SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEED

SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

A child has special educational needs (SEN) if he or she has learning difficulties or disabilities that

make it harder for him or her to learn than most other children of about the same age.

Many children will have special educational needs of some kind during their education. Schools

and  other  organisations  can  help  most  children  overcome  the  barriers  their  difficulties  present

quickly and easily. A few children will need extra help for some or all of their time in school.


So special educational needs could mean that a child has:

•          Learning difficulties – in acquiring basic skills in school

•          Emotional and behavioural difficulties – making friends or relating to adults or behaving

•          Specific  learning  difficulty  –  with  reading,  writing,  number  work  or  understanding

•          Sensory or physical needs ­ such as hearing or visual impairment, which might affect

•          Communication problems – in expressing themselves or understanding what others are

•          Medical or health conditions – which may slow down a child’s progress and/or involves

treatment that affects his or her education.


Children  make  progress  at  different  rates  and  have  different  ways  in  which  they  learn  best.

Teachers take account of this in the way they organise their lessons and teach. Children making

slower progress or having particular difficulties in one area may be given extra help or different

lessons to help them succeed.


Teachers are providing different support, help or activities in class, for these children who have



CONCLUSION

In  our  opinion  we  think  that  child  must  be  brought  up  at  school.  Learning  is  based  on  the

interaction between students, between equals. These relationships let their self­esteem increase.

School is an space dedicated to them, to learn knowledge, skills, values and, above all, to grow

up as people and get in touch with other. In the school the infant learns how to live without the

patron of an adult and it is the way to connect with concepts of solidarity and cooperation.



Link video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZth54roMA

By: Marta Fernández and Judith Martínez.

SPECIAL NEEDS: AUTISM

Introduction

To speak about the autistic children, we think it is appropriated to clarify when considering that a child is autistic. Autism is characterized by limited social interaction , problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and severe limited activities, unusual and repetitive interests. Children labeled as "autistic" have been enigmas since they were first identified. Fortunately, some questions surrounding these children are being answered. Many "autistic" children (children with sensory dysfunction) are now being helped, and some are achieving "normal" function.

A problem of perception

The "autistic" child can be perceived as an emotionally disturbed child without a great deal of difficulty and they are often in their own little world. They may strike out at others, at their environment, and even at themselves as though consumed by some inner emotional force. But if we view these behaviors through other eyes, they can begin to make even greater sense. Many people wonder why autistic children have siblings who are not, or why are normal at birth and autism come after a year or two. The answers to these questions are found in neurological study of people and not the emotional.

Treatment

Treatment of children with a multifaceted sensory diffusion is very important because you have to consider the components of neurological organization, specific sensory training, designing a sensory protected environment, behavior management, and medical and nutritional general care. For this reason, children with autism need special support to enable them to positively address their problems in school, social environment, etc..

Faced with such problems children have the vital need for a controlled sensory environment. Many "autistic" children, when placed in a controlled environment, they respond immediately to the new non-threatening environment.

Controlled sensory environments are an integral part of the NACD centers (National Association for Child Development) and are important factors in the care and support to these children to achieve greater potential.

Learning how we learn

Children with this disorder may benefit from various treatments such as educational therapy, speech / language, motor skills development, and development play and socialization with peers, depending on the individual needs of the child.

Most autistic children learn to read before to speak. Therefore, structured, intensive and early education can help children grow and learn new skills such as speaking and communicating, interactive play, learn and worry about themselves.

In conclusion, the segregation of these children and stiffness does not help them learn.As our ideas become clearer and contribute for helping children with autism and other problems, these children are more likely to reach more potential.

Link of the article: http://nacd.org/journal/article3.php

Link of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU-7946HlMw

TASK-BASED LEARNING

The PPP approach has always been used to teach languages ​​at school. PPP means presentation, practice and production, and, if this model is taken, the learning content is given by the teacher, implemented by the students through exercises, and, finally, used by the learners in less controlled speaking or writing activities.

One of the criticisms that this methodology has received is that the contents, in the beginning, seem to fit perfectly, but, in reality, these are not suited to each child.

An alternative to the PPP model is the Test-Teach-Test approach (TTT). In this model, the production stage is the first and, after, students have to develop a particular task (a role play, for example). In addition, this is a process followed by the educator.

Task-Based Learning is based on three stages. The first of these is the pre-task stage, in which the teacher introduces and defines the theme and the students perform activities that will help them to remember words and phrases that will be useful to them during the performance of the main task.

The second stage is called the “task cycle”. It is when students do a task in pairs or small groups, and children prepare a report of how they did the task and what conclusions they reached. At the end of the task, they present what they think in front of the class.

The last stage is the language focus stage of approach to language.

The main advantages of TBL are that language is used for a genuine purpose meaning that real communication should take place; that it integrates all four skills and moves from fluency to accuracy plus fluency; and that there are many activities that can be performed and that motivate the students.

We think that this methodology is one of the best for the learning process, because it encourages meaningful, functional, globalized and cooperative learning. With it, observation and inquisitiveness are encouraged. Also, questions are answered by different stages of research, collecting and analysis of the information, experimenting autonomously and coming to conclusions.

This is the link of the article that has been commentated in this text:

http://ingles.ing.uchile.cl/otros/downloads/task-based%20learning.PDF

By: Anna Navarro and Alicia Sánchez

CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING (CLIL)

In a CLIL program, learners gain knowledge of the curricular subject (for example, Science) while simultaneously learning and using the target language (for example, Italian). CLIL has the advantage of addressing all or part of one or more curriculum areas, and thereby extends the time on task for language learning.

However, there are important factors which need to be considered before a school commits to the introduction of a CLIL program. These include:

• The availability of qualified languages teaching staff with the required knowledge of the CLIL approach and the appropriate level of competence in the target language.

• Ensuring students can also understand the key terms and concepts in content areas in both languages.

• The need to manage parental perceptions.

• The resources and potential timetabling changes required to implement a CLIL programs (including curriculum planning time).

From here, we are going to explain an example of students at Coatesville Primary School, who usually learn French. But in this case, they were provided with four 50 minute introductory lessons in Spanish. For the six weeks of the project, the teacher focused on the skills of listening, and responding orally and in writing. Students could learn by demonstrations, gap-filling exercises, flash cards, opportunities to revise and rehearse, and providing summaries.

A POINT OF CAUTION

Adapting existing English units to be suitable in the CLIL context

Because CLIL works on the principle of matching content against what students would normally cover in the corresponding monolingual curriculum, it it understandable that existing mainstream units of work are used as initial reference points for developing CLIL adaptations on the same topic. It is also useful to identify key learning objectives and topics.

However, it became apparent that the most productive way of working with previous units of work is to see them as points for inspiration, and then attempting to follow them too closely as the basis for the CLIL unit.

For example, the unit of work in this case, when taught in English, introduces cause and effect through a storybook around social relationships: the person wakes up grumpy (cause), and then becomes angry at the supermarket attendant (effect). But the key conceptual point -cause and effect- need not be taught based on same materials or tasks, and it is often more productive to focus on other ways of arriving at the same learning outcome.

CHALLENGES

Sharing learning spaces

Where there is no dedicated language classroom, it is difficult to establish a culture and set of expectations where teaching and learning takes plane in another language. 

It would therefore be helpful for schools to commit a dedicated space for CLIL, where teachers can build a rich learning environment specifically for the target language and content. The fact of having materials only in one class would also be better than distributing them into the different classes where the teacher works with.

Isolation and impact of the wider school community

Even with considerable whole school support, there is usually very few other CLIL staff in the school to discuss problems or issues that makes it difficult to offer additional support or time.

In developing a CLIL program, it is necessary to think through these topics and if that is not possible, then the languages teacher will not have to rely so heavily on others to ensure the program can be delivered.

CONCLUSION

We live in a community that is constantly in touch with the entire world. It is therefore necessary that since we born, we start getting adjust to other languages.

Talking about CLIL, students learn by the same way as native speakers do. The language is used as a motivational tool to learn the contents of the subject, because lessons are based around highly familiar topics to them and multiple intelligences. So children focus on fluency and communication and have the opportunity to experiment with the language.

For that reason, teachers should have a good command of the first and foreign language. By this way, they would be able to appreciate the learners' language difficulties and have the ability to deal with them.

To sum up, this text is an invitation to reflect about what is needed to implement different methods so that students and teachers can succeed by becoming involved in academic performance, critical thinking, collaboration, and multiculturalism through interactions in the classroom.

We leave you an interesting video to finish understanding the CLIL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIRZWn7-x2Y




Text based on these links:

• http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/curriculum/Pages/languageclil.aspx
• http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/curriculum/Pages/clilcoatesville.aspx

By: Gemma Cuenca Casacuberta and Paula García Morán.

Education and Social Development/Quality of life By Yadiar Julián Márquez Sánchez

Education.

Talking about education and social development of the human person, lead us to a dynamic context about the action of educating towards individual, familiar and social development. In other words, Education must teach a person that their individual capabilities2 must be in constant equilibrium and relationship with everybody else, furthermore, this equilibrium gives as result such human and social development.
Education is, according to our judgement, the action and courage by which all persons may be able to get a better quality of life, and doing so, a good social development. “It is the development and permanent training of all potentialities, competences and capabilities of man as a human, conscious and free person. It is the embellishment3 of the person at their prime of the spaces in body and spirit, and as consequence of this transfiguration, an impact of the embellishment of their familiar, community, social, political, work, academical, etc., environment.”
It is in Education where a transformation in society can be made, and as such, to enrich the culture and to attain a true development with Ethics and suitability. There exist many points of view to watch and analyze institutions: Education and Social Development, Capitalism, Socialism, Comunism, Marxism, Positivism, etc., all of which defend their position about Education and Quality of Life. Whether good or bad, all of these positions look for the well being and perfectionism of men in society, the fine, just development, leveled and sustainable about what man does, coexists, produces and lives.

Education and Development Dilemma.
All these chapters, along with their indicators, express the utopy of a good personal and social development, but it exists a big dilema to understand more profoundly the concept of education and development.
Personal and social well-being are reflected in the happiness of the same man, and it is in this equilibrium and well-being where such feeling is expressed. Modernization, technology, big cities, politics, are not reflecting such response, and before such dilema, the concept of development expressed in family, organisms, culture, organization, nation, civilization, world, globalization systems and microsystems, etc., is misunderstood and confused. In that situation I say: What situation of man, or what social environment of man is considered as the achievement for development?, I do not know, what I do see and hear when I get off a plane: a huge city like a deafening turbine, that generates global warming, so technified and developed. A place where the persons are not persons anymore, and they have become individuals that only live for themselves. I see that they have forgotten the most essential part of being: “Living and look for the happiness of the community”.
Before such image, I recall myself in the same plane, when it flies at the highest, passing over many communities, and in such a show, I manage to see some poor towns and places that happen to get lost in the great dimension of the green or golden color, reflected by the vast dimensión of forgotten fields. Those towns, places or communities, how would they understand social development?
Forgotten communities, where migration has become part of their culture, where cosmos is still a fundamental part in their daily life. Small and poor towns so far away from technology and modernity, where there still exists the family value, fraternity, common help when the food becomes scarce, the sense of life, the respect and care for nature, a tradition that identifies them, and a set of values that makes them unique and different. Them, how would they understand social development? Them, have they lost equilibrium and have they forgotten living and looking for happiness?
I do not know, with this small reflection I recognize that education can be that hinge that may take towns and cities to find that equilibrium for a just social development. We still do not know what the city is lacking, or what that small community is lacking so they can reach that harmony and happiness. What I am sure of is, that an educated government would have a clearer sight about what to look for for the community. An illiterate government, poor in terms of education, would take the people to a social and productive underdevelopment . In conclusión, we can say that education must take the person, the community or the country into a social development within the frame of Ethics and suitability; living aside Ethics in development is to take man himself to a de-personalization, and therefore, to a senseless community away from what is looking for, equilibrium and perfection.


Finally, we offer to you a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmd1Kmjs7NE

________________________
2 The capability of a human person must be understood as a way to emphasize capabilities and to reach social development.
3 This term we can explain as a Good Deed, well done that produces some good which in turn is translated into an existing reality (Victor García Hoz).

The Benefits of Music Education

The Benefits of Music Education

By Laura Lewis Brown

A boy getting a piano lessonWhether your child is the next Beyonce or more likely to sing her solos in the shower, she is bound to benefit from some form of music education. Research shows that learning the do-re-mis can help children excel in ways beyond the basic ABCs.

More Than Just Music

Research has found that learning music facilitates learning other subjects and enhances skills that children inevitably use in other areas. “A music-rich experience for children of singing, listening and moving is really bringing a very serious benefit to children as they progress into more formal learning,” says Mary Luehrisen, executive director of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation, a not-for-profit association that promotes the benefits of making music.
Making music involves more than the voice or fingers playing an instrument; a child learning about music has to tap into multiple skill sets, often simultaneously. For instance, people use their ears and eyes, as well as large and small muscles, says Kenneth Guilmartin, cofounder of Music Together, an early childhood music development program for infants through kindergarteners that involves parents or caregivers in the classes.
“Music learning supports all learning. Not that Mozart makes you smarter, but it’s a very integrating, stimulating pastime or activity,” Guilmartin says.

Language Development
“When you look at children ages two to nine, one of the breakthroughs in that area is music’s benefit for language development, which is so important at that stage,” says Luehrisen. While children come into the world ready to decode sounds and words, music education helps enhance those natural abilities. “Growing up in a musically rich environment is often advantageous for children’s language development,” she says. But Luehrisen adds that those inborn capacities need to be “reinforced, practiced, celebrated,” which can be done at home or in a more formal music education setting.
According to the Children’s Music Workshop, the effect of music education on language development can be seen in the brain. “Recent studies have clearly indicated that musical training physically develops the part of the left side of the brain known to be involved with processing language, and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. Linking familiar songs to new information can also help imprint information on young minds,” the group claims.
This relationship between music and language development is also socially advantageous to young children. “The development of language over time tends to enhance parts of the brain that help process music,” says Dr. Kyle Pruett, clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and a practicing musician. “Language competence is at the root of social competence. Musical experience strengthens the capacity to be verbally competent.”

 Increased IQ

A study by E. Glenn Schellenberg at the University of Toronto at Mississauga, as published in a 2004 issue of Psychological Science, found a small increase in the IQs of six-year-olds who were given weekly voice and piano lessons. Schellenberg provided nine months of piano and voice lessons to a dozen six-year-olds, drama lessons (to see if exposure to arts in general versus just music had an effect) to a second group of six-year-olds, and no lessons to a third group. The children’s IQs were tested before entering the first grade, then again before entering the second grade.
Surprisingly, the children who were given music lessons over the school year tested on average three IQ points higher than the other groups. The drama group didn’t have the same increase in IQ, but did experience increased social behavior benefits not seen in the music-only group.

The Brain Works Harder

Research indicates the brain of a musician, even a young one, works differently than that of a nonmusician. “There’s some good neuroscience research that children involved in music have larger growth of neural activity than people not in music training. When you’re a musician and you’re playing an instrument, you have to be using more of your brain,” says Dr. Eric Rasmussen, chair of the Early Childhood Music Department at the Peabody Preparatory of The Johns Hopkins University, where he teaches a specialized music curriculum for children aged two months to nine years.
In fact, a study led by Ellen Winner, professor of psychology at Boston College, and Gottfried Schlaug, professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, found changes in the brain images of children who underwent 15 months of weekly music instruction and practice. The students in the study who received music instruction had improved sound discrimination and fine motor tasks, and brain imaging showed changes to the networks in the brain associated with those abilities, according to the Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that supports brain research.
Spatial-Temporal Skills
Research has also found a causal link between music and spatial intelligence, which means that understanding music can help children visualize various elements that should go together, like they would do when solving a math problem.
“We have some pretty good data that music instruction does reliably improve spatial-temporal skills in children over time,” explains Pruett, who helped found the Performing Arts Medicine Association. These skills come into play in solving multistep problems one would encounter in architecture, engineering, math, art, gaming, and especially working with computers.

Improved Test Scores

 A study published in 2007 by Christopher Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy at the University of Kansas, revealed that students in elementary schools with superior music education programs scored around 22 percent higher in English and 20 percent higher in math scores on standardized tests, compared to schools with low-quality music programs, regardless of socioeconomic disparities among the schools or school districts. Johnson compares the concentration that music training requires to the focus needed to perform well on a standardized test.
Aside from test score results, Johnson’s study highlights the positive effects that a quality music education can have on a young child’s success. Luehrisen explains this psychological phenomenon in two sentences: “Schools that have rigorous programs and high-quality music and arts teachers probably have high-quality teachers in other areas. If you have an environment where there are a lot of people doing creative, smart, great things, joyful things, even people who aren’t doing that have a tendency to go up and do better.”
And it doesn’t end there: along with better performance results on concentration-based tasks, music training can help with basic memory recall. “Formal training in music is also associated with other cognitive strengths such as verbal recall proficiency,” Pruett says. “People who have had formal musical training tend to be pretty good at remembering verbal information stored in memory.”

Being Musical

Music can improve your child’ abilities in learning and other nonmusic tasks, but it’s important to understand that music does not make one smarter. As Pruett explains, the many intrinsic benefits to music education include being disciplined, learning a skill, being part of the music world, managing performance, being part of something you can be proud of, and even struggling with a less than perfect teacher.
“It’s important not to oversell how smart music can make you,” Pruett says. “Music makes your kid interesting and happy, and smart will come later. It enriches his or her appetite for things that bring you pleasure and for the friends you meet.”
While parents may hope that enrolling their child in a music program will make her a better student, the primary reasons to provide your child with a musical education should be to help them become more musical, to appreciate all aspects of music, and to respect the process of learning an instrument or learning to sing, which is valuable on its own merit.
 “There is a massive benefit from being musical that we don’t understand, but it’s individual. Music is for music’s sake,” Rasmussen says. “The benefit of music education for me is about being musical. It gives you have a better understanding of yourself. The horizons are higher when you are involved in music,” he adds. “Your understanding of art and the world, and how you can think and express yourself, are enhanced.”

Conclusions
As we can see from the researches, benefits of music in children’s growing are multiples.
Even if the hours of music and art in schools are lowering every day, and their importance is not recognized, children that grow up in musical and art world have a different perception of life and they are more creative in problem solving.
Understanding how to play an instrument and sing is as important as hours of mathematics, and it can also improve the capacity of think smarter in other subjects.
With the possibility to paint and play something that they want, the children’s can express themselves and interact with the world around them in a easy and funny way.

By Anna Jané and Stefano Mussato.

How important is cultural diversity at your school?

How important is cultural diversity at your school?

Attending a school with a diverse student body can help prepare your child for citizenship in a multicultural democracy.

As the United States becomes a more culturally and ethnically diverse nation, public schools are becoming more diverse, too.

A growing trend

The Census Bureau projects that by the year 2100, the U.S. minority population will become the majority with non-Hispanic whites making up only 40% of the U.S. population. No doubt students will need to learn how to interact in a diverse environment. Jean Snell, clinical professor of teacher education at the University of Maryland, believes cultural diversity enhances the school experience, too. "There is a richness that comes from students working side by side with others who are not of the same cookie-cutter mold," she notes.

Students who attend schools with a diverse population can develop an understanding of the perspectives of children from different backgrounds and learn to function in a multicultural, multiethnic environment. Yet, as public schools become more diverse, demands increase to find the most effective ways to help all students succeed academically as well as learn to get along with each other. Teachers are faced with the challenge of making instruction "culturally responsive" for all students while not favoring one group over another. A 2007 study by Public Agenda and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality found that 76% of new teachers say they were trained to teach an ethnically diverse student body but fewer than 4 in 10 say their training helps them deal with the challenges they face.

Schools must take a proactive approach to acknowledging diversity

A parent needs to look beyond the numbers to evaluate a school's approach to diversity.  To create a positive environment where students and teachers are respectful of different backgrounds, schools have to be proactive. "Above all, schools shouldn't just do nothing," says Rosemary Henze, associate professor of linguistics and language development at San Jose State University in California and author of Leading for Diversity: How School Leaders Promote Positive Interethnic Relations.

Structured classroom activities can highlight diversity.  She suggests that teachers structure their teaching to acknowledge different perspectives. For example, in a history lesson about the Vietnam War, they should draw attention to the perspectives of North as well as South Vietnamese citizens, the feelings of the soldiers and diverse views of Americans. In a classroom the teacher can structure learning groups that are diverse and devise activities that require each student to contribute to the group. In this way students learn that each person in a group can contribute and has something of value to say.

Mutual respect is part of the equation.  Henze believes teachers should never tolerate disrespect. They should establish ground rules for the class, and even let the kids help to establish these rules.

She also believes the principal has a huge role in creating an environment where people respect the opinions of others and are open to multiple perspectives on any issue. This should be modeled for students, and in relations with faculty and staff, as well.

No Child Left Behind shines the light on achievement gaps among diverse groups of students.  The federal No Child Left Behind law has put pressure on schools to see that all students succeed, regardless of their ethnic or language background. Schools are required to meet state "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) goals for their total student populations and for specified demographic subgroups, including major ethnic/racial groups, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient (LEP) students, and students with disabilities. If these schools fail to meet AYP goals for two or more years, they are classified as schools "in need of improvement" and face consequences. A broad approach works best to address achievement gaps.

Belinda Williams, an education researcher and co-author of Closing the Achievement Gap: A Vision for Changing Beliefs and Practices, advises school leaders to implement a broad range of strategies to improve teaching and learning, rather than instituting quick fixes to address the achievement gap. The book argues that educators must become more sensitive to the world views of disadvantaged students — and incorporate this awareness into their day-to-day work.

Henze sees value in organizing special events at the school that raise awareness about diversity but warns that "these events should be built into the fabric of the school, rather than being a one-shot deal."

Schools should strive to create an environment where all children feel valued and all children can learn. Snell says the principal should set the tone by having a policy of "no excuses." If there is a problem with a particular student, she says principals and teachers should ask themselves, "What do we need to do to ensure that this child is engaged in learning?" and "What more can we do?" This may mean following up to see that the student has the proper place to study, healthy meals and all the support he needs.

Summary

The article deals with the concept of melting pot which means that USA is a country of variety of different cultures and ethnic groups. The schools have to start working with this concept of multiculturalism at a very early stage so that children can learn quickly and adopt to grow with all kind of people from different religious and cultural backgrounds.

Therefore, the teachers in the school have to recognize the diversity of cultures and they have to be proactive and help all the children learn in the same ways and also learn other cultures. The teachers create activities in the class for groups and all the children can participate and respect each other. All this is important to the children learning in order to achieve success. The schools should strive to create an environment where all children feel valued and all children can further their education.

Conclusion

In conclusion of the article, we believe that going to a school with a diverse student can help prepare children for citizenship in a multicultural democracy.

Public schools are increasingly diverse in reference to diversity. Cultural diversity also improves school experience.

Students who go to schools with students of different ethnicities develop more compression of different origins. This helps them to function in a multicultural and multiethnic environment.

The fact that it has more ethnic groups, it makes education cost effective to support for all students. This creates more problems for academic success.

In order to make diversity good in all aspects, teachers are those who have to set an example for students. Teachers need to show respect to all and must not tolerate disrespect. In addition, teachers are the ones to ensure the success of students regardless of ethnicity or language.

Finally, we believe that diversity is good for schools and especially for students.

                                                                                           

                                                                                             by Carla Hortigón and Dafne Gallardo