A group of Special education teachers at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind have been urged to show interest in knowing the needs of learners as they seek to identify appropriate teaching methods to use in the classroom for effective academic work.
The special education teachers received this recommendation at a one-day training workshop organized by the Department of Education and Psychology from the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The workshop which took place at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind is part of a training series of the Adopt the Low Achieving School Project (ALASP), an initiative of UCC’s College of Education Studies.
Means of obtaining effective Teaching and Learning in addition to teaching methodologies are the two areas the workshop focused on.
An Associate Professor of Special Education and Psychology at UCC, Professor Emmanuel Kofi Gyimah who enlightened the special education teachers on teaching methodologies explained that accessing the learners to know their needs helps the educator to know the respective strengths and weaknesses of the learners thereby helping the teacher to select the right methods for teaching.
He notes that though the assessment process involves formal and informal processes, in his view special education teachers should opt for the informal assessment process.
“We are saying it is important you use the informal assessment techniques because it is those techniques that will help you to know what the child can do and what the child cannot do. More so, you would be able to identify the right instructional decision you have to make” he continued.
Prof Gyimah further indicated that special education teachers should adopt ecological assessment as this will help them know some key factors affecting their students.
For instance, he opined that if the child is abused emotionally at home or is physically or sexually abused, the child’s emotional and psychological problem will hinder their effective participation in class as learning will not take place.
Meanwhile, Professor Gyimah has indicated that as far as teaching, learning, and the use of teaching methodologies are concerned, educators and all stakeholders must ensure the environment they create for the school child to achieve is congenial.
He also appealed to the media to always strive to put out good content in the media space which can be a source of good information and knowledge for the school children impacting their learning positively and enabling them to succeed at school.
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Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
