This document contains a sample philosophy of exceptional learning and inclusion written by Catherine Baulkman. It discusses her goal of becoming a childcare center director and establishing an inclusive learning environment where all students' needs are met through collaboration between educators, families, and support teams. The philosophy emphasizes the importance of inclusion, differentiation, collaboration, utilizing evidence-based strategies, and advocating for students with learning disabilities.

1. Running head: BEGINNING YOUR PHILOSOPHY 1
BEGINNING YOUR PHILOSOPHY 2
Sample Philosophy of Exceptional Learning and Inclusion
Catherine Baulkman
ECD 310: Exceptional Learning and Inclusion
Instructor Carlisle
Sample Philosophy of Exceptional Learning and Inclusion
Making a learning situation that spotlights on inclusion and
promotes differentiation learning will address the necessities
everything being equal. An inclusion enriched environment will
provide chances for learners with disabilities to experience a
normal childhood ("Why Is Early Detection of a Learning
Disability Important?", 2019). Assessing lessons will ensure
that each student's educational need is fulfilled. Cooperation
between all entities within the students' supporting network is
needed for all students to reach their fullest potentials.
Intended Career Path
I enrolled at the University to receive my Bachelor of Arts in
Early Childhood Education Administration. I desire to become a
center director where my role will be to establish a professional
learning environment where families, students, and educators
can collaborate in preparing students for academic success. The
students' ages will range from six weeks to five years of age. I
will inspire the educators to expand the minds of their students
while supporting and encouraging us to move forward to

2. accomplish our mission statement. All students have a right to
an education where they will receive an age-appropriate
education.
Professional Dispositions
They include self-reflection, innovativeness, and fairness. I will
incorporate these qualities as I work with families and educators
to make a positive impact on the lives of all students. For me to
lead others, I must have a sense of self. Evaluating my strengths
and weaknesses will help me identify my leadership style and
how I influence others. As a center director, I must continually
evolve as I am accountable for providing an environment that
delivers a positive learning experience for all who are involved.
Definition of Inclusion
I believe that inclusion education allows students with different
learning abilities and styles to coexist within the same age-
appropriate educational classroom. Inclusion learning
environment secures the opportunities for students of various
skills to learn together in a traditional classroom setting. It
respects and values all students regardless of their learning
style, which allows the teachers to focus on the unique needs of
all students.
Current State of Inclusion
Incorporation is ceaselessly advancing to address the issues all
things considered (Muthukrishna et al., 2018). Even in the late
twentieth century, kids brought into the world with inabilities
were viewed as a humiliation and wellspring of the blame for
their families.
Importance of Collaboration
Families involvement is essential in the education of children.
Reports from schools recognize the importance of collaboration
in the success of the implementation of inclusive education. To
assist students with disabilities toward academic success, I will
incorporate my practical communication skills as a narrator and
collaborate with external entities, local outreach programs, and
provide family enrichment and training sessions.
Using Evidence-Based Strategies

3. It is essential when developing an inclusive environment
because teachers can be confident that the strategies they are
using are active and supportive of the student's educational
needs (US Department of Health and Human Services & US
Department of Education, 2015). As an administrator, I must
present research-based teaching strategies. Studies indicate the
effectiveness of that practice in improving the educational
needs of the students.
My Philosophy of Exceptional Learning and Inclusion
As an educator, my role is that all students are unique and have
the right to an age-appropriate learning environment where
students of all abilities can achieve success. As a result of my
experience working with children with disabilities, I understand
the needs of each child will vary. Therefore, all students
deserve a valuable education that is tailored to support their
educational needs. I will encourage my educators by providing
external and internal support, utilizing all resources and keeping
the lines of communication open. Some Learning Disabilities
(LD) such as dyslexia may be difficult to diagnosis because
preschoolers are developing the fundamentals of the language.
Professional Standards and Code of Ethics
As an administrator, I must enforce professionalism and ethical
standards. Furthermore, educators and administrators must
embody the code of ethics. Students need their teachers to be
truthful treating students fairly regardless of their abilities,
respect their needs and disabilities, to take responsibility for the
education, they provide and to value the importance of free age-
appropriate education that expands their knowledge and prepare
them for adulthood.
My Role in Exceptional Learning and Inclusion Learning
Environment
As an educator, I understand the struggles of students with
learning disorders. I will advocate for early diagnoses for
students with learning disabilities. Since 85% of the brain is
developed before the age of 5, early detection is essential. I
must collaborate with educators to quickly identify exceptional

4. learners. We will act promptly by tracking the child's behaviors
and working with the Training and Curriculum Specialist (T&C)
before approaching parents.
Conclusion
I believe that inclusive education is very vital in the learning
process of a student with special needs because all students
need to develop a sense of belonging. Likewise, they also
deserve a quality education that will prepare them for life in
their communities. When expectations are set high, and the
teacher utilizes differentiated instructions with LRE, children
with disabilities will develop academically. Collaboration
between educators, parents, administrators, and support teams is
critical in the success of all students.
References
Muthukrishna, N., & Engelbrecht, P. (2018). Decolonising
inclusive education in lower income, Southern African
educational contexts. South African Journal of
Education, 38(4).
US Department of Health and Human Services & US
Department of Education. (2015). Policy statement on inclusion
of children with disabilities in early childhood
programs. Infants & Young Children, 29, 1-21.
Why Is Early Detection of a Learning Disability Important?.
(2019). Retrieved 12 September 2019, from
https://www.johncardinaloconnorschool.org/why-is-early-
detection-of-a-learning-disability-important

5. First Observation:
All observed galaxies are red shifted (except for one). The
exception is the Andromeda galaxy (M31) which is close
enough to us that the mutual gravitational attraction overpowers
the expansion.
Having already assumed that there is no preferred spot in the
Universe, there is no reason to believe that our galaxy is at the
center of the Universe.
This means that we need to find a model that will allow for all
of the galaxies to be moving randomly and yet their overall
motion will be away from us.
The uniform expansion model can be thought of as placing a
grid over the Universe and allowing the grid to expand. This
results in every point in the Universe being further away from
every other point.
This leads to two separate types of redshift. The physics
principle involved is a Doppler shift for a wave. If the observed
wavelength is shorter than it should be (shorter than the emitted
wavelength) then the light is blue shifted. If the observed
wavelength is longer than it should be then the light is red
shifted.
The two classifications for redshift are derived from
1) Classical motion – motion through the environment
2) Cosmological motion – motion with the environment

6. If the motion of galaxies in the Universe were purely classical
we would expect to see roughly half red shifted and half blue
shifted. We would also expect the same degree of shift
regardless of distance.
If the motion of galaxies in the Universe were purely
cosmological we would expect to see all the galaxies redshifted.
We would also expect galaxies that are further away to have
larger red shifts.
What we actually observe is galaxy motion that is
cosmologically dominated. This means that all of the galaxies
(except Andromeda) are moving away from us and the further
galaxies have a larger red shift.
Second Observation:
Several decades ago the US military was experimenting with
microwaves. This led to a very interesting discovery with large
astrophysical implications.
** In class number line example ** Develop the idea of an
extremely small set that still has an infinite number of members.
This can be expanded to a thought exercise where I have a large
sphere filled with photons. There are enough photons that they
behave like an infinite set. This sphere is moved far enough
away that it occupies an infinitely small portion of the sky.
The result is that I have a system that behaves like an infinite
number of photons residing in an infinitely small part of the
sky.
The universe today is transparent and assuming the BBT is
correct it should have started out being opaque. This requires
that at some point in the past the universe changed from being

7. opaque to being transparent.
What is the difference between intensity and energy as far as
light is concerned? Energy is associated with wavelength and
intensity is associated with photon count.
Low intensity microwaves are observed coming toward us from
all directions. This is associated with the universe changing
from being opaque to being transparent.
If the Big Bang Theory is correct then this would be expected.
Specifically, when the universe changed from being opaque to
being transparent photons were released from all points in space
and in all directions. The result of this is that regardless of
where you are in the universe you will see background radiation
coming toward you in the form of microwaves.
Third Observation:
What is a visible light map? Basically this is a star chart – it is
a diagram that shows you where on the sky the visible light is
coming from. This is something that allows you to determine
which particular star, galaxy, etc. you are observing.
What then is a radio light map? As expected this would be a
diagram that shows you where on the sky the radio waves are
coming from.
Several decades ago (part II) astronomers began a project where
they overlaid visible and radio light maps. The purpose of this
is to determine what objects in the sky give off both types of
radiation.
Several objects that were originally considered to be “small
blue stars” were also demonstrated to be giving off radio waves.
This was unexpected because stars were not thought to give off
radio waves.
Now these objects are going to be studied in more detail. One of

8. the first steps is to pass the visible light through a prism to gain
information from the spectrum.
Doing this led to a very surprising result. Each of these “little
blue stars” have a very large red shift. The next step becomes
trying to determine if the red shift is classical or cosmological
in nature.
If the red shift is classical, then it very well could be a nearby
star but determining how it was accelerated to such a high rate
of speed becomes an issue.
If the red shift is cosmological, the fact that it is very far away
but still appears similar to stars in our galaxy means that it must
be extremely large and intense.
The answer is that the red shift is cosmological in nature and
the object is a forming galaxy. The formation process consists
of gravity pulling the material together and the material
coalescing to form the stars and everything else.
While gravity is pulling the material together, three measurable
parameters are increasing:
1) Density
2) Temperature
3) Pressure
The outer regions of the forming galaxy will be at a lower
energy. This means that the radiation given off there will show
up as radio waves. The visible light being given off will come
from locations nearer the center where the forming galaxy is
more energetic.
This object is called a Quasar (often abbreviated QSR).
This stands for Quasi-stellar radio source.

9. As the forming galaxy evolves, the outer regions will settle
down first. This means that the outer regions will quit giving
off light before the interior. Another way to think about this is
as the galaxy formation process continues, the outer regions
settle down and stop emitting radio waves while the interior
continues to emit visible light.
This is the same object type, just more evolved.
These are called QSO instead of QSR.
This is an abbreviation for Quasi-stellar object.
Electromagnetic Spectrum
Components:
Light behaves as both a particle and a wave. At this moment we
are only going to focus on the wave properties.
There are two major divisions for waves:
1) Transverse: A distortion that is perpendicular to the direction
of travel. Be comfortable with understanding that waves at the
beach coming toward the shore are transverse waves.
2) Longitudinal: A distortion that is parallel to the direction of
travel.
Shorter wavelength corresponds to higher energy.
Also know the colors of visible light in order of decreasing
wavelength
1) Red
2) Orange
3) Yellow
4) Green
5) Blue

10. 6) Indigo
7) Violet
There are three different types of spectra:
1) Continuous
2) Emission
3) Absorption
Is the speed of light constant? NO
The correct way to think of this is “All observers measure the
speed of light in a vacuum to have the same value.”
A prism changes the medium through which the light is
traveling. This causes the light to slow down and change
direction. When the light leaves the prism it speeds up again.
The change in angle due to the change in speed is dependent on
the wavelength (color) of the light.
A continuous spectrum occurs when light at all wavelengths
(within the visible light portion of the spectrum) is present.
Consider hydrogen as the simplest example for all elements
(and molecules, etc.).
Hydrogen has a proton for the nucleus and an electron that
orbits around the nucleus at various distances. These are
referred to as the orbital shells.

11. 1) The laws of physics are the same everywhere in the Universe.
This cannot be proven (with current technology and
understanding of physics).
However, we have observational data that supports this.
A consequence of this is that all protons (in reality all particles)
in the Universe must have exactly the same properties. This
verifies that all interactions between protons will have the same
results.
Expanding on this idea requires that all electrons in any given
hydrogen molecule orbit at the same distance.
2) The Universe is lazy.
This means that the Universe tries to do everything using as
little energy as possible, and entities (molecules, systems of
particles, etc.) try to remain in their lowest energy state.
For our hydrogen molecule, this means that the electron wants
to be in the first orbital shell (closest to the nucleus).
Any interaction between charged particles that results in the
release of energy will release that energy in the form of

12. photons.
When electrons move toward a nucleus, energy is released and
photons are observed. These are called “transitions” and are
categorized by where the electron lands.
These transitions are defined by the electron landing on shell
1) First shell Lyman transition UV photons given off
2) Second shellBalmer transition Visible light photons
3) Third shell Paschen transition IR photons
4) Fourth shell Brackett transition IR photons
This gives me the information needed to create “fingerprints”
for emission spectra to use for comparison with observation.
The Doppler effect applies to waves and changes the apparent
wavelength based on motion.
Applying this to light, if a light source is moving toward an
observer then the light’s wavelength appears shorter than it
really is and this is referred to as a blue shift.
Conversely, if the light source is moving away from an observer
then the light’s wavelength appears longer than it really is and
this is referred to as a red shift.
Overall the effect is the same whether the light source and/or
the observer are moving. If the distance between them is
decreasing then there is a blue shift. If the distance between
them is increasing then there is a red shift.
If a light wave is blue shifted that does not mean that it is blue

13. in color. Similarly, if a light wave is red shifted that does not
mean that it is red in color.
1) Components of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Radios waves (long wavelength) through gamma rays (short).
2) Components of visible light.
Red (long wavelength) through violet (short wavelength).
3) Know that longer wavelength is lower energy.
4) Know the difference between energy and intensity for light.
5) Know the difference between longitudinal and transverse
waves. Know that light is a transverse wave.
6) Know the three types of spectra and what causes them.
a. Continuous
b. Emission
c. Absorption
7) Know that emission and absorption spectra are used to
determine the composition of what is being observed.
8) Know that a prism works by changing the speed of light as it
passes from one medium to another. Know that this causes a
change in direction for the light and that this deviation is
dependent on wavelength. This is how a prism breaks the light
apart into its various colors (wavelengths).
9) Know why it is important to assume that the laws of physics
are the same everywhere (allows for comparison). Know the
consequences of this as far as particles and molecules are
concerned (all protons must have exactly the same properties, in
fact all similar particles and molecules must have the same
properties).

14. 10) Understand that the universe wants to be stable and wants to
do things using as little energy as possible.
11) Know that when charged particles interact and release
energy that the energy will be in the form of photons. This is
interpreted as the photons carrying the information about the
electromagnetic force.
12) Know the first four transitions by name, how they are
categorized, and what type of photon is given off by each.
13) Know what causes a redshift and what causes a blue shift.
Know that this is a property of light being a wave and is a
specific example of a Doppler shift. Remember that if light is
redshifted that does not mean that it is red in color.
14) Things to know about observing that all of the galaxies are
redshifted:
a. This means that they are getting further away
b. This introduces the difference between classical redshift and
cosmological redshift via the uniform expansion model
c. Remember that with cosmological redshift nearby objects are
moving away slowly while distant objects are moving away
more quickly
d. Know the definitions of classical and cosmological redshift
e. Be able to discuss in very broad terms what it means when we
say that the universe is dominated by cosmological motion but
there is still classical motion
f. There is still observable classical motion because all objects
at the same distance do not have exactly the same redshift. This
means there is a variance due to the classical motion.
15) Things to know about background radiation
a. Know that this was discovered accidentally by detection of
low intensity background microwaves coming from very far

15. away (further than anything else observed)
b. Know that this is a consequence of the universe changing
from being opaque to being transparent
c. Know that this is expected if the Big Bang Theory is correct
16) Things to know about quasars
a. They were discovered by overlapping visible light maps with
radio light maps
b. They were thought to be stars but the high redshift required
further study to see if it was classical or cosmological
c. These objects are thought to be forming galaxies
d. Know the consequence of the nearest quasars being over two
billion light years away
e. Know the difference between QSR and QSO
f. Understand that as the galaxy evolves and stabilizes the outer
region will calm down first. This is lower energy and so the
radio waves disappear first
17) Things to know about galaxy and star formation
a. They are basically the same process on a different scale
b. Debris is collapsing and the rotation rate is being amplified
c. This causes a large object (supermassive black hole for a
galaxy or a star) to form at the center with a debris field around
it
d. The debris field starts out spherically shaped and then
flattens out into a disk
e. The disk in galaxy formation becomes the stars and the disk
in star formation becomes the planets, moons, etc.
f. Know how and why a plasma core forms at the center of a star
g. Know that stars form inside a molecular cloud
h. Know what is meant when we say that density fluctuations
trigger the star formation in a molecular cloud
18) Things to know about star evolution

16. a. Nuclear fusion is taking place in the core
b. The first element to fuse is hydrogen and the result of this
fusion is helium via the proton-proton chain
c. Know the three steps of the proton-proton chain
d. Know that the core will not be able to support hydrogen
fusion indefinitely and this leads to the hydrogen fusion moving
outward away from the core
e. Know why this causes the star to get bigger
Roughly 35 of the test will come from topics 1 through 13
Roughly 37.5 of the test will come from topics 14 through 16
Roughly 27.5 of the test will come from topics 17 and 18
· Due Sunday by 11:59pm
· Points 100
Textbook: Cosmic Perspective 8th Edition: Bennett et al
CH 5
Answer the following four questions. You must use relevant
information to justify your answer to receive full credit. You
may use any reference source you like, including working in
groups. Make sure that the work you turn in is in your own
words.
1) Describe how the molecules in a gas produce an emission
spectrum. How is this useful in astronomy if we assume that the
laws of physics are the same everywhere?
2) Why was the uniform expansion model adopted? How does
this lead to a necessary differentiation between classical and

17. cosmological redshift?
3) Why does the Big Bang Theory imply that there should be
background radiation coming toward us from all directions?
4) Explain the significance of finding quasars in all directions
but none of them are nearby. Use the assumption that these
objects are forming galaxies.
When a galaxy forms, gravity pulls all of the material toward
the center of the mass distribution.
Conservation of angular momentum – one consequence of this is
that if a rotating object’s volume is decreased the object will
rotate faster.
Remember the discussion about randomness. While the material
that will make up the galaxy is collapsing, the individual
molecules still have some random motion. The way to think
about this is that there is a bulk motion (gravitational collapse)
and a random motion (particles moving individually) and the
combination of this determines the outcome.
In this random motion, it is expected that roughly (but not
exactly) half of the material is rotating clockwise and half of
the material is rotating counterclockwise. Combining these
thoughts means that as the bulk motion causes the material to
collapse, an overall rotation will become significant.
Now consider our solar system. The planets that are further
from the Sun are in a weaker gravitational field. This means
that they orbit around the Sun more slowly.
As the material collapses to form a galaxy, much of it will gain
an orbital speed that is high enough to keep it from moving
inward further. In other words, the gravity pulling the material
together is not strong enough to pull in material with significant

18. rotation. The result of this is that the majority of the material
forms a supermassive black hole at the center and the remainder
creates a debris field around it.
Initially, this debris field will have a spherical distribution.
Eventually, it will flatten out into a disk. This forms our spiral
galaxy. The debris in the disk eventually forms the stars,
planets, etc.
Stars form basically the same way as a galaxy. Gravity pulls
together material to form the star. There is a debris field around
the star which becomes planets, asteroids, comets, etc.
Solar vs Stellar … Solar refers to our Sun while stellar refers to
stars in general. The name of our sun is Sol.
Stars form from molecular clouds. Are the molecules within the
molecular clouds moving or at rest? They must be moving fast
enough to keep the cloud from collapsing due to gravity. They
must also be moving slow enough to keep the cloud from
dispersing.
What is an arbitrary volume? It is a defined region of space that
does not have any physical boundaries and is used to describe
the behavior in that region.
Consider an arbitrary volume in the molecular cloud. The
motion of the individual molecules leads to density fluctuations
within this volume.
How do the density fluctuations affect the gravitational field
within the arbitrary volume? Remember that gravity is
determined by mass and separation. This means that at low
density the gravitational field is weaker. This is because there
are fewer molecules (less mass) and on average the molecules
are further apart. Conversely, at high density the gravitational
field is stronger.

19. In order for a star to form, an arbitrary volume with enough
mass (an amount of mass equal to the mass of a star) must reach
a high enough density that the gravitational field is strong
enough to collapse just the arbitrary volume in question.
After the first star forms, the outward flow of energy through
the cavity left behind triggers more star formation. The majority
of the material in the molecular cloud eventually becomes either
part of a star or the stellar system around it.
As the material is collapsing the density, temperature, and
pressure are all increasing. The increasing temperature leads to
the formation of a plasma core. This plasma core will eventually
sustain nuclear fusion and at this point you have a newly formed
star.
At low enough temperature, water is a solid. The molecules are
held together in a lattice structure and there is minimal motion.
When enough energy is added that the water melts, it is now in
liquid form and the molecules clump together due to surface
tension.
Continuing to add energy will lead to the liquid evaporating to
form a gas. Now the molecules are completely dissociated from
one another.
What happens when the gas continues to be heated (more energy
is continually added to the gas)? At significant temperature the
molecular bonds begin to break and now there are isolated
hydrogen and oxygen molecules instead of water molecules.
The final stage in the generation of the plasma is collisions that
can strip the electrons away from their respective nuclei. The
end result is protons (hydrogen nuclei), oxygen nuclei, and
individual electrons. This means that the constituents are now
ionized (electrons are negative and the nuclei are positive).
Assuming that the Big Bang Theory is correct, the universe

20. began as roughly 75 percent hydrogen and 25 percent helium
with trace amounts of other material. Observations today
suggest that the universe is 70 percent hydrogen, 25 percent
helium, and 5 percent other stuff.
A consequence of this is that molecular clouds will be roughly
70 percent hydrogen. This means that when a star forms inside a
molecular cloud its plasma core will be roughly 70 percent
protons (hydrogen nuclei). This means that once a star forms, it
and all other stars will evolve through the same process.
What is nuclear fusion?
1) Nuclear – pertaining to the nucleus (mostly to the protons).
2) Fusion – to combine
3) Nuclear fusion is the combining of protons to form heavier
elements.
Individual protons will repel one another. In order to have them
fuse they need to be traveling at very high speeds (they need to
be in a high temperature environment). After two protons fuse
together they will be highly unstable due to the repulsive force
between them.
One of two things is going to happen. Either the protons are
going to rip back apart or something must happen to remove the
repulsion. The answer is that one of the protons becomes a
neutron and the repulsive force disappears.
The model for this is that protons and neutrons are made up of
quarks. For now, the agitation in the protons after they fuse
causes one of the quarks to change its properties. This causes
the proton containing that quark to change from being a proton
to being a neutron.

21. In physics we assume that the total amount of energy in the
universe is constant. This means that energy can’t be created
from nothing and it won’t just magically disappear.
In physics the work-energy theorem says that the change in
energy is equal to the amount of work done.
The initial fusion process in any star (regardless of mass) is
going to be hydrogen fusion. Specifically this is the proton-
proton chain.
The first of three parts for the proton-proton chain is the fusion
of two individual protons to form deuterium. Remember that
deuterium is one of the isotopes of hydrogen. A deuterium
nucleus has one proton and one neutron.
The second part is where a third proton is added and a helium-3
nucleus is made. Now this is an isotope of helium
The third part is where two helium-3 nuclei fuse together and
form a helium-4 nucleus. This is the most stable isotope of
helium.
The overall result is that after a star forms and develops a
significant plasma core, hydrogen fusion begins and produces
both helium-4 and excess energy (in the form of photons). The
star holds on to the helium that was made and releases the
excess energy into the environment.
Does the star have an infinite amount of hydrogen (fuel)? No
This means that eventually the core will no longer be able to
sustain hydrogen fusion in this way. This means that one of
three things must happen:
1) More hydrogen is added to the core
2) The fusion relocates to where there is more hydrogen

22. 3) The fusion ceases
For the purposes of this class (and most astrophysics) a star is
considered to be a sphere that is spherically symmetric.
An object that is spherically symmetric can be considered as a
collection of infinitely thin spherical shells that are concentric.
A consequence of this is that the only variation in the star’s
parameters are based on changes in distance from the center
(radius).
Given this, once the core can no longer support hydrogen
fusion, the fusion relocates to where there is more hydrogen. It
moves outward because that is where the hydrogen fusion can
take place efficiently.
Why does our sun stay the same size?
Gravity is always trying to make everything smaller. The energy
being released by fusion is counteracting this and trying to
make the star bigger. Think about this as a continuous outward
flow of energy. The reason the star stays the same size is
because these two effects are balanced and the star is in
equilibrium.
Moving the hydrogen fusion outward means that it is taking
place on a larger surface. The fusion process is the same, but
there is more of the process occurring. This means that the
outward pressure goes up. Gravity has not changed. The end
result is that the star gets bigger because it is no longer in
equilibrium and the outward pressure is greater than gravity’s
ability to try and make the star smaller.
Now that the fusion is making energy and helium, but this
fusion is no longer taking place at the core, where does the

23. helium go? The helium is heavier than its surroundings so it
migrates toward the core and begins to stockpile