Deanne’s Kindergarten Class

Deanne teaches Kindergarten at Hillside School, a dual track, hearing and deaf facility with approximately 275 hearing and 35 deaf students from Kindergarten to Grade Seven. Situated in an upper middle class neighbourhood, Hillside is surrounded by single-family houses of varying ages, but has seen a great deal of new home construction in recent years. There are no apartments in the school’s catchment area, save for the northeast corner where relatively expensive high-rise buildings are the dominant structure. The area has proven to be popular with immigrants, which is reflected in the school’s large ESL and new Canadian population. While some families from lower socio-economic stratas live in the area, they are in the minority.A fairly new school, it was designed to provide equal access to both populations and as a result has a unique sense of openness and warmth. In order to provide equal access to both groups of learners, there are, in each classroom and throughout the hallways, TV monitors for video distribution of school news and notices. Deanne’s class is on the first floor and is situated a short distance away from other classrooms which provides her with an area outside her room which can be used for active learning without disrupting other students.

One wall of Deanne’s room is a bank of south facing windows. A built-in window seat (bench) is a favourite reading area. There is a large wooden house in one corner of the room, a sand table, water table, puzzles and almost every type of manipulative toy imaginable. There are three computers of various ages and temperaments. The children work at round tables that seat between three and five students. They share materials that are located in tubs at the centre of each table. Her room is filled with children’s work, lots of colour and there are words everywhere—the room is often referred to as a ‘giant dictionary’!

Deanne’s entire morning Kindergarten class of fourteen students all participated in the research. There were six boys and eight girls all of whom had been together since September. Of these, nine were English as a Second Language (ESL) students. One child required constant behavioural monitoring by the teacher. They were a friendly and lively bunch of students who enjoyed school and preferred routine to change.

Her afternoon Kindergarten class of sixteen students, seven boys and nine girls, also participated in the Exploratory Time research. There had been one new student since September and during the study one student moved. There were five ESL students in this class, however, three of these students are able to communicate and understand directions with very little assistance. This class had one child with Down’s Syndrome who received full-time support from an Education Assistant (EA). The class functions at a very high social and academic level. One of the contributing factors to the advanced social state of this group could be that nine of the children attend the same daycare. Their understanding of the world is beyond that of any class Deanne has had in her five years at Hillside.