Page 295 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 295
learning difficulties and esl
- their transitions are planned carefully;
- their families are involved; and
- there actually are appropriate high-quality education opportuni-
ties available to them (European Agency, 2016).
Regarding this, some approaches should include careful monitoring of
the students and recognising those in risk followed by early individualised
interventions based on the specific needs of each student with learning dif-
ficulties. The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
(2016) suggests that individualised academic support together with social,
emotional and behavioural interventions should be implemented.
Several of the actions listed below can be considered while discussing
the probability of reducing ESL among the learning difficulties population.
As already indicated, these measures are welcomed for preventing ESL in
general. But they are considerably more important for students with learn-
ing difficulties since by definition they are each more likely to experience
more risk factors for ESL than their peers without learning difficulties.
A significant reduction of ESL requires fundamental changes in cur-
riculum design processes, workflow design, and staff training; it demands
creative use of technology and the development of partnerships with key
stakeholders. ESL prevention needs to be built into existing programmes
and newly created programmes also need to be designed (Smink & Schargel,
2004) for students with learning difficulties and for teachers’ educational
and professional development. There are several issues that must be con-
sidered when planning new approaches for the education of students with
learning difficulties in order to reduce their ESL prevalence.
Drop-out and ESL rates have been linked to the characteristics of the
curriculum and instruction. Typically, the focus has been on an adapted
curriculum and upgrading teachers’ skills by providing training in stu-
dent-centred, active pedagogy/instruction. Less often, the curriculum con-
tent itself is challenged. The lesson that has been learned is that adapting a
curriculum which is not relevant or is not teaching functional skills in the
first place does little to motivate students to stay in school (Peters, 2007).
Since the importance of individualised academic support has already
been highlighted, it is evident that educators should also consider adapting
the curriculum especially for an individualised education plan for students
with learning difficulties in order to include more topics that are interesting
and motivating for them. As the changes in the workflow design (where the
295
- their transitions are planned carefully;
- their families are involved; and
- there actually are appropriate high-quality education opportuni-
ties available to them (European Agency, 2016).
Regarding this, some approaches should include careful monitoring of
the students and recognising those in risk followed by early individualised
interventions based on the specific needs of each student with learning dif-
ficulties. The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education
(2016) suggests that individualised academic support together with social,
emotional and behavioural interventions should be implemented.
Several of the actions listed below can be considered while discussing
the probability of reducing ESL among the learning difficulties population.
As already indicated, these measures are welcomed for preventing ESL in
general. But they are considerably more important for students with learn-
ing difficulties since by definition they are each more likely to experience
more risk factors for ESL than their peers without learning difficulties.
A significant reduction of ESL requires fundamental changes in cur-
riculum design processes, workflow design, and staff training; it demands
creative use of technology and the development of partnerships with key
stakeholders. ESL prevention needs to be built into existing programmes
and newly created programmes also need to be designed (Smink & Schargel,
2004) for students with learning difficulties and for teachers’ educational
and professional development. There are several issues that must be con-
sidered when planning new approaches for the education of students with
learning difficulties in order to reduce their ESL prevalence.
Drop-out and ESL rates have been linked to the characteristics of the
curriculum and instruction. Typically, the focus has been on an adapted
curriculum and upgrading teachers’ skills by providing training in stu-
dent-centred, active pedagogy/instruction. Less often, the curriculum con-
tent itself is challenged. The lesson that has been learned is that adapting a
curriculum which is not relevant or is not teaching functional skills in the
first place does little to motivate students to stay in school (Peters, 2007).
Since the importance of individualised academic support has already
been highlighted, it is evident that educators should also consider adapting
the curriculum especially for an individualised education plan for students
with learning difficulties in order to include more topics that are interesting
and motivating for them. As the changes in the workflow design (where the
295
