Blended or Differentiated Instruction for Inclusive Education during Post-COVID-19 Era: The Need for Upgrading School Libraries in Nigeria

Authors

Charity OnyishiFollow

Date of this Version

2022

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Abstract

With the socio-educational challenges posed by COVID-19, teaching-learning is gradually moving from face-to-face to digital and online distance learning across the world. This makes it generally challenging to meet the needs of all learners in the context of inclusive education. Increasing evidence tends to show that for effective inclusive learning, the hybrid blended approaches to learning should be differentiated. Further still is the fact that school libraries need to be upgraded with resources that meet the needs of diverse learners, and speak to the present hybridization in pedagogy and learning. A major impairing problem is the documented lack of expertise on the part of the teachers to facilitate online-based learning, which has exacerbated the challenges they face in differentiating learning for all learners in inclusive settings. Hence, a post-COVID-19 classroom is characterized by an increased need for the teachers to integrate approaches and tools for differentiated instruction in the context of a blended learning environment in order to carry all learners along, calling for a digitalized school library. This paper presents context-based perspectives on differentiating blended learning to meet the needs of all learners and advocates for upgraded libraries that will meet up with the current Education needs in the post-COVID education era in Nigeria. We discussed the need for differentiating instruction in post-COVID classrooms; trends of blended instruction in Nigeria; differentiating blended instruction for all learners; attending to learners with disabilities, inclusion, and equity in Nigerian schools, and the need for upgrading the school libraries. Further, recommendations and suggestions for future research were also made. It is expected that this paper will add to the growing knowledge on blended and digital learning and responses through library resources; add to teachers’ expertise for effective teaching in a complicated post-COVID classroom using the available library tools, and speak to the long-trend of inclusive education challenges in Nigerian schools.