The research activity was conducted to enable teachers to listen to students with SLCN and
to make suitable changes in teacher-student communication in a non-threatening, nonjudgmental
atmosphere. As the research moved through the cycles the teachers learned to
reflect on practices in teacher-student communication and to experiment different ways of
altering practices to meet the needs of students with SLCN.
The reflective conversations that took place post AC2 revealed two factors that influenced
the outcomes of the research. Firstly, although teachers were involved in a process of
change other factors within the school remained the same. Teachers had to deal with daily
schedules, manage large classrooms, deliver extensive curriculums and train students for
examinations held every four months. Hence, the opportunities to practice new strategies
and avoid exclusionary strategies varied according to the level of challenges each teacher
faced. Secondly, even though they voluntarily chose to change, the long engaged
communication behaviors surfaced unconsciously.
Discussing further the teachers were confident that they now possessed a better
understanding regarding students with SLCN and teacher-student communication. They
were also of the view that they ought to cultivate the practice of reflection as a self appointed
activity on a more frequent basis.