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Glossary
Aims or aspirations
Long-term ambitions which may or may not be achieved, but which provide personal motivation and direction. These are often expressed as a dream, wish or vision of what a person wants to become or what they want to do.
Basic skills
A set of literacy and numeracy skills designed for use with adult learners, which start at pre-entry level with the earliest stages of development of communication through to level 2 of the qualifications framework.
Citizen advocates
Volunteers who create a relationship with a person with learning difficulties and seek to understand and represent that person's view
Course
An externally accredited course of study which can lead to a qualification.
Curriculum
Commonly understood as the totality of the experiences the learner has as a result of the provision made.Curriculum framework
The planned curriculum which sets out the entitlement to learning against which clear and small steps of progress can be planned and monitored.
Goals
Medium-term intentions linked to personal aims or aspirations which give direction to a programme for individuals and which may be achieved over the course of a year or more.
Headswitch
A device worn on the head that operates computer equipment and aids learning.
Individual education plan (IEP)
IEPs cover key skills and should be updated regularly. Under SEN Code of Practice, all children with special educational needs should have an IEP.
Key skills
Learning outcomes
Used to describe what it is anticipated a learner will be able to do, know or understand as a result of a course of study.Person-centred plan
Programme
A planned course of study with a distinct start and endpoint which is designed to meet the requirements of an individual or group of learners and which may or may not be externally accredited. This term is sometimes used interchangeably with 'course'.
Progress files
A set of materials that support planning, achieving and reviewing. A progress file can serve as a tool to help individuals plan their own learning and career development, recognise the knowledge, understanding and skills they are acquiring and record achievements.
Review reports
These record a person's progress against their statement of special educational needs.
Standards of attainment
These describe the expected standards of performance in relation to a specified unit of work.Targets
Short-term and medium-term, achievable and tangible learning outcomes that are likely to be achieved over a few weeks or months. They give direction to a programme and support individuals in achieving their goals. Targets are staging posts towards a goal.
Transition plan
At age 14, children with a statement of special needs must have a transition plan for post-compulsory education.
Teaching strategies
Advanced organisers provide a framework for the material to be learned as a way to help learners assimilate new information.
Chaining involves sequencing the small steps that make up an activity or task so that the learner begins to link the steps together to accomplish a complex activity.
Demonstration is a means of showing learners what they will need to do to complete a task as well as what they are working towards (see also Modelling).
Discussion involves an exchange of ideas in order to reach a solution or a greater understanding.
Errorless teaching provides a context in which the learner is prevented from making mistakes, eg by using cues that make the required response immediate, by physically guiding the learner through difficult aspects of the task or by breaking the learning task into small easily manageable steps. This approach is often selected where the learner has experienced a high level of failure.
Experiential learning means learners taking part in planned real-life activities that are often community based. Learning is facilitated through a combination of planning and preparation, experience, reflection and review.
Experimentation involves learners in planning an investigation to test ideas out for themselves.
Feedback provides learners with information on their progress. This can take many forms, eg oral, written, video or on-line, and can be given by a variety of people, eg peers, staff or colleagues.
Group work can be in pairs or groups of three to five people, enabling learners to learn from and support each other. Group structures can be cooperative or competitive, but are guided by the teacher.
Intensive interaction represents a learner-led approach to learning, based on learner initiation and control of contact with others.
Jigsawing is a cooperative learning strategy which relies on a group structure, where the individual contribution of each member of the group is essential to task completion.
Meta-cognitive strategies involve the direct teaching of skills which help learners regulate learning and remember what they have learned. Examples include teaching learners specific comprehension skills, eg helping them to paraphrase or retell a series of instructions.
Mindmapping is a kind of discussion or problem-solving technique in which members of a group contribute ideas around a single theme to plan an event or solve a problem.
Mnemonic devices are easily remembered words or letters that enable learners to recall particular information. For example, 'Richard of York gave blood in vain' helps us remember the colours of the rainbow.
Mobility training combines experience of using public transport with other activities to help the learner acquire more independence.
Modelling involves demonstrating to the learner how to solve a problem or perform a task.
Multi-sensory approaches seek to stimulate learners to use all their senses through the sensory properties of the environment. Specialised environments can provide ideas, but naturally occurring resources can also provide learning opportunities.
Object of reference refers to a characteristic object from a situation that is made to represent the whole situation. For example, a swimsuit may be used to represent the activity of swimming. Objects of reference are used with learners who have multi-sensory impairments to optimise opportunities for communication. They may also be used with learners who have multiple learning difficulties.
Peer collaboration refers to the random grouping (pairs, fours or more) of learners to work on a joint activity, task or product.
Peer tutoring refers to the planned pairing of learners where one learner who has learned the material assists another.
Prior learning refers to what the learner already knows based on his or her previous experience (both in and out of school).
Problem-solving strategies involve explicitly teaching learners how to approach and think about new problems and to apply what they learn to real-life situations.
Prompting is providing a sequence of cues, eg physically guiding a learner through a task, gesturing or providing verbal directions, to help the learner attend to or complete a task.
Scaffolding is a metaphor for the idea of providing adjustable and temporary support that can be removed when it is no longer necessary.
Self-management skills are based on the principles of cognitive behaviour modification and include self-regulation, self-instruction, self-evaluation and reflective thinking. They involve the learner in monitoring his or her thinking and actions through language mediation.
Shaping is based on using incentives to teach a task by gradually increasing the criteria that must be met in order to obtain the incentive.
Simulation refers to a range of activities that attempt to explore situations in a controlled way. Examples include games, case studies and role play.
Small steps involve breaking down an activity or task into its constituent parts and teaching each one separately.
Technology can provide learners with greater control over their environment and increase their access to opportunities as well as the means to explore or express their ideas.
Trial and error involves experimenting with the presentation of material to be learned in a systematic way in order to determine how to best support the person in learning the material.