a) An understanding of teaching, learning and/or assessment processes
I have a good understanding of teaching and learning based on my experience, both as a learner and training others. The years of continuing professional development while working in the disability field included undertaking assistive technology training and exams, as well as the modules to make up the Foundation in Deaf Studies, qualifying to Pre-Stage 3 in BSL, and becoming an assessor of the D/deaf for the DSA (Disabled Student’s Allowance).
Certificates for the Deaf area of study.
The Foundation covered areas such as D/deaf awareness, culture, and British Sign Language, and involved being immersed in the D/deaf community, both working and socialising. I learnt about the very different culture and directness of this group, and had to modify how I worked with them. BSL users often didn’t understand idioms such as ‘raining cats and dogs’ and would often look puzzled, and explaining was very interesting. For further explanation see, ‘The Linguistics of British sign Language: An Introduction’ by Rachel Sutton-Spence and Bencie Woll., and ‘Lexicalization in Signed Languages: When is an idiom not an Idiom?’ by Trevor Johnston and Lindsay Ferrara. There are a limited number of established signs, which are in such a small proportion when compared to, say, the Oxford English Dictionary. So, when working with technology and new concepts, there has to be the flexibility of how to put these ideas across; when no sign exists for something, you may need to create one in agreement with the student, as finger-spelling could make training very long-winded. Also, using either a word processor, or pen and paper was always useful if you got stuck. Basically, you got used to being inventive, which also spread out to working with other disabilities. Dyslexics, for example, often like analogies and drawings to understand concepts and processes.
Some other certificates related to my field. ( Wyvern CPD Course, ITIL Version 3, R&W 11 Certificate, OS X Training, Apple Certified Support Professional 10.3 certificate , Advanced Display Screen Assessment plus Future Learn certificate)
All this training, and the life experience of being disabled myself (as well as having disabled friends and family), and having passed through the DSA process, as well as attaining a degree in fine art and child psychology, and postgraduate certificate in fine art (film and photography), has led me to have a greater understanding of the teaching and learning processes involved for, issues faced by, and needs of disabled users.
Being a dyslexic myself I understand the value of a multi sensory approach to teaching. Repetition, using analogies, written guides, demonstrations and reinforcing through one to ones, all help to embed the information into the disabled student’s long term memory.
During my degree, I spent several weeks teaching art in a secondary school for girls, and found that many girls gravitated to the art room and wanted to join in the varied and non-mainstream activities that I offered. I developed lunchtime art groups as well as my scheduled classes to cater for them. I later found out that these girls were known as the ‘troublemakers,’ and yet when working in the art lab with me at lunchtime, they were well behaved and really productive. It was interesting that different subjects and methods have such an effect on them.
This experience as well as my own learning one has led me to use the ‘person-centred’ approach to working with my students and staff, to develop their own skills and confidence they need to maximise their potential and be as independent as possible.
My personalised and holistic approach does not just deal with assessing needs, and handing over access to tools. I also look at, the individual, the wider picture, their social and cultural background, and discuss with them what they feel about what is happening to them, and what they feel is important to them.
It has also lead me to develop the open craft sessions to help students and staff with their stress and sometimes loneliness in such a big establishment. (See Specialist Options for more info on this)
In recent years I have started delivering open sessions on Inspiration and Read and Write which anyone, both staff and students can attend for free. In these sessions I take a holistic view of training, and start off by talking about my disability, and I find this helps to put people at ease, as often they tell me after that they have them also. In some cases this leads to discussions after and signposting them to other support services. I also talk about strategies, other applications for mobile devices, and relaxation, and health and well being while using learning technologies. Due to interest and take up, I have started to offer more sessions, and have also just started to collect feedback forms for Inspiration and Read and Write training sessions.
Recently, I’ve been asked to run a mixture of other training, such as disability awareness, web accessibility (EU directive related) amongst other things and below is my most recent feedback on a session I ran for the Digital Education Dept.
‘Michele your session for our departmental meeting today was great! I just wish we’d had more time. It’s given me ideas for other bits of accessibility outreach and awareness raising…
Many many thanks!
Fiona
Dr Fiona Strawbridge | Head of Digital Education’
I find that seeing an overview first on what the package does, and then allowing people to play with it in their own way is a multi-sensory experience, and gives the session and the package more of a chance to become embedded in memory kind of try to follow the TED talks TED curator Chris Anderson who explained the organization’s thinking this way:
I continue to develop my understanding of and about teaching and learning by reading on this topic for new research findings, and adopting where relevant to my sessions.
I continue to observe how others teach, what works and does not and I adopt and adapt my teaching practice where relevant considering my students’ needs.
I talk to the attendees about breaking work down into shorter chunks in their work and study life, if possible, and that this is helpful with keeping the brain fresh and awake. Also I mention about doing the right tasks for the right time of day; for example, not trying to do heavy thinking work straight after lunch as there is normally a slump at that time after food.
Towards the end of each session I show people other apps that might make study and work easier, alongside relaxation apps. I talk a little about health and well-being and computers.
This is some feedback from a student from my last session.
‘The training gave a practical overview of how Inspiration can be used in a variety of different ways to support study and work. Michelle explained the key features of the programme and then demonstrated this. She demonstrated an in depth knowledge of the programme and was clearly very comfortable with it and used it herself. Michelle took us through a number of templates and how these might be helpful in certain situations. We had an opportunity at the end of the session to open Inspiration and play with it so that Michelle could observe and offer guidance and we could ask questions and seek help in creating a mindmap.
Michelle made the group feel comfortable in the learning environment and ensured that we all participated and felt heard. I would attend future sessions.’
b) An understanding of your target learners
I have learned many strategies in my life, which I pass onto the students I work with, and it helps them to relax, knowing that I also have a disability.
This work is a constant learning curve; the understanding of new disabilities, new needs, and technologies have led me to constantly change my approach to my work and my students.
The collaborative person -centered approach is more likely to lead to a successful outcome and more positive experience for the client.
An ongoing dialogue and an open door policy lead this to being an organic relationship that develops to meet the changing needs of the individual.
This method combines the ‘medical’ and ‘social’ models of disability by both giving the clients tools to support themselves while also trying to make the external changes to empower them to succeed.
For example, in recent years, I have worked with a high number of autistic students, and along with the experience of those with anxiety, have led me to create the ‘Soft Wall,’ where many tactile gadgets and soft toys are kept for students, for when comfort, distraction, and play are needed. There are also colouring and puzzle books to work with, and this sensory area has proved to be very successful.
During the induction process, I get to know the student and them me. This makes it easier for students to be comfortable with me and able to ask for help. It also gives me the opportunity to find out about them and their needs. Based on this, I am able to suggest any other support that might be useful to them, such as assistive technology training or referral to a colleague in the library to help with systems and research in online journals. Although this was, and still is, time-consuming, the benefits still outweigh the time and work involved.
I try to find out about the individual’s learning style – their way of working. Autistics especially need a specific style of training. They tend to need structure and to understand what the session will entail, this prevents stress and ‘meltdowns’ from surprises. They also need to understand that they are free to move about or stop the training if they need to.
I have had to fight against outside suggestions of carrying out group inductions as a replacement for one-to-one inductions, or creating an online resource for this. I understand that this raises sustainability issues and I continue to look for opportunities or ways that a small team can deliver sessions at scale whilst being mindful of the issues around this suggestion, such as:
- Some students couldn’t relax in a group session and probably wouldn’t turn up
- It’s hard to tailor a session to individual needs when they are in a group
- It’s almost impossible to then get to know the students individually, their needs and for them to open up
- It’s not possible to establish that rapport
The assistive technology training sessions again were, and still are, tailored. Unless a student knows exactly what they want to do, I demonstrate a program, its purpose, and how it could relate to their studies. Then straight after this, I take them to a PC in the lab, and let them play with the software, in conjunction with the learning technologies they will be using whilst studying. With me nearby in the office to answer questions when needed. This removes the pressure of performing in front of someone, and also allows them to reinforce the initial training.
Students are allowed to choose the date and time of their training (my calendar permitting), which again lets them learn when they want to, and when they feel the need. This makes it more conducive to their absorbing the information they need.
Various methods of recording data are suggested, such as written notes, recording sessions, and repetition of sessions, and I can also send out information if required.
I would discuss how they found the first session and make modifications if needed for future ones.
I capped the sessions at an hour per time, so that they aren’t overloaded with information, and breaks within that time would also be available.
The verbal feedback is good, and this seems to work, and so the pattern has stayed since that time. In the last couple of years, I have introduced SENIT (this is the name of our lab) feedback forms, so that I can gain more than just verbal feedback, and can be collated and acted on.
In 2016 I was nominated by one of my students, and awarded one of the twenty four places for the ‘Women at UCL: Presence and Absence’ for ‘International Women’s Day 2016’.
The child psychology I studied as part of my degree has made me think holistically about my work with students and staff. My understanding of systems and needs also allow me to signpost and refer people to other services as needed, and explain how to access them, as well as liaise on their behalf if required.
Looking back though, although courses have taught me a great deal of useful information, my clients are often the real teachers, because of their real-life experience.