Elective Courses in Education

 

 

 

The Educational Disadvantage Centre offers two electives in the academic year 2011/12, both related to the area of Educational Disadvantage.

• Relating to People from Communities with High Levels of Education Disadvantage

Course director: Dr. Paul Downes

Course facilitator: Siobhán O'Reilly (Familiscope) in Semester 1; Paul Downes in Semester 2.

Key problems which may face teachers in designated disadvantaged schools include poor school attendance, a high incidence of social and emotional disturbance amongst pupils, classroom disruption, inadequate assessment facilities, poor provision for pupils with special needs, low levels of parental stimulus and expectation, early school leaving, and low levels of academic achievement especially in the areas of language acquisition, and literacy and numeracy skills. Student teachers need to be prepared for such practical realities in order to ensure that the educational needs of children in these areas are adequately met. An ability to relate to the people from such a community is also an important asset, and it is hoped that through experience of meeting and communicating with local people from Ballyfermot, and working in Ballyfermot, that students' openness to people experiencing disadvantage will increase.

 

• Creating New Norms: Educational Disadvantage and Behavioural Change.

Course director / facilitator: Dr Seán Mc Donnell (Archways)

The prevalence of Social, Emotional and Behavioural difficulty in young children within low income and demographically disadvantaged areas has been estimated to be as high as 28% which is more than twice that found within the general population (Kelly, 1998). Yet currently there is no school based social competency strategy or behavioural management approaches universally applied within our school system and this despite the fact that there has been an escalation reported by teachers in the frequency with which aggressive behaviours are appearing in our classrooms. This elective programme will provide teachers with concrete and practical strategies to address the needs of those children experiencing Social, Emotional and Behavioural difficulties. The course will examine specific techniques to increase school readiness, address behavioural and emotional maladjustment, and intellectual and developmental deficits. The course will also review and analysis current practices in
relationship to integration and classroom strategies for newly arrived populations.

 

 

Last Updated: Monday January 30 2012