provide additional project ideas >>