INCLUSION IN MORNING MEETINGS

This thesis discusses the extent to which teachers implement best practice of inclusion during their daily Morning Meetings. Morning Meetings are a standard practice at the beginning of the school day where student and teachers greet one another, share personal stories and information, participate in a group activity, and read a morning message written by the teachers. Preschool through third grade teachers in local school districts were given a self-reflection survey. The survey was a standardized checklist that was informed by research on inclusive practices and The Morning Meeting Book (Kriete & Davis, 2014). It was modeled after the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) joint early childhood inclusion policy, which states the defining features of inclusion as access, participation, and supports (2009). The survey lists specific practices that teachers may or may not be implementing that promote inclusion, as well as a few nonexamples. My hypothesis before the research began was that teachers would struggle to implement the practices that take more time and preparation outside of their normal routine, such as practicing parts of the meeting with students beforehand and teaching students how to include their peers. Once the data is analyzed in the spring of 2018, I will discuss the results using Kriete’s work and others from the literature review as a framework to bring awareness to the ways in which we can help teachers include best practices in morning meetings to meet the needs of all learners.

Additional Abstract Information


Student(s): Robin Lauber

Department: Education

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Holly McCartney

Type: Oral

Year: 2018

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