Know Your Learner

2010
“Know Your Learner”
Certificate in Education Year 1 (Part-Time)

Assignment Two: Case Study: ‘Know Your Learner’

Knowing your learners means being able to recognize, acknowledge, and teach according to the educational and psychological needs of each student.
Good Teachers understand how students differ in their approaches to learning.  They create instructional opportunities and use teaching methods that match the natural and diverse ways that people learn.    These, effective teachers, take time to know their learners because this builds trust, rapport, and connection with learning.
The first step in getting to know learners is to conduct initial assessments.   These are carried out to ensure that students are on the right course and that they get the right support.   Some key information to extract from an initial assessment might be:
  * What is / are the learner’s previous qualification(s) or experience.   With particular attention paid to that which relates to the course you are teaching.
  * What are your learners going to achieve by the end of the course.
  * What additional support needs do they have (if any) and how can you meet them?
  * What skills do they require, including communication, literacy, numeracy and language?
  * What are the awarding body’s expectations? (if applicable)
  * Are there specific legal requirements? (E.g. child protection screening?)
  * Equality and diversity issues
  * What is the funding source?   I.e. if an employer is funding the course, what are their expectations, of you, as a teacher and of the learner?
  * Learners’ learning styles and personal characteristics – if you assess these, how do you intend to use the information.

There are lots of different ways of carrying out initial assessment.   These can include Key Skills Analysis, Psychometric Testing, screening tests, application forms, one-to-one or group interviews and Learning Styles analyses.  
I conduct initial assessment on the...