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. 

______________________________________________________

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 18: Inclusive Practice (Part 1 of 3)

Inclusive Practice 25/02/2014

This lesson covers the impact of personal, social and cultural factors on learning. We started the session with a practical. The peer group was divided in to groups of 3. The objective was to arrange in order of importance the provided factor squares. At this point it was simply our groups ideas as perceived by our current understanding and discussion. Our result was like this:

A subsequent discussion lead to an analysis of the top choice on the pyramid of each peer group.

An inclusive learning environment is one in which, as you would expect, every learner is included. If you cast your mind back a few generations, teachers used one approach to teach the whole class. There was no consideration of individual needs, and many learners fell by the wayside, having failed to match the way that they learn and their individuality to that of the teacher. Inclusivity requires that you, as a teacher, recognise that every learner is different and should be considered as an individual, with specific needs, likes, dislikes, background, motivators and behaviours.


Expectations:
These can be of self or from others. They can be gender related or even prejudice.

Few teachers intend to give unequal opportunities, yet most do. For example,
research has consistently shown that female students get less classroom attention than males, have less access to computers or other specialist equipment, and are marked down if they are very able; and that the offending teachers are unaware of such unequal treatment. Research has also continued to show that: Afro-Caribbeans, Asians, other ethnic minority students, and learners with disabilities or learning difficulties also get an unfair deal in the classroom from most teachers. So do students who are shy, working-class, less able or disruptive. Why is this? Few teachers are deliberately prejudiced; most of the discrimination is unintentional. For example, most of us behave most positively towards students who are able, pleasant or hard-working. This is understandable, but not professional.

Gender:
Research shows that many teachers have different expectations of males and
females; that males generally receive more teacher attention; and that males
dominate in the use of equipment in science, design, technology and computer
studies. Also, males and females leave school or college with different skills and
different expectations of their future lives; many females still set their sights lower than males. It is well known, too, that females are under-represented (especially post-16) in maths, physical sciences and technology.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy:
A study by Rosenthal and Jacobson claimed, then, that a teacher’s expectations affected the student’s performance in the direction of that expectation. In other words, if a teacher thinks a student is ‘good’, they get better – and conversely, if the teacher thinks the student is ‘bad’, they get worse. Other researchers have shown the self- fulfilling prophecy at work in almost every conceivable teaching situation, from nursery teaching to the teaching of adult professionals.
Can a low expectation be fulfilled? Indeed it can. Research shows that slow learners are given less time and less help when answering questions; they get less praise and more criticism, less teacher time overall and a less friendly approach – for example, they are smiled at less often. Less work is demanded of them, and their test papers are marked more severely.

Developmental Delay and Learning Difficulties:
Rather like Mental Health, there can be considerable variation in levels here. Inclusive Practice requires meeting the needs of ALL learners. See also earlier Learning Differences

We revisited the Experiential Learning Cycle
Completed a Learning Style Questionnaire - with the intention of learning more about this topic:

See images:

Group Practical: How these Factors Influence Learning

Group results Slideshow:

Direct links to individual images:

1. Economic
2. Ethnicity
3. Family
4. Gender

Petty, G. (2009)Teaching Today. 4th  Edition. Cheltenham. Nelson Thornes.

Week 17: Questioning Techniques

This week very much followed on from last weeks lesson on Assessment and Feedback. Questioning Techniques, our use of and the way we ask questions, can greatly influence our intended learning outcomes. Some of this weeks lesson was covered earlier too under Learning Outcomes.

Some of the recap this week covered Observation and Peer Feedback in Assessments:

Eg: Colour Card - Emotion Faces - Sliding Scale of Emotion

Through the art of thoughtful questioning teachers can extract not only factual information, but aid learners in: connecting concepts, making inferences, increasing awareness, encouraging creative and imaginative thought, aiding critical thinking processes, and generally helping learners explore deeper levels of knowing, thinking, and understanding. (Erickson 2007)

The Lesson contained some useful activities to engage us as learners, to see the value of questioning, as well as the wide range of techniques that we can employ. 

We started out trying to write examples of 9 different questioning techniques. The sheet looked like this:

This was the result of my sheet + annotations from the discussion after:

We then associated this with the Domains of learning:

• Cognitive
• Affective
• Psychomotor

Questioning Techniques in Practice

Using the iPads we viewed the following interactive poster which linked to video footage of question techniques:

Interesting, informative and a great use of IT in education!

Questioning Exercise:

We were given a question check-list and an exercise

Here is the question check-list:

And here is the Questioning Exercise. Which was some optional homework.

Week 16: Assessment and Feedback part 2 + Presentations

This week saw the results of our homework from Last Weeks Session.

Video footage here is a video based assessment of our understanding and use of assessment and feedback in teaching.

In Class Assessment and Feedback Work:
We were paired up. Each had to formulate a scenario for the other. My pair partner Nick, chose the following:

A student is practising hoeing in a line of nursery trees. He makes a good job, but in the process he has managed to catch the stem of the trees at the base during hoeing.

A video based assessment and feedback 'Praise Sandwich' of 1min:

Week 15: Assessment Methods and Evidence

This weeks Lesson can be seen here and a more detailed document of assessment methods can viewed Here.

The lesson started with a bit of fun really, drawing a desert island and then swapping drawings with the peer group and assessing the drawings. It just served to illustrate the assessment didn't have any criteria, any point of reference with which to make an assessment. Therefore, all assessment was subjective. This set the lesson off to a good start. We discussed the importance of clear goals, without which, assessment cannot be constructive, with a view to offering informative and helpful feedback:

Summative Assessment

 Sometimes called Final Assessment, this aims to make a final measure of a students progress. Usually Graded: Eg: 90% or A+. Typically this form of assessment is more for the benefit of a client. For example a prospective employer can easily see what standard of education you have reached/achieved. 10 years down the line, this assessment will likely be far from a true reflection of your sum of knowledge in a given topic.
The aim may be to sum up what the candidate can do (criterion referencing). This might be done with the aid of a checklist of skills or competences, and/or by reports
or profiles. Alternatively, the aim may be to grade candidates, or place them in a
rank order (norm referencing). This is usually done by means of an examination,
designed to differentiate between candidates on the basis of the breadth and depth
of their learning.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is informative feedback to learners while they are still
learning the topic. But to be truly formative, this information must be used by the
learner to improve. The teacher can provide the formative assessment, but the
learners can also formatively assess themselves and each other. Research shows
that this feedback while you learn has more effect on student achievement than
any other single factor, so it’s worth getting right! Formative Assessment prepares a student for the Summative or Final Assessment. Eg; Like a Mock exam prepares you for the real thing.  
Geoff Petty. (2009). Assessment. In: Nelson Thornes Teaching Today. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. 479.

_____________

The main use of assessment for teachers is the ongoing or formative assessment.
This is used throughout the course to form judgements on whether, and to what
extent, learning has been successful; and to pinpoint difficulties so that remedial
action can be taken. Initial and diagnostic assessment have similar ‘formative’
roles. They are carried out at the beginning of a course.  
Geoff Petty. (2009). Assessment. In: Nelson Thornes Teaching Today. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. 479.

Assessment is an essential part of the learning process. It serves several vital roles in an education system, such as:

• informing teacher and learner of progress and future development needs; 

• recognition of achievement; 

• providing accountability data on the performance of teachers, departments, education organisations and even international comparisons.

Both assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Assessment for learning provides information to learners and teachers about the learners’ current levels of ability and this information guides the teaching and learning strategies that are planned and prepared by the teacher. This is known as formative assessment. Assessment of learning provides information of learners’ achievement and is usually summative rather than formative. Both methods have purpose and both recognise learners’ achievement.

Lynn Machin, Duncan Hindmarch, Sandra Murray & Tina Richardson (2013). A Complete Guide to the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training. Nothwich: Critical Publishing. 59-73.

Norm Referencing:
As in summative assessment of GCSE, provides a graded result, compared to a peer group at a specific time. Yields an estimate of the position of the tested individual in a predefined population, with respect to the trait being measured. The estimate is derived from the analysis of test scores and possibly other relevant data.

Criterion Referencing:
A criterion-referenced test would report the student's performance strictly according to whether the individual student correctly answered set questions. A norm-referenced test would report primarily whether this student correctly answered more questions compared to other students in the group.

Student Referencing:
The advantages of self-directed learning are that it strongly encourages active
learning, develops student autonomy and gives the responsibility for learning to
the student. A self-directed learning approach is widely used when teaching adults,
especially adult professionals, where it underpins the idea of the ‘reflective practitioner’.


Homework:
Prepare a 5 min presentation on assessment and feedback based on your teaching practice: Preparation can be viewed: Here (PDE)

Week 14: Embedding the Minimum Core

The Minimum Core:

Teachers need to understand fully how low ability in the core subjects: Maths, English and ICT might impact on access, vocational achievement and progression. And that it is necessary that, as teachers, we have sufficient skills to assess and support learners. It doesn't mean, as teachers in FE we need to be experts in these core areas, but we should understand that such basic skills are intrinsic to good teaching.

This was Our lesson Outline for this week

I guess it brought to the fore the reason why we had our Maths and English skills assessed. Although it didn't matter if we were really good or bad, it served to highlight where we are, what level/standard we work at and then we can reflect on room for improvement.

Some more detail on the Minimum core can be read Here, which shows it be part of Inclusive Learning Practice.

ICT:

We discussed the importance of this and how confident we are in this area. Personally, I feel reasonably comfortable/confident, I know a little bit at least. Many of us in the peer group had used Presentations using Power Point when we did our first Micro Teach. I actually use Power Point to produce all my Lessons, even though they only get used in printed form.

Richard introduced me to a new piece of software called Prezi. It's a cloud based presentation software with ZUI, which makes for a flashy looking presentation. It's proprietary software and requires additional proprietary elements such as Adobe Flash so the free elements are somewhat restricted, which was disappointing to me, but fair enough, I understand their philosophy. And since we are seeing such a growing use of Mobile devices and yet a lack of support by Adobe for Mobile devices, personally I'd be inclined not to favour Prezi. Nevertheless, I knocked together a sample presentation:
My Prezi