Disability_Awareness_4_Sw's_Comp

| | |Personal Development Journal | | | | |Name: Vicki Bootland |Date: 8th March 2010 | I was asked by Pauline Young, Staff Development Officer for South Tyneside Council as to whether I would train student social workers who were on placement in the authority in the area of Disability Awareness. Pauline had received the evaluations from my previous session and because they were of a high standard she asked me to train the students. Again due to the training being a one off 3 hour course, I had no previous knowledge of my students. However, I was aware that some had previously worked in the social care field and others were straight out of sixth-form college or school. I therefore had to ensure that my delivery reached all levels of those attending. Although their ages would be different ranges, as Reece at al (2007, pg 6) suggests ‘Adults become involved in post 16 education and training for a variety of reasons but in the main they come of their own volition.’ And so I had to ensure all students, although different in ages and experience, were given an effective learning experience that could be related to their chosen vocation. Therefore it was essential that activities were clearly linked to their social work training. On opening the training I ensured that all of the students were at the correct training as many other workshops and courses were on going at this particular venue. One lady asked why she had been asked to take part as she was a senior social worker for the authority and not a student like the rest. I informed her that I was unsure of why she had been sent, however if she wanted to stay she would be very welcome. This was a good move on my part as on evaluation this particular lady informed the training department that she had attended many disability awareness courses in the past and that the one I delivered was the best she had ever experienced!! I only wished something like this had been said before I had started as it would have given me a real boost. People of often think that disability happens to ‘other people’ and their prejudices’ are based not on actual experiences with people with disabilities, but on a set of beliefs and stereotypical ideas about those people, such as all people with disabilities ‘...can’t actually do anything.’ (Morris, 1991 pg 21). ‘In our society people identified as disabled are second-class, third-class, or even worse class citizens.’ Johnson et al, 2006 pg 31), this is an ideology I wanted to eradicate by using the first activity. The media and the rise of the ‘celebrity’ play a massive role in a lot of people’s lives. As one of the first activities I wanted to bring together both celebrities and disability. When introducing types of disabilities such a physical, learning, hidden etc, I asked students to think of any celebrity that had these types of disabilities. Many students initially found this difficult, as to be a celebrity such as an actor (i.e. Tom Cruise) or someone successful within the business community (i.e. Richard Branson), one had to be perfect. I soon quashed this idea as I introduced certain celebrities who had various disabilities. Many students were shocked and others were then able to identify celebrities with disabilities. I found this was a good strategy to use to make students aware of disabilities and that anyone can be affected with a condition no matter who they are or what status they hold. I had initially informed the students that this would be a very hands on course and that I would not be standing at the front of the room lecturing for the whole time. As Petty (2004) states on his web site, ‘What the learner does is more important than what the teacher does.’. Research shows that active learning is much better recalled, enjoyed and understood. Active methods of learning require us to make our own meaning , that is, develop our own conceptualisations of what we are learning. Petty (2004) states that ‘During this process we physically make neural connections in our brain, the process we call learning.’ Passive methods such as listening do not require us to make these neural connections or conceptualisations. Therefore I chose to make the course more active. This would help the social work students use and apply the methods they have learnt on the course and apply them in their field. Many students were reluctant to take part in the role play exercise where aids were used to recreate various disabilities, however they were soon persuaded when they saw how much fun some of the other were having. Pollock et al (2006) states that ‘Role play in the classroom involves students actively in the learning process by enabling them to act as stakeholders in an imagined or real scenario.’ Following this activity Pollock et al (2006) suggests that ‘...role play is concluded with a debriefing or reflection stage which reinforces the concepts introduced by the role play.’ This is how I completed the activity by asking students how they felt during the role play which allowed them to empathise with the people with disabilities with whom they work. According to Brierley et al (2002, pg 7-12) ‘...the role play technique develops functioning knowledge: a combination of propositional knowledge (knowing about the academic knowledge base), procedural knowledge (knowing how – having the skills) and conditional knowledge (knowing the circumstances in which to use the skills).’ Role play would allow students to develop practical skills for their professional life. Within the training, I ensured students that whatever terms they used they would not be frowned upon even if they were not politically correct. The whole idea for them attending was to learn the correct and incorrect terms to use, as well as etiquette when meeting and dealing with people with disabilities who they may meet during their student and professional lives. ‘One purpose behind politically correct language is to prevent the exclusion or the offending of people based on their differences...’ (economicexpert.com, 2010). I had introduced ‘taboo’ terminology/phrases and the students were to identify the now correct terms to use. This activity was very effective as many students had used the now frowned upon phrases. It allowed students to think about and identify terms of choice used by people with disabilities. Although they did identify many of the correct phrases some they did not and I had to introduce them. I used a handout and picked certain etiquettes that should be considered when working with people with disabilities. On reflection, I felt that the handout was too long and required more visuals. I should have highlighted those I wanted to talk about as students would have found it difficult to find them on such a lengthy handout. The reason I did not read the complete handout as I felt that it may have bored the students and they probably would have lost the will to live! I therefore allowed them to peruse it at their leisure. At the end of the session and to ensure learning had taken place, I asked students to split into two teams and they were to take part in the ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ competition. ‘Each group has the same task; the aim is to see who can do it best...’ (Petty, 2008 pg 221). I created this game/power point as part of my Developing and Managing Resources module for the DTLLS and felt that it would be something light hearted, recognisable and fun but would also ensure that learning had taken place. Students became very competitive and seemed to be having a lot of fun when taking part in this activity as there was a lot of laughing going on. I ensured that I gave positive reinforcement to encourage the students when they chose the correct answer, as behaviourist theorists believe this will increase student’s motivation as well ability to learn. Overall, I felt this session went really well, students marked either very good or excellent on all of the evaluation forms. Although there were certain aspects such as the layout of the handout, which I will adapt for future training, I enjoyed delivering the session. |Signed: |