Smashing
through the SEN ceiling
The Government’s
2014-15 statistics showed that children with special educational needs (SEN)
and learning disabilities accounted for just over half of all school
exclusions. This is a perfect demonstration of the way in which, sadly, SEN
pupils frequently lack the same level of engagement and encouragement when it
comes to education as their peers. It’s often the case that, once a child has
been diagnosed with a special educational need such as dyslexia or autism, a
glass ceiling is put over their educational prospects and aspirations. They can
see other children around them grasping concepts and fitting in with ease, and
yet they come to feel that they’ll never be able to do the same. This becomes
even more tragic when we consider the value that children with SEN can bring to
the classroom – the opportunity to look at things from different perspectives
and to explore academic subjects in more tactile or visual ways can benefit all
children. We see, time and time again in business, the arts and sport, that
people with SEN can flourish and rise to the top proving that the SEN glass
ceiling is there to be smashed.
Bambi
Gardiner, founder of Oaka Books, which creates revision resources for dyslexic
students and visual learners, believes that a SEN label should not limit any
child from achieving their true potential, but understands that it can be
challenging for parents and teachers to know how best to engage them in their
learning. She discusses how, by approaching teaching and learning in a slightly
different way, we can prevent SEN students from becoming disenfranchised with
their education.
Let’s face it, we all love doing things
we are good at. Imagine yourself as the pupil who never answers a question in
class. With a little preparation, you can be ready to make that leap in your
next lesson. The impact of getting that one answer right in front of your peers
cannot be underestimated. It may, at times, be more difficult to retain the
attention of a child with SEN, especially when you’re confronting them with
things that can be confusing and nerve-racking, such as reams of text in an
exercise book or a lengthy session of silent working. But, when you do capture
their attention and ignite their enthusiasm for exploring and learning, the
result can be magical!
All children possess a natural curiosity
and a desire to obtain new information; they question the world around them,
and children with SEN are no different. All that’s different is the way in
which these natural inclinations need to be harnessed and channelled by parents
and teachers to help the child achieve academically. But this needs to be
addressed early in order that they are not ‘turned off’ their schooling.
Rather than suppressing a SEN student’s
need to move around the classroom, ask questions, play with objects around them
and talk to their peers, encourage the whole class to explore learning in this
way. Get students up and out of their seats, analysing academic concepts in
more physical and practical ways. And if you notice that one of your SEN
students is not engaging with the activity in hand, why not provide them with
some alternative ways of absorbing the same knowledge, such as through crafting
an illustrated story to explain a historical event, or playing an educational
game where each correct answer on a series of topics brings you closer to the
reward at the end? Creating an open environment in which learning can take many
forms will help SEN students to flourish and discover what works well for them,
rather than feeling stifled and alienated from learning.
Once a child, and their parents and
teachers, have recognised the ways in which they learn best,
and a way of expressing their ideas that puts them at ease and helps them to
feel confident in their ability to learn, there really is no limitation to how
much they can achieve. For instance, a child who struggles with dyslexia may
find it almost impossible to read an entire novel, and so how are they going to
prepare for their English Literature exams?
Firstly, the barrier to effective
learning – in this case the physical novel – needs to be removed as the primary
learning resource, and other ways of engaging the student with the story and
its characters, themes and messages need to be found. This could be through
role play, drawing pictures of the characters and annotating them with their
attributes, or creating a visual storyboard of the plot. How about using
character cards to re-enact the story? A simple, effective way to aid memory
recall for both English and history topics.
Remember, the end goal is the same for
each student: to engage with the story, comprehend its plot, characters,
themes, devices and so on, and be able to communicate this. The fact that one
child may be able to achieve this by sitting quietly and reading the novel by
themselves, whereas another may need to move around, discuss and make things to
engage with the novel is immaterial.
With this in mind, it’s important for
parents and teachers, and SEN students themselves, to appreciate that SEN need
not be a barrier to achieving great things. Time simply needs to be spent on
exploring the various ways that information can be communicated until SEN
students find ways that work for them. Fortunately, there are a number of
learning resources designed specifically for students with SEN which are a
great place to start this exploratory process.
Time and time again we, at Oaka, are
told of SEN pupils who have far exceeded their exam expectations because they
have used different learning strategies. They have gained confidence that they
never believed possible. Setting our SEN pupils up to achieve can have a huge
impact on where life takes them. It may be a more scenic route and with some
rough terrain, but, if the will is there, many of them can achieve their
dreams.
This has been a guest post by Oaka Books. Find their products on their site www.oakabooks.com or on our online store at http://independenteducationconsultants.co.uk/shop.
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Email claire@independenteducationconsultants.co.uk or contact Claire on 01865 522066 for an informal discussion on how we can help.
For more information visit www.independenteducationconsultants.co.uk
