ENGAGING RESISTANT LEARNERS

N.E.E.Ts – B.E.S.Ds – A.D.H.D

Labels! Acronyms! The blight of education! Seriously… a colleague of mine once wrote his retirement speech about the epidemic of acronyms that he had encountered in his final years.. ironic that he was head of an A.C.E. Department!

Ready to Canoe

Now the knack with acronyms is know what they mean! So:

A.C.E. – Alternative Curriculum Experience

N.E.E.T – Not in Education, Employment or Training

B.E.S.D – Behavoural, Emotional and Social Difficulties

A.D.H.D – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Labeling young people with SEN (Special Educational Needs) categorizations of BESD or ADHD immediately changes how people perceive the individual. The label can obscure the individual; it can limit the expectations of staff and the student; it can dis-empower. On the other hand, there are occasions when the identification of SEN can offer an empowering answer to a perplexing problem that  had destroyed the confidence of the child and his/her family. For example, an ADHD identifiction can change lives when a family begins to understand that their son ‘misbehaves’ for reasons beyond his will-powers control.

During this blog it’s enough for you to know, that I going to show you some of the activities I used to reengage students who were at risk of exclusion from school, and were on the SEN Register predominantly for BESD. Some were ADHD and others NEET!

Anyway, enough of these ‘Health Warnings’, lets get on with the Teaching and Learning (T&L!) 🙂

HIGH ROPES with a big dollop of EMOTIONAL LITERACY

This video was taken during a High Ropes outdoor adventure activity. It forms one activity of 12 weekly half day challenges. It shows a group of six 15 year old boys; all under achieving; all having too many behavioural problems at school; on the way to permanent exclusion and ‘NEETdom’.

High Ropes takes people out of their comfort zone. It is very safe (everyone has crash helmets, harnesses, ropes… etc) and a qualified instructor is present. There are a variety of challenges for the boys… each slightly more demanding than the other. When working with heights (like climbing or abseiling) you have to aware that each person has a different threshold of fear.

The fear is useful as a teacher, because it gives you something to focus everyone on. It allows everyone to recognised a shared feeling; to empathise.  It allows you behind the tough facades of the teenage boys, and straight to the raw emotion of coping when stress levels are high. The normal reaction for the boys when stressed, is to get aggressive, or run away (slamming doors and telling the World to F**k Off) . In the context of High Ropes, their reactions are totally different. No false bravado here. Genuine emotion.

It is vital that you create an atmosphere of support and mutual respect within the group. This is easily done, by getting individuals to encourage each other whilst they are in the middle of activity. You see in the video, a teacher telling a student to this. I make a point of  getting the students to reflect upon their emotions and actions in this activity. They learn a great deal about expressing emotion and empathy… they just need reminding that this is what their learning.

The final super, mega, positive outcome from this session, is seeing individuals overcome real fear; doing things their mind was screaming they couldn’t do. In the film you see a boy called Ashley at the top of a tree full of fear because psychologically  the thought of leaping for a trapeze bar 1 meter away, is too over-whelming. The whole group knew what he was feeling and were desperate for him to successfully jump. When he finally lept, and easily made the trapeze, his whole personality changed. He had faced the fear and done it anyway. Everyone recognised his achievement and appreciated its significance to Ashley… and the group.

Back in school, Ashley’s behaviour changed. He learnt a great deal about himself. He witnessed others taking an interest in his well being and success. He united with our project work and we were able to use the memories of the trapeze to get him to overcome other challenges. The film was show to parents and teachers in an end of course show… Ashley said a few words about his day. You could see him grow from within as the audience applauded him and his comrades. 🙂

OUTDOOR ADVENTUROUS ACTIVITIES (OAA)

The High Ropes was one of 12 sessions with this group. The model of working with 6 students for a period of a term works very well and provides the maximum impact. Below are examples of the weekly sessions. We did them in different orders, but I always liked the walk, and low ropes early on. Having a wide range of problem solving activities up your sleeve helps a lot. Walking for walkins sake is fine… but take a few blindfolds with you, and then you have a team building trust session.

The programme:

• Introduction – Initial self-evaluation and ice breaker activities.
  

  Indoor Climbing

• Adventure Walk
• Low Ropes Team Challenge
• Canadian Canoeing
• Pool Canoeing
• Orienteering
• Mountain Biking
• Raft Building
• Rock Climbing
• Orienteering
• High Ropes
• Abseiling
• Numerous Problem Solving Activities
• Final self-evaluation
• Formal Presentation to parents and invited guests.

All sessions include a reflective diary and personal target setting. Photographs and films are very important to get. They allow you transport the learning from the venues, back into school and into the young people’s lives.

 

http://www.flickr.com//photos/77219512@N08/sets/72157633103097797/show/

In the Future – Use a Blog.

It has been a couple of years since I ran Adventure Education… in my day the use of a film with a PowerPoint was considered state of the art. If I was doing this project now, I would have the students blogging throughout the project. They would have the skills to create webpages, upload edited film, embed slideshows of pictures… etc…