[COOL Webinars | TALC 2020 | Teacher Education] Session 3: Diversity and Diverse Needs of Learners
Channel: CETE_TISS
Date: 2020-05-11

Centre for Education, Innovation and Action Research, TISS in partnership with Department of Education, University of Mumbai, offers online support to M.Ed. students and interested teacher educators of affiliated colleges, MA (Education) & MA (Elementary Education) students of TISS, Mumbai and Hyderabad. In the context of the ongoing Covid19 situation and the disruption of regular classroom teaching, weekly webinars titled Teaching and Learning Consortium (TALC) 2020, on relevant topics from the M.Ed. curriculum of Mumbai University will be conducted by experienced faculty members from various educational institutions of the country. This video is the third in the series, which will be held every Tuesday from April 21, 2020 to June 23, 2020. 

Topic: Diversity and Diverse Needs of Learners
Facilitator: Dr.Varsha Gathoo, Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities, Mumbai
When: Tuesday May 5, 2020 
Audience: M.Ed. students and teacher educators of colleges affiliated to University of Mumbai; M.A. Education students from TISS Mumbai and TISS Hyderabad; interested teacher educators and students from educational instituitions across India.

The webinar begins with Dr.Gathoo stating the primary objective of the session is to unpack the construct of diversity and to understand that disability is also a human diversity. She uses a picture story to explain the importance of living experiences and capabilities of learners while teaching and assessing them. Some myths and facts about diversity are presented to highlight that diversity is a commonality among humans and not a unique thing while stressing that teachers should cater to the needs of diverse learners like children of migrants and disabled or gifted children. 

The variations of abilities due to impairment, disability and handicap suggested in WHO's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) are discussed followed by the classification of disabilities by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is briefly discussed as a solution for addressing needs of diverse learners. In the end, participants and the speaker interact during the Q&A session.

Links to the collaborating institutions: 

University of Mumbai, Dept of Education: http://mu.ac.in/department-of-education 

CEIAR: https://tiss.edu/view/6/mumbai-campus/centre-for-education-innovation-and-action-researc/about-us-11/ 

AYJNISHDD: http://www.ayjnihh.nic.in/department-education

Important references:

1. Ministry of Law and Justice (GoI). (2016). The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ncpedp.org/sites/all/themes/marinelli/documents/Rights%20of%20Persons%20with%20Disabilities%20(RPWD)%20Act%202016.pdf

2. TED. (2015, April 2). Learning styles & the importance of critical self-reflection [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs&t=11s

3. WHO. (2001). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/icd/icfoverview_finalforwho10sept.pdf

Explore #TISSCOOL #OER on this topic and more here: 
https://bit.ly/TISSx-COOL_Foundations_of_Education

#TeacherEducation #OpenEducation #OpenEd #elearning #TISSCOOL #TISSCovid19Response #TeachingAndLearningConsortium #TALC2020 #UniversityOfMumbai #CEIAR #AYJNISHDD  #Diversity #Disability #RPWD