Review of the literature on IEPs

1. Review of the literature on IEPs Report to the Ministry of Education David Mitchell, Missy Morton & Garry HornbyUniversity of Canterbury, June 2010

2. Key points from the review • IEPs have been asked to serve too many purposes, often contradictory: • Support teaching and learning • Assist planning to access the curriculum • Support requests for resources • Evidence for support needs • Be a kind of ‘de facto’ curriculum

3. Key points from the review • Parent involvement supports children’s learning • Family - School partnership an original intent, but not always realised in practice • Students can be supported to be active participants in the process • All educators involved with a student’s learning should be part of the IEP process

4. Key points from the review • Internationally, including in NZ, there is an expectation (requirement) that all students will • Access the national curriculum • Participate in national assessments • The IEP process will support this access and participation

5. Key points from the review • IEPs do not take place in a vacuum. The success or failure of IEP meetings and outcomes for students with sen is also related to views about • The purposes of schooling • Differences, including disability and other sen • Teaching, learning, teachers, learners, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment • Relationships between home and school, including the importance of students’ cultures

6. Who are IEPs for? • Related to puposes and any links to resources • Students? • Individuals? • Groups? • Teachers? • Schools? • Possible principles and strategies outlined on pp.23-24; p.29; p.39; pp.44-45; 55-57

7. IEPs are but one step • Support for all participants needed in • Preparation for a meeting • Implementing goals and strategies that emerge from, and between, IEP meetings • Following up on and reporting back on teaching and learning (both in the IEP meeting, between meetings, to the BOT, etc.)

8. Purposes of assessment • Of learning? (usually summative) • For learning? (usually formative) • As learning? (not a separate activity from learning - student and teacher are learning)

9. Views of teaching and learning Smith & Barr (2008) summarise three views of teaching and learner, teacher and learner, pedagogy and curriculum: • Learning = being taught • Learning = individual sense-making • Learning = building knowledge through doing things with others Smith, R. & Barr, S. (2008) Towards educational inclusion in a contested society: From critical analysis to creative action. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 12(4), 401-422.

10. Learning = being taught Role of the teacher and goals of teaching: • Expert • To impart new knowledge View of the curriculum: Curriculum as fact

11. Learning = being taught View of learning and learners: Stress cognitive dimension Learners learn by being told Learning is individual Learning is affected by ability, which is fixed Learning involves increasing Understanding new ideas Memorising facts Practising new skills Making decisions based on new information Learners acquire new knowledge in predictable and manageable stages

12. Learning = Individual sense making OR Developing a community of learners Role of the teacher and goals of teaching: • Expert • Role of anyone helping (teaching) is examined in terms of how it helps the learner make his/her own sense • To facilitate discovery of new knowledge, concepts, skills • To help make connections, discover new meaning, gain new insights View of the curriculum: Curriculum as activity

13. Learning = Individual sense making OR Developing a community of learners View of learning and learners: Cognitive dimension stressed Students are engaged in active participation, exploration and research Activities to develop understanding and create personal meaning through reflection Focus still on the individual rather than the social processes in which the individual is engaged Learning involves making connections between old and new experiences, integrating new knowledge and extending established schema

14. Learning = Building knowledge through doing things with others OR Co-construction OR Developing a learning community Role of the teacher and goals of teaching: More equal power dynamics Teacher is viewed and views her/himself as a learner Promoting learning in this view means helping learners engage in ‘generative’ rather than ‘passive’ learning activities; assumes learners need to engage in creative argumentation and knowledge-testing To practice self-reflection and facilitate a reflexive process in others about learning through collaborative dialogue

15. Learning = Building knowledge through doing things with others OR Co-construction OR Developing a learning community View of the curriculum: Curriculum as inquiry

16. Learning = Building knowledge through doing things with others OR Co-construction OR Developing a learning community View of learning and learners: Recognises knowledge is constructed socially rather than individually Emphasises crucial role of language and conversation in the creation and negotiation of shared meaning Students operate together to improve knowledge and help each other learn through dialogue

17. Learning = Building knowledge through doing things with others OR Co-construction OR Developing a learning community View of learning and learners: Co-construction stance moves from learning as acquisition (whatever the commodity to be acquired) to also becoming part of a learning community View of learning is extended to include reflection on the learning process itself and meta-learning (learning about learning)