Learning in Self-Learning Centre Ptuj

students with diverse needs, Assistance in learning, good practice, self-learning, Kikus Method, Breakout Edu, autism, yes i can

Country Studied: Slovenia

Area of Focus: Assistive Technology, Multi-Sensory

Impact
The project had a significant impact in many fields:

  • it produced a new innovative methodology for teaching foreign languages to adults,
  • it enriched trainers’ curriculum with a distinctive and modern updating,
  • it facilitated trainers’ exchange of good practices,
  • using a common method and enhanced trainees’ motivation in reaching their goal (learning a foreign language) more successfully.

The best practice was delivered in the framework of the adult education centre. The level of qualification was A1 or even less. The course took 30 hours, one hour a week. The learners were from the Society SONČEK for people with cerebral palsy Ptuj. The average age of the learners was from 20-35.

The location varied. Normally the learners came to the adult education centre, but when the weather was bad (rain, snow, icy roads) they asked me to come to their facilities because they moved heavily in rain and in winter with the wheelchairs.

There were some prerequisites for entry the course. The caretakers chose the ones who were able to take an active part in lessons due to their disabilities. And of course, the one who showed interest in learning a foreign language. They were divided into small groups, not more than 6 participants per group. The participation is freely.

To get the attention of learners who suffer from different kinds of disorders you have to gain their trust. At first they are suspicious of people they do not know. You have to gain their trust and then they cooperate without any problems. The first lesson is usually used for getting to know each other – learner – teacher. The way that worked out with me very positively and I have been using it since then is having a coffee with them in the classroom at the adult education centre. There we talk about many things, in Slovene of course, and we prepare a plan of work and the topics for the first lessons. So they know exactly what is going to happen and who they have to deal with in the next 30 hours of the course. And it is much easier to work with learners who know than with a complete stranger. This is also a good way to break the ice in the classroom. First, they were shy and some did not even wanted to talk to me but were just looking from a safe distance. But this changed after the first cup of coffee we had together. Then they showed me their facilities and explained what they were doing and which task everyone had to do. People with mental disorders have a very good sense for knowing if you like them or not. And I am sure they felt immediately that I liked them and we got on well in the classroom. They trusted me and showed it to me with their reactions and behaviour.

These were individual lessons as part of a course. I suggested some topics that are recommended within the framework of the programme for the course. So they were given the opportunity to choose the topic for the lessons by themselves. This influenced the atmosphere in the classroom very positively because they got the feeling that they can be some kind of a co-creator of their lessons. This is a great motivation for the learners. The worksheets were also sometimes simplified to make it easier for them to understand the topic. All worksheets were printed in colour. In this group many learners are physically disabled and can barely write or cannot write because their body and hands are paralysed because of the illness they suffer from. So here worksheets with matching tasks were appropriate for them, where they only had to draw lines from one picture to another. Sometimes I prepared some very easy listening comprehension and we were just talking about the topic. It was not longer than 3 minutes because they could not focus longer on it and lost the story or did not get it.

The learners were disabled teenagers and young adults with different kinds of disorders in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing and reasoning. To meet the needs of the learners were the main aims.

  • Reading – confusion of similar words, problems reading multi-syllable words – therefore picture dictionaries were used
  • Writing – difficult copying from board, frequent spelling errors, inconsistent spelling, therefore there were not much writing exercises, there were more simple matching exercises
  • Oral language – content, difficulty attending to spoken language, understanding problems describing events or stories – so they only had to write key words – nouns or very short simple structured sentences
  • Study skills – difficulty following directions, difficulty taking notes, poor organization of written material and worksheets or handouts.

    To make the lessons more interesting and understanding there was given additional explanation, instruction, constant repeating, the worksheets were printed in colour, the learning was broken into small steps, graphics and diagrams are used for a better understanding, it is important to give positive feedback and praising the learners quite often.

  • When working with disabled learners it always difficult to find out if they understand the explanation and instructions. Often they told me on their own without asking them that they enjoyed the lesson or they even tell that it is too difficult. This has to be taken into consideration and the lesson should be adapted to their possibilities.

It was a written assessment they had to do matching exercises or recognizing pictures in picture dictionaries. The level was A1 or even lower because they are not able to form sentences or even very short ones. So they only had to write the correct noun. Some were not able to write due to their disability had an oral exam on the same level.

The worksheets have to be tailor – made for them and often adapted to their level.

Therefore I compose them mostly by myself or download them on en.islcollective.com. I use simple songs on www.youtube.  for listening comprehension. Very useful is also the workbook “brihtna glavca” by Mladinska knjiga or primary schoolbooks for beginners.

Main aim of the practice is to:

  • optimize the courses and lessons for the learners or so to say for each group individually.
  • The best situation that can occur is that the participants enjoy when learning a foreign language and get so much interested in it that they want to continue to the next level.
  • One of the main objectives is definitely to awake the aspiration for learning new vocabulary on their own in everyday life. And so they enrich their word pool automatically.

It was considered as good practice because the learners keep asking when they can continue the course and do the next level because they enjoyed the first one very much and got the feeling that they learned a lot. We really do our best and the learners appreciate that very much and let us know that we are really good in that, what we do. Once you gain their trust they enjoy all the lessons.

  1. Reading – confusion of similar words, problems reading multi-syllable words – therefore picture dictionaries were used
  1. Writing – difficult copying from board, frequent spelling errors, inconsistent spelling, therefore there were not much writing exercises, there were more simple matching exercises
  1. Study skills – difficulty following directions, difficulty taking notes, poor organization of written material and worksheets or handouts

To make the lessons more interesting and understanding there was given additional explanation, instruction, constant repeating, the worksheets were printed in colour, the learning was broken into small steps, graphics and diagrams are used for a better understanding, it is important to give positive feedback and praising the learners quite often.

The Self-Learning principle in Self-learning Centre Ptuj has some very important characteristics:

  • It can be easily adapted,
  • It is very easy to implement it,
  • It has been accepted by other members of the Slovenian Network of Adult Education Organizations as an intuitive, practical and easy way for people of any age to understand and learn languages effortlessly via IT,
  • It addresses the needs of learners in different education and training sectors,
  • It combines e-learning and IT based learning.