Professional Development for Learning Support Assistants

Tag: Independence

  • Task analysis

    Materials:

    • Learning points
    • Guidance
    • Task analysis handout
    • Task analysis example
    • Task analysis template

    Requirements:

    • Access to the internet
    • Screen and speakers to show a video
    • Make handouts accessible.

    This activity is designed to get participants thinking about how learners make progress, and how we can:

    • record learner progress
    • assess learners’ starting points to plan achievable steps
    • recognise learner progress with both the learners themselves, and other staff
    • seize opportunities for broader life skills development
    • use open questions to understand learner emotions effectively
    • share effective strategies for learning and progress.

    Guidance

    This activity is designed to get participants thinking about the many different steps in a task. The purpose of this is:

    1. To get participants thinking about how many ‘steps’ there are within even a simple task.
    2. To help them see where a learner might be independent within a task, even if they cannot do the entire task.
    3. To support participants in understanding goals / targets which might be only a small part of the task, by highlighting the importance of that ‘step’.
    4. To give an avenue to introduce concepts relevant to your setting, such as active support or backwards chaining.
    A graphic showing a wide outer circle with a few black dots representing the observers. A smaller inner circle shows some black dots around a table.

    Using a ‘fishbowl’ approach, split participants into groups of about 6-10 participants per group.

    Each group should then be asked to divide into two, split into half as being either ‘observers’ or the ‘fishbowl’.

    Participants inside the ‘fishbowl’ will be asked to undertake a simple task, while the observers use the Task analysis template to write down a list of everything that the people in the ‘fishbowl’ did. Introduce the task to those in the ‘fishbowl’ and emphasise the need to complete the task slowly and purposefully to assist those the observers writing down everything they do. An ‘exact instructions’ video can be a good way of introducing the concept of writing down exactly what the person is doing.

    After the ‘fishbowl’ group have demonstrated their task, the groups can swap so that both have a chance to complete the task and write a task analysis sheet.

    The task should be short and practical, depending on what is suitable for your setting. Some examples may be:

    1. making a cup of tea
    2. mixing together a colour of paint (e.g. three squirts of green / one squirt of yellow)
    3. making a small snack (a sandwich, scone or piece of toast)
    4. a simple craft, such as cutting out a paper snowflake
    5. potting a single seed.

    Practical tasks lend themselves to detailed task analysis (e.g. “take the scissors out of the block”, “put your fingers through the scissors”, “move fingers apart to open the scissors”…)

    Once participants have completed the task, introduce the staff to the word ‘task analysis’ and tell them that they have now completed task analysis of this task.

    Ask each group as a whole to discuss and come up with 3 situations where task analysis might be useful in an education setting, then feedback their ideas.

    The task analysis handout and example can be used either during or after participants have had a chance to give their ideas.

    Key learning points for debriefing

    • LSAs should understand their responsibilities for recording learner progress.
    • LSA understanding of learners’ baselines is key to ensuring learners are not engaged in tasks they are already capable of or tasks that are too complex. Planning learning activities in achievable steps supports achievement and learner progress.
    • LSAs play unique roles in supporting learner understanding of their progress and ensuring tutors and other college staff are aware of the learners’ levels of understanding.
    • LSAs should work in the moment and not miss opportunities for wider life skills development and learner progress in areas that may not be directly relevant to the task in hand.
    • Effective questioning such as the use of open questions will inform LSA understanding of where the learner is at and how they feel about progress.
    • Sharing ‘what works’ is important for supporting learning and progress across the curriculum.

    You can also draw on the topic learning points in your summing up.

  • Giving learners feedback

    Materials:

    • Learning points
    • Guidance
    • PowerPoint presentation

    Requirements:

    • Access to the internet
    • Screen and speakers to show a video
    • Make handouts accessible.

    This activity is designed to get participants thinking about the importance of giving feedback to learners in a way that helps them to progress. Within it, participants will create their own personal action plan for improving their practice. 

    Guidance

    Explain to participants that you are about to show them a short video which includes six top tips for effective communication with people with learning disabilities. Ask them to consider while they are watching if they have used any of these of approaches with learners they support.

    Watch the video communicating with people with learning disabilities

    Ask participants to move into pairs and ask them to talk about the adaptations they make when communicating with learners they support. Were some of these featured in the video? Are they using other approaches that were not covered? What could they try in order to improve the way in which they communicate with the learners they support?

    Ask participants to share the outcomes of their paired discussions with the wider group.

    Explain you are now going to focus in on a specific context for communication: giving feedback to learners.

    Ask participants to:

    • discuss in small groups the different ways they provide feedback to learners on their learning
    • consider exactly what they say and how they say it to learners
    • identify one or more ways they could improve their approach, following on from the earlier exercise on communicating with learners.

    Introduce the PowerPoint presentation Giving learners feedback.

    Use Slide 2 to cover the basic ‘Dos and Don’ts’ of giving feedback. You could ask participants to add their own suggestions.

    Use Slide 3 to introduce the notion that they are going to identify an area of practice to improve on. Run through the examples of areas to work on covered by the slide and give participants the chance to test out with you the validity of a different area of focus.

    Use Slide 4 to demonstrate how participants can create a simple action plan with an area of focus and some planned actions they can try to help improve their practice. Get participants to complete their own action plan template on a personal area for improvement. They could share these in a pair or with the wider group.

    You could run a future session in which you review the action plans and discuss what has worked and what hasn’t, and what else participants could try.

    Key learning points for debriefing

    • The comprehension skills of learners with good verbal skills are often over-estimated and, conversely, the comprehension skills of learners with poor speech and articulation are often under-estimated. 
    • Cognitive impairment, a low reading age, developmental delay etc. do not mean that the young person should be treated as if they were a child. In FE settings, teaching and support staff must ensure the language used is age-appropriate (e.g. student or learner – not pupil; “well done” – not “good boy”). Learners should be treated with respect and dignity and as young adults (18+) or young people on the verge of adulthood (16+).
    • Young people with learning difficulties often require the use of simple vocabulary and for people around them to talk slowly and clearly to allow for adequate processing time. This does not mean that should be spoken to as if they were children.   
    • Individualised feedback and constructive praise support learning and the planning of next steps. For example, explaining to a learner “you did that really well because you…and next time you could….” will be more effective than just saying “well done” or “good job”. 
    • Checking learner understanding of learning intentions will increase learner engagement.
    • When giving feedback to learners, it is important to allow them, wherever possible, to comment and reflect on their own progress and next steps as part of the process. Making learner feedback a transactional rather than one-way process supports the development of learners’ self-reliance and independence.
    • It can also be appropriate for an LSA to seek learner feedback on the support they are offering. This can lead to a better quality of support and help the learner develop their autonomy.

    You can also draw on the topic learning points in your summing up.

  • Developing flexibility of thought

    Materials:

    • Learning points
    • Guidance
    • PowerPoint presentation

    Requirements:

    • Access to the internet
    • Screen and speakers to show a video
    • Make handouts accessible.

    The PowerPoint presentation and discussion activity introduces participants to the concept of flexibility of thought, and how applying a learned skill in a different context can be difficult for many learners.

    Guidance

    Present the information on flexibility of thought from the slides 2 and 3.

    Explain how slides 4 and 5 show examples of how one skill can be used across different contexts

    Run the discussion activity on slide 6 for 3-5 minutes. Ask participants in groups to discuss one of the areas and write down all the ideas they have of different contexts where that skill is used. An optional step for large groups is that if you have multiple groups discussing the same skill, you may ask them to join up and compare their answers to create a master list.

    Slides 7-9 contain example answers from the discussion activity. You can ask the groups for additional answers they may have thought of which are not on the slides.

    Use slides 10 and 11 to discuss how learners will find it difficult to use the same skill in different contexts. Depending on time available, you could ask individuals or pairs to come up with their own answers to the question on slide 10 before giving the ideas from slide 11. You could also ask participants to:

    • give examples of when they’ve used some of these techniques with learners they support
    • share examples of skills that they are trying to support learners to apply in different contexts
    • reflect on what they might do differently now they have a better understanding of flexibility of mind.

    Key learning points for debriefing

    • A successful LSA prioritises learner skill development over and above the completion of specific tasks. Actively supporting learners to build their confidence, achievements and independence is a skilled job requiring effective preplanning, responsive working, tailored communication, reflection and future planning.
    • Individualised feedback and constructive praise supports learning and the planning of next steps. For example, explaining to a learner “you did that really well because you…and next time you could….” will be more effective than just saying “well done” or using age-inappropriate language such as “good girl”.
    • Many learners will struggle with flexibility of thought. LSAs can play key roles in supporting learner understanding of how what they have achieved in one context can be applied to others.
    • Effective preparation is a key aspect of maximising learning opportunities. e.g. making sure you have prepared communication resources such as social stories or ‘now and next’ boards.

    You can also draw on the topic learning points in your summing up.

  • Oversupporting

    Materials:

    • Learning points
    • Guidance
    • Oversupport role cards

    Requirements:

    • Preparatory work to print and cut role cards. You could also adapt the role cards to a scenario more relevant to your setting.
    • Paper and pencils.

    This activity is designed to get participants thinking about supporting independence, and how we can:

    • recognise when to step back and support independent decision-making
    • build trust with learners, helping them feel safe when learning from mistakes
    • offer personalised feedback and constructive praise to guide learning
    • identify that social ability may not indicate a learner’s level of understanding.

    In this role play exercise, one participant will try to complete a task while another is giving them excessive support. Role cards are provided for participants, each working in pairs, one as a learner and the other as a member of support staff. The activity in the role play is to produce a drawing, though you could adapt the activity to something more relevant to your setting if you wish.

    Guidance

    Ask participants to work in pairs with one ‘learner’ one ‘staff member’ (in the case of an odd number, you could make a three using one member of staff and two learners).

    Distribute the instructions on the role cards and emphasise to the learners that they must not do anything unless they are instructed to do so by the staff.

    Run the role play exercise.

    If time, repeat the exercise with the roles swapped, using the second drawing activity supplied in the resource pack or your own adaptation.

    After the role play, question how the ‘learners’ felt, e.g. motivated, frustrated, relaxed, patronised. Begin with an open question before moving on to some of the prompts below to draw out particular points.

    • Was the support helpful or unhelpful?
    • Did it help you engage with the task or did you find you were just start waiting for next instruction?
    • Did anybody not get ‘full marks’? Why was that?
    • Did the staff member help you do it faster or would you have done it faster without them?
    • How did it feel to have your name called so often?
    • How did you feel about the repeated praise?
    • Did you feel a sense of achievement at the end?
    • What would like to have said to the person supporting you if you had been able to?
    • What sort of support would have been more helpful?

    Reflect with the ‘staff members’ about their experience of the exercise. Point out this was an exaggerated form of over support. You could ask them:

    • How was your ‘learner’ responding to the support you were offering?
    • How different was the approach you were asked to adopt from your normal style of support?
    • What approach to support do you think would have been better to help your ‘learner’
    • Why do you think staff are sometimes tempted to ‘over-support’?

    Conclude with a discussion on the importance of not over-supporting. Bring into the discussion how learners with poor speech / articulation may not have been able to express their thoughts. Participants should identify that being unable to communicate annoyances can add up over time and lead to a poorer learning experience, a sense of passiveness and / or challenging behaviour.

    Key learning points for debriefing

    • Over-supporting learners is very easily done and is detrimental to learner achievement.
    • Recognising when to step back and manage risks is key to effective learner support, e.g. when supporting learners to make independent journeys.
    • Trusting relationships between learners and LSAs provide solid foundations for developing learners’ independence. In certain contexts, an LSA can trust a learner to make decisions (even if you feel they are bad decisions), meaning learners are able to experience the consequences of their decisions and actively learn from any mistakes. A learner’s trust in LSAs helps them to think about mistakes positively.
    • Individualised feedback and constructive praise supports learning and the planning of next steps. For example, explaining to a learner ‘you did that really well because you…and next time you could….’ will be more effective than just saying ‘well done’ or using age-inappropriate language such as ‘good girl’. Over-praise can become meaningless and even demotivating.
    • The comprehension skills of learners with good verbal skills are often over-estimated. The comprehension skills of learners with poor speech and articulation are often under-estimated.

    You can also draw on the wider topic learning points in your summing up.