Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Meeting Needs of Learners

5.1 Analyse the effectiveness of teaching and learning approaches used in own area of specialism in relation to meeting the individual needs of learners.

The learning approaches I use are; co-operative leaning, inquiry based learning, graphic organisers, utilising on technology and the VARK modalities. I divide my students in small groups and they work together on a typical assignment, in co-operative learning. This is effective on the grounds that it creates more elevated amount of thinking skills, develops social interaction, supports variety understanding, expands student’s maintenance, builds self-confidence and promotes a good mentality towards the topic. Co-operative learning enables the students to create oral communication skills, students turn out to be more engaged and less troublesome, encourages student’s obligation regarding own learning, animates critical thinking through discussions and students have capacity to see circumstances from alternate points of view.

The downfall with co-operative learning however is that within students is that may emerge group dynamic problems and the conflict between group members may decrease or slow down their ability to cooperate. This calls for individuals to have conflict resolution skills. The group members may likewise have diverse identities, beliefs and understanding which mismatch may rise into conflicts. Co-operative learning can also lead to uneven workload as further developed students normally assume control or slower students may simply depend on them. This prompts uneven learning and a few students falling behind.

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I use the inquire based instruction in case studies and group projects. This enables students to create investigation and interview skills and it makes the subject all the more genuine and significant since its functional. Curiosity prepares and stimulates the brain for learning. The students get and hold more facts due to the curiosity effect of the mind and hands on involvement. Inquiry based guideline strengthens curriculum content and enhances comprehension of core concepts and promoting a more profound comprehension of content. Students for the most part discover answers to the why?  when? Who? Where? and when? Which enables students to take responsibility for learning. It helps to build initiative and self-course as transferable skills improve. It’s an opportunity to use different instruction techniques engaging the different learning styles of students.

There are confinements to inquiry based learning, Flick recognizes that students are basically “learning how to learn” (Flick and Lederman 2004) which can be difficult task to ace. This is especially troublesome for moderate students since they work from a restricted pre-knowledge base and have an absence of self-discipline. This strategy requires a lot of time to plan, keeping in mind the end goal to address the issues of the students since it needs a ton of monitoring and assessing student can be troublesome.

5.2 Analyse benefit and limitations of communication method and media used in own area of specialism

The communication methods I use are lectures, presentations and discussions. Lectures can present material which may not be effectively accessible for students. Lectures permit me as the teacher maximum control of the learning knowledge and present little risk for students. Lectures are more alluring to auditory students who like to learn through listening. Lectures can be exhibited to a huge audience either specifically in the class or directly online.

Lectures presents factual materials and experiences which inspire learning. they stimulate thinking to open discussions and are useful for large groups. Lectures requires effective speakers and good listening which is a favourable position to students who have other learning styles. The limitation is that specialists are not generally great teachers, the audience winds up passive instead of active on the grounds that the teacher may over talk and correspondence ends up one way which makes learning hard to gauge. Lectures neglect to provide teachers with input about student learning and don’t effectively connect with students which means they have trouble in holding and recalling data.

Talks enables students to investigate the subject further. Discussion benefits students since it is a comprehensive practice and students are effectively drawn in and takes an interest with lots of debates, questionings, challenges and clarifications. There is a pool of ideas, encounters and opinions from the students which empowers students to investigate different perspectives promotes effective learning. The use of discussions brings experience to the forefront more effectively. Through talks, students expect responsibility of class and learning.

However, during discussions few individuals can dominate, it is tedious and there is probability of going off track. Discussion must be effective with students with basic knowledge of what is being taught. A few students may feel shy or hesitant to partake. Teacher may lose control over the students and may wind up in a heated argument.

5.3 Analyse the effectiveness of resourses used in own area of specialism in relation to meeting the individual needs of learners.

The assets I use represent to the six strands of diversity and equality are handouts for instance, make a dynamic and comprehensive session since they are conveyed to each student which enables them to follow and partake. The handout gives students a guideline and crucial point of what is required. Therefore, the handouts are individually made particularly for students with special need for instance the dyslexic whom I have theirs imprinted in contrast. Other hand-outs are done in bigger and bold prints for those with sight issues while others are in braille for the visually impaired. The handouts don’t need to be packed with information, bullet points and images are used to enhance readability.

There are a variety of assistive technology I use like voice recognition software packages, interactive whiteboards, braille console, work sheets and electronic devices all of which help to address student’s issues. Computers are used to compose for the dyslexic students so they don’t need to stress over handwriting and spellings. I use recording device to review material particularly for the visually impaired and students with restricted hand movements.

There are confinements to the effectiveness of these resources for instance, technology which can be cost effective and not effortlessly accessible in a few places. There may also create over reliance on technology. Most of these resources keep running with electricity which implies that if there should arise an occurrence of a power shortage, they are useless. The power points require ICT skills to use them and if a teacher is not all around furnished with the skills, it could be an impediment.

The quality of materials and resource take time to deliver and adequate staff time should be apportioned which turns out expensive. Even the process of gathering them can be expensive and tedious on the grounds that the way that individual have different needs, I end up having gathered different resources hectic and they devour the time in class trying to make an effort to us.

5.4 Use inclusive teaching and learning approaches including technologies, to meet the individual needs of learners.

Inclusion is an environment where everybody has a chance to fully take part with no limits. With a specific end goal to accomplish this, I need to make a learning domain that engages and motivates students. Among the educating and learning approaches that I use to meet the individual needs of students is group work. This is where I allocate a sub subject of research for every individual student to discuss as part of a head theme of a group which I find to be a good comprehensive practice. Example when teaching about the elements that influence communication in healthcare setting, I ask that every student clarify an alternate factor in detail and that way I know they have all understood the subject which means they met all their needs.

I use role play as another comprehensive teaching and learning approach where every student gets an opportunity to act out and if necessary reverse the role. The other approach I use is presentations which are either done individually or as a group and this gives the students the chances to practice skills and accomplish their individual needs.

I use the learner centred approach where I give students a chance to lead the class and get actively engaged. Students have a tendency to gain more from their peers than from the teacher in certain circumstances. The teaching approach used, should coordinate the knowledge content of what students already know and the favoured learning style which calls for differentiation.

The technology and resources I use include power points, handouts, allowing students to use own phones and tablets for researches, Facebook, linked in and website. The wider range of approaches, the more likely teachers will address learners needs because there is no on method to meet all learners needs or better than other learners however have shared needs to a degree.

5.5 Demonstrate ways to promote equality and value diversity in own teaching.

The Equality Act 2010, it was introduced to offer legal protection to those people with one or more ‘protected characteristics’. The protected characteristics are: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage and civil partnership, Pregnancy and maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex, Sexual orientation. In regards to teaching here are a few activities and ideas that I adapt to help promote equality and value diversity or multiculturalism;

Paying attention to the needs of students from diverse groups within your course design including an equality analysis/impact assessment processes in your course development is a useful way of ensuring that you give due consideration to inclusivity and accessibility.

Making explicit to students the standards of conduct that you expect in the way that they interact and dealing promptly and appropriately with inappropriate behaviour.

Identifying opportunities within your teaching for students to work collaboratively in diverse groups.

Devising creative and respectful ways of using the diverse experiences of students to add value to the learning experience for everyone.

Organising themed weeks, Host ‘African week’, ‘Islam week’ or ‘Disability week’ and teach my students all about the chosen topic. They could try different foods, listen to music, play games, learn facts and watch videos. Try and incorporate the theme into each area of the curriculum to reinforce the topic and maintain interest.

Making sure that learning materials and environment do not discriminate against anyone and are adapted where necessary, forexample large print or audio tape format, I use the language that is non-discriminative but just basic and can be understood by every student. This will make it simple for every student to comprehend what is being taught and in addition I ensure the environment where I conduct my classes is accessible and not excluding any student particularly those with physical disabilities.

Use of diverse images in resources, When I pick books, posters and activities for my students, I make sure that they include people from different backgrounds or with disabilities to show that these differences are ‘normal’. Avoid resources where stereotypes are used.

Making use of current news events, I promote debate and discussion by raising current issues and seeing what my students understand about the situation. For example, I find a story where someone was fired for being too old – what do your students think about this? How would they challenge it?

Organising Quizzes, I host weekly quizzes on a set theme and learn how much my students know about different cultures, religions, disabilities etc. I even assign the task of writing the quiz to 2 students each week so that they are involved in doing the research.

Putting up sample food variety parties, I set up French café, Indian restaurant or American diner in my classroom and let my students sample foods typically eaten in the corresponding culture. What do they like or dislike about the foods? How is it different from what they normally have for dinner? Teach the students the reasons why certain foods are (or are not) eaten in certain countries.

Listing things that come from abroad, A quick activity I do at the start of every lesson is to introduce the theme of multiculturalism. I ask my students to create a list of everything in their lives that come from a country outside of the United Kingdom.

Male or female, Explore the idea of stereotypes, I provide each student with a list of 10 professions and ask them to decide whether each is a ‘man’s job’ or a ‘woman’s job’. I go through their answers as a class and see what stereotypes people have. Is it fair that these stereotypes exist? How would they suggest these stereotypes are challenged?

True or false, I present the class with some facts about people with disabilities, another culture or based on the protected characteristics and ask them to decide whether the facts are true or false.

Learning languages, I teach my students a few words in French, Spanish, Afrikaans, Chinese etc to raise their awareness of language barriers around the world. If I have students in my class who speak another language, I ask them to help.

Holding debates and discussions,I divide my class into 2 teams. I provide one team with a statement, e.g. ‘I’m a woman working in an office and have been told I can no longer work there because I recently became pregnant’. This team must defend this statement. I ask the other team to give advice and challenge the statement. I listen how both teams feel afterwards? Which team would they prefer to have been on and why?

Telling stories, I find few stories that challenge perceptions and stereotypes, such as the tortoise and the hare which proves that first impressions can be deceiving. These kind of stories will encourage your students to think about their beliefs and look at the world in a different way.

Celebrating occasions, I host events for Chinese new year, Diwali, Easter, Ramadan, Christmas, Eid day and many more to raise awareness of different cultures and religions. I explain to my students why each occasion is celebrated and ask my students what they enjoy most about them.

Playing and listening to music from around the world or Creating my own using percussion instruments. Introducing my class to other cultures that they may not have seen before and to different styles of music. If you have children with diverse cultural backgrounds in your class, perhaps they could do a show-and-tell?

5.6 Adapt teaching and learning approaches and resources, including technologies to meet the needs of learners.

If for instance I have a student who experiences issues learning by listening, I do arrangements before the lesson and during the lesson. The sort of arrangements I do before the lesson include to go through the difficult concept on a one to one basis, give study guides and give teaching outline with this particular student.

During the lesson, I use visual guides like flash cards and board, I maintain eye contact with this student, give explanations in simple steps and I proceed onward a slower pace to guarantee the student forms what am teaching before moving to the following one.

With students who have low esteem or who can’t express themselves very well, I ask questions which just require short answers as opposed to a long explanation, I generally give an insight and using leading questions to make it simpler for these students to take an interest. A few students have a trouble of reading written material so I generally use highlighters, large prints, shorten amount of reading required and enable extra time to read. If the student has difficulty in speaking and expressing himself or spellings, accept alternative forms of report like orals, tape recorded, typed and mind maps.

Students who are blind or visually impaired, require adjustment to get to printed data, this includes increasing text size, contracts, clarity and also decreasing visual clutter. They are situated at the front to see information displayed. This could likewise benefit students with dyslexia who finds it easier to read from coloured paper like black on yellow as opposed to black and white. It’s evident that almost everything in the school environment can be adjusted to suit the needs of the learner other than the learner to adjust to suit the environment.

Video tape, audio tape must have composing transcript and subtitles. Classes are led in an open simpler for physically incapacitated students to go to. The time table and lesson design itself is balanced say by designating more opportunity for difficult subjects Resources used ought to be effortlessly achievable and reasonable for all students.

5.7 Communicate with learning professionals to meet individual needs.

We need to work with others so as to meet the individual needs and this requires some type of correspondence. When speaking with the learning professionals, I use an appropriate professional language avoiding slangs, the tone of voice must be quiet and clear, the pace should be moderate and I am aware of my gestures and body language.

I communicate with learning professionals by acting as negotiators or links on the learner’s behalf to inform them of their achievements, expectations and special assistance needed. Communication can be through letters of introduction and referencing, through meetings, emails, factual conversations, phone calls, work placements, newspaper articles, internship, hosting regular events, exhibitions, fares and field work.

There is speaking with learning professionals to ensure that the students who needs adjusted resources are provided for and not indirectly excluded by the system and to report performance and any worries which could risk the prosperity and security of the students.

Communicate clearly with students at the beginning about your expectations from them and how you intend to achieve them. Encourage best practice by rewarding success and always give positive feedback before negative.

Ground rules and guidelines must be set of how the students should conduct themselves. Bad behaviours like bullying must be handled and good behaviour re-enforced. A positive behaviour management system supports and maintains optimal learning environment.

Flexibility must be observed to allow learners demonstrate their knowledge especially through tasks and assessments. Lessons must be planned according to the learner’s needs thereby allocating the time, resources, strategies, interventions and support to accommodate each individual learner.

Assistance and cooperation amongst students must be encouraged. Ability to work with others to determine the best way to arrange classroom activities, timing and instruction. These can be teacher colleagues, parents or guardians or medical specialists.

6.1 Explain the purposes of types of assessment used in education and training.

Assessment is defined as the process of obtaining information. The main purpose of assessment is to make educational decisions about the students, give them feedback about their progress, identify strength and weaknesses, judge instructional effectiveness and curricular adequacy and to inform policy. The types of assessment include formal and informal observations, formative and summative assessment, diagnostic, qualitative analysis of their performance and products, paper –and-pencil tests, oral questioning, and analysis of student records.

Formative assessment purpose is to give direction of what both the teacher and learner need to do next since its done during teaching.  The authentic or work-integrated assessment is designed to develop student’s skills and competences alongside academic development because the tasks and conditions are closely aligned to what is expected in employment. Diagnostic assessment is intended to improve learner’s experience and level of achievement since its used before teaching and when a problem arises. It assesses the learner’s previous knowledge and the nature of difficulties the learner has.

The purpose of assessment is mainly for improvements in student’s learning and teacher’s teaching. Assessment enables a teacher establish the skills of learners which is very important when setting the goals to meet the required standard. Assessment sums up the level of achievement because it demonstrates learners understanding and helps to assess the effectiveness of a particular institutional strategy.

Assessment helps teachers improve effectiveness of curriculum programmes and improve teaching effectiveness by reflecting on their teaching. it’s a source of data that helps with decision making of next teaching and learning step which means it’s vital when doing scheme of work and lesson plan. The assessment records help school leaders when planning to support the teachers and determine professional development needs, staffing and resourcing.

6.2 Analyse the effectiveness of assessment methods in relations to meet individual needs of learners.

Summative assessment is effective in a way that it is done internally and regularly in periods that suits learners and its only done what has so far been covered during a specified period of time. This means that the teacher who is doing the assessment knows the learners individually, what they should know and can assess them according to their capabilities. This gives an opportunity to check and correct to make sure all concepts are well grasped and if not, an opportunity to use alternative technologies and appropriate resources.

Diagnostic assessment being done right after the problem has arisen is so effective because it easier to correct the issue in time before it really goes out of hand. The intervention is instant and doesn’t waste plenty of time and resources to address. Learners get the opportunity to review and analyse their existing knowledge before embarking on the next one allowing them to focus on a particular issue during the training programme. This in turn increases on learner’s engagement and faster progression since it leads to a personalised learning path.

Diagnostic assessment is also an effective method to shape up the course or instruction. This is so because teachers gauge the knowledge of learners prior to starting a course thereby planning effectively in terms of teaching style, learning material, resources and duration.

Summative assessment is an effective way of showing whether the student has met the objectives or the intended learning outcome. This however has an impact on student’s motivation to learning. Studies show evidence that with repeated tests, low achieving pupils had lower self-esteem and self-image than higher-achieving pupils while beforehand there was no correlation between self-esteem and achievement. Teachers are more concerned about the achievement other than the process. Tests bring anxiety which may give wrong results and most students prefer a different form of assessment.

The teachers also adopt a teaching style which only emphasises transmission teaching of knowledge which style does not favour learners who prefer a more active and creative learning experience.

6.3 Use types and methods of assessment, including peer and self-assessment to:

• Involve learners in assessment
• Meet the individual needs of the learners
• Enable learners to produce assessment evidence that is valid, reliable, sufficient, authentic and current and
• Meet internal and assessment requirements

In his speech at the 2004 North of England Conference, David Miliband MP, former minister of state for school standards, highlighted the need for teachers to develop assessment for learning strategies in the quest to meet the personalised learning agenda. By personalised learning he meant the needs of individual learners because these are unique to every learner.

Peer-assessment is used by students to grade each other’s tasks based on teacher’s benchmarks which emphasizes reliability. Learners take responsibility on the work of their peers against the assessment criteria (validity)which meets with internal and external requirements. By so doing, the learners are involved in assessment.

Self-assessment also involves learners in assessment because learners assess their own performance. In the process, they learn to reflect on and critically evaluate own progress and skill development. Reflection is the key to self-assessment, student develop skills and are able to identify their strengths, weaknesses and areas which need to improve.

Geoff Petty says that feedback can be given in the form of Medals and Mission. Medals are what the student has done well and Missions is what the student needs to improve, correct or work on. It is important to give to give positive feedback first followed by the negative one. For instance, “you have a good point but you have to elaborate more on this and that. Targets must be set such that medals and mission feedback is given relating to these clear goals.

The method assessment has to be valid to measures only what it intended to measure and not against objectives. It has to be reliable where with consistency, it gives the same results under identical circumstances. Assessment has to be sufficient, authentic and current meeting the internal and external assessment criteria. These requirements are standardised and ready made for example SATS and GCSE.

6.4 Use questioning and feedback to contribute to the assessment process.

Josef Albers (1888-1976) “Good teaching is more of giving right questions than giving of right answers” Questioning if done effectively is a way of checking learner’s understanding. This is commonly done in class through the question and answer technique.  Blooms Taxonomy approach is helpful when planning and formulating questions. It is ideal to use the open ended questions with higher order reasoning such as synthesis and evaluation instead of those which generate predictable answers or require a yes and no answer.

Open-ended questions (also known as divergent questions) leads to further discussions which enables students to get a deeper understanding of concepts. Students become more engaged through effective questioning. Open-ended questions elicit fresh insights and ideas and enable teachers and students to build knowledge through brainstorming. The highest order open-ended questions engage students in dynamic thinking and learning, where they have to synthesize information, analyse ideas and draw their own conclusions.

Open-ended questions lead to reflection since learners elaborate on ideas without limiting their discussion to one particular direction. The students are engaged to a deeper level. Sample questions are; what do you suppose…? In how would you…? How does…compare to…? What would you do differently…?

Effective questioning contributes to assessment process because it leads to brainstorming, problem solving, pool of ideas, encourages thinking outside the box, resolves conflict and it’s a higher level of thinking and better understanding. During the assessment process, we have to incorporate open ended questioning techniques to help facilitate student’s learning across all content areas and create a richer learning environment for students. This makes educational material serve as inspiration for both teachers and students and the classroom is transformed from a dull, lifeless place to an environment that is full of energy and enthusiasm.

6.5 Record the outcomes of assessment to meet internal and external requirements.

Assessments must be done against agreed standards of competence following the requirements because internal and external compliance is very crucial. Internal from within the organisation like company’s policies and procedures, codes and standards. External requirements from outside the organisation like awarding body or vocational standards.

The assessment must adhere to both internal and external assessment specification (requirement) and the records of outcomes must be recorded using appropriate documentation, following agreed procedure for recording, storing, reporting and confidentiality of information. The standards must be communicated to the learners in order for them to know what they are up against.

The learners must be involved in the assessment planning process therefore the assessor must provide constructive feedback to them on assessment, discuss targets and areas for development on an individual basis. The assessor must have relevant qualification, training and experience in the assessment process and must also be knowledgeable in the subject area.  It is the responsibility of the assessor to choose the best methods of assessing a candidate in relation to their individual circumstances. The methods chosen must be valid, reliable, safe, manageable and suitable for the needs of the learner.

When recording assessments, the assessor needs to judge evidence against criteria or requirements and ensure that the work being assessed is the learner’s own work and has to make it fair, safe, valid and reliable based on the agreed standards or requirement. The assessor must apply any agreed special arrangements to make sure it is fair and then make a record of the outcomes of assessments using the agreed recording system.

The assessor must ensure that the assessment records are accurate and up to date and must contribute to standardisation arrangements so that his assessment records are in line with others. The assessment must be recorded using the current documentation and they should be readily available for both internal and external verifiers and the assessor must contribute to the agreed quality improvement process.

6.6 Communicate assessment information to other professionals with an interest in learner achievement.

The assessment information is communicated to other professionals through report cards which have a detailed analysis of academic development across content areas, information about student’s strength and learning style, an assessment on student’s social development, specific goals for the student to work on, and associated suggestions.

To communicate effectively to other professionals, I must be able to use the assessment terminology appropriately and must be able to articulate the meaning, limitations and implications of the assessment results. This communication must be done routinely. If results are not communicated effectively, they may be misused or not used at all. I should be in position to defend my own assessment procedures and my interpretations of them. At other times i may need to help the professionals to interpret assessment results appropriately. It is important to use plain simple English and avoid jargons to maximise the chances of other professionals understanding the assessment

I have to understand and be able to give appropriate explanations of how the interpretation of student assessments must be moderated by the student social-economic, cultural, language and other background factors. I must be able to explain that the assessment results do not imply that such background factors limit a student’s ultimate educational development. I have to understand and be able to explain the importance of taking measurement errors into account when making assessment of individual students. I must be in position to explain the limitations of formal and informal methods which could affect the assessment records in terms of accuracy.

7.1 Analyse ways in which minimum core elements can be demonstrated in planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning.

Minimum core is a subject specification which details the elements of literacy, language, numeracy and ICT skills required for further education teachers. Teachers need these skills and knowledge to support the development needs of their learners in these subject areas because these elements have to be demonstrated in planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning.

Literacy which is the ability to read and write is demonstrated throughout the teaching process by reading and writing of relevant information like writing on the board while teaching, writing a lesson plan and scheme of work, researching and making notes of what you are going to teach, reading of student’s assignments, writing information from assessment, making reports, filling forms, etc. writing and reading goes hand in hand because we automatically read what we write.  It is clearly apparent that literacy is demonstrated in planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning.

Language (English) is demonstrated throughout the teaching process because it is the form of communication and national language. All the instruction, lessons, lectures, reports, debates, writing, notes, discussions and presentations are delivered in the English language except in situations when teaching foreign languages but still these are translated into the English language. When planning and assessing, teaching it is done in English because it is the official language of communication specified in the curriculum. Even where English is not the official language, the prevailing language has got to be demonstrated in the planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning.

Numeracy is demonstrated in a number of ways for example when making a scheme of work, I must divide the work am supposed to teach in a given period say a term by the number of weeks in a term equally. Same applies to a lesson lesson plan, I have to plan for the duration of the lesson wisely indicating how much time I will need on a certain task before moving on to the other or else I may not finish up all I have to teach in that particular lesson before time runs out or I may rush then leave plenty of time wasted before the lesson ends.. This planning embroils numeracy in it. Even when making discussion groups in class, have to balance up the participants in each group. The tasks given during lessons are timed too. Some subjects like maths and physics have calculations, measurements and weighing in them which is numeracy.

ICT has become more and more common in the 21^st century. Teachers and students both do research online on relevant websites. I prepare online materials and upload them to a virtual learning environment (VLE) and other accessible online systems. Power points and interactive white board are used commonly in the developed countries, Handouts and resources are created using word and other applications, emails are used for correspondence and social networking like Linked-in, group chats, Face-book, forums and twitter are becoming very common today. Learning is conducted via electronic media (internet) without the need for students to come in physically in class.

7.2 Apply minimum core elements in planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning.

All teachers need to have knowledge and understanding of the minimum core elements in order to apply them in planning, delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning and to support learners adequately with their skills in these areas. Developing and improving minimum core skills enables me to consider the best way to teach and support the development of learner’s skills.

When applying the skills during my lessons, I have to ensure they are realistic and relevant to enable learners to engage with real situations in the subject area. I have to be creative and imaginative and encourage learners to carry out activities in their spare time to improve their skills.

Application is through reading relevant internal and external guidance to ascertain the requirements for assessment reading the syllabus, manuals, instructions, and making notes regarding what is going to be delivered and assessed. For language, its more to do with communication, speaking to learners about their individual needs and asking questions to ascertain their prior knowledge and experience.

Numeracy applies when devising a scheme of work and lesson plan, use of data, giving marks, gathering and analysing number evidence. Timing is very essential in teaching and this involves numeracy to be effective. Working out the number of sessions and hours required when devising a scheme of work requires numeracy skills. Some subjects like maths, they do measurements, costs, weight, calculations, estimate distances, and more. In food technologies and home economics, there is cooking time, storage temperature, measuring weights, etc.

The ICT elements supports blended learning which combines both online digital media with traditional classroom methods example e-learning, VLE and group chats. Assignments are submitted electronically by email and so is the feedback. It is very hard to find hard copy assignments nowadays.

8.1 Review the effectiveness of own planning in delivering, planning and assessing inclusive teaching and learning taking into account the views of learners and others.

In preparation to deliver an inclusive programme, I carry out an initial assessment of the learners in order to know their views which helps in designing the best way for them to achieve their goals. Initial assessment can is done through face to face interviews, one to one meetings, observations and reading through their records. Brookfield (1995: 92) said, “Of all pedagogical tasks teachers face, getting inside students’ heads is one of the trickiest. It is also the most crucial’ (Brookfield 1995:92)

With my assessment records handy, I incorporate them in my lesson plan because the contents define planning. This is effective in a way that I use a variety of classroom activities and teaching styles reflecting on their views and the resources, materials and equipment I use match up the learner’s knowledge and skills. This means that every learner gets a fair share of knowledge which enables them to meet their needs hence need to use specific assessment activities the fact that use different methods to learn.

I draw up an individual learning plan (ILP) where the curriculum is redesigned accordingly, implemented, monitored and evaluated. In addition, I set up SMART goals with specific targets which are measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. So the whole programme is tailor made for each individual which promotes inclusivity.

I allocate time for feedback from learners and others to check if aims have been achieved, if not an adjustment is made to make sure student learn effectively. This feedback can be in form of tests, assignments, individual presentations, portfolios, completed tasks, question and answer, one to one sessions any many more which evidence help to facilitate achievement.

In conclusion, when planning and preparing an effective inclusive learning programme, I capitalise on a student-centred approach which focuses on their distinct learning needs, skills, views, aspirations and preferences which motivates them to learn and enables aims to be met.

8.2 Identify areas for improvement in own practise in planning delivering and assessing inclusive teaching and learning.

In relation to own practice, I do have areas which need improvement like regularly updating professional or vocational qualifications. In health and social care, an annual update training covering statutory and mandatory contents must be done annually as part of the requirement to ensure we work in a safe manner. The training models are appropriate in depth to the level of understanding needed. This requires a 12hour classroom based training which I find hard to do in time.

I need to improve on action planning because it helps focus on ideas and decide on what steps to take to achieve those particular goals. An effective action plan should have SMART goals which means goals should be specific (well defined), Measurable (obtainable), achievable (attainable), relevant (reasonable) and time bound (time limited). This would be instrumental when making my own lesson plan, but I sometimes find it hard to set the lesson aims and learning outcomes, approach to use to achieve them and to allocate time for each task.

I need to be aware of the current qualification requirements. there are many changes and developments happening that I need to keep tabs for example,In health and social care, the current Qualification and Credit framework (QCF) will be withdrawn to make way for the Regulated Qualification Framework (RQF) by January 2018 which means the new units will be awarded differently by the awarding organisation, they may add a particular focus to qualifications content and keep checking the quality of qualifications delivered. This I need to achieve by doing research and attending workshops or seminars.

I also need to improve on responsiveness to students and colleagues with specialist needs because this group of individuals are minorities and vulnerable the fact that they are either partly or fully dependant on others for support in terms of either physically or in resources. For this reason, they are bound to be excluded and do not get their needs fulfilled. These learners are often dealt with by SEN officers but all the same I need to learn more about their needs.

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