Teaching students with Special Needs in VET - VETnetwork Australia

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004Teaching students with Special Needs in VETIntroductionMater Dei is a coeducational school for students who have a mild or moderateintellectual disability as their primary disability. Many of these students havesecondary disabilities such as cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism DisorderSpectrum among others.The school is only one of a number of services offered by Mater Dei. Other servicesinclude the Bethany Early Intervention Program and the Family Resource Programwhich is a residential program within the local community. It offers independentliving skills for those students at Mater Dei who are aged 12 years and over and whowish to participate. They live in the four houses in the area from one to four nights aweek and are cared for by residential staff whose responsibility is to further developtheir independent living skills such as meal preparation, shopping and laundry.A Board of Directors administers Mater Dei under the auspices of the Sisters of theGood Samaritan.The underlying philosophy of Mater Dei is inclusion into the wider community for allstudents. It is based on the dignity and uniqueness of the individual person, selfesteem,respect, equity, independence, interdependence and responsibility.The SchoolThe school offers both primary and secondary programs, catering for students from 5to 18 years old. At present there are 116 students enrolled at Mater Dei School.Mater Dei had its beginnings in 1910 when the Sisters of the Good Samaritanacquired the property of Wivenhoe near Camden and opened Mater Dei as anorphanage and a school for the orphans. In 1957, Mater Dei became a school for theeducation of girls with an intellectual disability and in 1981 the school became coeducational.Today Mater Dei School remains in its beautiful rural setting and its educationalinfluence continues to extend well beyond the surrounding communities of theMacarthur region.The CurriculumMater Dei offers a number of programs aimed at developing personal, physical,spiritual, academic, social, emotional and vocational development. Students are taughtin all Key Learning Areas as outlined by the NSW Board of Studies. Communityaccess is an important way of developing personal and social skills and studentsundertake activities in this area on a weekly basis.In 2000, Mater Dei was accredited to deliver the Higher School Certificate (HSC) tothe Year 11 and 12 students. This meant that the students could access the HSCPresenter: Ann McGaw 1

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004through the Stage 6 Special Program of Study which offers Life Skills courses such asEnglish Life and Mathematics Life Skills, as well as access to the VocationalEducation and Training (VET) courses.The HSC is accompanied by a Statement of Attainment, which lists the students’achieved outcomes, which can give a clear picture to employers, ATLAS serviceproviders, future Residential support staff and other relevant personnel.Life Skills courses may form all or part of a Special Program of Study based onIndividual Transition Plans (ITPs).The completion of the ITP process for each student is a condition of access to theStage 6 Special Program of Study.Individual Transition Plan (ITP)Transition is simply a process of change or movement from one stage or phase toanother. It often involves moving from one environment to another. The ITP is anessential feature of the transition process. It is essentially an organisational tool. Itfacilitates a successful transition of older students into a range of employment,training, living and recreational options in the community.This individual planning enables the student, the parent/s or caregiver/s, the school,the social educators and other relevant staff to work together, examining options andopportunities for the future, identifying barriers, setting goals and developing plansand strategies for achieving these goals.Students and their families must be the focal point for planning and implementation.The school program and the long-term transition plan used in the community afterleaving school, needs to reflect what the student and the family want the plan to do inorder for it to be successful.Presenter: Ann McGaw 2

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004The Individual Transition Planning ProcessITP date set by CoordinatorPastoral Teacher sends invitations to complete preparatory form (Step 1) to: parents/carers/student, Family Resource Program other relevant personnel eg counsellors, employersThe ITP meetingPastoral Teacher collates returned Step 1 forms and distributesStep 2 to members at ITP meeting for discussionPastoral Teacher is the facilitator of ITP meeting to: Review last year’s outcomes and achievements Identify post school options Discuss the desired annual outcomesResponsibilities are delegated to members of the ITP meetingFollow-up from ITP meetingITP is written by Pastoral Teacher and Posted to parent/s carers/student Posted to other relevant personnel Given to Family Resource Program 1 copy to student’s fileReview of ITP in 12 monthsPresenter: Ann McGaw 3

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004The Satellite ClassMany mainstream schools are not able to offer the Special Program of Study tostudents with special education needs at their schools.In conjunction with John Therry Catholic High School and the Catholic EducationOffice, Wollongong (CEO), Mater Dei has established a Year 11/12 Satellite classoffering the Stage 6 Special Program to students from John Therry, Mater Dei and toother schools in the community.The students attend John Therry three days a week for the Life Skills courses and onthe other two days, use Mater Dei as their base to access the Structured WorkPlacement Program, the VET course offered by Mater Dei and as well as the MaterDei Community Access program.The Structured Work Placement Program (SWP)This program began in 1998, two years before students could access a VocationalEducation and Training (VET) course and before the work placement component ofthe VET course was added.The purpose of the non-mandatory work placements is to teach our students the socialskills needed in the work place such as punctuality, staying on task, followingdirections and good manners.All the senior students at Mater Dei or in the Satellite class participate in theStructured Work Placement Program. They are learning at school and in theworkplace. They may be enrolled in industry specific structured workplace learning orthey may be enrolled in other programs such as Work and the Community Life Skills.Everyone goes to work at least one day of the week. Students participate in Meals onWheels teams, others work in McDonalds, Camden Council, and many otherbusinesses in the community. Students who do have to complete the mandatory workplacement of 70 hours may do this either by doing a few hours a week or in a week’sblock. This decision is made individually for each student, depending on their staminaand other contributing factors.The Vocational Education and Training (VET) course.The students at Mater Dei all have special needs. For students to participate in theVET program they are given an Entry Level Test. This is a teacher-developed test at asuitable standard for the students. This test is not a pass or fail but provides the VETteacher with an insight to each student’s ability. She is able to assess students’literacy, numeracy, comprehension and writing skills. The testing is very basic andsome students may require assistance in completing all or part of the test. The testingprocess commences from the students’ ability to write their name and copy the datefrom the board. At all times students are encouraged to do their best and seek helpand guidance when needed.Presenter: Ann McGaw 4

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004The class sizes are kept small so each student has the best possible chances ofachieving.The VET course is accredited by the NSW Board of studies, and, just as importantly,by employers. The course offered at Mater Dei is Business Services and teaches officeskills such as word processing, letter writing, putting letters into envelopes,photocopying, filing, and using the telephone and answering machine.However, if the student chooses not to continue with the course after they leaveschool, they can use their skills in other environments eg use the telephone at home,use their word processing skills to write letters and use the Internet to pursue theirinterests.A qualified teacher skilled in training and assessing students with disabilities teachesthe Business Services course.Included in this course is a mandatory work placement of 70 hours or more and thestudents have to be placed in office environments. A thorough work readinessprogram is integrated into the Business Service program to ensure that all students areequipped to spend time in the workplace. It is hoped that the students’ participation inthe overall Structured Work Placement Program has also equipped them better withthe necessary social skills for acceptance in the work place.It is important to give students with any disability the opportunities, such asparticipation in a VET course that their peers in the mainstream would be offered. Thestudents at Mater Dei School share the usual adolescent problems as their peers, suchas insecurities, family pressures, hormonal changes, and when given the opportunitiesto promote their capabilities, they can often surprise their mentors, families andfriends as well as themselves. Mater Dei is, of course, also aware of the need to avoiddiscrimination and to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA).There are three considerations in determining which students will enrol for theBusiness Services course.In the first place, there must be an ITP meeting. This particular meeting is held at theend of Year 10 with the student, his/her parents/carers, his/her parents/carers, pastoralteacher, VET teacher and any other relevant personnel. Goals are established forhis/her adult life after leaving school such as employment, continuing education,living in a residential group home, among others. Keeping these goals in mind, theannual outcomes for Year 11 are then determined. The Stage 6 Special Program ofStudy is discussed as well as the Business Services course and whether the studentcan or wants to access this VET course.A second aspect is that the student may be quite capable of doing the BusinessServices course but may not want to do it.For example, Craig was a student at Mater Dei a few years ago and he was identifiedas having Asberger’s. He hardly spoke but conversed in grunts. However, he couldcommunicate quite well. He had a love of maps and timetables and could look upanything on the Internet. His great love was to work on the computer. At his ITPPresenter: Ann McGaw 5

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004meeting there was enthusiasm from all participants including Craig, for him to enrollin the VET course. However, he only attended the first few lessons as he did not wantto be directed on the computer and was not interested in any of the other aspects ofthe course.A third consideration is the student’s social skills and behaviour.Vanessa who is currently in Year 11 can read and write and she could easily mastersome of the competencies of the Business Services course. However, her behaviourcan be erratic and she can become quite violent when something goes wrong in herworld. She can lose her self-control. She would not be able to perform her mandatorywork placement without one-to-one support from a Mater Dei staff member. Theschool cannot afford this luxury. Vanessa has been a participating member of theStructured Work Placement Program but each time she has had to be withdrawn fromthe work place eg Meals on Wheels and an hour a week at a Pre-school with support.The students learn the same content matter as their peers in the mainstream. However,each lesson is adjusted to meet the needs of each student. These adjustments includeteacher-developed worksheets, repetition and practice, extra time to learn newconcepts and constant help from the teacher’s assistant.Up to date, there has not been any student who has succeeded in reaching theCertificate 11. This is not so important as the student still receives from the NSWBoard of Studies a record of the competencies they have achieved. This record can beused when they are seeking a job as the prospective employer can see what they cando.Characteristics of students with an intellectual disabilityStudents with an intellectual disability fall behind their peers in the mainstream intheir academic abilities. This is not always obvious when meeting one of the students.For example,Laura is a popular attractive young lady in Year 11. She has many attributes andseems to understand what is going on in the community around her. She presents welland can hold a conversation on her own. After meeting her, people walk awaywondering why a girl such as Laura is enrolled in Mater Dei. In fact, Laura has quitepoor academic skills and a limited knowledge of the world around her. She will dowell in life hopefully using her good presenting skills to manage this, but she canhardly read or write.Poor attention span is another characteristic of a student with an intellectual disability.This has to be taken into account in any teaching situation, as often a student cannotsit and listen for a long time. Lessons need to be planned so that there are variationsthroughout the lesson to hold their attention.In general, the students are not practical thinkers. This can be illustrated not by theiracceptance that there is a problem but their lack of effort to resolve it. It may bebecause all their lives, their needs have been met by their families, friends andPresenter: Ann McGaw 6

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004teachers and they have not had to think for themselves. They need opportunities topractise problem-solving skills.Although it can be easy at times to motivate students to do things (that they likedoing) it is difficult for them to be self-motivated. This can be demonstrated at thework place. If they have completed the given task, they often will not look forsomething else to do. It is important to teach them that they need to look for anothertask in their preparation for work placement.A student with an intellectual disability usually does not have a good self-conceptMany of them have experienced failure in the earlier years when they have not beenable to keep up with their siblings or their peers, academically or otherwise. It is veryimportant to praise students when they make an effort and/or when they succeed inorder to boost their confidence.Many students in Mater Dei demonstrate very good social skills and behaviour.However some students do not for various reasons such as poor self-concept, notbeing able to do the work, or perhaps an accompanying behaviour disorder. All thesecharacteristics could also match those of students in the mainstream schools forexactly the same reasons. Consistent class rules, organized lessons, adjusted classwork and appropriate work placements according to their needs and capabilities aresome suggestions to off-set unsuitable behaviour.Curriculum AdjustmentsAll worksheets have to be modified and adapted for Mater Dei students. Simplifyingall student notes and worksheets by enlarging the print, focusing on one step at a time,using visuals, diagrams, props and demonstrations to further enhance student learning.Students with special needs have great difficulty with ‘too much at once’. As theirwriting skills may be poor, note taking is kept to an absolute minimum, if used at all.When introducing a new topic, student notes are handed out, one page at a time. Thisis discussed while students’ interest is being maintained by always involving thestudents. It may be as simple as the students highlighting or underlining importantpoints. A worksheet usually follows each page of students’ notes. This reinforces thelearning process, keeps students involved, helps with their memory retention andprovides the teacher with feedback. If the topic is theory based, then the worksheetsare modified to include: a cloze passage, true or false, multiple-choice, circle thecorrect answer etc. This enables students to participate without having to write outcopious answers, which they may be incapable of doing. Support is always giventhroughout each step.At the start of the lesson, it is important to catch the attention of the class. As theirattention span is quite short, the first instruction must be delivered clearly andconcisely. It is advisable to use one- or two- step instructions, as they will becomeconfused and not be able to follow them. These instructions need to be simply wordedso that they will be understood. It is a good idea to monitor the comprehension of thestudents by asking them to repeat the instruction.Presenter: Ann McGaw 7

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004Over the years, Mater Dei School has increased its use of visual prompts as a result oftheir impact on improved student learning and understanding. The computer symbolsoftware ‘Boardmaker’ has made a significant contribution to the increased use ofvisual prompts. The Boardmaker symbols have been used in many ways eg to createvisual timetables, class rules and individual social stories.It is also a good idea to use visual cues in the VET studies, as they can give thestudents further clarification in their worksheets or as rules or reminders in thecomputer room/classroom.Not only do these students have learning and intellectually disabilities, they may haveone or more physical disability. For example, one of the students who had only beenliving in Australia for several months and came from a non-English speakingbackground, had Cerebral Palsy with the use of only one hand. Learning programshad to be modified in his use of the computer and the vast majority of businessequipment. Even a simple task of opening the mail can be challenging for such astudent. It is amazing to see, with perseverance, patience and practice, how adeptsuch a student can become in doing simple to complex tasks.Assessments are varied to suit both the students and the task being assessed. Theymay be in the form of written, oral questioning, by observation of practical tasks,completion of portfolios or student demonstrations. Tasks undertaken in the modeloffice are also used in the assessment process. All assessments are carefullyrecorded. To cater for the special needs of the students, the assessments are usuallybroken down into smaller steps. Thus more assessments are undertaken. Eachassessment event is recorded and kept in a records folder under the relevant Unit ofCompetence. However, when students are demonstrating their competence in themodel office, then a holistic approach is taken.All written assessments are kept in students’ folders. Students have access to these asit allows for feedback and gives students another opportunity to maintain and organisetheir own work. Students also have a Log Book, which is kept up to date ascompetencies are achieved.When undertaking an assessment, students are well prepared. Not all students may doan assessment task at the same time. If they require more time in the learning process,they can complete the assessment at a later date. Some students may not be able tocomplete all assessment events. For example, one student has a speech impedimentand cannot complete all the tasks on oral communication. This student may not beable to meet all the requirements of this competency but there are other aspects theycan achieve, such as writing down messages and distributing them.Classroom StrategiesAs mentioned above, it is important to use one-step oral instructions which are keptsimple and clear. It is often important to give additional explanations on a one-to-onebasis to clarify the instruction.Presenter: Ann McGaw 8

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004Class rules should be simple and always written in a positive way eg sit upright at thecomputer not do not slouch. Often if they are displayed with visual cues, the studentscan understand them better.Teacher expectations should be poised slightly above what they think their studentscan do. The students need to make every effort to do surpass their own expectationsand they often can do this.Visual cues, as previously discussed, and practical exercises can assist students tolearn. Consequently the idea of a ‘model office’ came into being. The VET teacherwas very fortunate in acquiring an unused room and turning it into a model office.With the help of some funding she was able to install a telephone line, repair anunused photocopier, connect the internet, purchase a telephone, answering machine,fax, a scanner, petty cash tin, colour printer, bookcase, binder, laminator, shredder,labelling machine, filing equipment and a reasonable amount of consumables. Acomputer terminal was reused and an obsolete reception desk was claimed.The VET teacher now has a fully functional office where students can practise on anongoing basis all the skills they have learned. This is a really good learning andassessing tool and is in constant use throughout the lessons. Students are required toaccess messages from the answering machine, receive and send emails and faxes,complete petty cash vouchers, photocopy for staff members, bind documents,laminate, collate, hole punch, fold letters, address envelopes, and the list goes on.The creation of the ‘model office’ has been a great boost to student learning. Thestudents feel a real sense of worth when they are actually completing real life tasks forstaff members. Theory and practical lessons are reinforced in the office environment.This also better prepares the students for the workplace.Work Placement IssuesTravelling independently to work usually is a requirement for a student with adisability. This involves travel training which can be quite successful. However, forMater Dei School, it is a major issue.The school is situated on a property of approximately 700 acres with a private road ofone kilometer to its front gates. This means students have to walk to the gates,keeping in the mind that they must have a very good sense of road and safety skills(which may be unreliable). An added problem is that there is no public transport alongthe road outside the gates. All the students are taxied to and from the school each day.Students going to work have to be transported by Mater Dei staff to and from work.This puts an enormous pressure on the school in terms of lack of staff and schoolvehicles. It can only be achieved by whole school participation which involvesteamwork among the staff. For example, a class going out on community access canalso convey a student to work or a staff member accompanying a student for inclusionto a mainstream school can do the same. The staff of the Family Resource Programwork closely with the school program and travel train students from the residence towork and back. Parents in the area often travel train their children to do the same.Presenter: Ann McGaw 9

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004Work placement is ultimately the responsibility of the school and the teachersinvolved. As in other mainstream schools, the student is not the responsibility of theemployer but the school. Consequently, there must be a good rapport between theschool and the employer. For example,Christopher is a 17 year old student at Mater Dei who goes to work twice a week andpart of this work includes his VET placement. He can be quite manipulative with thetruth. When he told his supervisor that he had a doctor’s appointment and had toleave at lunchtime but had lost his note, she rang the workplace coordinator atschool. As expected, there was no doctor’s appointment and his escapade was foiled.In order to prevent further attempts, a simple stratagem was put in place. Thesupervisor rings at any time there is an absence or a change in his routine.A student must be ready to go to work. Most students have already participated insome aspect of the Structured Work Placement Program and their social skills in thecommunity eg attitude to the supervisor, taking directions, listening skills have beenassessed. Individual measures have to be taken if the student is not ready for work.Luke in Year 11 participates in the VET course. He has good reading and writingskills but a wicked sense of humour and an obsessive nature as a result of braindamage from a car accident when he was a child. In order for him to be ready for hismandatory work placement, he spent one hour each week at his future workplacement with support from a staff member. This worked out quite well and it ishoped that he will continue there independently for half a day a week. This plan onlyworked because the supervisor was receptive to the plan.Mater Dei School works closely with Macarthur Work Place Learning Program(MWLP). This program is responsible for placing all VET students in the Macarthurregion into work placements. The Manager of the program pays special attention tothe students at Mater Dei and personally finds the work placements for the students.She visits the school, meets the students and discusses their placements with them,their teachers and the Structured Work Placement team. Feedback is also important infinding successful work placements. This is a very productive arrangement.The employer does have responsibilities too. The student is under his/her supervisionand although the student has been trained in OHS issues and social skills at work, aproblem could arise. It is the responsibility of the employer/supervisor to ring theschool and relate any problems that are occurring. It is sometimes difficult for theemployer/supervisor to relinquish their ideas of what should be done and to informthe school. Their responsibility is to look out for the basic welfare of the student andto give them directions in the work place.A Shared UnderstandingIt is important that all participants realize that VET is a viable option for students withdisabilities who have as much right as their peers in the mainstream to partake in theVET course. Employers must be aware that these students, in general, who work forthem are enthusiastic to be an ‘employee’ and are content to perform entry-level jobs.Presenter: Ann McGaw 10

VET National Conference 17 –19 November 2004The VET course can be taught to students with an intellectual disability wheneffective learning and teaching strategies are put into place. Learning programs andassessments are developed and constantly modified to meet the individual needs ofeach student. It is not always the brightest or quickest that goes on and succeeds.Some exceptional students give up because they have never struggled with anythingin life before, and when faced with a long, steep learning curve, tire along the way.Often the ‘plodders’ keep going because they are used to life being difficult and theyhabitually persevere. Our students need to be supported and guided to reach theirpotential. Certainly teaching strategies, assessments tasks, worksheets, student notes,student exercises need to be carefully planned, carefully developed, constantlyadjusted and reviewed to meet the needs and abilities of the students but to also meetindustry needs based on the national industry competency standards. It takes a lot ofemotional energy but the rewards are tenfold.It is very important that the employers are involved in the VET work placements. Toensure this, Mater Dei provides an annual morning tea for the employers to thankthem for their contribution and to give them a Certificate of Appreciation. TheStructured Work Placement team also has addressed Chamber of Commerce meetingsto promote community awareness of the program and the advantages of providingwork placements for the students. The Work Place Coordinator understands the valueof networking and is a member of the MWLP Committee and the VET CoordinatorsCommittee with the CEO, Wollongong and attends other related functions.The VET teacher attends VET network meetings for teachers where issues, changes,new developments and availability of new and up-to-date resources are beingdiscussed and implemented.The Catholic Education Office keeps her informed with relevant changes, literatureand correspondence. The VET teacher takes every opportunity to attend conferencesand forums within the diocese to keep abreast of new curriculum and industry trends.Whilst visiting industry for assessing the suitability of work placement she also gainsa current insight into their requirements, expectations and any new developmentsoccurring at the present time. As some of our students may require initial supervisionat their work placement, she can gain a better understanding of industry.The Structured Work Placement team also attends professional development days tofurther their knowledge of disabilities, behaviour management, child protection issuesand student profiles.Teamwork at the school level, with MWLP and with employers is vital to the successof the VET program. The need to identify the issues of involving students with anintellectual disability in the VET course and to develop the course according toindividual needs as specified by the ITP is crucial in promoting an effectivepedagogy.Presenter: Ann McGaw 11