UNLOCKING INNOVATION IN PRISON EDUCATION

EPEA Conference – Antwerp 2015

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Melanie Jameson, Dyslexia Consultancy Malvern mj@dyslexia-malvern.co.uk www.dyslexia-malvern.co.uk

RELEASING POTENTIAL OF THE 20%

SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Specific Learning Differences [SLDs]

DYSPRAXIA/DCD

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

DYSLEXIA

NOT to be confused with Learning Disabilities / Difficulties

DYSCALCULIA

ABILITIES LINKED TO SLDs

Creativity & originality

Visuo-spatial skills

Visualisation

Intuitive approach

Lateral thinking / problem solving

Affinity for colour / rhythm

Entrepreneurship

[Good oral skills]

I

E

S

P

E

How can we release this potential?

IDENTIFY SLDs

ENCOURAGE learners with SLDs

SUPPORT them in educn. & training

PROMOTE SLD-friendly practices

ENABLE, via disability entitlements

IdentifyingOffenders with

Specific Learning

Difficulties

IdentifyingOffenders with

Specific Learning

Difficulties

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DYS - LEXIA can affect: READING - WRITING - SPEAKING SKILLS - LISTENING SKILLS

DYSLEXIA is an INFORMATION PROCESSING difficulty

People with Dyslexia may suffer from Visual Stress

DYSLEXIA often affects:SHORT-TERM & WORKING MEMORY / CONCENTRATION

ORGANISATION / TIME MANAGEMENT

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VISUAL STRESS - WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

1. Dyslexic people are prone to certain eye problems

2. These can be treated by specialist Practitioners *

3. Use of colour may

make reading easier

4. Certain types of text make the problem worse

* SEE www.ceriumoptical.com , www.s4clp.org

& www.dyslexia-malvern.co.uk/visualstress

1. Inattention: distractibility, failing to pay attention to detail.

2. Impulsivity: poor inhibition & turn-taking, blurting out comments.

3. Hyperactivity: garrulous, accident- & addiction-prone.

Further areas affected in ADHD:

listening skills; organisation; awareness of consequences of your actions; learning from feedback.

ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER [ADD]

dreamy, poor concentration, ‘spaced out’

Difficulties with

co-ordination: (fine and/or gross motor skills)

speech: poor articulation, lack of control over volume

social skills: may appear tactless, disregard body language

PARTICULAR PROBLEMS

: poor orientation and navigation

: coping with change and new situations.

: poor organisation, prioritisation and time-management

DYSPRAXIA or

DEVELOPMENTAL CO-ORDINATION DISORDER

DYSCALCULIA

inability to understand number concepts

subsequent problems with time-telling, money matters, retaining numbers eg personal dates, recording dates and appointments correctly,

taking measurements etc.

NUMBERS IN PRISON

Entering your prison number correctlyForm filling (eg canteen form, meal choices)Using pin numbers for phoningDealing with your moneyNumber aspects of practical training

RESOURCE ON SLDs

KIWIs

K Key facts

I Impact of Specific Learning Difficulty

W Ways of Working with Offenders

I Information & Networks

SEE www.dyslexia-malvern.co.uk

SLDs should be identified as early as possible, so that difficulties can be addressed during custody.

Screening should be followed by Assessment of those who screen positive.

The Assessment Report informs the delivery of Support Chapters 1 & 2

PDF of ‘Releasing Potential’is freely available from websitewww.dyslexia-malvern.co.uk/resources

EncouragingOffenders with

Specific Learning

Difficulties

EncouragingOffenders with

Specific Learning

Difficulties

Raising Self esteemPromoting ConfidenceFostering Motivation

HOW?- Through providing a taste of success

- Through access to the Arts, in the widest sense e.g. London Shakespeare Workshops

- By valuing and encouraging their abilities

- By giving choice (people with SpLDs find it particularly difficult to work on something that is not of personal interest)

Always seek to minimise stress and frustration(e.g. Prison Phoenix Trust: yoga & meditation)

RESOURCES: Ten Tips & Ten Stepswww.dyslexia-malvern.co.uk/resources

Specific Learning Difficulties / Differences= a different way of thinking & processing information, due to neurological differences in brain formation & function

People with SLDsare often Visual thinkers,Verbal communication may be challenging

Tom West In the Mind’s Eye (1991)“For some people the handicap and the gift may be two aspects of the same thing. How we perceive it depends entirely on the context.”

SupportingOffenders with

Specific Learning

Difficulties

SupportingOffenders with

Specific Learning

DifficultiesCh 3 Supporting Learners with Dyslexia, Dyspraxia & ADHD

Ch 4 Support for Numeracy & Dyscalculia

Ch 5 Support for Foreign Nationals and ESOL Learners

Ch 7 On-line Learning and Assistive Technology

TEN PRINCIPLES OF SUPPORT

1. Be aware that these are largely visual learners

2. Use a multisensory approach, reinforce learning

3. Teach the subskills (as well as the skills)

4. Break tasks into achievable ‘bite-size’ parts

5. Give frequent feedback and encouragement

6. Use technology to liberate them from weak literacy skills

7. Provide choice and build on areas of interest

8. Include memory and organisational strategies

9. Use mentoring/‘buddy’ systems to help keep them on track

10 Identify individual barriers to progress eg Visual Stress

MINDMAPPING

CASE STUDY

A blow to my self respect was that when I was in school I could never write a story down although I had them in my head. It was something about pen and paper and spelling and handwriting. But I learned to use computers while I was inside. This has changed my life.  

CASE STUDY

I feel I am very disadvantaged if I am given tests or have to complete timed exercises on the computer. I failed my very first exam (about spread sheets) because I had to copy numbers across and place them in the right column - I kept losing the place and having to start again. Now I realise I can have extra time, I ask for it. It means I can go really slowly and not start to panic and make mistakes.

USING ICT

Promotingan SLD-Friendly

Environmentin our Prisons

Promotingan SLD-Friendly

Environmentin our Prisons

Ch 6 Showcasing Good Practice across Europeexamples drawn mainly from EPEA members

Ch 8 An SLD-friendly Learning Environment…………..

ADOPT SLD - FRIENDLY APPROACHES

.. to LEARNING SUPPORT

.. to INDUCTION & ADMIN PROCEDURES

.. to GIVING INSTRUCTIONS

.. to ACCREDITATION and TESTING

.. to WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

ALWAYS TRY TO MINIMISE VISUAL STRESS

STAFF AWARENESS of SpLDs is essential: for tutors, prison officers & management

Chapter 8

wide spacing

images and graphics to indicate content

diagrams, charts, icons

selective use of bold and

bullet points

left justification ONLY

a clear font, at least 12

DYSLEXIA-FRIENDLY DOCUMENTATION minimises Visual Stress

DON’T USE

small fonts (below size 12)

justified right margin

‘fancy’ fonts and italics

bright white or shiny paper (try cream / pale blue)

text in either red or green (also a colour-blind issue)

whole words or phrases in capitals

USE

‘Enabling’ (ex-)prisoners

-through appropriate Work Preparation

- through Disability Entitlementsreframed, in UK, as ‘Equality &

Diversity’

- via ‘Signposting’ to specialist services

- by asking about their individual needs

‘Enabling’ (ex-)prisoners

-through appropriate Work Preparation

- through Disability Entitlementsreframed, in UK, as ‘Equality &

Diversity’

- via ‘Signposting’ to specialist services

- by asking about their individual needs

Interview practice – a staged process

-Discussion of the job, what it entails

- Explaining your SLD: a three part model 1. your abilities 2 & 3 your difficulties + how you compensate

-ROLE-PLAY Informal questions and answers

-ROLE-PLAY Formal questions and answers

-BEHAVIOUR Greetings, shaking hands, dress code

DOUBLE DISCLOSUREa)Of an ‘unspent’ criminal conviction

b)Of a specific learning difficulty

Work Preparation

Ch 9 Resettlement & Employment

Ch 10 Disability / Equality & Diversity Provisions

TERMINOLOGY: WHAT HELPS WHEN?

Vulnerability: ‘a vulnerable court-user’ in need of ‘special measures’

Disability: European Convention on Human Rights, Article 14: general prohibition on discrimination

Equality & Diversity – much wider than just ‘Disability’

Concept of Accessibility – access to services (digital exclusion) – accessible communications

Disability Definition in UK embedded in Equality Act, 2010'a person has a disability if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day to day activities’

IN CONCLUSION

“No-one should be shut off from opportunities, choice and options in life that most of us take for granted.

We know that once people are given the chance to excel, they often do.”

(Reaching Out: An Action Plan on Social Exclusion, 2006)

ANY QUESTIONS?

Melanie Jameson

mj@dyslexia-malvern.co.uk

www.dyslexia-malvern.co.uk 28