Making all lessons more learner friendly

Making all
lessons more learner friendly

The following
document was the outcome of some development worker focus, within the West Midlands, alongside Skills for Life improvement
activities.

It is being
circulated, for interest, to give a wider opportunity for the ideas to be used
where appropriate.

Without detracting
from any need for some learners to have specific assessments and specific
support (e.g. around dyslexia, dyscalculia etc) the question was posed ‘What is
the menu of things that every teacher can draw on, in every lesson, in order to
give better broad underlying support to most learners through good teaching and
learning practices?’ This document pulls together the results of the
development worker activity in response to that challenge.

Any observations and
comments can be sent to office@coreskills.co.uk

Making all lessons ‘learning-friendly’?

In any group of learners there will be significant
differences in the way that they best work.
Teachers will want to reflect learning styles that take account of
dyslexia, dyscalculia, and so on across the spectrum of learning differences. It is important to look positively on how the
opportunities created by these ways of thinking relate to learning; but at the
same time to also help minimise any difficulties that can get in the way of
effective learning.

Learners will process information in different ways and
have different levels of awareness of sequencing of words and letters, and
links between sounds and words. Others
may have little sense of number relationships.
In particular cases this should lead to an in-depth assessment of
specific learning needs. In general,
however, there are practices that can be followed with all groups of learners
that will give underpinning support to those with any level of difficulty. There is no one specific set of activities
that will meet the needs of everyone, given how different people’s needs
are. There may, however, be relatively
simple things that can be built into all learning situations and which will
make it easier for all learners. These include the following:

1.
Some general
approaches,
such as:

·
avoiding labelling; comparison with
others.

·
avoiding undue pressure; discuss
things that are found difficult;

·
recognising skills and abilities that
exist, not simply focusing on difficulties/errors.

·
trying to identify those factors that
seem to have biggest impact on learning.
Use errors made as clues to how the learner is dealing with information
presented. Look for patterns of errors.

·
asking learners about any issues they
have identified for themselves; they are often the expert in their own patterns
of learning

·
having high but realistic, expectations
of success

·
acknowledging the effort put in by the
learner

·
recognising that some people need to
do things in a different way (because of ways brain work) i.e. not a matter of
simply ‘working harder’.

·
understanding that (for some learners)
daydreaming, visualisation, fidgeting and fiddling about with things etc all
have their place in an individualised approach to learning. Providing tactile resources and “toys” such
as stress balls may aid concentration.

·
helping some learners to benefit from
wider learning/self-organisation strategies (colour coding; timelines; ‘to-do’
reminders etc etc).

·
not expecting everything to be
remembered in the same detail.

2.
Handouts and
other text materials
that:

·
break up large sections of text using
line breaks, bullet points, sub-headings etc

·
use large, clear type (e.g. 12-14
point); sans serif (or a learner’s preferred clear font). Usual preferred fonts are Arial, Comic Sans,
Tahoma, Verdana – i.e. rounded, simple fonts.

·
are printed on off-white or pastel
paper. Avoid patterned backgrounds. The learner could try out text printed on a
range of coloured paper to see which works best for that person. This could lead to a fuller assessment of
colour preferences, which is a more specialist task (usually for an optometrist).

·
are left justified; well spaced lines
(e.g. 1.5 spacing)

·
avoid italics; whole-word
capitalisation

·
avoid underlining (which changes the
visual shape of letters)

·
avoid abbreviations and acronyms

·
are written in clear, succinct style

·
have space lines between paragraphs to
separate ideas into different blocks of text

·
use headings, bullet points, lists,
numbers, indents and changes of font to give structure to the document

·
have some text in boxes could help

·
accompany text with simple pictures or
line diagrams etc if helps with clarification.
Using charts and diagrams to outline the bigger picture

·
use colours to highlight different key
aspects

Even better may be to have
text in digital format. This allows the
learner to select their own preferred font, size, spacing, colour of
text/background; and to be able (with text reader software) to isolate
difficult words, to select key passages, to highlight to help reinforce word recognition; to link to an electronic dictionary etc
etc.

3.
If a learner
needs to see the whole picture first, why things are being learnt, how new
knowledge relates to what they already know, and how any parts relate together,
then it will be beneficial to:

·
discuss the subject; whole topic;
whole text before looking at any detail

·
explain the purpose of the overall task
and how it is relevant to the learners own situation, before getting into
specific instructions

·
use mind maps/spider diagrams

·
use story boards or flow diagrams for
learners who still like to see a sequence in what they plan

·
go from particular concrete examples
to more abstract generalisations when trying to draw general conclusions

Overall: Provide a context
for learning; make it relevant; involve learners in process; let learners know
how they are doing.

4.
As far as is practicable, teaching and learning should use a range of
techniques (and avoid persistent repetition of methods that have failed
with that learner in the past). The
‘menu’ could include:

(a) Support for learning

·
1:1 support (recognising that learners
are not all the same; may need additional specific input etc)

·
access to highlighters; tape
recorders; lined coloured paper; pre-drawn blank mind maps

·
access to text-to-speech software;
voice recognition software; pocket
electronic dictionaries

·
use of ICT to enable planning;
redrafting etc

·
use of colour coding for resources;
using different colours for different tasks/purposes

·
adding mime and gesture to words

(b) General approaches to learning

·
Keeping instructions short and well
sequenced

·
only small amounts of new information
introduced at any one time

·
making the most of a learner’s high
interest or passion in a topic as a vehicle for learning

·
multi-sensory
(auditory/visual/kinaesthetic) methods – using both a varied range with the
group and some work differentiated/personalised to preferred styles

·
supporting use of humour, colour,
stories, images etc

·
opportunities to learn by
trying/experience as well as being told

·
use of role play; use of games (e.g.
to consolidate vocabulary)

·
use of pictures/diagrams to give
clues; use of games

·
same content organised and presented
in several different ways

·
no rote (disconnected) learning – but
linking to things already known. This is
not the same as maintaining routine and repetition in learning, which may still
be important

·
not having to copy from book/board;
little use of worksheets

·
key words selected from text and
taught, within the overall context (stressing any patterns/visual
patterns/visual features to the words; stress also any interesting auditory
patterns); building a bank of key words related to the topic

·
pointing out patterns where these
exist

·
grouping information and linking to a
visual image, use of mind maps, flow diagrams, story boards, etc

·
opportunities for rehearsing,
repeating, practising; opportunity to check back on facts, instructions numbers
etc

·
opportunities to try out strategies to
boost memorising skills and techniques (mnemonics, jokes, story-telling, active
visualisation, etc.)

·
learning tasks that are given
immediate practical application

(c) Giving feedback

·
prompts and specific feedback given,
as soon as possible

·
feedback on some meta-processes, about
how an individual best learns, e.g. “You usually confuse ‘b’ and ‘d’ – so check
back for these”

·
not overloading feedback with
corrections

(d) Internal/external conversations

·
frequent opportunities for learners to
verbalise their understandings and rationales for the strategies they use to
solve problems.

·
Opportunities for each learner to talk
to another learner about what they are doing.

·
Encouraging learners to talk
before/after tasks to reinforce understandings

(e) Practising writing/reading

There are many things that
can be suggested re improving reading/ writing.
Some commonly recurring ones include:

·
reading/writing linked to meaningful
contexts (rather than approached as an ‘abstract’ exercise)

·
taking time to find out what
strategies for reading/writing work best

·
providing some structured teaching of
how sounds and letters are linked, where this is appropriate; deliberate
teaching of literacy skills

·
use of regular practice times

·
practising sentence jigsaws – where
ends/beginnings of cut up sentences are colour coded

·
using writing frames; use of diaries
etc as support

·
consistent use of continuous cursive
writing, in a ‘flow’ to improve speed, on lined paper

·
reconstructing cut up text by matching
to clear pictures already in sequence

·
‘look/say/cover/write/check’ – to
learn spellings (alongside other methods) to ensure a routine for consolidating
learning into long-term memory

·
practising sequencing; segmentation;
categorisation; identifying patterns; rhymes/alliterations; exploring words and
the differences between them

·
re-reading of familiar texts to
consolidate reading strengths

·
reading collaboratively, in pairs or
small groups

·
providing lots of opportunities for
daily practice, reading daily, reading together (or alongside a tape)

Summary

This overview has been drawn from a range of sources and
sets out the commonly-recurring pieces of advice about what every teacher can
be doing with every group of learners in order to open up learning more. It is a set of prompts to be reflected upon
and, in trying to cover generalised approaches, does not remove the need for
some learners to have access to more specific assessment and support.

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