How Things Work - Doha Academy of Tertiary Studies

64 QUaLItatIVe ReSeaRCH
BOX 3.2. liubchyk’s classroom
I was visiting the first-grade room of the “Children of the Sun.” Together,
the children had chosen this title. They liked to say that they were the
“Children of the Sun.” On the classroom door were this title and individual
photos of all the children.
It is 10:50 A.M. on a day in March 2004. Liubchyk is just coming
in with his mom. She helps him take off his coat. Liubchyk is a slender
boy, a tall boy, with fair hair and grey eyes. He is 8, a child with
special needs. He first started preschool here in Maliuk School back in
2000.
Liubchyk goes immediately to the Reading Center. He stays maybe
3 seconds, then comes to the teacher’s table. Ms. Halyna, the teaching
assistant, comes across and greets him, “Good morning, Liubchyk!”
He cheerfully replies, “Halyna, at seven!” (which seems to mean
that Ms. Halyna should remember to return home from work at 7:00).
He takes several photos from the teacher’s table and starts looking
through them. Pointing to a picture, Halyna asks: “Who’s that?” “Adij,”
Liubchyk answers. He starts saying the names of all the persons in the
pictures. Then he puts the pictures back in the envelope and returns
them to their place on the table. “Halyna, lunch too-welve,” he says,
pointing to the clock. “Yes, lunch is at twelve,” Halyna answers.
The classroom teacher, Ms. Oksana, is working on mathematics
with the group as a whole. The children saw Liubchyk come in, but
were not distracted from their tasks. After Oksana gives the children
small individual tasks, she approaches Liubchyk to greet him, “Good
morning, Liubchyk.” “Oksana, at seven!” he replies. “Please say, ‘Good
morning.’ ” He does. “Liubchyk, will you work here with us?” He says,
“No,” and goes to the Reading Center and starts turning the pages of
the mathematics textbook. The group lesson goes on.
Source: Efimova and Sofiy (2004). Copyright 2004 by the Open Society Institute.
Reprinted with permission.
the three teachers were managing the situation well, that the children
were learning extra “caring skills” because Liubchyk was their classmate.
They were learning how “this thing worked.” The case study of
Liubchyk helped readers understand how Ms. Oksana changed from
being opposed to having Liubchyk in her classroom to becoming an
advocate for inclusion.