From Participation to Communication: An Aided Language Stimulation Training Program for Teachers in Inclusive Classrooms

This project is an initiative of the staff at the Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. The long-term objective of the project is to broaden understanding of inclusion and how it can be achieved, by training teachers in strategies to facilitate inclusion of all learners in their classrooms. Important pillars of the project include building teachers’ knowledge and skills with regard to the importance of communication during the early years; exposing teachers to different ways in which optimal communication stimulation can be provided by using multiple communication means (e.g., speech, objects, gestures and graphic symbols); and transferring monitoring and self-reflective skills to the teachers.

The training is presented to approximately 100 preschool teachers in the GaRankuwa region, an under-developed and under-resourced region in the North West Province of South Africa. The project consists of two phases. Phase 1 consists of a two-day large group training workshop. A variety of teaching methods are implemented (theoretical input, roleplay, demonstrations and video sessions).

Activities during the workshop

In phase 2, in-situ follow-up visits are organized, with approximately 6-8 teachers. The aims of these visits are to assist in the process of implementing Aided Language Stimulation within classroom activities and facilitating the monitoring of child and teacher progress. (Aided Language Stimulation is a group strategy that provides extra visual cues through the use of graphic symbols, together with the written word and spoken word. These cues often serve as a memory cue for learners thereby facilitating the child’s participation and thus learning during classroom activities). During these sessions, the teachers engage in a progress of critical self-reflection in terms of their level of knowledge and skill in facilitating communication and participation in their classrooms. In addition, individual children (identified by teachers as being children with development and learning issues) are monitored by the teachers in terms of communication and participation in the targeted classroom activities.

Using aided language stimulation in the classroom

Some of the outcomes acknowledged to date by the teachers involved in the project include: development of manageable and sustainable methods of documenting and monitoring the learner’s individual progress, increase in competence in multi-level teaching strategies such as Aided Language Stimulation, and modified attitudes toward the process of inclusion and the presence of children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms.

Some reported outcomes for the children include a steady positive increase in the understanding and use of target language vocabulary within the identified activities, and a change in participation patterns from passive observers to active participants in the activities.

Children participating in classroom activities

For further information, please contact Michal Harty