Sask. teacher strikes have made 'class complexity' a hot topic. How might it affect your local school?

Amid strained contract negotiations between the Saskatchewan government and the province's teachers, along with rotating strikes and other labour action since January, a phrase from education circles has surfaced among the general public: classroom complexity. 

It speaks to a reality in schools today — classes of students with a wide spectrum of abilities and needs. Some pupils require learning supports that aren't necessarily or readily accessible — and that can affect the experience of everyone in the classroom. 

No class has a homogenous group of kids, but the makeup of students learning together in classes today is significantly more diverse than in previous generations, according to Regina high school teacher Peggy Welter.

"We see kids who have speech issues. We see kids with learning issues, students who struggle with behaviour … some of them barely able to sit through five minutes of a class," Welter told CBC Radio's The Current this week. 

"We have kids who are unable to physically do the work due to [struggles with] gross motor skills or fine motor skills... Students who are EAL (English as an additional language) students or refugees, who come with their own sets of issues. And then we have mental health issues on top of that."

Faced with this wide range, teachers simply don't have enough time, resources or support to help students learn effectively, according to Welter, who is also a member of the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation executive. She said classrooms become "utterly chaotic," negatively impacting every student and leaving educators stretched beyond their limits.

"If you have students who have serious behavioural issues, that can make it nearly impossible to even get through a lesson. If you have children with mental health issues, you see a lot of students just sitting there and shutting down," she noted. 

"Students who would otherwise be asking a question — just to get clarification — may not even have the opportunity to do so … and then their needs aren't getting met."

March marks the 30th anniversary of a global, UNESCO-hosted conference that resulted in a landmark statement championing inclusive education, under the guiding principle that schools should accommodate all children — regardless of physical, intellectual, emotional or other challenges — within regular education systems. That's a contrast to approaches such as segregated special education classes and facilities.

Canada was among the more than 90 countries that signed the Salamanca Statement and, while education is a provincial responsibility, each has generally accepted the philosophy. Yet it's been implemented differently in different places. The New Brunswick approach, for instance, is to almost exclusively integrate all students in regular or mainstream classes. In Ontario, on the other hand, some children with disabilities learn in separate environments.

Inclusive education means moving away from the idea "we have one way to teach kids and hopefully they fit in there somehow" to an approach where "we're trying to help all students be able to engage with the curriculum," said Jacqueline Specht, director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education and a professor at Western University in London, Ont. 

"Everybody has the right to be educated, and we have to look at how we do that," she said. 

To teach students that have a range of learning needs, educators need training. They also need access to a range of supports and resources, experts say. That might mean, for instance, an educational assistant or other staffers with a specialized skill set joining their classroom. It could also mean procuring learning aids for the students who need them: a tablet with special software, for instance, or manipulatives for learning math.

Classroom teachers might also need time to consult with peers on best practices or greater latitude to implement new approaches.