Open Classroom for Junior High School Students With Learning Difficulties: Process of Setting up the Classroom and Teaching Methods

Abstract

The present authors set up an "open classroom", called "the morning classroom", in order to support the learning of junior high school 8th- and 9th-grade students with learning difficulties. Any student in those grades could freely enter the morning classroom for study. The present research examined a teaching method for promoting setting up such classroom so that going to the classroom and having students study there would be easy for teachers to manage. Those who could use the morning classroom were all the students in the classroom, including those with learning difficulties. Ten teachers and 4 special support staff taught the students there. In the morning classroom, the teachers provided guidance to the 9th graders and their parents. The students worked on mathematics and social studies, using printed materials. The teachers reduced the number of questions in the materials in order to promote a sense of accomplishment in the students. The students checked their own work. The program continued for 11 months. It was found that, in addition to the students with learning difficulties, many students without learning difficulties also came to the morning classroom. The one-on-one teaching system appeared to promote the performance of the students with disabilities. The results of the present study suggested the importance of having teachers issue individual invitations to meetings with students and their parents, based on friendly relations with those people. The results also suggested that a reduction in the burden of the teachers contributed to the continuation of the open classroom. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)