Support communication and self advocacy
Help students to communicate and advocate for themselves.
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Check for understanding
Check for understanding
Source: Ministry of Education
Help learners express themselves
Help learners express themselves
Consider what might be barriers for learners in the following situations.
- Retelling their side of the story.
- Discussing their feelings.
- Discussing how others may be feeling.
- Apologising and resolving conflict.
- Agreeing to consequences and rules.
- Thinking and understanding what went wrong.
- Remembering new information about expectations.
- Having to listen, process, comprehend, and respond in high stress situations.
Honour student contributions
Honour student contributions
Listen to students and honour their contributions.
Closed Captions
Support student advocacy
Support student advocacy
Help students to be able to talk about their needs and to advocate for themselves.
Support students to:
- explain their learning needs and preferences to others.
- describe teaching approaches and resources that may be barriers to learning.
- understand and articulate their rights and how to advocate for them.
- find out about, and access, available supports and resources.
Ideas to support conversations
Ideas to support conversations
Negotiation or conflict resolution
Support with pictures or drawing. Model new and key language.
Re-telling events
Talk it through first. Storyboard ideas in sequence. Provide sentence starters.
Build confidence to use language
Use a puppet or toy. Encourage the toy to carry out the actions.
Increase vocabulary
Represent new vocabulary and concepts using objects and pictures. Talk more to learners who talk the least.
Communication breakdown
Teach learners strategies to use, for example, gesturing for a speaker to stop or by saying “I don’t understand”.
Talking about emotions and feelings
Teach vocabulary for emotions, thoughts and feelings. Use pictures of different facial expressions to explore language.
Talking to others or sharing in a group
Give time so learners can process language and think about what they want to say.
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Embed social and emotional learning”:
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Current page Support communication and self advocacy
Return to the guide “Behaviour and learning”
How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Behaviour and learning
Understand:
Strategies for action:
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Commit to whole-school approachesShow suggestions for Commit to whole-school approaches
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Foster relationships and partnershipsShow suggestions for Foster relationships and partnerships
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Design learning for allShow suggestions for Design learning for all
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Foster wellbeing and mental healthShow suggestions for Foster wellbeing and mental health
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Embed social and emotional learningShow suggestions for Embed social and emotional learning
- Teach social and emotional skills
- Support communication and self advocacy
- Teach students to enact school values
- Teach and practise interpersonal skills
- Offer social and emotional supports
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Be proactiveShow suggestions for Be proactive
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Respond in challenging situationsShow suggestions for Respond in challenging situations
