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Strategies for Learning and Teaching
- Establish a supportive relationship with the student.
- Focus on what the student can do rather than what he/she cannot do and build on his/her strengths.
- Include lots of praise and encouragement as part of the student’s learning and teaching experience.
- Simplify language, repeat words and clarify meanings.
- Observe the student’s learning style and differentiate learning and teaching accordingly.
- Provide the student with tasks that are within his/her capacity.
- Enable the student to experience success through identifying realistic learning objectives for each lesson.
- Ensure tasks have a clear meaning and purpose.
- Consider a multi-sensory approach to spelling that provides opportunities for the student to follow the look, copy, trace, picture, cover, write and check sequence technique.
- Utilise semantic/concept mapping to build on the student’s existing knowledge.
- Use short sequential steps when teaching.
- Build opportunities for over-learning and repetition into lessons.
- Differentiate questioning as well as teaching. Give the student opportunities to generalise knowledge and skills.
- Help students to realise that making mistakes is part of the learning process.
- Incorporate the students’ interests, aptitudes, experiences and skills into learning and teaching.
- Utilise active learning, participation and collaboration with peers.
- Encourage the development of personal and social skills through all aspects of the curriculum and allow for the fact that social skills may also have to be taught explicitly.
- Pay particular attention to language and communication in all areas of the curriculum.
- Useful techniques to use include picking out and highlighting key words/key facts in written pieces of information, using subject dictionaries, sequencing activities and mind mapping.
- Use a wide range of learning resources (e.g. visual aids (charts/artefacts), concrete objects, computer software and accessible texts).
- Provide worksheets that minimise the amount of writing required.
- Offer students curricular programmes with an emphasis on pre-vocational skills.
- Provide immediate feedback and opportunities for self-assessment.
- If using computer equipment, students may derive benefit from assistive technology (e.g. lowercase keyboards, keyboard overlays, optical mice or roller balls).
- Peripheral hardware items such as digital cameras and scanners allow the student to relate their work directly to their own experience and assist in the implementation of a language experience approach to learning.
