Final Report of Professional Development Activity
Ms Martina Maguire
CPD ACTIVITY UNDERTAKEN
I currently work in a special school setting and some of the students I teach have both expressive and receptive language difficulties. I am constantly trying to tailor the curriculum and my teaching methods to meet the needs of these students. This involves using a lot of pictures and other visual aids so the students have a meaningful learning experience.
On the 9th and 10th of September 2010 I attended a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECs) workshop. The approach is currently being used in the school with other students and is proving to be very successful. On receiving the training I hoped to introduce this approach to my students to enhance their ability to communicate.
IMPROVED PRACTICE BY TEACHER
As a result of undertaking this training I now have better knowledge of the Pyramid Approach to Education. Thisapproach has helped me with teaching communication skills for independence with my students, analysing the students’ communication, managing some of the students challenging behaviours, and also guided me in organising and managing my classroom more effectively.
IMPROVEMENT IN PUPILS’ LEARNING EXPERIENCES
After receiving this training, I was able to offer these students another mode of communicating. All areas of the curriculum have become much more accessible to these students, including Science and Technology. Since using the approach there has also been a notable decline in the number of incidents of challenging behaviour.
EVALUATION OF THE ACTIVITY
There are six phases to PECs. At present, two of the five students with whom I have used this approach are working at Phase 3 and the other two students are working on Phase 5. Those students working at Phase 3 are working towards selecting one picture of a desired item or activity from a selection of pictures. Students working at Phase 5 are working towards being able to spontaneously comment on the world around them.
SHARING OF EXPERIENCES, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE
I have worked very closely with my class team (3 classroom assistants), explaining to them how to implement PECs and also with their support I identified individual students that would benefit from PECs. At Phases 1 and 2 it is necessary to have the support of another adult, so my classroom assistants’ support has been invaluable. Without them it would have been impossible to introduce PECs.
I have also supported colleagues both in using the approach and others who were keen to start using it. Some of those colleagues who were already using this approach just needed confirmation that they were teaching it correctly. Others wanted some help in using this approach when confronted with challenging behaviour by some students.
I have had to rely heavily on parental support to ensure success in using PECs. The parents were all very keen to learn about PECs and to date have been highly supportive by reinforcing at home the work I have been doing in school.
VALUE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ACTIVITY
It has proved to be very worthwhile for me to have done this training. The students have reaped huge benefits from being introduced to this approach and I have very happy parents. The teachers in the school who are using the approach are also grateful to have extra support.
I am extremely grateful to GTCNI for awarding me the bursary so that I could avail of this training.
FUTURE PLANS
It is my intention to continue to develop PECs throughout the school and support my colleagues in using this approach with their students.
At some stage in the future I hope to do the next step in PECs training, which is the PECs Advanced Training.
Teacher’s Signature ……………………………
Principal’s Signature…………………………...