Week 20: Inclusive Practice (Part 3)

11/03/2014

This session started with a review of our understanding of the information covered in earlier lessons. This was achieved by the use of a Glossary of terms relating to Inclusive Practice and a corresponding definition field (left blank). The aim of this part of the lesson. To complete the missing definition fields. There was a choice of two different lists 1 and 2. The number 1 list being a little easier than number 2.

Here is an example of the Number 2 list:

Time and research was permitted and here is a completed list 2 that I did for homework.



On the evening of the lesson I chose to do List and here is the completed version:

In peer pairs we then assessed our findings/answers and that was followed by a class discussion. This process further deepened our appreciation and understanding of Inclusive Practice.

Visual Impairment

Basically it means walking around college blindfold (With safety assistant)
We paired up for this exercise.
Our findings:
Kendal College has basically made no accommodation for Visual Impairment. Quite literally it has hazards everywhere. No Braille or Audio in any shape or form, even at the Emergency information notices. A discussion with a member of staff in the LRC demonstrated that they could not point us to any efforts made to assist the Visually Impaired. We asked about Deaf too, seeing that we held a personal interest in the subject. Apparently one person who is deaf has a full time assistant (signer) with them at college. Overall, our impression of the facilities and accommodations made for such conditions is probably as bad as it can get.


Group Discussion
We were tasked to prepare for and contribute to a small group discussion on the impact of personal, social and cultural factors on learning. Reviewing the impact of different physical and cognitive and sensory impairments.

My source notes (incl. Images) were printed from:
Source 1
Source 2
Also research from: Petty 'Teaching Today Fourth Edition' Chapt 7

Our group including Myself, Karl, Trevor and Clive.

Following the discussion we each reviewed each others participation. Trevor reviewed me:

Week 19: Inclusive Practice (Part 2)

This session started with a 1 hour special visit by Amanda Redmayne. We had an earlier visit by Amanda. This session was focusing on 'Dyslexia'.

We conducted some interesting practical experiments to test our own skills. These were designed to help us see how dyslexic students view everyday events/tasks as complex.

You are likely to come across students who are much better at answering questions verbally than they are at writing and especially at reading. In some cases this can be extreme, and the student seems very bright, but is not able to read one sentence or one phrase at a time, and instead seems to labour over each word in turn. However, there are a number of possible causes of reading difficulties, so only a qualified person, often an educational psychologist, is able to diagnose dyslexia.

The following is a very interesting snip from Geoff Petty. It's really kind of odd how easy it is to read:

Amanda did stress the importance of proper diagnosis. Especially in Further Education as only then will the addition funding be available, which can aid learners in funding special needs.

Because a student who has dyslexia often finds it hard to read text or numbers, it may help if you:

• Keep information that must be read to a minimum. Keep it concise, clear and

very structured, with helpful headings and subheadings, for example.

• Introduce new words explicitly. Write them on the board and explain what

they mean with some concrete examples. Give students a glossary.

• Produce handouts that include a mind-map summary of the key points,

preferably at the beginning.

• Leave notes on the board for as long as you can.

• Use colour coding of handouts if there is a lot of material.

• Allow students to tape lessons.

• Don’t force students to read large amounts of text, and don’t require learners

to read out loud, as this will embarrass them in front of their peers.

In addition, you may be able to arrange for the students to have someone to read to them during exams, or for them to have extra time in exams, or both. Because writing and spelling may be difficult for a student who has dyslexia, it may help if you:

• Produce written handouts. If the students make their own notes, check that

they can read them.

• If you grade work, grade the content, not the spelling, handwriting and

grammar.

• Don’t judge understanding by writing; students may limit their writing to

words that they can spell, and they may use odd grammar.

• Allow students to present their ideas verbally where possible.

• Consider the amount of written work you set. A dyslexic student may take

four or five times longer to complete this than your other students – is the

workload fair?

• Allow students to use a laptop for written work so they can check spelling

and grammar and read their notes easily. They may need careful tuition in

how to type, though.

• Accept dictated homework.

• Allow students to use speech-recognition software. This reduces typing time,

and also checks spelling and grammar.

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Following Amanda's discussion we moved on with the lesson, briefly recapping on the following 3 sections:

• Specific Learning Difficulties
• Inclusive Practice
• Learning Outcomes

This moved us on to a practical review of Mental Health. 20 minutes research to consider the impact of Mental Health on learning. We were grouped to cover the following areas:

• Self Harm

• Bi Polar

• Depression

Research was done mostly online via the 'Mind' website, also NHS Choices. The above information was then discussed via the Market Place technique and later through open classroom discussion.

This session formed an important part of developing our understanding of a wide range of learning difficulties and inclusive practice. It certainly heightened our awareness of these and stressed the importance of being alert to the signs. As teachers, we are not the experts and need to refer students to the Learning Services for proper assessment. We do though and would need to, differentiate our lessons to meet any new circumstances. 

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Inclusive Practice Task 1
11/03/2014 Ref: (1.1, 1.2)

Prepare for and contribute to a recorded small group discussion on the impact of personal, social, and cultural factors on learning. Review the impact of different physical, cognitive and sensory impairments.


I have a review of the material we have covered here and in the previous post to this.
I will use this information in part of my discussion. And later include a summary of the above task.

Petty,G. (2009). The learner's practical and emotional needs. In: Teaching Today a practical guide. Cheltnam: Nelson Thornes Ltd. 88-89.

Week 8 Learning differences and Inclusive practice with Amanda Redmayne

Learning differences and Inclusive practice:

This topic introduced us to an array of conditions centring around:

• Dyslexia
• Autism
• Asperger's Syndrome (A subgroup of the Autistic spectrum)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Dyspraxia
• Dysgraphia

Specialist teacher Amanda used an excellent practical lesson to put across the importance and complexity of this sessions subject. It became clear that there exists a huge variety of conditions, over a very broad spectrum of evident symptoms, most with considerable overlap. Amanda used a Cluster Map to break things down, with open discussion of the individual points. Here is a copy of the printed information we were working with......

Later we broke in to random groups of 4 to discuss the following questions:

1. What have you learnt from this session?
2. Explain how you could adapt your teaching and learning activities to meet the needs of all learners.
3. Consider one resource that you currently use or have seen being used in your teaching context and discuss how you could make it more inclusive.
4. How will tonight's session affect your future practice?

Our group of 3 made notes on the above as follows:

1. That there is a huge variety of learning differences. I/We now feel more aware of them and see the need to be alert to them, with a view to meeting the individual needs of learners through inclusive practice. That it could be necessary to professionally assess individuals.

We reassembled as a complete group and openly discussed the main points. Some of these were written on the white board: