Dtlls Assignment Analysis

CTLLS / DTLLS Assignment:
Assignment number T1

Learner: Joe Bloggs
Mentor: John Smith

This rational outlines the process of initial assessment for pupils undertaking the subject of Sexual Health and Relationships Education (SHRE). It also aims to outline the justification for the individual adaption and delivery of the topic and the importance of the integration of functional skills, especially communication and possible barriers that ineffective communication may present.

In order to have an understanding of the methodology and approach taken in the delivery of this topic, it would first be essential to describe the way in which this topic fits into the school in terms of a whole school context.

The setting in which I work
is an Independent Learning Centre for boys with learning and/or emotional, social and behavioural difficulties (ESBD’s); all boys are aged between 8-16 years of age. The centre provides a blend between therapeutic education and care for its pupils, all of which have experienced difficulties within mainstream and possibly also within other special educational provision.
The curriculum is based upon the National Curriculum, however it has been adapted and tailored to meet the individual needs of the pupils. This inclusive, child-centred approach encourages pupils to develop as active, independent learners, who want to investigate, explore and discover and who can become willing life-long learners.

Negotiating with learners is an essential part of the way in which the school runs. Our learners/pupils have to feel consulted and empowered in order to realise and reach their academic and social potentials.

When delivering SHRE to learners the first thing to find out is what the learners are capable of achieving and what they want to
achieve. Before this can be done initial lessons are used to build trust and confidence. Many of the learners within my setting have suffered significant abuse, and a topic that covers effective relationships and issues of a sexual nature can be daunting. Add to this learning difficulties, behavioural problems and attachment disorders and you’ll understand the importance of the need to develop an effective working relationship built on a foundation of trust. Equally as important is the learning environment (Lave and Wenger, 1991); The Reggio Emilia educational approach and philosophy insists that children learn readily from their environment, and therefor the environment is the ‘third’ teacher. Learners need to feel safe and secure so that they feel able to take sensible risks to further their learning and development. Negotiation is key for establishing a starting point from which to begin work with learners. Learners are told what the course aims and objectives are, also what they will be expected to learn. It is important that the learners have ownership over their own learning journey and feel comfortable and confident in what is expected of them. Feedback from learners at this point is vital in order to inform me about what the learners already know (existing topic knowledge) and areas where the learner is in need of support (areas for development). Learners are encouraged to work with myself in order to set personal goals. These goals are learner specific and inform the way in which the course is to be run. The goals are negotiated and agreed and from this outcomes can be established in order to monitor and assess learner progress and achievement.

SHRE covers a variety of topics and themes. Initial assessment not only allows pupils to choose the topics/themes they feel ready to tackle at that point in time, but it can also inform me of what might be beneficial for that particular learner at that point in their life. This flexibility allows for differentiated learning opportunities that are tailored to the social, mental, behavioural and academic needs of the learner. Although SHRE as a course covers many topics/themes these do not have to be covered in any specific order. More importantly the topics/themes can be broached at times of most relevance and pertinence to the learners. This adaptability of the subject ensures that the lessons are learner centred and fully inclusive.

Inclusive learning opportunities are vital to the progress of the learners.
Not only does the subject offer accreditation, but skills for appropriate social interaction. I have broken down and expanded on elements of the accredited programme to not only offer an accredited topic, but also to offer functional skills which will be relevant to other FE provision and learning opportunities. Working with learners with ESBD’s can be both challenging and informative. In order to meet the needs of all learners certain considerations need to be taken into account at the planning and preparatory stage. These include; the suitability of the learning environment, the resources on offer and selection of those that are to be used, the way in which the lesson is to be delivered. Most importantly the development of a challenging and interesting lesson plan that offers the opportunity for differentiation and that caters for all the learners’ individual learning styles (Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic). All this being said, it is important to remember that even if we have taken all of these considerations into account, learners may still have their own agendas. In light of this it is important to have a back-up plan, additional activities, extra resources that both motivate learners and enthuse them and help to address their changing
needs.

For example I was delivering a series of lessons in which the aim was to improve the learners emotional awareness and literacy. Learners had to either discuss or write in their Feelings Books about an incident that had occurred in their pasts, to which they acted inappropriately. As can be imagined this was quite a tall order for some learners. In order for learners to succeed at this task the lesson had to be flexible and open to adaptation. Some learners were able to discuss incidents openly; others wrote them into their books, some drew pictures to depict what had happened. As this was an on-going topic over several lessons aimed at improving and developing the learner’s emotional awareness and literacy, it had to be both engaging and interesting in order to maintain their commitment and motivation. Learners were asked to develop a stopgap animation of the incident based on either what they had written or discussed. This not only helped with differentiation but also with the inclusion of functional skills. Integrating functional skills into the subject area allows learners to develop academically in other areas and also provides them with additional life skills especially their ability to communicate complex thoughts and feelings that they may be unwilling or unable to communicate verbally. Learners now had to use language, literacy, ICT and maths skills in order to create their animations. Getting learners with ESBD’s to reflect on their behaviour and how it affects others along with talking about their emotions can be difficult and challenging. This series of lessons enabled learners to open up and communicate their emotions and feelings in a variety of ways. Learners did not feel pressured or under duress to impart difficult/sensitive information due to the relaxed and engaging nature in which the lessons were delivered. Environment. Providing the learners with resources that they could choose and select from that were appropriate to their needs and abilities also aided the learning process. Montessori recognised that the learning environment must be prepared with tools to promote learning opportunities.

Albert Bandura (1994) suggested that an individual’s belief in themselves and their ability is related to what they can achieve. This is self-efficacy, which means that belief in yourself will aid motivation. In the Vicious and virtuous circle models Petty, G. (2004) suggests that success forms the motivator to further achievement, creating a virtuous circle. Conversely in the vicious circle, the statements are in the negative and so the motivation lessens because as a learner fails they are not inclined to progress or do more work.

My experience in the field of education thus far, alongside the research that I have had to undertake in the writing of this assignment, has only strengthened my belief that as teachers we have a responsibility to empower learners and provide them with the opportunities needed to achieve their goals, whether they are short-term or long-term goals. With this in mind as teachers we have to develop a professional skill set. This skill set should not only be developed but also maintained. It should include the abilities to: effectively communicate with learners, negotiate, adapt, to make learning inclusive and engaging, and most importantly the ability to effectively assess our learners needs. We have to remember then that assessment is of vital importance and also needs to encompass differentiation. Not just initial assessment but on going assessment too, both formative and summative. This skill set enables us to ascertain the learners needs, what they hold as existing knowledge and what they have learnt.

Quality teaching, and learner achievement is dependent on the existence of professional expertise. The process of reflective teaching supports the development and maintenance of professional expertise. The process of reflection thus feeds a constructive spiral of professional development and capability. Given the nature of teaching, professional development and learning should never stop. It should also lead to a steady increase in the quality of education provided for learners.

Bibliography

Wilson, L. (2009)
Practical Teaching: A Guide to PTLLS & DTLLS (pp. 182-184)
London Cengage Learning EMEA

Bandura, A. (1994)
Self-efficacy in V.S. Ramachaudran (ed) (1998)
Encyclopaedia Of Human Behaviour (Vol 4, pp. 71-81)
New York: Academic Press.

Petty, G. (2004)
Teaching Today: A Practical Guide, 3rd edition.
Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.

Pollard, A. (2005)
Reflective Teaching. 2nd edition. (pp. 4-5)
Continuum