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Unit 2 Inclusive appraches education and training assessment plan-updated

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5 Components a Lesson Plan Should Include

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In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares a very effective lesson plan structure.

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UCL's student population is more diverse than ever. Different groups of students learn best in different ways and progress at different rates.

Teaching inclusively enables all students, whatever their circumstances, to enjoy the fullest possible learning experience.

It benefits all students because it values their individual strengths and contributions and makes the learning experience richer and more diverse for everyone.

Having a wider range of views and experiences in the classroom can lead to a more critical understanding of a subject. As teachers, it can challenge us to rethink what and how we teach, and to widen the materials we include on any given subject.

What inclusive teaching means

Inclusive teaching means teaching in a way that:

respects the diversity of students

enables all students to take part in learning and fulfil their potential

ensures different students' learning needs and preferences are met, regardless of their backgrounds, learning styles or abilities

removes any barriers that prevent students from learning.

Inclusive teaching also means not discriminating against students - directly or indirectly - because of their:

age

disability

gender reassignment

marriage and civil partnership

pregnancy and maternity

race

religion or belief (including lack of belief)

sex

sexual orientation.

Inclusive teaching is part of UCL's Equality and Diversity Strategy 2015-2020.

Putting it into practice

Before your first teaching session

Try to find out as early as possible who is going to be on your course. Ensure you know which students have extra needs and what specific reasonable adjustments you will have to make.

If you can, go to a UCL Arena session on equality and diversity to become familiar with the Equality Act 2010 and UCL's obligations within it.

If you can, familiarise yourself with UCL Disability Services, the support they provide and what we mean by 'reasonable adjustments'.

Setting ground rules and expectations

It can be useful to set informal ground rules to define 'inclusive behaviour' at the start of a course or session. Decide on these with your students.

Explain to students how being inclusive can benefit the whole class.

For example, by contributing to a group discussion, students will build their communication and critical-thinking skills. Discuss what you mean by terms such as critical thinking and analysis to ensure students understand what this means in practice.

Preparing teaching materials and activities

Put all your teaching materials on Moodle (UCL's online learning environment) well before your teaching sessions so that your students can access these and prepare themselves.

Ensure that all your handouts, presentations and online course materials are accessible and meet the E-learning baseline.

This means, for example, using:

high-contrast text/ background colours

legible fonts

ensuring the text you write can be read correctly by screen-reading software.

Guidelines on accessibility:

Try to be aware of your own biases when choosing teaching material - offer as diverse a range of opinions as possible.

Top Tip

When organising group work, try allocating your students to groups rather than allowing them to choose their own. This will lead to a more diverse learning environment and will encourage all students to take part.

What to be aware of in your teaching

Be alert to practical issues, such as students with visual impairments, hearing aids or wheelchairs.

If possible, present content in different, more interactive ways. For example, using objects, images and video can be more engaging and accessible for students than always having text-based materials (see the toolkit on active learning).

Make sure that all your students can be heard and are encouraged to participate. Get every student involved through techniques such as group work and peer learning. Try to reduce the potential for discussion to be dominated by an individual or specific group of students (see the small-group teaching and large-group teaching toolkits).

Consider using diverse assessment methods and help students to understand the standard of work they are expected to produce. Check that the feedback you give is helpful to students, see the guide Enhancing and giving quicker feedback.

Consider using Lecturecast, a system for recording lectures and making them available online. Lecturecast reinforces learning by giving students 24-hour access to the taught components of their courses. This can benefit students who have English as a second language or learning difficulties.

The UCL Inclusive Curriculum Healthcheck can help you ensure that all students, regardless of background are able to participate fully and achieve at equal rates.

Check your progress

Check whether all students look engaged in teaching sessions and be alert to student behaviour that could indirectly feedback on whether your teaching is as inclusive as possible.

This could include, for example:

changes in attendance

distribution of grades throughout the group

choices students pick for assessments (such as essay titles).

Ask students to feed back to you about whether they feel included. For example, you could give out notes in class for students to anonymously write down what they think is working well or could be improved. At the next session, you could follow up by suggesting some changes based on their feedback.

Where to find help and support

If you have an issue around inclusive teaching that you can't resolve by speaking to your students, there are several sources that can help.

UCL resources
UCL inclusive curriculum healthcheck The UCL BME attainment project Liberating the curriculum UCL Disability Services UCL Equalities & Diversity Strategy
E-Learning baseline for accessibility

Creating accessible content - guidance from ISD

Connected Curriculum Our framework for research-based education at UCL. Explore the six dimensions and get tips and advice on how to further enhance your programmes of study.

Distance Learning An increasing number of UCL courses are fully online distance learning, or mostly-online 'blended learning' (where students might come for compressed teaching). With recent technological developments, reaching out to a truly global audience has become ever more possible for credit-bearing programmes or the growing field of life learning (CPD, short courses etc).

Object-based learning Using objects in teaching not only helps students to understand their subject but also develops academic and transferable skills such as team work and communication, analytical research skills, practical observation and drawing skills. It can also trigger innovative dissertation topics. This link takes you to the Object-based learning section on the UCL Culture website.

External resources

Student retention and success in higher education: a Higher Education Academy enhancement workstream on inclusive teaching.

JISC, Supporting an inclusive learning experience.

Hockings, C. (2010) Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research, York: Higher Education Academy.

Reay, D., David, M. & Ball, S. (2005). Degrees of Choice: Social Class, Race and Gender in Higher Education. London: Trentham Books. (on Amazon)

Gibson, S. (2015) When rights are not enough: What is? Moving towards new pedagogy for inclusive education within UK universities. International Journal of Inclusive Education.

This guide has been produced by the UCL Arena Centre for Research-based Education. You are welcome to use this guide if you are from another educational facility, but you must credit the UCL Arena Centre.

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UCL's student population is more diverse than ever. Different groups of students learn best in different ways and progress at different rates. Teaching inclusively enables all students, whatever their circumstances, to enjoy the fullest possible learning experience. It benefits all students because it values their individual strengths and contributions and makes the learning experience richer and more diverse for everyone.

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Record of Reflective Account- Please download a copy and complete after microteach / delivery sessions 

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Record of Reflective Account- Please download a copy and complete after microteach / delivery sessions 

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Record of Reflective Account unit 02 criteria 5.1 & 5.2

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This page covers:

What is teaching and learning?

Support for teaching and learning

Roles and responsibilities

Starting point

Formal and informal approaches

The teaching, learning and assessment cycle

Resources

Beginning the session

Developing the session

Behaviour and motivation

Ending the session

Teaching and learning resources for immediate download

What is teaching and learning?

Teaching is about using various approaches and activities to help learners gain the skills and understanding they need for a particular reason e.g. to gain a qualification or to perform a particular job role.

You will teach, and your learners will learn.

Learning is about gaining and using new knowledge to demonstrate a change. This change might relate to the performance of a skill, the demonstration of understanding and/or a change in behaviour and attitudes. The teacher is then able to assess the progress and achievement which the learners are making.

However, it’s not about you, it’s about your learners and the learning which is taking place. You can teach all you like but if your learners don’t learn anything, the process is meaningless.

Using different teaching and learning approaches and activities will help learning to take place, and they should include using technology wherever possible.

See tips for teaching online on this page.

Think of approaches and activities as the techniques you will use which can enable your learners to be actively engaged during the session and not just passively listening to you talking. They should be fit for purpose, i.e. to enable learning to take place. They should not be used for the sake of it or because you like to do things in a certain way.

Historical changes in education

If you would like to know about the history of 30 years of reform in FE (1991-2021), you can download Honorable Histories from the FETL. You can also access other useful reports at the same link.

You can access a history of changes to the education and exam system in England from the Cambridge Assessment Network and Research.

Support for teaching and learning

Scroll to the end of the page for downloadable teaching resources.

Reading lists for teaching and learning can be found by clicking here.

Resources to support teachers and learners of the teaching qualifications can be found by clicking here.

Online modules for teaching and training can be found by clicking here.

Videos can be seen by clicking here.

Tips for teachers can be found by clicking here.

Click these links for: micro-teaching and lesson observations.

A downloadable guide: So what is the FE sector? can be accessed from the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) here.

A downloadable guide: Understanding and promoting positive behaviour in the FE sector can be accessed from the ETF here.

A downloadable guide: Using assistive and accessible technology can be accessed from Jisc here.

Resources to support home working and remote/online teaching can be accessed from the ETF here.

Resources to support Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) can be accessed from the ETF here.

The mental health and emotional well-being of teachers is important. A support line is available from the ETF, and a downloadable guide can be accessed here. When things are getting on top of you, just call the ETF on 0333 103 8401 or email: newfeteacher@etfoundation.co.uk (9am-5pm Monday to Friday)

If you are on Twitter, you can join in a community of practice with @FETeacherEd

If you are working towards a qualification, guidance for completing the units can be found by scrolling down this page until you see the headings related to the Award, Certificate and Diploma in Education and Training.

If you teach and/or assess the qualifications, support materials are available here.

The following text is adapted from the above book: Principles and Practices of Teaching and Training.
The other book contains practical ideas to put theory into practice.

Roles and responsibilities

Roles and responsibilities can merge as it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the two. You should have a job description and/or a role specification which you will need to refer to, to help ensure that you meet the requirements of your job role. You should be qualified and/or experienced in the subject you wish to teach. Your employer decides what this is (it can differ depending upon where you work), in conjunction with the requirements for the subject you will teach.

As a teacher, your role might include:

interviewing learners

communicating with others

preparing teaching, learning and assessment materials

establishing ground rules with learners such as timekeeping, respect for others, not using social media during sessions

using a variety of inclusive teaching, learning and assessment approaches with learners

assessing learner progress and achievement

providing feedback to learners

evaluating your role

maintaining records.

Your responsibilities will vary widely based upon your job description. However, you should always follow: your organisation’s policies and procedures; relevant legislation; regulations and codes of practice; and the requirements of any professional body you belong to.

There will be boundaries which you need to adhere to. Boundaries are about knowing where your role as a teacher stops. Try not to get personally involved with your learners, always remain professional and act with integrity and impartiality. Boundaries are also about the challenges you might face as a teacher, such as a lack for your administration work, or having to meet certain targets by set dates.

Starting point

Whilst you might be extremely knowledgeable and experienced in your subject area, until you try and teach it to someone else, you won’t really know if you are good at teaching or even if you will enjoy it. The starting point will be to decide what it is your learners need to know and in what order, for example, from a qualification specification, apprenticeship programme or a job description. You can then decide how you will facilitate the learning process using a variety of teaching, learning and assessment approaches and activities. Due to Covid-19, a lot of learning moved online. You will need to find out from your organisation if they expect you to use certain electronic applications and devices for this purpose, and whether they will provide them or not.

Varying what you do during your sessions will give your learners more chances to engage with the subject. For example, a mixture of discussions, group activities, questions, demonstrations and role plays. You can plan how to do this by using a scheme of work for the whole programme, and session plans for each individual session (see the resources towards the end of the page for examples of templates).

There may be times when you find that your learners know something that you don’t. This is fine, don’t be embarrassed as you can acknowledge your learner’s input and encourage other learners to contribute too. Your learners can also learn from each other. They won’t all have had the same experiences as each other in the past, therefore you can embrace this during your sessions.

A group profile will help you to keep a note of each of your learner's experiences and needs (see the resources towards the end of the page). Your responsibility regarding identifying your learners’ needs may differ depending upon your job role. There are some things you might be able to deal with such as extra support with English, however, you will need to refer your learners elsewhere if not. There might be dedicated staff to ascertain any needs, or it might be your role to try and find out the information. Some learners might not want to disclose any needs they have, whereas others might be quiet demanding that their needs are supported.

Some organisations have specific departments to support learners, often known as ‘learner support’ and ‘learning support’. Learner support is any type of help the learner may need e.g. general advice such as welfare, health or finance. Learning support relates to the subject; e.g. study skills, literacy, language, numeracy and digital skills.

You can take an introductory qualification called the Award in Education and Training to find out more about teaching and learning.

If you are working towards a teaching qualification, guidance for completing the units for the Award, Certificate and Diploma can be found by scrolling down this page.

If you teach and/or assess the teaching qualifications, support materials are available here.

Formal and informal approaches

Formal teaching approaches include lectures, demonstrations, instruction and presentations which are usually teacher-centred. This is known as pedagogy as the teacher is usually in control. Learners are generally passive and it might be difficult for the teacher to assess that learning has taken place.

Informal approaches include discussions, group work, practical activities and role plays which are usually learner-centred. This is known as andragogy and the learners are usually in control. Learners are generally active, and the teacher can observe what has been learnt, and ask questions to check knowledge and understanding.

Some learners respond better to one approach than another. For example, one learner might prefer to listen to a lecture, whereas another might prefer to take part in a discussion. Whenever possible, it’s best to use a mixture of approaches, and to vary the activities used and the time spent on each. Click these links to find out more about how people learn and learning theories.

Using a mixture of different approaches can help to ensure that all learners are included during the session and can actively participate.

Teaching and learning should not be in isolation from the assessment process. You can check that learning is taking place each time you are with your learners. This can simply be done by observing them in practice to check skills, and asking questions to check knowledge. The exception to this is apprentice end-point assessment (EPA).

Ideally, sessions should have a beginning, middle and ending. Think of this as the introduction, development and conclusion. You will need to plan what you will do, and what the learners will do, in each section. This will be formalised by using a session plan (see the resources section at the end of the page). The sections should link together in a logical and progressive way. You will need to create and/or use relevant resources and anecdotes throughout your session to bring your subject to life.

See the resources section towards the end of this page for a table of teaching and learning approaches & activities, and a table of resources.

The teaching, learning and assessment cycle

Your role will usually cover aspects of the teaching, learning and assessment cycle and will briefly involve:

identifying needs – finding out what your organisation’s, your own, and your potential learners’ needs are, finding out why learners are taking the programme and what their expectations are, carrying out initial and diagnostic assessments, agreeing individual learning plans, ensuring learners are capable of achieving their goals and progressing to their chosen destination

planning learning – preparing schemes of work, session plans and materials to ensure you cover the requirements of the programme, liaising with others

facilitating learning – teaching, training and facilitating learning using a variety of approaches, activities and resources to motivate, engage and inspire learners

assessing learning – checking your learners have gained the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding at all stages throughout their time with you, using formal and informal types and methods of assessment

evaluating learning – obtaining feedback from others, reflecting on your role and all aspects involved with the learning process in order to make improvements.

All aspects should focus on the learner. Internal quality assurance and standardisation of practice should take place throughout the process.

Resources

Resources are all the aids, books, handouts, items of equipment, devices, objects and people that you can use to deliver and assess your subject. The main purpose of using resources is to stimulate learning, add impact and promote interest in your subject. If you can search the internet, you might find resources for your subject are freely available. Depending upon your subject and what is/is not available, you may need to create your own or adapt someone else’s resources. This could be a handout of useful information; an online activity; a question sheet; a poster of information, a quiz; a worksheet; or it could be a complex working model used to demonstrate a topic.

There could be some copyright restrictions, particularly if you are using text books. Most educational organisations can apply for a licence to copy a certain amount of material from a book or a journal. If the work of others is used in teaching and learning materials, it should always be correctly referenced, otherwise it’s plagiarism.

Other resources include: interactive and electronic whiteboards; e-learning platforms; audio and visual materials, and other aspects of technology.

Resources can be used to:

aid revision

support teaching

encourage and stimulate learning

consolidate learning

assess learning.

Resources to support teachers and learners of the teaching qualifications can be found by clicking here.

Beginning the session

When commencing a session, if you are unsure what to say to gather your learners’ attention, start with 'Welcome to the session, today we will...' in a louder than normal, but assertive voice. It’s useful to have a session plan (see the resources towards the end of this page) to guide you with your topics and timings, which is based on an aim and objectives for your subject.

An aim is what you want your learners to achieve, objectives are how they will do it. For example, if you want your learners 'to make a cup of tea', then that is your aim. The objectives will be all the activities a learner will perform to make the cup of tea. When planning your aim and the objectives, you will need to consider the skills, knowledge and understanding which learners must demonstrate regarding the subject. This will help you to plan your session i.e. what you want your learners to perform or to know, and how they can demonstrate that they have understood it. Their skills and knowledge will be aided by your teaching, however, their understanding will need to be assessed.

Always check if your learners have any prior knowledge and/or experience of the current topic. This can simply be by asking questions or using a starter activity or quiz (see the resources towards the end of this page). You can then draw upon their responses as you progress through the session. Never assume your learners know or don’t know something, always check.

Developing the session

Try and ensure your session flows progressively, i.e. is delivered in a logical order and assesses progress continually. When changing topics, try to link them together somehow or summarise one before moving on to the other. Break aspects down into smaller manageable chunks and don’t be afraid of repeating, recapping and asking questions.

As you continue with your teaching and learning approaches and activities (see the resources section for examples), allow time for questioning and for reinforcing important points. Only move on when you are sure your learners have understood the current topic.

Incorporate the knowledge and experience of your learners and, if you can, give relevant anecdotes from your own experiences to bring the subject to life. Try and relate what you are teaching to how your learners will benefit from it.

Try not to use the word obvious as things are only obvious to you, and never assume that your learners know something. Show interest, passion and enthusiasm for your subject and encourage your learners to take pride in their work. Use tone and inflection to emphasise key points and don’t be afraid of silent pauses; they will give you time to refocus and give your learners time to consider what you have said. Use eye contact when you can, and use your learners’ names as this shows you are interested in them as individuals. You might want to move around the room rather than stay in the same position at the front. This will give you a chance to check that your learners are focused and shows them that you are in control.

Don't forget to assess that learning has taken place.
If you feel you are overrunning on your timings, don’t be afraid to carry something over to the next session, cut it out altogether, or give it as homework or self-study material. Alternatively, you can adjust the timings of the other activities to reduce or increase them as necessary. Don’t feel you must keep to the number of minutes you have written on your session plan for each activity. It’s more important to ensure learning is taking place than to keep to your timings.
If your learners tend to ask lots of questions and you are running short of time, ask them to write them on a piece of paper or a sticky note. You can collect them in and address them at the end of the session or at the beginning of the following session. If your learners have access to an online learning environment or a private social media group just for your course, you could post your responses on there.

Behaviour and motivation

Learners should demonstrate appropriate behaviour, not only towards their peers, but towards their teacher and others in the organisation. This should include good timekeeping, submitting work on time, acting appropriately, and not causing disruption during sessions. As the teacher, you should lead by example and set a precedent of how you wish your learners to behave.

Communication is the key to managing and improving behaviour during sessions. It should always be appropriate and effective, and to the level of your learners. To get through a session without any behaviour issues or disruptions would be wonderful, but this very rarely happens. It could simply be a learner asking to go and get a drink of water, which is a disruption rather than a behaviour issue. Or it could be a learner who consistently interrupts the teacher or others to gain attention. Experience over time will help you to identify various aspects and to know how to deal with them effectively.

Usually, disruptions or changes in behaviour occur because a learner doesn't follow the ground rules or they are bored. For example, they send messages via their electronic device as something to do. If this is the case, politely ask them to stop, remind them of the ground rules and tell them how they are disrupting their peers' learning. Other occurrences happen because learners don't understand what you are saying, their attention span is different to other learners, or you are not challenging them enough. You could give an alternative activity to stretch and challenge their learning, get them involved in a peer activity, or have a quick one-to-one chat to find out why they are behaving that way.

Learners need to be motivated for learning to take place. Motivation can be intrinsic (from within i.e. a desire to learn something new), or external (from without i.e. a pay rise if they achieve a qualification). Knowing what motivates a learner can help you to make their learning more relevant to them.

There are many good text books to help you understand more about behaviour and motivation.

A free book about managing difficult behaviour in colleges can be downloaded here.

Ending the session

When you summarise the topic at the end of the session, try not to introduce anything new as this might confuse your learners. However, you should explain what will be covered in the next session (if applicable) and make clear what homework or self-study activities the learners need to do.

You should allow some time for questions from your learners, and you can finish with a closing activity or quiz if you have time (see the resources towards the end of this page).

Try not to end a session with ‘Does anyone have any questions?’ as often only those who are keen or confident will ask.

This doesn’t tell you what has been learnt and might exclude some learners who might be shy, or do not want to embarrass themselves in front of the group.

Don’t forget to evaluate how the session went i.e. consider what went well, what didn’t and what you would change for next time. You could keep a reflective learning journal to help you (see the resources towards the end of this page).

Teaching and learning resources available for immediate download

If you are working towards a teaching qualification, guidance for completing the units for the Award, Certificate and Diploma can be found by scrolling down this page.

Table of teaching and learning approaches & activities with their strengths and limitations (£2.50)
(Ref A9058)
17 page table listing over 80 different teaching and learning approaches & activities with their strengths and limitations.

Table of resources which could be used for teaching and learning (£1.00)
(Ref H9012)
1 page table listing over 100 resources which can be used when delivering sessions.

Starter and closing activities (£1.00)
(Ref H9031)
2 pages of information explaining what starter and closing activities are, along with examples of each.

Facilitating group learning (£1.50)
(Ref H9034)
3 pages of information about how you can facilitate learning with groups. Includes examples of limitations, how you can manage small group activities and successfully conclude group activities.

Facilitating individual learning (£1.00)
(Ref H9035)
2 pages of information about how you can build up a professional working relationship with a learner and facilitate learning. Includes a task analysis template to help break down a topic for one-to-one learning purposes.

Teaching, learning and assessment checklist (£1.50)
(Ref HC012)
A comprehensive 4 page checklist containing over 100 questions based on the five aspects of the teaching, learning and assessment cycle. It should help all teachers ensure they are performing their role effectively when delivering sessions.

Template – Scheme of Work (in Word) (50p)
(Ref AT014)
1 page pro-forma with relevant headings and boxes to help structure the content of a scheme of work. Can easily be adapted to suit your own requirements. See below for a completed example: Ref M9060

Completed Example of a Scheme of Work (£2.00)
(M9060)
2 page example based on an Introduction to Information Communication Technology (ICT) Level 1 programme. First, second and last sessions are shown. See above for a blank template in Word: Ref AT014

Template - Session Plan (in Word) (50p)
(Ref AT007)
1 page pro-forma with relevant headings and boxes to help structure the content of a session plan. Can easily be adapted to suit your own requirements. See below for a completed example: Ref M9062

Completed Example of a Session Plan (£1.50)
(Ref M9062)
2 page example of a completed three hour session plan (for the first session from the scheme of work about using ICT, which is available to purchase separately Ref M9060 - see two items above this). Includes examples of SMART objectives, appropriate timings, resources, teaching, learning and assessment activities. See above for a blank session plan in Word: Ref AT007

Group profile (in Word) (£1.00)

(Ref AT024)

1 page template to add details regarding individual learners. It includes columns for: name, age, gender/ethnicity, prior skills/knowledge, initial and diagnostic assessment results, learning/learner needs/support requirements, barriers/challenges, attendance & behaviour concerns, additional targets.

Programme/course evaluation (in Word) (£1.00)

(Ref AT015)
1 page template with 13 questions for learners to answer, with responses of 1-4 for each. Can easily be adapted to suit your own programme or course evaluation requirements.

Template – Reflective Learning Journal (in Word) (50p)
(Ref AT005)
1 page template which can be used as a reflective learning journal. Helps focus thought by explaining, describing, analysing and revising actions. See below for a completed example: Ref I9015A

Completed Example of a Reflective Learning Journal (£1.50)
(Ref I9015A)
2 page completed example of a reflective learning journal. This is from the perspective of a teacher delivering their first session to a new group of learners. However, it will give you an idea how to complete it. The detailed reflection takes into account theories such as Schon and Brookfield. See above for a blank template in Word: Ref AT005

More resources are available,

click here for details.

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Information regarding teaching and learning.

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World of Better Learning | Cambridge University Press

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Phil Dexter worked for the British Council for 30 years and is now a freelance education consultant specialising in inclusive education. In this blog post, he introduces his framework of the ten approaches to ensure inclusive teaching and learning in today's classrooms and explores the first five in detail.

Salamanca Statement on Special Educational Needs Education

April 2019 was the 25th anniversary of the Salamanca Statement on Special Educational Needs Education. Published by UNESCO and signed by 92 countries. The Salamanca Statement was a significant milestone in moving towards more inclusive education. It provides a framework for how to make progress in terms of policy and practice.

The statement advocated that mainstream schools which adopt an inclusive approach are 'the most effective means of combatting discriminating attitudes, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all'. Inclusive education is the idea of all children learning together in a unified educational system, regardless of any differences between them. It was originally concerned with the inclusion of learners with disabilities, many of whom had historically been excluded from mainstream schools.

It is widely acknowledged that progress has been made since 1994, but many children remain excluded - whether directly out of school, dropping out of school or excluded from meaningful learning even if they are in school.

Inclusive teaching and learning today

It is widely recognised today that a more inclusive learning approach involves focusing on learning needs rather than 'special needs'. All learners are special and specific support and interventions for particular needs such as dyslexia, autism spectrum differences, attention deficit and many others can be both supportive for individuals with these needs and for all learners at the same time. Understanding this is the route to understanding what we mean by inclusive practices.

A framework - Ten Top approaches to quality teaching and learning

The image below describes a framework for inclusive teaching that I have developed. It sets out ten approaches for you to focus on to ensure you offer inclusive, quality teaching and learning. You can choose any entry point and you may already be doing some, most or all of this already. I hope that describing the approaches will support you in giving a coherent framework for inclusive practices

1. Celebrate diversity

Consider what is unique about all of your learners. What do they bring and add positively to learning context. How can you better support and understand them.

2. Remove clutter

Make sure that you are giving your learners information in a way that doesn't block or clutter their ideas.

3. Have clear, achievable and measurable learning outcomes

Set out bite-size pieces and little steps that will support your learners. This will ensure they are not overwhelmed by a task or a learning activity.

4. Scaffold teaching and learning

Create support structures to support your learners and remove barriers to their learning.

5. Differentiate teaching and learning

Make learning meaningful by allowing learners to make choices, for example in how they engage with a task.

In my next post, I will explain the remaining five approaches. Plus, offer some tips for successful implementation in your school.

Learn more about support learning with Special Educational Needs in our online course.
Phil Dexter worked for the British Council for 30 years. He is now a freelance education consultant specialising in inclusive education. Phil has worked with Ministries of education and teachers in the UK, Europe, Latin America, Africa, South Asia and East Asia. He has an MA in English language teaching and a diploma in special educational needs. He was awarded an MBE for his work on inclusive education in 2018. Phil is the author of the Cambridge University Press 2-hour online teacher development course Inclusive practices: Teaching learners with Special Educational Needs. We'll be continuing to share advice, tips and tools to help you adapt to teaching in new environments. If you would like to read more blog articles from the Supporting Every Teacher series, click here.

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Ten Top Approaches To Inclusive Teaching | World Of Better Learning

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Phil Dexter worked for the British Council for 30 years and is now a freelance education consultant specialising in inclusive education. In this blog post, he introduces his framework of the ten approaches to ensure inclusive teaching and learning in today's classrooms and explores the first five in detail.

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Unit 5 Assessment Plan - L3 Education & Training

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Unit 1 Assessment Plan - L3 Education ^L0 Training

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Unit 5 understand assessment in education and training-Evidence-Workbook conv

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Your lecturer will compete this at observation visit

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N.S Record of Learner Observation-Education and Training obervation- Micro teach or delivery sessions

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Mentor Assessment Record- Please use this if you are already Teaching as part of your current role. Ask your mentor/ manager to provide witness statements supporting each criteria point. Any questions please ask

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Mentor Assessment Record- Please use this if you are already Teaching as part of your current role. Ask your mentor/ manager to provide witness statements supporting each criteria point. Any questions please ask

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N.S Education and Training Mentor Assessment Records-updated Unit 2&4

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Following your Induction session please read the learner handbook, complete the task on the induction slide and familiarise self with the PADLET and course expectations. 

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Following your Induction session please read the learner handbook, complete the task on the induction slide and familiarise self with the PADLET and course expectations. 

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Very informative power point on the theme of plagiarism and how to avoid it

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Learner Topic Schedule- Education & Training Award L3

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Lets you know what's going on - and may even help you  course

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Unit 4 Assessment Plan - L3 Education ^0 Training

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N.S Educcation & Training L3 Unit 1. 2.1.2.2- Session 2 PP

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WEEK 3- Independent Study Task- Please use the THINGLINK tool to access research for unit 1- Access the THINGLINK Tool Complete some Independent Research. Participate 1:1 with Nic :)

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WEEK 3- Independent Study Task- Please use the THINGLINK tool to access research for unit 1- Access the THINGLINK Tool Complete some Independent Research. Participate 1:1 with Nic :)

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Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is one of the best-known theories of motivation. Maslow's theory states that our actions are motivated by certain physiological and psychological needs that progress from basic to complex.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Abraham Maslow first introduced the concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper, titled "A Theory of Human Motivation," and again in his subsequent book, "Motivation and Personality." This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before moving on to other, more advanced needs.

While some of the existing schools of thought at the time-such as psychoanalysis and behaviorism -tended to focus on problematic behaviors, Maslow was more interested in learning about what makes people happy and what they do to achieve that aim.

As a humanist, Maslow believed that people have an inborn desire to be self-actualized, that is, to be all they can be. To achieve this ultimate goal, however, a number of more basic needs must be met. This includes the need for food, safety, love, and self-esteem.

Maslow believed that these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. There are five different levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, starting at the lowest level known as physiological needs.

Physiological Needs

The physiological needs include those that are vital to survival. Some examples of physiological needs include:

In addition to the basic requirements of nutrition, air, and temperature regulation, physiological needs also include shelter and clothing. Maslow included sexual reproduction in this level of the hierarchy as well, since it is essential to the survival and propagation of the species.

Security and Safety Needs

At the second level of Maslow's hierarchy, the needs start to become a bit more complex. At this level, the needs for security and safety become primary.

People want control and order in their lives. Some of the basic security and safety needs include:

Finding a job, obtaining health insurance and health care, contributing money to a savings account, and moving to a safer neighborhood are all examples of actions motivated by security and safety needs.

Social Needs

The social needs in Maslow's hierarchy include love, acceptance, and belonging. At this level, the need for emotional relationships drives human behavior. Some of the things that satisfy this need include:

Friendships

Romantic attachments

Family relationships

Social groups

Community groups

Churches and religious organizations

In order to avoid loneliness, depression, and anxiety, it is important for people to feel loved and accepted by others. Personal relationships with friends, family, and lovers play an important role, as does involvement in groups-such as religious groups, sports teams, book clubs, and other group activities.

Esteem Needs

At the fourth level in Maslow's hierarchy is the need for appreciation and respect. Once the needs at the bottom three levels have been satisfied, the esteem needs begin to play a more prominent role in motivating behavior.

At this level, it becomes increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to accomplish things, then have their efforts recognized. In addition to the need for feelings of accomplishment and prestige, esteem needs include such things as self-esteem and personal worth.

People need to sense that they are valued by others and feel that they are making a contribution to the world. Participation in professional activities, academic accomplishments, athletic or team participation, and personal hobbies can all play a role in fulfilling the esteem needs.

People who are able to satisfy esteem needs by achieving good self-esteem and the recognition of others tend to feel confident in their abilities. Conversely, those who lack self-esteem and the respect of others can develop feelings of inferiority.

Self-Actualization Needs

At the very peak of Maslow's hierarchy are the self-actualization needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested in fulfilling their potential.

"What a man can be, he must be," Maslow explained, referring to the need people have to achieve their full potential as human beings.

Maslow's said of self-actualization: "It may be loosely described as the full use and exploitation of talents, capabilities, potentialities, etc. Such people seem to be fulfilling themselves and to be doing the best that they are capable of doing. They are people who have developed or are developing to the full stature of which they capable."

Progressing Through the Pyramid of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often displayed as a pyramid. The lowest levels of the pyramid of needs are made up of the most basic needs while the most complex needs are at the top.

Once lower-level needs have been met, people can move on to the next level of needs. As people progress up the pyramid, needs become increasingly psychological and social.

At the top of the pyramid, the need for personal esteem and feelings of accomplishment take priority. Like Carl Rogers, Maslow emphasized the importance of self-actualization, which is a process of growing and developing as a person in order to achieve individual potential.

Different Types of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be separated into two types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs.

Deficiency needs: Physiological, security, social, and esteem needs are deficiency needs, which arise due to deprivation. Satisfying these lower-level needs is important to avoid unpleasant feelings or consequences.

Growth needs: Maslow called the needs at the top of the pyramid growth needs. These needs don't stem from a lack of something, but rather from a desire to grow as a person.

While the theory is generally portrayed as a fairly rigid hierarchy, Maslow noted that the order in which these needs are fulfilled does not always follow this standard progression.

For example, he noted that for some individuals, the need for self-esteem is more important than the need for love. For others, the need for creative fulfillment may supersede even the most basic needs.

Criticisms of Maslow's Theory

Maslow's theory has become wildly popular both in and out of psychology. The fields of education and business have been particularly influenced by the theory. But Maslow's concept has not been without criticism. Chief among the long-held objections are:

Needs don't follow a hierarchy: While some research has shown support for Maslow's theories, most of the research has not been able to substantiate the idea of a needs hierarchy. Wahba and Bridwell (researchers from Baruch College) reported that there was little evidence for Maslow's ranking of these needs and even less evidence that these needs are in a hierarchical order.

The theory is difficult to test: Other critics of Maslow's theory note that his definition of self-actualization is difficult to test scientifically. His research on self-actualization was also based on a very limited sample of individuals, including people he knew as well as biographies of famous individuals who Maslow believed to be self-actualized.

Some of the more recent critiques suggest that Maslow was inspired by the belief systems of the Blackfoot nation, but neglected to acknowledge this. Maslow's studied the Northern Blackfoot tribe as an anthropologist. However, this foundational basis disappeared over time, causing him to misuse the concepts he was originally there to assess.

Impact of Maslow's Hierarchy

Regardless of these criticisms, Maslow's hierarchy of needs represented part of an important shift in psychology. Rather than focusing on abnormal behavior and development, Maslow's humanistic psychology was focused on the development of healthy individuals.

There has been relatively little research supporting Maslow's theory, yet the hierarchy of needs is well-known and popular both in and out of psychology. And in a study published in 2011, researchers from the University of Illinois set out to put this hierarchy to the test.

What they discovered is that, while the fulfillment of the needs was strongly correlated with happiness, people from cultures all over the world reported that self-actualization and social needs were important even when many of the most basic needs were unfulfilled.

Such results suggest that while these needs can be powerful motivators of human behavior, they do not necessarily take the hierarchical form that Maslow described.

The Expanded Hierarchy of Needs

In 1970, Maslow built upon his original hierarchy to include three additional needs at the top of his pyramid, for a total of eight:

Cognitive needs. This centers on knowledge. People generally want to learn and know things about their world and their places in it.

Aesthetic needs. This addresses the appreciation of beauty and form. People might fulfill this need through enjoying or creating music, art, literature, and other creative expressions.

Transcendence needs. Maslow believed that humans are driven to look beyond the physical self in search of meaning. Helping others, practicing spirituality, and connecting with nature are a few ways we might meet this need.

A Word From Verywell

Whether you accept Maslow's hierarchy of needs or not, his theory shines a light on the many needs we have as human beings. And even if we don't all place these needs in the same order, keeping them in mind when interacting with others can help make our interactions more caring and respectful.

Frequently Asked Questions

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How Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explains Human Motivation

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs describes five levels of needs that motivate human nature. Learn more about the pyramid of needs and why it matters.

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Unit 1 Workbook - You can if you wish use this workbook as part of task/ research based actvities to help collate evidence for your assignment 

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Unit 1 Workbook - You can if you wish use this workbook as part of task/ research based actvities to help collate evidence for your assignment 

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This page covers:

What is teaching and learning?

Support for teaching and learning

Roles and responsibilities

Starting point

Formal and informal approaches

The teaching, learning and assessment cycle

Resources

Beginning the session

Developing the session

Behaviour and motivation

Ending the session

Teaching and learning resources for immediate download

What is teaching and learning?

Teaching is about using various approaches and activities to help learners gain the skills and understanding they need for a particular reason e.g. to gain a qualification or to perform a particular job role.

You will teach, and your learners will learn.

Learning is about gaining and using new knowledge to demonstrate a change. This change might relate to the performance of a skill, the demonstration of understanding and/or a change in behaviour and attitudes. The teacher is then able to assess the progress and achievement which the learners are making.

However, it’s not about you, it’s about your learners and the learning which is taking place. You can teach all you like but if your learners don’t learn anything, the process is meaningless.

Using different teaching and learning approaches and activities will help learning to take place, and they should include using technology wherever possible.

See tips for teaching online on this page.

Think of approaches and activities as the techniques you will use which can enable your learners to be actively engaged during the session and not just passively listening to you talking. They should be fit for purpose, i.e. to enable learning to take place. They should not be used for the sake of it or because you like to do things in a certain way.

Historical changes in education

If you would like to know about the history of 30 years of reform in FE (1991-2021), you can download Honorable Histories from the FETL. You can also access other useful reports at the same link.

You can access a history of changes to the education and exam system in England from the Cambridge Assessment Network and Research.

Support for teaching and learning

Scroll to the end of the page for downloadable teaching resources.

Reading lists for teaching and learning can be found by clicking here.

Resources to support teachers and learners of the teaching qualifications can be found by clicking here.

Online modules for teaching and training can be found by clicking here.

Videos can be seen by clicking here.

Tips for teachers can be found by clicking here.

Click these links for: micro-teaching and lesson observations.

A downloadable guide: So what is the FE sector? can be accessed from the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) here.

A downloadable guide: Understanding and promoting positive behaviour in the FE sector can be accessed from the ETF here.

A downloadable guide: Using assistive and accessible technology can be accessed from Jisc here.

Resources to support home working and remote/online teaching can be accessed from the ETF here.

Resources to support Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) can be accessed from the ETF here.

The mental health and emotional well-being of teachers is important. A support line is available from the ETF, and a downloadable guide can be accessed here. When things are getting on top of you, just call the ETF on 0333 103 8401 or email: newfeteacher@etfoundation.co.uk (9am-5pm Monday to Friday)

If you are on Twitter, you can join in a community of practice with @FETeacherEd

If you are working towards a qualification, guidance for completing the units can be found by scrolling down this page until you see the headings related to the Award, Certificate and Diploma in Education and Training.

If you teach and/or assess the qualifications, support materials are available here.

The following text is adapted from the above book: Principles and Practices of Teaching and Training.
The other book contains practical ideas to put theory into practice.

Roles and responsibilities

Roles and responsibilities can merge as it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between the two. You should have a job description and/or a role specification which you will need to refer to, to help ensure that you meet the requirements of your job role. You should be qualified and/or experienced in the subject you wish to teach. Your employer decides what this is (it can differ depending upon where you work), in conjunction with the requirements for the subject you will teach.

As a teacher, your role might include:

interviewing learners

communicating with others

preparing teaching, learning and assessment materials

establishing ground rules with learners such as timekeeping, respect for others, not using social media during sessions

using a variety of inclusive teaching, learning and assessment approaches with learners

assessing learner progress and achievement

providing feedback to learners

evaluating your role

maintaining records.

Your responsibilities will vary widely based upon your job description. However, you should always follow: your organisation’s policies and procedures; relevant legislation; regulations and codes of practice; and the requirements of any professional body you belong to.

There will be boundaries which you need to adhere to. Boundaries are about knowing where your role as a teacher stops. Try not to get personally involved with your learners, always remain professional and act with integrity and impartiality. Boundaries are also about the challenges you might face as a teacher, such as a lack for your administration work, or having to meet certain targets by set dates.

Starting point

Whilst you might be extremely knowledgeable and experienced in your subject area, until you try and teach it to someone else, you won’t really know if you are good at teaching or even if you will enjoy it. The starting point will be to decide what it is your learners need to know and in what order, for example, from a qualification specification, apprenticeship programme or a job description. You can then decide how you will facilitate the learning process using a variety of teaching, learning and assessment approaches and activities. Due to Covid-19, a lot of learning moved online. You will need to find out from your organisation if they expect you to use certain electronic applications and devices for this purpose, and whether they will provide them or not.

Varying what you do during your sessions will give your learners more chances to engage with the subject. For example, a mixture of discussions, group activities, questions, demonstrations and role plays. You can plan how to do this by using a scheme of work for the whole programme, and session plans for each individual session (see the resources towards the end of the page for examples of templates).

There may be times when you find that your learners know something that you don’t. This is fine, don’t be embarrassed as you can acknowledge your learner’s input and encourage other learners to contribute too. Your learners can also learn from each other. They won’t all have had the same experiences as each other in the past, therefore you can embrace this during your sessions.

A group profile will help you to keep a note of each of your learner's experiences and needs (see the resources towards the end of the page). Your responsibility regarding identifying your learners’ needs may differ depending upon your job role. There are some things you might be able to deal with such as extra support with English, however, you will need to refer your learners elsewhere if not. There might be dedicated staff to ascertain any needs, or it might be your role to try and find out the information. Some learners might not want to disclose any needs they have, whereas others might be quiet demanding that their needs are supported.

Some organisations have specific departments to support learners, often known as ‘learner support’ and ‘learning support’. Learner support is any type of help the learner may need e.g. general advice such as welfare, health or finance. Learning support relates to the subject; e.g. study skills, literacy, language, numeracy and digital skills.

You can take an introductory qualification called the Award in Education and Training to find out more about teaching and learning.

If you are working towards a teaching qualification, guidance for completing the units for the Award, Certificate and Diploma can be found by scrolling down this page.

If you teach and/or assess the teaching qualifications, support materials are available here.

Formal and informal approaches

Formal teaching approaches include lectures, demonstrations, instruction and presentations which are usually teacher-centred. This is known as pedagogy as the teacher is usually in control. Learners are generally passive and it might be difficult for the teacher to assess that learning has taken place.

Informal approaches include discussions, group work, practical activities and role plays which are usually learner-centred. This is known as andragogy and the learners are usually in control. Learners are generally active, and the teacher can observe what has been learnt, and ask questions to check knowledge and understanding.

Some learners respond better to one approach than another. For example, one learner might prefer to listen to a lecture, whereas another might prefer to take part in a discussion. Whenever possible, it’s best to use a mixture of approaches, and to vary the activities used and the time spent on each. Click these links to find out more about how people learn and learning theories.

Using a mixture of different approaches can help to ensure that all learners are included during the session and can actively participate.

Teaching and learning should not be in isolation from the assessment process. You can check that learning is taking place each time you are with your learners. This can simply be done by observing them in practice to check skills, and asking questions to check knowledge. The exception to this is apprentice end-point assessment (EPA).

Ideally, sessions should have a beginning, middle and ending. Think of this as the introduction, development and conclusion. You will need to plan what you will do, and what the learners will do, in each section. This will be formalised by using a session plan (see the resources section at the end of the page). The sections should link together in a logical and progressive way. You will need to create and/or use relevant resources and anecdotes throughout your session to bring your subject to life.

See the resources section towards the end of this page for a table of teaching and learning approaches & activities, and a table of resources.

The teaching, learning and assessment cycle

Your role will usually cover aspects of the teaching, learning and assessment cycle and will briefly involve:

identifying needs – finding out what your organisation’s, your own, and your potential learners’ needs are, finding out why learners are taking the programme and what their expectations are, carrying out initial and diagnostic assessments, agreeing individual learning plans, ensuring learners are capable of achieving their goals and progressing to their chosen destination

planning learning – preparing schemes of work, session plans and materials to ensure you cover the requirements of the programme, liaising with others

facilitating learning – teaching, training and facilitating learning using a variety of approaches, activities and resources to motivate, engage and inspire learners

assessing learning – checking your learners have gained the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding at all stages throughout their time with you, using formal and informal types and methods of assessment

evaluating learning – obtaining feedback from others, reflecting on your role and all aspects involved with the learning process in order to make improvements.

All aspects should focus on the learner. Internal quality assurance and standardisation of practice should take place throughout the process.

Resources

Resources are all the aids, books, handouts, items of equipment, devices, objects and people that you can use to deliver and assess your subject. The main purpose of using resources is to stimulate learning, add impact and promote interest in your subject. If you can search the internet, you might find resources for your subject are freely available. Depending upon your subject and what is/is not available, you may need to create your own or adapt someone else’s resources. This could be a handout of useful information; an online activity; a question sheet; a poster of information, a quiz; a worksheet; or it could be a complex working model used to demonstrate a topic.

There could be some copyright restrictions, particularly if you are using text books. Most educational organisations can apply for a licence to copy a certain amount of material from a book or a journal. If the work of others is used in teaching and learning materials, it should always be correctly referenced, otherwise it’s plagiarism.

Other resources include: interactive and electronic whiteboards; e-learning platforms; audio and visual materials, and other aspects of technology.

Resources can be used to:

aid revision

support teaching

encourage and stimulate learning

consolidate learning

assess learning.

Resources to support teachers and learners of the teaching qualifications can be found by clicking here.

Beginning the session

When commencing a session, if you are unsure what to say to gather your learners’ attention, start with 'Welcome to the session, today we will...' in a louder than normal, but assertive voice. It’s useful to have a session plan (see the resources towards the end of this page) to guide you with your topics and timings, which is based on an aim and objectives for your subject.

An aim is what you want your learners to achieve, objectives are how they will do it. For example, if you want your learners 'to make a cup of tea', then that is your aim. The objectives will be all the activities a learner will perform to make the cup of tea. When planning your aim and the objectives, you will need to consider the skills, knowledge and understanding which learners must demonstrate regarding the subject. This will help you to plan your session i.e. what you want your learners to perform or to know, and how they can demonstrate that they have understood it. Their skills and knowledge will be aided by your teaching, however, their understanding will need to be assessed.

Always check if your learners have any prior knowledge and/or experience of the current topic. This can simply be by asking questions or using a starter activity or quiz (see the resources towards the end of this page). You can then draw upon their responses as you progress through the session. Never assume your learners know or don’t know something, always check.

Developing the session

Try and ensure your session flows progressively, i.e. is delivered in a logical order and assesses progress continually. When changing topics, try to link them together somehow or summarise one before moving on to the other. Break aspects down into smaller manageable chunks and don’t be afraid of repeating, recapping and asking questions.

As you continue with your teaching and learning approaches and activities (see the resources section for examples), allow time for questioning and for reinforcing important points. Only move on when you are sure your learners have understood the current topic.

Incorporate the knowledge and experience of your learners and, if you can, give relevant anecdotes from your own experiences to bring the subject to life. Try and relate what you are teaching to how your learners will benefit from it.

Try not to use the word obvious as things are only obvious to you, and never assume that your learners know something. Show interest, passion and enthusiasm for your subject and encourage your learners to take pride in their work. Use tone and inflection to emphasise key points and don’t be afraid of silent pauses; they will give you time to refocus and give your learners time to consider what you have said. Use eye contact when you can, and use your learners’ names as this shows you are interested in them as individuals. You might want to move around the room rather than stay in the same position at the front. This will give you a chance to check that your learners are focused and shows them that you are in control.

Don't forget to assess that learning has taken place.
If you feel you are overrunning on your timings, don’t be afraid to carry something over to the next session, cut it out altogether, or give it as homework or self-study material. Alternatively, you can adjust the timings of the other activities to reduce or increase them as necessary. Don’t feel you must keep to the number of minutes you have written on your session plan for each activity. It’s more important to ensure learning is taking place than to keep to your timings.
If your learners tend to ask lots of questions and you are running short of time, ask them to write them on a piece of paper or a sticky note. You can collect them in and address them at the end of the session or at the beginning of the following session. If your learners have access to an online learning environment or a private social media group just for your course, you could post your responses on there.

Behaviour and motivation

Learners should demonstrate appropriate behaviour, not only towards their peers, but towards their teacher and others in the organisation. This should include good timekeeping, submitting work on time, acting appropriately, and not causing disruption during sessions. As the teacher, you should lead by example and set a precedent of how you wish your learners to behave.

Communication is the key to managing and improving behaviour during sessions. It should always be appropriate and effective, and to the level of your learners. To get through a session without any behaviour issues or disruptions would be wonderful, but this very rarely happens. It could simply be a learner asking to go and get a drink of water, which is a disruption rather than a behaviour issue. Or it could be a learner who consistently interrupts the teacher or others to gain attention. Experience over time will help you to identify various aspects and to know how to deal with them effectively.

Usually, disruptions or changes in behaviour occur because a learner doesn't follow the ground rules or they are bored. For example, they send messages via their electronic device as something to do. If this is the case, politely ask them to stop, remind them of the ground rules and tell them how they are disrupting their peers' learning. Other occurrences happen because learners don't understand what you are saying, their attention span is different to other learners, or you are not challenging them enough. You could give an alternative activity to stretch and challenge their learning, get them involved in a peer activity, or have a quick one-to-one chat to find out why they are behaving that way.

Learners need to be motivated for learning to take place. Motivation can be intrinsic (from within i.e. a desire to learn something new), or external (from without i.e. a pay rise if they achieve a qualification). Knowing what motivates a learner can help you to make their learning more relevant to them.

There are many good text books to help you understand more about behaviour and motivation.

A free book about managing difficult behaviour in colleges can be downloaded here.

Ending the session

When you summarise the topic at the end of the session, try not to introduce anything new as this might confuse your learners. However, you should explain what will be covered in the next session (if applicable) and make clear what homework or self-study activities the learners need to do.

You should allow some time for questions from your learners, and you can finish with a closing activity or quiz if you have time (see the resources towards the end of this page).

Try not to end a session with ‘Does anyone have any questions?’ as often only those who are keen or confident will ask.

This doesn’t tell you what has been learnt and might exclude some learners who might be shy, or do not want to embarrass themselves in front of the group.

Don’t forget to evaluate how the session went i.e. consider what went well, what didn’t and what you would change for next time. You could keep a reflective learning journal to help you (see the resources towards the end of this page).

Teaching and learning resources available for immediate download

If you are working towards a teaching qualification, guidance for completing the units for the Award, Certificate and Diploma can be found by scrolling down this page.

Table of teaching and learning approaches & activities with their strengths and limitations (£2.50)
(Ref A9058)
17 page table listing over 80 different teaching and learning approaches & activities with their strengths and limitations.

Table of resources which could be used for teaching and learning (£1.00)
(Ref H9012)
1 page table listing over 100 resources which can be used when delivering sessions.

Starter and closing activities (£1.00)
(Ref H9031)
2 pages of information explaining what starter and closing activities are, along with examples of each.

Facilitating group learning (£1.50)
(Ref H9034)
3 pages of information about how you can facilitate learning with groups. Includes examples of limitations, how you can manage small group activities and successfully conclude group activities.

Facilitating individual learning (£1.00)
(Ref H9035)
2 pages of information about how you can build up a professional working relationship with a learner and facilitate learning. Includes a task analysis template to help break down a topic for one-to-one learning purposes.

Teaching, learning and assessment checklist (£1.50)
(Ref HC012)
A comprehensive 4 page checklist containing over 100 questions based on the five aspects of the teaching, learning and assessment cycle. It should help all teachers ensure they are performing their role effectively when delivering sessions.

Template – Scheme of Work (in Word) (50p)
(Ref AT014)
1 page pro-forma with relevant headings and boxes to help structure the content of a scheme of work. Can easily be adapted to suit your own requirements. See below for a completed example: Ref M9060

Completed Example of a Scheme of Work (£2.00)
(M9060)
2 page example based on an Introduction to Information Communication Technology (ICT) Level 1 programme. First, second and last sessions are shown. See above for a blank template in Word: Ref AT014

Template - Session Plan (in Word) (50p)
(Ref AT007)
1 page pro-forma with relevant headings and boxes to help structure the content of a session plan. Can easily be adapted to suit your own requirements. See below for a completed example: Ref M9062

Completed Example of a Session Plan (£1.50)
(Ref M9062)
2 page example of a completed three hour session plan (for the first session from the scheme of work about using ICT, which is available to purchase separately Ref M9060 - see two items above this). Includes examples of SMART objectives, appropriate timings, resources, teaching, learning and assessment activities. See above for a blank session plan in Word: Ref AT007

Group profile (in Word) (£1.00)

(Ref AT024)

1 page template to add details regarding individual learners. It includes columns for: name, age, gender/ethnicity, prior skills/knowledge, initial and diagnostic assessment results, learning/learner needs/support requirements, barriers/challenges, attendance & behaviour concerns, additional targets.

Programme/course evaluation (in Word) (£1.00)

(Ref AT015)
1 page template with 13 questions for learners to answer, with responses of 1-4 for each. Can easily be adapted to suit your own programme or course evaluation requirements.

Template – Reflective Learning Journal (in Word) (50p)
(Ref AT005)
1 page template which can be used as a reflective learning journal. Helps focus thought by explaining, describing, analysing and revising actions. See below for a completed example: Ref I9015A

Completed Example of a Reflective Learning Journal (£1.50)
(Ref I9015A)
2 page completed example of a reflective learning journal. This is from the perspective of a teacher delivering their first session to a new group of learners. However, it will give you an idea how to complete it. The detailed reflection takes into account theories such as Schon and Brookfield. See above for a blank template in Word: Ref AT005

More resources are available,

click here for details.

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Information regarding teaching and learning.

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The Disclosure and Barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions. DBS is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office .

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Information and guidance on the Equality Act 2010, including age discrimination and the Public Sector Equality Duty.

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Unit 2Understand inclusive teachingand learning apprached in education and training Evidence-Workbook conv

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GUIDE

So, your recruitment consultant has put you forward for a great teaching role and you've been invited to interview. You've also been asked to deliver a micro-teaching session to demonstrate your skills, knowledge and understanding in your area. Your micro teach will show your potential employer the kind of teacher you are and give you the opportunity to receive feedback on your teaching technique. It can be a daunting prospect but here are some tips on how to plan and deliver a successful micro-teach session.

Create a clear plan with a start, middle and end. Include your aims and objectives to ensure your learners achieve your desired outcome. It helps toknow how many students will be in the class, where the lesson take place, what resources will be available, what level the students will be and for how long (Micro-teach sessions usually last from 15 to 30 minutes).This is all information you can request if it is not given to you.

Create a Plan B, sometimes you may run over or under. If you have extra time what are some things you can add to the lesson? Or, if you're running overtime make sure there are things you can shorten if necessary.

Before starting your session, make sure to assess your learner's prior knowledge. Although you will have found this out ahead of the session, it is worth assessing this yourself in the opening of the session. If the students seem knowledgeable about your subject, you can quickly adapt your session to suit the learner's abilities.

Define your aims and objectives to your students, this will not only keep you focussed and on track, but keep the learners engaged knowing what they are working towards something. You can start the session by saying "Today we're going to learn about.... By the end of the session, we should all...."

Now you have made a plan, assessed your students and defined your outcome, you are ready to deliver your session. Remember to keep your students engaged with activities or open discussions. You may also take this time to participate with the class to get a feel for the students and the school. When running activities, make sure to stay in control of timing. Activities can tend to run over, so make sure you keep the lesson moving to get to your end goal.

At the end of your session, make sure to pack everything away and open the floor to questions.

Now you have everything set out, make sure to practice your sessions in front of family, friends or colleagues so they can give you constructive feedback before your session. There could be things that you've missed or areas you could work on.

Don't forget to stay relaxed and always remember to enjoy the experience.

Ready to plan your micro teach? Here is a free micro-lesson plan template to get you started.

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How to prepare for a Micro-Teach/Presentation

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GUIDE So, your recruitment consultant has put you forward for a great teaching role and you've been invited to interview. You've also been asked to deliver a micro-teaching session to demonstrate your skills, knowledge and understanding in your area.

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Teaching & Learning Approaches- Strengths and Limitations Examples

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Teaching & Learning Approaches- Strengths and Limitations Examples

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Establishing ground rules with your learners, whether in a group or a one to one basis will help underpin appropriate behaviour and respect throughout their time with you, and help the sessions run smoothly.
Ground rules are boundaries and rules to help create suitable conditions within which learners (and yourself) can safely work and learn. If they are not set, problems may occur which could disrupt the session.

It's best to agree the ground rules during the first meeting, perhaps after an icebreaker once everyone is feeling more relaxed. Ground rules should always be discussed and negotiated with your learners rather than forced upon them.

Using an activity to do this will help learners feel included, take ownership of, and hopefully follow them. Some ground rules might be renegotiated or added to throughout the programme; for example, changing the agreed break time.

Others might be non-negotiable: for example, health and safety requirements. These might already be listed in a learner handbook, agreement or learner contract and you would need to ensure all learners have a copy, and know that they are in addition to the ground rules.

When establishing ground rules, you need to have an idea of what will be non-negotiable, and what can be negotiable.

Examples of ground rules
Non-negotiable ground rules:

No anti-social behaviour

Everyone is to respect the views and beliefs of others

The area is to be left tidy

Negotiable ground rules:

No eating or drinking during sessions

Mobile phones and electronic devices to be switched off

Breaks will last a maximum of 20 minutes

You might like to change any negative ground rules into positive ones; for example, no eating or drinking during sessions could become eat and drink outside of the session.

You should be a role model and set a good example for your learners by not breaking any of the ground rules yourself. If you have too many ground rules, learners might become over cautious of what they can and can't do and this could affect the learning process.

Whatever method you use to establish the ground rules, make sure they are not open to any misinterpretation. Having clear ground rules will help your learners feel comfortable and able to participate.

Ways to establish ground rules

One way is where both you and your learners work together by a process of discussion and negotiation. This enables your learners to recognise what is and is not acceptable, giving them a sense of ownership and responsibility. It also enables learners to begin working together as a group and encourages aspects such as listening, compromise and respect for others.

Alternatively, your learners could write down the rules individually, then discuss in pairs and join into fours to create a poster or a list on flipchart paper. One or two learners could present this to the full group and agreement can then take place.

Another way would be to ask your learners what others have done during previous events they have attended which made learning difficult. They will usually come up with answers like mobile phones ringing and people interrupting others. You can then start creating a list to build upon.

Ways to maintain ground rules

Keeping the ground rules visible throughout the sessions will act as a reminder of what is and is not acceptable, and enable them to be amended or added to as necessary.

Any learners who have commenced the programme late will be able to see them. It's useful to refer to them at the beginning of the session and when a rule is broken.

For example, if a learner is late, they should be reminded that it is a requirement that all sessions start promptly, otherwise they might not make the effort to arrive on time for subsequent sessions.

If other learners see that you don't say or do anything, they will feel the ground rules have no value. You could also refer to the them when they are not broken as positive reinforcement of good behaviour.

If a learner breaks a ground rule, you may find their peers reprimand them before you do. At the end of your session you could thank your learners for following the ground rules; this will act as a reminder of their existence.

If you can lead by example, you will help create a culture of mutual compliance which should enable effective teaching, learning and assessment to take place.
Ann Gravells, A uthor, Creator of Teacher Training Resources and an Education Consultant
This text has been adapted from Gravells A The Award in Education and Training (2014 Revised edition) London Learning Matters SAGE Publications Ltd. Copyright © 2018 Ann Gravells

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Establishing ground rules with your learners | FE News

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Establishing ground rules with your learners, whether in a group or a one to one basis will help underpin appropriate behaviour and respect throughout their time with you, and help the sessions run smoothly.

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Please complete this self assessmet tool

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Please complete this self assessmet tool

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2022 Professional Standards Self-Assessment tool

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Disabled Student Sector Leadership Group report on how HE providers can ensure that they are equipped to support disabled students.

Documents

Ref: DFE-00044-2017 PDF, 762 KB, 39 pages

Details

The report encourages higher education providers ( HEPs) to look at how they can support and offer the best environment for disabled students.

It considers the requirement to provide 'reasonable adjustments' under the Equality Act 2010, and suggests actions to mitigate risks associated with that.

It will be of interest to:

vice chancellors

principals

senior HEP managers

boards of governors

senior officers in HEPs responsible for compliance with the equality duty

It has been produced by the Disabled Student Sector Leadership Group, a sector-led group, chaired by Professor Geoff Layer, Vice Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton.

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Inclusive teaching and learning in higher education

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Zest for Learning... into the rainforest of teaching

I've delivered multiple presentations and webinars about assessment for schools as training and, more recently, as part of a joint initiative with Century Learning. I've used these slides on multiple occasions - so I thought I'd share them here with brief explanatory notes.

The Bell Curve and Grades
Scores of several thousand students taking the same maths test, scaled so the range of scores is 0-100 form a classic bell-curve: not imposed on the data; it's an outcome of cohort performance, not dissimilar to height variation. The grades however are entirely arbitrary: the number of grades and where they are placed have no fundamental basis; we invent them as a proxy for ideas about standards spanning the range of performance. Pass/fail thresholds are similarly arbitrary - determined by policy makers; accepted conceptually by stakeholders engaged in the system. Boundaries might shift when different tests are set and then compared, in order to maintain validity in asserting that standards are common between them.

Crucially, 20% of children will always be in the bottom 20% (yup!) and so we need to find ways to give their learning value, motivating them to engage in the process of learning more - outside the framework of comparison with the cohort.

Set the standards
Establishing standards (What does excellence look like? ) is an important part of a learning process. This takes form differently in difficulty model and quality model assessments.

Engaging students in understanding ideas about success and excellence helps them to self-check as part of their ongoing self-regulation as they undertake the learning. Ultimately they are the people who need to know - not the teacher. Is it right? It is good enough? Is it excellent? Have I improved?

Recent Posts

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Gavin's Official New Assessment Directive.

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Planning Professional Learning: One system; three streams.

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Understanding Assessment: 20 CPD slides.

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I've delivered multiple presentations and webinars about assessment for schools as training and, more recently, as part of a joint initiative with Century Learning. I've used these slides on multiple occasions - so I thought I'd share them here with brief explanatory notes. Purpose. Assessment serves different purposes.

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Education and Training learning styles and inclusive teaching and learning

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Theory PP to help with unit 02 question- 21. 

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Theory PP to help with unit 02 question- 21. 

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Theroy PP for unit 02 question 2.1 creating

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Record of Reflective Account unit 04 criteria 4.14.2.4.3

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Assessment improves instruction in the classroom in many ways. Through assessment, the teacher can monitor the academic progress of the students. Through assessment, the teacher will be alerted to certain learning difficulties. Then, subsequent assessment can diagnose the full nature of the learning problem. And through assessment, the students will be encouraged to learn. Assessment could not fulfill all these roles if it is of poor quality.

Typical Characteristics

Good classroom assessment eventually leads to improved teaching. And improved teaching means better academic performance of the students. To ensure that good assessment methods are utilized, the teachers must determine if these characteristics are met.

Active student involvement - The involvement of students in assessment is not limited to the role of recipients. The students must contribute to the planning of the assessment. This implies that the coverage of a test is not solely determined by the textbook or by the teacher's knowledge. The coverage of the test must include information that was gathered and analyzed by the students.

Skilled teacher direction - Although students participate in planning some aspects of the assessment, the teacher holds the wheel in navigating the assessment procedures. It is the classroom teacher who has required the professional training to decide how to carry out the assessment and how to deal with the results of the assessment. In the same vein, outsiders should not direct assessment. It is the teacher who intimately knows the situation in the classroom.

Constructive - The assessment should provide constructive information for both the teacher and the students. Assessments should not be used to threaten students with grades. And assessments should not be used to threaten teachers with scores. On the contrary, assessments should be used to inspire students to perform better. Assessments should be used to identify learning difficulties so that these difficulties can be addressed and overcome. And assessments should be used to help the teacher in improving his/her teaching techniques.

Purpose-driven - The assessment should be able to fulfill its purpose. If it is a summative type of assessment, then all steps must be taken to ensure that the results will be valid and reliable and the scoring will be objective and free from any bias. If it is a formative type of assessment, then the results must be utilized to improve the teaching and learning process. The scores from formative tests do not end up as grades but as figurative arrows that will guide teachers on how to proceed with the classroom instruction. Thus, formative assessment is, by nature, continuous.

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Typical Characteristics of Assessment for Teachers to Use

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Assessment improves instruction in the classroom in many ways. Through assessment, the teacher can monitor the academic progress of the students. Through assessment, the teacher will be alerted to certain learning difficulties. Then, subsequent assessment can diagnose the full nature of the learning problem. And through assessment, the students will be encouraged to learn.

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Assessment - information regarding assessing learning.

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Brooks and Kirk Assessor Training - The TAQA Training Industry Leader

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When it comes to the different assessment methods you need to know the strengths and limitations. This is so you can choose the right assessment method to use with your learner. Especially if your learner has additional needs. Like English as a second language. You will need to choose the correct one so each learner has an equal opportunity. Let's have a quick recap of the different assessment methods and then we can get into their strengths and limitations.

Assessment Methods

When it comes to assessment methods, you'll need to use a variety of them to assess your learners. So choosing the right one is important! There are a number of assessment methods to choose from, when working as an NVQ Assessor.

So what are their strengths and limitations? We're going to go over some of these to show their strengths and weaknesses.

Observation

This is observing your learners perform a skill. This could be in the workplace or learning environment. You could be watching them perform their job role or some essential skills in their apprenticeship.

Strengths could be that this enables you to see the skills in action, you can see exactly what they are doing and how they would do it. When they make mistakes, you can see how they rectify them, and what can be done in those circumstances. You can assess several aspects of the session at one time. It can be considered a fair method as the learner is in their environment and would be more comfortable. If the observation is online then it can be pretty easy to set a time up for when the learner is available.

Limitations of observations could be that if it's not online then the timing could be an issue, so the time suits the learners, but not only you. Communication is essential for this method, as you will have to ask the learner if things are not clear. There isn't a permanent record unless visually recorded, and if so you have to get their consent and be concerned about the learner's age.

Questioning

This could be a good technique for assessing the understanding of the learner, as well as stimulating thinking. The types of questions you use could be a variety of closed, open, leading, providing, hypothetical or multiple choice. It gets the learner to think more about what you're asking and how much they know.

A possible strength could be that questioning can be a variety, multiple-choice, short answers or a long essay style. Questions can be personalised for each learner or you could make a question bank to use multiple times, so you have them in one place and always know what you're going to ask. Questioning is a good way of challenging learners and promoting their potential. The questions can also target critical arguments, as well as being able to recognise skills. Sometimes oral questions suit learners more than written ones. For example, if the learner is dyslexic or has a visual impairment they might want to talk through their response.

Disadvantages of questioning could come down to what type of questions you use. Such as using closed questions. These only give you a 'yes' or 'no' answer so it's hard to demonstrate knowledge when you can't elaborate upon your initial answer. Sometimes the question writing process can be time-consuming. You may want to think about their written responses, as some could be copied or plagiarised. Some elements of questioning can be hard for learners, such as essay style questions, it may be good for some, but others might dread the thought of completing it this way. It's important to have a variety and a varied approach.

Projects

Projects provide great ways in which you as an assessor can gather a lot of information at once. You could set a report or essay or even a research task your learner continues to do. Any mistakes can highlight any gaps in the candidate's knowledge and allow you to go over the necessary criteria that they may be missing.

Some strengths could be, that projects give you a sense of if there are any gaps in your learner's knowledge and let you provide them with extra training if needed. It is also a great way to set the assessment in a professional/vocational environment, while the learner gains experience in their field. The way projects are set out is also beneficial because they have a beginning, middle and end. Providing clear stages for formative feedback and reflection.

With projects, a limitation could be seen as having to recognise learners' prior learning. As well as continuous monitoring of their occupational competence. You have to keep your learners engaged as well. Sometimes this can be hard in itself.

RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning)

This is when you assess what has previously taken place, to find a good starting point for further assessments. So it's you as an assessor cross-referencing any work with the criteria you are looking for, to see if the learner has completed it.

This would be ideal for learners who have maybe already completed bits of the programme before. As well as if they have any other certificates or awards. Learners want to avoid repeating any area of the programme they have already covered, as to save time and move on. This will then prevent reassessments. RPL provides a value factor when it comes to the work already achieved, as it won't be going to waste.

Checking the authenticity and validity as well as checking how current the evidence provided is important. It needs to be up to the standard of your particular area. This can prove to be time-consuming though, both for the learner and assessor.

Witness Testimony

To get a valid Witness Testimony, you'll require an occupationally competent professional who works with your candidate, for example, a line manager or placement manager, to write a report about a time they witnessed your candidate carry out a task/skill, and confirm their competence of them.

This requires a lot of trust as an assessment method. The witness could confirm competence or achievements, as long as they are familiar with the learner as well as being familiar with the assessment criteria. It could be good for more practical skills, as you may want to evidence it by video (that has limitations of its own). The video would need to be combined with written/witness authentication and cross-referenced with the criteria that the activity meets.

The limitation of this is time. The assessor must confirm the suitability of the witness and check the authenticity of any statements. Learners could write the statement and the witness might sign it not understanding the content within it. Some supervisors/managers are unaware of the requirements needed by their employees. It could also be a breach of fraud. Learners could sign it themselves under their managers. When managers want their employees passed as soon as possible, so they sign it when the learner isn't ready or they haven't witnessed anything, it won't work.

Work Products

This is when your candidate is working in a job role which is relevant to their qualification. Such as apprenticeships. It is more than likely that they are producing work that meets some criteria.

The finished product can provide the assessor with evidence of the learner's understanding of a unit and thus their competence. It can also provide the learner with work to take forward as an example of their skills. But they are also getting industry experience.

The end product can sometimes be difficult to assess. So a portfolio is often necessary to evidence understanding while also showing the process. This can be time-consuming for the learner and the assessor if it isn't clear what the benchmarks are in terms of hitting criteria.

We hope this has helped you in thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of some assessments. As it's important to know them inside out! If you have any questions you can email us at training@brooksandkirk.ac.uk and we will be happy to help.

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Assessment Methods ~ Strengths & Limitations | B & K

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When it comes to the different assessment methods you need to know the strengths and limitations. This is so you can choose the right assessment method to use with your learner. Especially if your learner has additional needs. Like English as a second language.

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Assessments have changed and adapted over the years to ensure that they meet the needs of all learners. Assessments should cater for all learning styles and shouldn't in any way discourage or inhibit the learning process. Here we look at five key areas that can be utilized by teachers to achieve this.

More Time

Certain learners will naturally take longer to grasp a question and come up with a written / verbal answer. This can be complicated further when medical conditions such as Dyslexia and Dyspraxia are taken into consideration, whereby learners are entitled to 25% more time in an examination.

Outside of exams learners can be helped by allowing them more time to complete coursework and homework.

Scribe

Learners suffering with a physical disability can use a scribe to help them get their thoughts onto paper. This in no way gives an unfair advantage, and can be done outside of an exam hall so that it does not distract the other candidates.

The same principle can help students who may of suffered a sports injury a fracture during the school year.

Written Vs Verbal

Traditionally Multi Choice Papers have been used to assess learners on courses. However developing research has shown that this type of assessment potentially excludes learners who prefer to answer a question verbally.

In light of this many awarding / exam bodies give learners the opportunity to answer questions verbally. Once again this can be done outside of the exam hall, gives no unfair advantage and does not discriminate against those who may have writing / reading difficulties.

Exams Vs Coursework

Some types of learners may struggle in examinations and it may not reflect on the hard work they have put in throughout the course of the year. Many courses now offer predominately coursework based assessments that give these types of learners the best chance of prospering.

Exam Phobia

In certain situations learners may struggle in the atmosphere of an examination and could even suffer with mental / physical side effects. Candidates need to be helped in these situations to give them the best chance of passing. The most common solution is to allow them to sit the exam, under the same conditions but in a smaller classroom. Hopefully away from the stresses and anxiety that triggers the phobia in the first place.

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Assessments have changed and adapted over the years to ensure that they meet the needs of all learners. Assessments should cater for all learning styles and shouldn't in any way discourage or inhibit the learning process. Here we look at five key areas that can be utilized by teachers to achieve this.

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Brooks and Kirk Assessor Training - The TAQA Training Industry Leader

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Adapting assessments for your learner's needs is an important part of being an assessor. Everyone has different ways of learning, called 'learning styles'. Some people are more visual learners, whilst others learn by physically doing things.

Understanding what type of learner your students are will help you when it comes to carrying out their assessments. The assessment should cater for all learning styles, and should not inhibit the learning process. Are you struggling to adapt your assessments for your learners? Here are some ideas to get you started.

Give Learners More Time

Think back to when you were at school and the extra support options available during exams. Students who required it were allocated extra time. There can be a whole host of reasons for this. One of the reasons are people with learning disadvantages such as Dyslexia may take longer to understand questions. They may also need extra time to give an answer, whether written or verbal.

Take the time to ask your learner early on whether they have any specific needs that may have an impact on their performance. Not all learners will feel comfortable disclosing specific needs to others. It may take some time and relationship building for your learner to trust you. You can find out more about adapting to learners with specific needs in our blog post.

Consider a Scribe

With technology being so advanced nowadays, if your learner is struggling with writing there are so many options. Whether they find it easier to speak into a voice recorder, or use a tablet to communicate, there are ways around writing. If your learner has any specific needs they may need extra help with getting their thoughts down onto paper. Using a Scribe - a person responsible for providing an accurate and legible handwritten record from the personal dictation of a student - can also help with this.

Verbal & Written Communication

Multiple choice quizzes are a popular assessment method. They enables the Assessor to gain an understanding of the knowledge the learner has. However, the disadvantage is that this type of assessment can exclude learners who prefer to communicate verbally. Many awarding bodies allow a verbal method of assessment as an alternative for those who need it. You just need to get in touch with the relevant awarding body to see what options there are for alternative methods of assessment.

Coursework & Exams

We have all been there.... revising for months on end for a really important exam, and we get into the exam and we freeze up. Our brain is just blank and we can't find the answers! Some people have this to the extreme where they completely panic in an exam situation and their hard work is not reflected in the results. Some learners really struggle in this environment, and luckily written exams aren't the only ways of assessing learners now. Observations are the main method of assessment used, as well as practical assessments which can be carried out in the work environment.

Carrying Out the Assessments

When you are assessing your learners it is important that you give them feedback on how they have performed. This feedback should be delivered in a constructive way to ensure you keep your learner motivated to improve. Take the time to identify the strengths that your learner has, and praise them when they have done something well. It is all about building up a good relationship with your learner, in order to guide them through the course.

Have you had to adapt any assessment methods for your learners to help them? We would love to hear of any innovative tools you have used. Leave a comment below or send an email to training@brooksandkirk.ac.uk.

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Adapting Assessments for Your Learners | Brooks & Kirk

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Adapting assessments for your learner's needs is an important part of being an assessor. Everyone has different ways of learning, called 'learning styles'. Some people are more visual learners, whilst others learn by physically doing things. Understanding what type of learner your students are will help you when it comes to carrying out their assessments.

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What are facilitation skills & how do you facilitate?

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Facilitation is a distinct discipline which is used at every level in organisations, to help people in meetings to reach a decision

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Facilitating learning and change in groups and group sessions. Just what is facilitation, and what does it involve? We explore the theory and practice of facilitation, and some key issues around facilitating group sessions.

Contents: introduction · what is group facilitation? · core conditions and the facilitator · the facilitator's role · core values · facilitating sessions - having a plan · facilitating sessions - thinking of beginnings, middles and ends · facilitating - responding to the moment · dealing with difficult behaviour · conclusion · further reading and references · acknowledgements · how to cite this piece

The idea that helpers and educators are facilitators of learning and change has been around at least since the 1960s. It was the work of Carl Rogers in the United States and Josephine Klein (1961) in Britain that brought the idea to the fore. However, the significance of facilitation and facilitators had already been recognized by some commentators on organizational life. Groups were becoming understood as the basic work unit of organizations - being used to plan and implement change, and to organize work. It followed that interventions facilitating effectiveness - and reducing conflict - were fundamental to the interests of organizations.

'Facilitation' and 'facilitating' gained ground in adult education, community education, youth work and informal education in part because educators and animateurs are 'usually at pains to contrast the emotionally congenial aspect of their practice with what they regard as the rigid and conformist nature of schooling' (Brookfield 1986: 123). However, with a greater emphasis on learning as against teaching within formal education, the use of the terms 'facilitator', 'facilitating' and 'facilitation' appears to have grown.

In this piece we will look at the nature of group facilitation, the values involved and the role of facilitators. We will also examine some of the practical tasks and experiences of facilitating group sessions. In particular we explore beginning a session; getting into the subject; responding to the moment; summing up and ending; and how facilitators deal with difficult behaviour.

What is group facilitation?

At heart facilitation is about the process of helping people to explore, learn and change.

But what does facilitating involve? To start I want to take a popular definition of group facilitation by Roger Schwarz.

Exhibit 1: Roger Schwarz on group facilitation

Group facilitation is a process in which a person whose selection is acceptable to all members of the group, who is substantively neutral, and who has no substantive decision-making authority diagnoses and intervenes to help a group improve how it identifies and solves problems and makes decisions, to increase the group's effectiveness.

The facilitator's main task is to help the group increase effectiveness by improving its process and structure. (Schwarz 2002: 5)

Roger Schwarz has made a number of important points here. First, there is a sense in which facilitators have to stand apart from groups yet be acceptable to them. They have to be seen as a third party. Ideally facilitators should not be members of the groups or their leaders as this can cause confusion around the role being played (Schwarz 2002: 42).

Second, for things to work group members have to allow facilitators to facilitate. At the same time facilitators need to earn the space to do this. Facilitators achieve this by doing their job well, and as Roger Schwarz points out by being neutral - not taking sides. This is not at all easy. To work facilitators have to intervene. Facilitating involves making suggestions and offer insights. Such intervention may well be seen by some in a group as favouring one side or another. Facilitating and remaining neutral, 'requires listening to members' views, and remaining curious about how their reasoning differs from others (and your private views), so that you can help the group engage in productive conversation' (Schwarz 2002: 41).

Third, facilitators are not the decision-makers, nor mediators. It is difficult to facilitate sessions where you have what Schwarz talks about as 'decision-making authority'. Knowing that the person who is the 'facilitator' can override any decisions that the group come to will seriously affect the way the members see their task and how they relate to the facilitator. Facilitators are not involved in the actual making of decisions (other than around their role and the process of the group); and in the purest form should avoid placing themselves in the middle of disputes - interpreting one to another. Their task is to work so that participants engage with each other directly (Schwarz 2002: 42)

Fourth, facilitators are experts on, and advocates of, process. While there may be times when facilitators teach - what we might describe as organized moments dedicated to encouraging particular learning (Smith and Smith 2008: 103) - most of our attention when facilitating is on encouraging reflection around experiences and process, the task or to other aspects of the group.

I now want to turn to a second definition of group facilitation - this time drawn from a more therapeutic tradition of practice.
Exhibit 2: John Heron on group facilitation
What I mean by a facilitator... is a person who has the role of empowering participants to learn in an experiential group. The facilitator will normally be appointed to this role by whatever organization is sponsoring the group. And the group members will voluntarily accept the facilitator in this role.

By experiential group I mean one in which learning takes place through an active and aware involvement of the whole person - as a spiritually, energetically and physically endowed being encompassing feeling and emotion, intuition and imaging, reflection and discrimination, intention and action. (Heron 1999: 2)

Here we can see John Heron covering some of the same ground as Roger Schwarz - but he also highlights three further aspects with regard to facilitating groups that we need to consider.

First, the model employed is what we might describe as experiential learning. As such facilitating groups involves attention to learning that is achieved through reflection upon everyday experience or direct encounter 'with the phenomena being studied rather than merely thinking about the encounter, or only considering the possibility of doing something about it.' (Borzak 1981: 9 quoted in Brookfield 1983). In David A. Kolb's classic model it has four elements: concrete experience, observation and reflection, the formation of abstract concepts and testing in new situations.

Second, the primary responsibility for learning lies with the group participant, the learner, only secondarily with the facilitator (Heron 1999: 2; see, also, Brookfield 1986). There is an emphasis upon self-direction. This is different to more traditional educational models where teachers are seen as having responsibility for student learning.

Last, and in contrast to some approaches to facilitation and facilitating , John Heron alerts us to the significance of working with the whole person. Facilitation in his view is a holistic intervention.

From all this we can see that facilitation - helping people to explore, learn and change - involves us in building a range of skills. Facilitating also, as Carl Rogers pointed out, requires us to develop certain qualities as people.

Core conditions and the facilitator

Carl Rogers believed that people increasingly trust others when they feel at a deep level that their experiences are respected and understood (Thorne 1992: 26). Based on this he argued that there are three 'core conditions' for facilitative practice - realness, acceptance and empathy. Our success as educators, helpers and animators of learning and change is heavily dependent on the people we are - and the way we are experienced by others.

Let us look further at these qualities - these attitudes - that facilitate learning.

Exhibit 3: Carl Rogers on the core conditions for facilitating learning

Realness in the facilitator of learning. Perhaps the most basic of these essential attitudes is realness or genuineness. When the facilitator is a real person, being what she is, entering into a relationship with the learner without presenting a front or a façade, she is much more likely to be effective... It means coming into a direct personal encounter with the learner, meeting her on a person-to-person basis. It means that she is being herself, not denying herself.

Prizing, acceptance, trust. There is another attitude that stands out in those who are successful in facilitating learning... I think of it as prizing the learner, prizing her feelings, her opinions, her person. It is a caring for the learner, but a non-possessive caring. It is an acceptance of this other individual as a separate person, having worth in her own right. It is a basic trust - a belief that this other person is somehow fundamentally trustworthy...

Empathic understanding. A further element that establishes a climate for self-initiated experiential learning is emphatic understanding. When the teacher has the ability to understand the student's reactions from the inside, has a sensitive awareness of the way the process of education and learning seems to the student, then again the likelihood of significant learning is increased.... [Students feel deeply appreciative] when they are simply understood - not evaluated, not judged, simply understood from their own point of view, not the teacher's. (Rogers 1967 304-311)

Facilitators have to be experienced as genuine - real people that can be related to; they have to care for and respect people; and they need to develop some sense of what might be going on for others. In part they do this by coming to understand themselves.

The facilitator's role

Elsewhere we have discussed the three foci for group workers. Like group workers facilitators need to 'think group', attend to purpose, and stay in touch with themselves.

Thinking group

'Thinking group' means focusing on the group as a whole - 'considering everything that happens in terms of the group context (also the wider context in which it is embedded -social, political, organizational) because this is where meaning is manifest' (McDermott 2002: 81-2). It also entails facilitating the strengthening of the group as, what Glassman and Kates (1990: 105); described as a 'democratic mutual aid system' (see also Mullender and Ward 1991; Shulman 1979: 109; 1999). The facilitator seeks to help groups to help themselves.

Attending to purpose

Facilitators need to keep their eyes on the individual and collective goals that the group may or does want to work towards. Facilitating entails intervening in the group where appropriate to help people to clarify and achieve these.

Attending to ourselves

Being a 'good' educator, helper or animator of community learning and development involves rather more than technique. It flows from our identity and integrity (Palmer 2000: 11). In the same way good facilitators know themselves and are able to draw upon their feelings to make sense of what might be going on with other people. If we do not know who we are then we cannot know those we work with, nor the areas we explore. Another concern here is knowing, and bearing in mind, the responsibilities that go along with our role when facilitating. Gail Evans (2007) argues that we must know what the agency expects of us, what the limits are, and what supports are available. She also says that we must be clear with ourselves about what we can offer in terms of our time, knowledge, skills and feelings.

Core values

On what basis do we make choices about our practice? As facilitators we should be guided by certain commitments. On the one hand are found what we can call 'core values' - a set of beliefs that are shared and debated among the 'community' ( community of practice) of facilitators. On the other, are our personal commitments and values.

We might expect that the values informing facilitation and facilitating would be close those running through education. We would be surprised if there wasn't some concern with truth, or belief in respect for others. Writers on facilitation and facilitating groups inevitably put their own spin on what is required but the four core values that Roger Schwarz cites link to those articulated by many educationalists:

Valid information. This means that participants share information in ways that allows others to understand their reasoning and, ideally, to make some judgements about whether the information is accurate (Schwarz 2002: 46). There also needs to be a commitment when facilitating groups to seeking new information in order to review and make decisions and develop understandings.

Free and informed choice. Participants should be able to define their own objectives and methods for achieving them; choices should not be coerced or manipulated; and choices should be based on valid information. (Schwarz 2002: 47).

Internal commitment. Participants feel personally responsible for the choices they make: they own their decisions. In addition commitment to action is 'intrinsic, rather than based on reward or punishment'.

Compassion. Participants need to be able to suspend judgement and allow themselves to be concerned about the experiences of others, and their suffering. They also need to be concerned with their own suffering and wellbeing.

The first three of these values are drawn from the work of Chris Argyris and Donald Schön, the last is his own.

I now want to turn to the process of planning sessions and structuring them. Here, rather pragmatically, I have looked to my own experiences as a facilitator and tried to link this in to the more holistic approach we have been discussing.

Facilitating group sessions - having a plan

A lot of the business of groups is carried out without much overt thought. Things get done as part of the process of being together. However, there are times when more formal meetings are required to explore some question, make decisions or do business. Here we are describing these times as group sessions; periods when people are gathered together to learn and form judgements. We need to plan for these sorts of encounters. At the same time we also need to ensure that the session can change to address the needs of participants.

There are lots of ways of thinking about what it is important to attend to - but here I want to use a simple model: EFFECT. All it does this to remind us to think about:

Environment. What sort of settings do we need to work with the group to facilitate so that people can engage with each other and the subject that is our focus?

Focus.What is the purpose of the session? What is the subject of our learning and action? Does it relate to what people have expressed as needs, or that we have identified as needs?

Feelings. What sense do people have of what they want and need? What emotions is the session likely to evoke or is evoking?

Experiences. Does the session have the mix of experiences/activities to facilitate and stimulate exploration and learning, address the focus of the session, and meet the needs of participants? Are we facilitating the right sort of openings in the session for people to work together to explore and express these?

Changes. In what ways would we like people to change, do participants want to change (and if so how). Are people changing - if at all - by participating in the session?

Timings. Have we allocated the right amount of time for the different learning experiences and activities?

A few things need saying about this listing.

First, listings like this are always open to argument about what has been included, and what has been left out. This particular way of thinking about facilitating and planning sessions is based in an orientation that values what people bring to sessions, and about what can develop out of engaging with some subject or issue that has meaning to them. It isn't based upon objectives set by the facilitator, or the 'delivery' of some package. For these reasons the session isn't based around objectives - but rather looks to facilitating conversation and exploration - and the experiences that might help exploration and change.

Second, my concern here is to bring to the fore a concern is to facilitate an environment in which participants can 'own' the subject and the relationships in the group. Thus, for each of the elements we need to consider what both we - and the participants might want - and involve them in making decisions about the character and direction of the session. One of the implications of this is that we have to work at the pace of the group - and to respond to questions and issues as they arise. This might involve moving off the initial subject and returning to it.

Third, I have included 'feelings' here as some facilitators fail to address them properly even though they are a fundamental part of group process and learning. When facilitating we can become too focussed on the overt subject, or nervous of what acknowledging or talking about feelings can bring. Things can become unpredictable - and what we thought was the focus of the session shifted to emotional matters and relationships.

Fourth, there is always a significant danger of trying to cover too much ground in a session. The experience can quickly deteriorate into a quick tour of an area rather than an exploration. At the same time we may well be nervous about running out of material when facilitating a group. One way through this is to start with a fairly tight focus - but to have something in reserve in case things don't take off.

Last, it is important to think about the basic structure of the session - what needs to be done when. It is to that we now turn.

Facilitating group sessions - beginnings, middles and endings

There has been a lot written about the different stages that groups and sessions go through - but in the end I have found that the most reliable way of thinking about what is going on is the most obvious. Sessions have beginnings, middles and ends - each with its own task. These are concerned with the 3e's:

Gail Evans has suggested that within helping conversations (and for my money facilitating sessions) it is worth thinking in terms of the exploration as the first quarter of the session; engaging with the subject and developing understanding as the middle half; and enabling action and development as the final quarter (2007: 131). We will look at each in turn.

Beginnings - encouraging exploration

The first quarter or part of the session classically involves three tasks. These entail:

There is no set way of going about this - it changes with the focus of the session and the resources we have at our disposal. There are two rules of thumbs for facilitators and facilitating. The first is that whatever we choose to do needs to excite interest and commitment. The second is that we are looking to invite people into a conversation. If we follow these through then there are some obvious things for facilitators to avoid. These include starting with a PowerPoint presentation of the session's learning objectives; using icebreakers and trust games (there is nothing like a 'trust game' to stimulate doubts as to whether the other group members can be trusted); and appearing to be unprepared or unclear ('So what shall we talk about today?).

Some classic beginnings facilitators use include establishing the focus by using a short video clip - perhaps from YouTube; stating the focus and encouraging exploration by asking people to work on some aspect of it in twos, threes or small groups; working with some of the participants beforehand so that they set the scene by making a short presentation; and summarizing where the group had got to in the previous session (if there was one).

Middles - engaging with the subject and developing understanding

The middle half of the session involves facilitating a deepening of the exploration so that people gain a better understanding of the issue or question - and how it might relate to them.

When thinking about what might be involved in this middle half it is worth going back to what we discussed earlier in relation to Heron's work. The form of learning mostly associated with facilitators and facilitating is experiential. There may well be times when it is necessary for us as facilitators to make a more formal presentation or input as a way of deepening exploration. Mostly though, we either need to encourage people to reflect and build new understandings. As a starter we might ask people to:

Take part in an activity that may highlight or dramatize the questions and issues we are exploring. Examples here facilitating role play and simulation, using extracts from programmes, films or videos, case studies, and other group activities.

Return to some previous experience - for example looking at something that happened in their work.

Such reflection is an activity in which people 'recapture their experience, think about it, mull it over and evaluate it' (Boud, Keogh and Walker 1985: 19). It can be seen as having three aspects:

As facilitators we might ask questions, summarize what has been said or we have seen going in the group; or make observations or comments to help people to address the different aspects of reflection. We might, when facilitating groups, say relatively little. Much of the job of facilitation is done by our presence in the group rather than our being the centre of activity. If we are able to communicate realness, a care and respect for the group, and empathy by the way we conduct ourselves then this can rub off on others. It can help to build an environment in which feelings can be expressed and work done.

When exploring tensions in the group, sensitive questions, or issues where people have strong feelings it is worth bearing in mind that a key task for facilitators is containment. Our job when facilitating is to work with the group to make sessions safe places for dialogue and exploration. At the same time we also need to be encouraging honesty and challenge (Palmer 1998). Too much intervention and we can quickly be seen as taking sides or as closing down debate; too little causes a vacuum and can make the situation feel unsafe.

Endings - enabling people to move on

The final quarter or part of the session is concerned with helping people to make an assessment of their understanding of the issue, task or question that was the focus of the session for them and what, if any, action they need to take individually or as a group. It is also about facilitating the closure of the session. Together these allow people to move on.

The key tasks entail enabling people to:

It is important not to be too pushy or prescriptive about enabling action or setting goals. The last thing we want at this stage is to leave people with the feeling that they have been railroaded into something. However, they do need to be invited to think about any implications for themselves and their lives. It may be that there is no particular action for people to take - that simply talking about something is enough for the moment. Also, it might be that our aim was simply to ask people to entertain some idea or possible course of action not to act on it.

A similar thing applies to managing the end of the session. As facilitators we need to hold on to our task of helping groups to take responsibility for their own work and to develop the ability of their members to help each other and to act together. The danger at this stage is that the wrong sort of intervention on our part can leave people feeling they have, rightly or wrongly, been managed - rather than them managing themselves. Some things worth doing are:

Reminding people of the time left when there is about five minutes to go.

Making sure that any contributions or questions you ask don't open up any huge questions for immediate discussion.

Thanking people for participating in the group/session.

Summarizing what you have promised to do.

Scheduling and agreeing what the next session will be about (if there is one) and/or acknowledging what has been achieved.

Facilitating groups - responding to the moment

If we are to work with the feelings and concerns of people in the group then there will often be times when we need to go 'off-plan'. It could be that as facilitators we have got the focus of the session wrong - and that more appropriate things to explore appear in conversation and activity. Sometimes we simply need to tear the plan up when people appear with a pressing problem or question. Facilitators have to think on their feet.

Mark Doel (2006: 50) has argued for flexibility and improvisation:

It is not so much the degree of structure as its flexibility that is important. All groups benefit from preparation, and almost all of these are helped by a programme of sorts. The extent to which group workers are able to improvise when necessary is of more importance that the degree of structure per se

Facilitators have to make tricky judgements in this area. By sticking to a plan we can miss important opportunities for learning. By following what comes up we can end up knee deep in trivia or frustrating members who want to explore the original focus. This said, as informal educators know, 'going with the flow' opens up all sorts of possibilities. We can get into very rewarding areas. There is the chance, when facilitating groups, to connect with the questions, issues and feelings that are important to people, rather than what we think might be important (see Jeffs and Smith 2005). Working in this way inevitably carries a degree of risk. However, if we reflect on what we do, and continue to think about what might help members of the group as whole to flourish and work together, then we are more likely to make good decisions.

Dealing with problematic behaviour

Very few sessions - if they mean anything to those involved - go smoothly. People will get upset with each other from time to time, some will resist getting involved in the work. This inevitably creates anxiety for us as facilitators.

The first thing to say about this is that making the best response is something we learn rather than taught by others. We learn through experience, through reflecting on people and situations; and thinking about what worked for us, and what did not. Over the years a number of books have appeared that give handy hints for teachers seeking to manage classroom behaviour (e.g. Cowley 2006; Rogers 2006). The problem with a lot of them is that so much of dealing with problematic behaviour is wrapped up with our personalities. A handy hint for one person can be a disaster for another.

Second, when facilitating groups, there is a very real sense in which we need to treat problematic behaviour as a gift. It can tell us a lot about the relationships in the group - and about what we might need to be working on with the group. It can also provide us with feedback about the way we are being experienced as facilitators, or about the subject matter we are dealing with. We need to work so that difficult and disrespectful behaviour is contained and channelled into productive activity.

Third, facilitating is all about relationship. As our relationship with a group or individual develops, so our - and their - capacity to respond in helpful ways will hopefully grow. When starting work with a particular individual or group there will be tensions as we get used to each other and become more comfortable with our roles. As we get to know each other better it might be that people will say more personally challenging things about themselves and others in the group. Things change and we do with them.

Fourth, and to repeat again an earlier point, our task as facilitators is to work with individuals and groups to take responsibility for their own learning and actions. Our interventions in challenging situations need to bear this in mind. There may situations where people's safety (physical and emotional) is our overriding consideration and we have to act quickly or directly to contain things. Examples here include someone threatening another member of the group, doing something that could endanger themselves and/or others, and talking about others in high disparaging ways. However, for the most part a facilitator's first action should be towards involving the group in containing the situation and helping to channel the feelings and understandings underlying the behaviour into into more productive activities.

Last, we need to make sure that we keep our brains engaged. We may get angry or be upset when facilitating groups and sessions. But if we are to help with the channelling of other people's emotions, we need to channel our own. In this we go straight back to what Carl Rogers was talking about when setting out his core conditions for facilitation. Facilitators need to be real while at the same time prizing, trusting and respecting others, and trying to look at the situation from their point of view as well as their own. We need to be looking for how our intervention is impacting on others.

In short, dealing with problematic and disrespectful behaviour is about staying with the basics that we have been discussing here. We need to think group, attend to purpose, and stay in touch with ourselves.

Conclusion

In this piece we have been looking at the nature of facilitation and how to set about working as a facilitator with a group in a session. Our role when facilitating, and as facilitators, is to help groups to work together respectfully and truthfully; and to help them to explore particular and respond to certain issues and questions.

As Roger Schwarz (2002: 14) has commented, 'Facilitation is challenging work that calls forth a range of emotions'. It also involves certain values and ways of treating people. Each of us has our own style and approach - and it is that uniqueness, that realness, that makes our contribution possible.

Further reading and references

Schwarz, Roger M. (2002) The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches. 2e. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. A comprehensive and popular guide that helps to orient our activities as facilitators.

References

Argyris, Chris (1970) Intervention Theory and Method: A behavioral science view. Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley.

Argyris, Chris (1993) Knowledge for Action. A guide to overcoming barriers to organizational change. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Argyris, Chris and Schön, Donald (1974) Theory in Practice. Increasing professional effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Argyris, Chris and Schön, Donald (1978) Organizational learning: A theory of action perspective, Reading, Mass: Addison Wesley.

Bens, Ingrid (2005) Facilitating with Ease!: Core Skills for Facilitators, Team Leaders and Members, Managers, Consultants, and Trainers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Brockbank, Anne and Ian McGill (1998) Facilitating Reflective Learning in Higher Education. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Brockbank, Anne and Ian McGill (1998) F acilitating Reflective Learning Through Mentoring and Coaching. London: Kogan Page.

Brookfield, Stephen D. (1986) Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

Cowley, Sue (2006) Getting the Buggers to Behave. 3e. London: Continuum.

Egan, Gerard (2002, 2006) The Skilled Helper - A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping 7e, 8e. Belmont CA: Thomson/Brooks Cole.

Evans, Gail (2007) Counselling Skills for Dummies. Chichester: John Wiley.

Glassman, Urania and Len Kates (1990) Group Work. A humanistic approach. Newbury Park, CA.: Sage.

Heron, John (1977) Dimensions of Facilitator Style. Guildford: University of Surrey Human Potential Research Project.

Heron, John (1999) The Complete Facilitator's Handbook. London: Kogan Page.

Jeffs, Tony and Smith Mark K. (2005) Informal Education. Conversation, democracy and learning. Nottingham: Educational Heretics.

Kaner, Sam with Lenni Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk and Duane Berger (2007) Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Klein, Josephine (1961) Working with Groups. London: Hutchinson.

McDermott, Fiona (2002) Inside Group Work. A guide to reflective practice. Crows nest NSW.: Allen and Unwin.

Mullender, Audrey and Ward, Dave (1991) Self-Directed Groupwork. Users take action for empowerment. London: Whiting and Birch.

Palmer, Parker. J. (1998) The Courage to Teach. Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Palmer, Parker, J. (2000) Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Rogers, Carl (1967) 'The interpersonal relationship in the facilitation of learning' in Kirschenbaum, H. and Henderson, V. L. (eds.) (1990) The Carl Rogers Reader, London: Constable.

Rogers, Bill (2006) Classroom Behaviour: A Practical Guide to Effective Behaviour Management and Colleague Support 2e. London: Paul Chapman.

Schön, D. A. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action, London: Temple Smith.

Schön, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schwarz, Roger M. (2002) The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers and Coaches. 2e. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Schulman, L. (1999) The Skills of Helping Individuals and Groups. 2e. Itasca, Ill.:Peacock.

Thorne, Brian (1992) Carl Rogers. London: Sage.

Acknowledgements: The picture 'Ari is facilitating' was taken by Shira Golding and is reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic licence. It can be found on Flickr.com: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boojee/2668136741/. The workshop picture representing experiential learning is from the EFEO Action Workshops in 2008. It was taken by devilarts and is copyrighted. It is reproduced here under a Creative Commons licence (Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic) flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/devilarts/2458317215/.

How to cite this piece: Smith, Mark K. (2001; 2009) 'Facilitating learning and change in groups', The encyclopedia of pedagogy and informal education. [ www.infed.org/mobi/facilitating-learning-and-change-in-groups-and-group-sessions/. Retrieved: insert date].

© Mark K. Smith 2001, 2009

Last Updated on July 6, 2019 by infed.org

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Facilitating learning and change in groups and group sessions

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Contents: introduction · what is group facilitation? · core conditions and the facilitator · the facilitator's role · core values · facilitating sessions - having a plan · facilitating sessions - thinking of beginnings, middles and ends · facilitating - responding to the moment · dealing with difficult behaviour · conclusion · further reading and references · acknowledgements · how to cite this piece The idea that helpers and educators are facilitators of learning and change has been around at least since the 1960s.

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N.S Education and Training Mentor Assessment Records-updated Unit 2&4

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Learning and Development is a HR strategy that is specifically focused on helping people learn new skills so that they're motivated and productive at work. It is important to get the best out of a workforce to drive successful business performance and this can be achieved by developing management skills and capabilities.

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Poor team dynamics can undermine the success of a project and reduce morale and engagement. As a result, the group may not explore options effectively and will more likely make the wrong choice. It is vital that a group understands how it can develop, therefore pre-empting any problems that could arise. Understanding each others' preferences allows us to read our colleagues better, interpret more accurately their intentions and adapt our behaviour through training to the best mutually beneficial outcome.

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Good leadership within a team tends to result in a motivated team with a clear direction while also having the ability to accept responsibility for mistakes or wrong decisions. The ability to lead effectively relies on a number of key skills, but it is also important to consider that different leaders have very different characteristics and styles. Team leadership development focuses not only on the impact that the leader makes on the team but also the way that the team responds to the leader, this can be achieved through skills development.

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Within a high performing team, team members feel inspired and understand that what they are doing is of great importance. In high-performing teams, differences are addressed quickly and directly requiring a level of maturity.

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We all love a good 'light bulb' moment, they often provide us with valuable revelations about an inspiring idea that can be put to practice in the workplace. New ideas and creativity are the driving force for innovation and enables a successful future.

Conclusion

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5 Benefits Of Team Learning & Development For Your Team I Team Tactics

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Learning and Development is a HR strategy that is specifically focused on helping people learn new skills so that they're motivated and productive at work. It is important to get the best out of a workforce to drive successful business performance and this can be achieved by developing management skills and capabilities.

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Group facilitation is an important management skill that can really help a team achieve their goals in the most effective and constructive manner. Hence the role of the facilitator is to help the group make progress and find their own solution in the easiest and most effective way.

Here are ten tips to enhance your effectiveness at facilitating groups:

1. Mentally and physically prepare yourself as the facilitator

Mental and physical preparation is essential to get the best out of any group facilitation you undertake. First of all, take time to familiarise yourself with some useful group facilitation techniques.

Then, on the day, make sure you are well rested and focus on creating a positive state of mind, for a successful outcome. In addition, take along your facilitator toolkit with everything you are likely need for the group. This will ensure you are prepared for any unexpected change in working methodology.

2. Create the right environment

We recommend plenty of space, informal seating, natural day light and tables at the side of the room for small group working, where needed. Also ensure that sufficient time has been arranged with the participants to achieve their goals.

3. Ensure the expected outcome/s or objectives are clear

Review objectives with the group at the beginning of the meeting, if these have been established in advance of the meeting. Alternatively, agree them with the group at the time.

4. Establish expectations

Ask about the expectations the participants have of you and each other. Then ask them to list their hopes and concerns of the meeting. If necessary, help them to set their own 'ground rules' whilst working together I.E. acceptable behaviours.

5. Energise the group throughout the meeting

First of all, run through initial introductions and then consider using an ice breaker to get the group engaged, as well as an energiser when energy levels get low. Another useful tip is to regularly change the activity, or change participant roles.

Also consider moving participants around the room, where physically able. In addition, focus their discussion with questions, statements, summaries and reflections of what you have heard or observed from the group, whilst remaining neutral.

6. Manage participation

Participant's communication styles may vary, along with their quantity of verbal contributions. Draw out the quieter participants through small group work. Try asking a 'safe' question or establishing their opinion, once the topic has been initially debated.

In addition, consider allocating different roles to the high frequency or noisy contributors such as minute taker, time keeper, or writing on the flip-chart. Ensure group work has a balance of participants with different communication styles.

7. Adjust your facilitation style

The facilitation style needs to meet the needs of the group at different development stages. For example, a directive style of facilitation works well at the beginning of a meeting. This is because participants typically prefer someone to initially take charge and take them in the right direction - particularly in new group meetings.

However, after time when the group has settled down working effectively together, a more suggestive or consultative facilitation style would be more appropriate.

8. Provide a variety of group working methods

This helps to maintain the levels of engagement within the group, and to support different learning and communication styles. It also assists the group achieve the best results from the meeting. Group working methods could include:

Brainstorming

Meta-planning (individual note pads on a flip-chart, placed into similar categories by the participants) to generate ideas

Decision making techniques (for example: explore options, select the best solutions and make decisions)

Action planning

Capturing information on the flip-chart or white board

Small group activities

Holding a group review to check progress

9. Recognise and reinforce supportive behaviours and responses

Recognition helps the group to build on each other's ideas and suggestions through your comments, questions and reflections of the group dynamics. Hence, it's important to challenge any repetitive negative statements or behaviours observed during the meeting. You can do this by using one or more of these simple techniques:

Move the focus away from the person

Change activities (to change their mental 'state')

Reflect their statement back to them as a question e.g. "it always happens?"

Ask the group for their view on the situation and then move the group on.

10. Evaluate the group's success

Evaluate success either by using individual or group feedback, to review and draw out responsibility for the action points. Initial evaluation is always helpful at the end of the meeting, followed up with a review of how the group has progressed after an agreed period of time.

To facilitate effectively, the facilitator needs to focus all of their energy and commitment to the group. In addition, they need to help the group in the most appropriate and relevant way. This could involve challenging some of the group thinking, or what is not being said through supportive questioning.

Above all, the most effective facilitator is one who quickly establishes and builds trust with the group, through their honesty and transparency in their communications. Importantly, they don't necessarily have the answer for the group they are facilitating, but they hold the belief that the answer lies within the group (or their network). Consequently, they use group working methods to bring these answers and solutions out.

About the Author

, MCIPD is Company Founder of KSL Training. Kim has 30 years training and HR management experience in the Retail, Hospitality and Pharmaceutical industry.

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Tips & Techniques for Facilitating Groups | KSL Training

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Group facilitation is an important management skill that can really help a team achieve their goals in the most effective and constructive manner. Hence the role of the facilitator is to help the group make progress and find their own solution in the easiest and most effective way.

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Learn about CAST’s Universal Design for Learning framework, fostering inclusive educational experiences and improving learning outcomes for all learners.

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Learn about CAST’s Universal Design for Learning framework, fostering inclusive educational experiences and improving learning outcomes for all learners.