The ultimate goal of good educational programming is to help
students develop to their fullest potential. This goal is most likely to be
reached if students feel that they belong and are accepted. Under these
circumstances they can develop the confidence they need to attempt new
behaviour. Attempts lead to mastery, and mastery in turn grants students a
measure of control over their environment and over their own lives.
Following are descriptions of several approaches to program
design. Whichever is chosen should be implemented in an atmosphere of
acceptance and respect.
Integrative Programming
Integrative programming is a holistic approach whose users
recognize both the importance of educating the whole child and the interrelated
nature of learning. Aware that learning occurs across program and curricular
areas rather than in discrete units, teachers who favour this approach are
sensitive to the opportunities available to develop communication and social
skills across all curriculum areas.
This approach can involve a range of programming options, from
personalized instruction to integrated group activities with same-age peers.
But it must always include experiences that will ensure the generalization of
learning to real-life situations.
The philosophy of integrative programming underlies the
recommendations made in this document. It is a holistic approach that
recognizes the personalized nature of learning. After individual assessment,
the teacher, in consultation with parents, decides on specific learning
objectives for each student. Further decisions are made about the environment
in which the learning will occur and about the strategies for instruction and
evaluation, which should take into account individual needs and abilities,
preferences, personalities, and learning styles. By these means students'
immediate needs are addressed, as are their long-term goals of developing the
abilities and relationships necessary to participate fully and independently in
school, home, and community settings.
In this approach skills are taught in context, in ways that are
meaningful to students, and through active learning (i.e., through first-hand
experience). Care should be taken to ensure that the learning experiences are
appropriate to students' chronological ages and reflect the culture and norms
of the school, home, and community.
Consideration should be given to preparing students for
transition from one setting to another. Skills needed in subsequent learning
and living environments should be systematically taught. For example, students
in a preschool program will benefit from activities that prepare them for
participation in an elementary school program (e.g., participating in brief
small-group activities, choosing a toy to play with independently). Older
students need to be directly taught the skills they will need to participate in
home, community, and work settings.
Once learning objectives have been chosen, the teacher should
plan learning opportunities that are relevant and meaningful for the individual
student. Many of these learning opportunities will be available at school,
whereas others can be offered at home or in the community. Teachers are
encouraged to look for opportunities for their students throughout the school,
the home, and the community. For example, a trip to the school library can be
an opportunity to develop communication, social-interaction, decision-making,
and reading skills.
The learning opportunities and resources available in the
school, home, and community must be offered in a co-ordinated way if the
student is to achieve an appropriate level of independence.
Other Approaches
A variety of other approaches are also used in the design of
programs for students. Teachers may wish to incorporate these practices, which
have useful features for specific learning and skill development, into their
programming.
The Functional or Environmental
Approach
In the functional or environmental approach, present and future
environments (home, educational, leisure, and work settings) are identified.
Programs are developed that focus on teaching age-appropriate skills in natural
environments. Features of this approach are easily incorporated into the
integrative approach. For example, for a student who is learning to make lunch
independently, classroom activities might include learning Canada's food
groups, planning a menu, and writing a grocery list. Community-based activities
could include a trip to the supermarket to purchase the items, and at home
lunch could be prepared for the next day. In this way, communicative, social,
physical, and cognitive skills are combined in a cluster of functionally
related learning experiences.
The Developmental Approach
The developmental approach is based on normal child development
and therefore on the assumption that instructional objectives will be ordered
in a predictable sequence. The goal is to help students move through
their developmental milestones, to the highest level of skill
they can attain. A student's position relative to peers can be identified
through assessment of his or her positions in the various developmental
sequences. Caution should be exercised when applying this approach to
exceptional students because they may reach developmental milestones by
atypical routes.
The Behavioural Approach
In the behavioural approach, skills, including social skills,
are taught through analysis, strategies, and reinforcement. Although intensive
instruction of this type may be appropriate at times, it must be meaningful and
used in the context of the student's total program.
The strategy of breaking a skill into its component parts is
known as task analysis. Having learned the component parts of a task,
pupils can master it in sequential steps. Tasks in any subject area can be
analysed and taught in this way. The analysis of tasks should be tailored to
the abilities and needs of individual students.
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