NCFE2 Session Four
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Contents |
Introduction
10:00 - 10:10
- Registration.
- Collection of home work
- Short discussion of any issues encountered with homework.
Learning Outcomes
- The students will start to identify groups or individuals who may be denied equality of opportunity (U1.2.1)
- The students will begin to explore their personal attitudes to stereotypes.(U1.2.2)
- The students will learn what SMART targets are and some of they ways they may be used.(U1.3.3)
- The students will start to understand the basic strategies & cues used by learner readers (OU 4.1.6)
(Additionally Key Skills C2.1a,WO2.1,Wo2.2)
Establishing the Importance of Equal Opportunities
10:10 - 10:30
- Why is it important to include all children in mainstream (ordinary) schools?
Short discussion.
Inclusion
Inclusion is the right of all children, including those who do not speak English and those with diverse (many different kinds) of learning needs,to have a broad and balanced curriculum. This means that all should get the chance to study the same range of topics. It means that ordinary schools have to accept, and welcome, children with all sorts of needs. These may be children with differing physical or specific learning needs.
Schools have legal as well as moral responsibilities to provide education for all children. We'll look at the legal position in a more detail next week. The SEN and Disability Act 2001 made changes which meant that many 'special schools' closed and children were moved into mainstream schools. There are still a few children whose needs cannot be best met in the mainstream and special provision is made for them. Often this takes place in small units attached to ordinary schools and children may spend some of their day mixing with their peers (other children of the same age).
Human Rights and the Rights of the Child.
December 10th 2007,International Human Rights Day:
In my last school we tried to help the children think beyond their own situation and to consider children’s needs, rights and responsibilities. It was done as a whole school initiative, integrated into PSHE, circle time and some of the geography units. This display was from Year 3, it was very much the children’s display. They were deeply touched and quite shocked by some of the things we covered. This was their response and in some ways that makes it much more powerful than a ‘perfect’ display.
We asked them "What rights do you think children should have?"
Short discussion
Let's look at the international picture. These are the rights the United Nations thinks children should have:
Declaration of the Rights of the Child Link to UN site Plain Language Version
1 All children have the right to what follows, no matter what their race, colour sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, or where they were born or who they were born to.
2 You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.
3 You have a right to a name and to be a member of a country.
4 You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services.
5 You have the right to special care if handicapped in any way.
6 You have the right to love and understanding, preferably from parents and family, but from the government where these cannot help.
7 You have the right to go to school for free, to play, and to have an equal chance to develop yourself and to learn to be responsible and useful.
Your parents have special responsibilities for your education and guidance.
8 You have the right always to be among the first to get help.
9 You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e.g. you shall not be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally.
You should not work before a minimum age and never when that would hinder your health, and your moral and physical development.
10 You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people.
In UK Schools
Human Rights
- All children have a right to learn and play together
- Children should not be discriminated against because of learning difficulties or disabilities
- Inclusion is concerned with improving schools for staff as well as pupils.
Equal Rights
- Children do better in inclusive settings both academically and socially
- Children should not need to be separated to achieve adequate educational provision.
- Inclusive education is a more efficient use of educational resources.
Activity
10:30 - 11:00
Identifying groups or individuals who might be denied equality of opportunities.
Organise yourselves into two groups. Try to include people you have not worked with before in your group.
You will need to choose someone to do the writing for the group. You might also want to choose someone to read aloud to the group. You may want to choose a group leader, if you do it must be someone who has not done it before.
You need to decide how you are going to feed back to the whole group what you have discussed (who will speak and when). You must include everyone in the feedback.
The large version of the photograph will be available on the white board during your feedback.
- Re-read the sections above on inclusion, human rights and children's rights.
- Look at this photograph of a class and decide who you think might be at risk of discrimination and why.
Original image by OldShoeWoman on Flickr
- Make a list and fill out the table.
- Now think about all the possible hidden needs. Can you tell what needs a child might have just by looking? What other issues might get in the way of equal opportunities?
- Make a list of at least 4 other hidden issues and examples of how a teaching assistant can help. You can use a second copy of the table if that helps.
- Plan how you will feed back to the large group.
Plenary
11:00 - 11:25
Sharing our learning
Each group will have 10 minutes to feed back to the whole class. The audience will then have chance to ask questions and give feedback.
Remember while you are listening to the other group you need to be:
- Paying close attention so that you can ask questions about what they have said about the topic.
- Looking for specific things to praise
- Looking for action points for them to improve their presentation skills.
Listening is just as important a part of this section as presenting your own feed back.
Coffee
11:25 - 11.40
SMART Targets
11:40 - 12:20
SMART targets are often used in school and learning about them will be useful both for your work in school and for your own study skills. This method can sometimes even be used by a whole school staff to move towards important changes. It's a powerful tool and one that will be very useful for you to understand.
Remember when we use the Learning Journal table there is a final column for the Action Plan - the things you need to learn or do next. Using the SMART target system will help you to make sure you follow through on your Action Plans.
SMART stands for:
- S - Specific - the target must say exactly what needs to be learnt or done
- M - Measurable- It must say exactly how this can be measured
- A - Achievable - The target must not be too hard or too large, better to have several small targets leading to a larger goal.
- R - Realistic - It must be possible to get access to any training, books or help needed to meet the target.
- T - Timed - There should be a set time limit for achieving the target.
Remember my Learning Journal example from Session 2? I decided my on Action Plan:
- Discuss with the teacher how he would like me to react in that situation.
- Learn more about managing children's behaviour
Here's what I did next:
| S- specific | M- measurable | A - achievable | R- realistic | T- timed | |
| Talk to the teacher | Notes of conversation in my LJ | Yes - with careful planning | Yes - need to arrange to do it when teacher is free | By Friday |
|
| Read a chapter from Behaviour Recovery by Bill Rogers | Mindmap in my LJ | Yes - I can borrow the book from the staff room | Yes - one chapter will not take too long | By next ICT session (Tuesday) |
|
Activity
15 Minutes Only
Get yourselves into pairs. Try to work with someone you have not worked with before. Use this method to practice setting targets on the table in Handout 2. You can each either choose two from the following scenarios or use two examples from your own Learning Journals. (That is one SMART target each)
Remember if a target seems too big break it down into smaller tasks.
- You want to learn how to send your homework by e-mail
- You need to know more about Year 5 Numeracy
- Your payslip was wrong
- You feel you need to improve your writing skills
- You don't understand how to fill in a tracking sheet
- You need to know where the guided reading books are kept
- You work in Reception and are asked to help next week in the Year 6 French class
- A child has been rude to you and you were unsure what to do.
- You need to find out more about dyslexia as you have started working with a statemented child.
Be ready to share:
- What did you find easy about this technique?
- What was difficult?
Reflection
5 Minutes
Sharing of things that were easy or hard.
Embedding Tricky Words
Last week we talked about embedding tricky words.Watch this video - it will help you with your homework.:
Homework and Individual Questions
12:45 - 12:55
- Look at your Learning Journal so far and set yourself 4 SMART targets. Use the table format provided. Bring this next week.
- Find a children's book either from home, school or the library and prepare a passage to read with a child, paying attention to any tricky words and how you will handle them. Bring your notes and the book to next week's session.
- Remember to bring the School Organisation Table from last week's homework as well.
Any other questions can be sent to the e-mail group.
Next Week
Equal Opportunities: legal requirements, contents of Acts, impact on planning and practice, appropriate responses. More on using SMART targets, OU-Selecting appropriate reading material
