Helping Different Types of Learners Thrive By EMMA DALTON

Helping Different Types of Learners Thrive

By Emma Dalton

There is a great deal of research that connects low socioeconomic status with low academic readiness and achievement. An article from Scientific Learning reports that parent involvement is lower in low SES students than in high SES students. The article also provided “factors for success” that were proven to enable students to flourish in schools. The factors include: educational materials at home, valuing education at home, supportive family relationships, and parents who understand their role in their children’s lives. Having educational materials at home means that students have access to books, writing materials, and a structured schedule. Valuing education at home means parents and family members place value on education and teach their students the importance of it. Supportive family relationships include positive and open communication between family members, spending time together, and having a support system of family and friends. Lastly, parents who understand their role in their children’s lives means parents know their purpose is to support their student unconditionally and guide them. They also know they are models for their student to learn from.

There is also a great deal of support for the idea that students who identify as LGBTQ+ need to feel safe at school and often don’t. An article from Learner’s Edge explains that teachers and administrators play a vital role in creating a safe and inclusive environment for all students. The article also explained three ways to successfully support LGBTQ+ students. The first is “build inclusive environments and encourage individuality.” This includes helping students move past stereotypes and traditional gender roles to pursue their own interests and specifically including LGBTQ+ students and voices in curriculum. The second is “take anti-LGBTQ bullying seriously.” All forms of bullying are unacceptable. It is a teacher’s responsibility to stop homophobic bullying as soon as they are aware of it. The article recommends planning ways to prevent bullying and ways to stop it and prevent it from happening again in the future. The third way to support LGBTQ+ students is “encourage professional development opportunities.” The article reports that teachers and administrators who have had professional development on supporting LGBTQ+ students were over 70% more likely to participate in supportive practices than those who hadn’t. If a school has not already provided professional development opportunities, the article encourages readers to push for more resources.

Gifted students can be found in every school, but teachers and parents often struggle to find the proper way to support these students. The Edvocate described three ways teachers and parents can support their gifted students: develop their organizing and planning skills, build up their confidence and resilience, and encourage the students’ self-expression. Gifted students can often find their work or activities boring and repetitive, so the article encourages challenging activities and extracurricular that students plan and schedule themselves. It also recommends having students create a daily schedule for themselves to develop their ability to plan ahead. The second tip was to build a student’s confidence and resilience. Gifted students often don’t face failure early on or feel the need to meet high standards for themselves, so their confidence in themselves and their ability to persevere needs to be developed early on. The article promotes celebrating a student’s efforts in an activity, as well as engaging them in problem-solving experiences and encouraging them to try different solutions. The third idea from the article was encouraging a student’s self-expression, since a gifted student’s life can often become very focused on improving the skills they are gifted in. The article encourages parents and teachers to enjoy their childhood, make and learn from mistakes, try new activities and challenges. If students only focus on the things they are gifted at, they may not develop other important aspects of their lives.

References

Jenkins, B. (January 26, 2012). Helping Low-SES Students Thrive. Scientific Learning. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.scilearn.com/blog/helping-low-ses-students-thrive

Kiebel, M. (December 18, 2017). Helping LGBTQ Students Thrive in School. Learner’s Edge. Retrieved April 2, 2018, from http://www.learnersedgeinc.com/blog/helping-lgbtq-students-thrive

Lynch, M. (November 9, 2017). How to Help Your Gifted Child Thrive. The Edvocate. Retrived April 2, 2018, from http://www.theedadvocate.org/help-gifted-child-thrive/