I have been asked to write a biography so here it is ...
- I have a paramedical degree covering:
Anatomy, Physiology, Human Dissection, Biochemistry, Biological Chemistry, Pharmacology, Psychology, Sociology, Microbiology, Food Studies, Food Science, Clinical Studies, Immunology, Nutrition, Principles of Investigation, Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods, Dietetics and have received lectures from medical consultants at Edinburgh Infirmary.
- I have had 35 years of classroom-based and non classroom based teaching experience across EYFS, KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4 and as a College Lecturer. This has occurred locally, nationally and internationally across both mainstream and special ed schools.
- I am a parent of a child with a rare medical / genetic difference - this helped me to form a new perspective and I am enormously grateful that that person came into the world.
I understand that:
We are each individual both on the outside and the inside and we are all experiencing the world in a different way according to our unconscious norms, values, culture, biochemistry, physiology, biochemistry and genetic make-up. This can be compounded when medicines are used to ‘correct’ medical nuances. By examining each person’s medical pathway, it is possible to place a bespoke curriculum pathway to meet an individual’s personal needs. A simple example could be that 2 people might look at a ‘red’ rose but the ‘red’ may appear different to each person.
A simple example of the impact of this can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPknwW8mPAM
By listening to each child’s voice, the family’s voice surrounding a child, the voices of medical practitioners surrounding a child and then educational professionals (last) it is possible to reach a new understanding. By enabling an educational practitioners to keep their thoughts and views to themselves, a practitioner can view a new truth. A simple example would be that speech and language education means something different to a speech and language therapist than to a teacher. Equally, safeguarding means something different to a police office than to a teacher. We sometimes use the same words to express very different meanings and understandings. Through the eyes of a child, their world can be experienced very differently than ours.
By joining a child’s world through ‘play’ you can begin to encounter what the child is experiencing and create an individualised curriculum based on how a child views the world – why should a child join our world when we are unwilling to encounter theirs? By experiencing what a child is already communicating (and understanding why) new curriculum pathways can create astonishing results.
This method unites, medicine, education and care and can create a massive improvement to a child's mental health.
My Private Practise:
The Education Package / Qualifications that my organisation will deliver covers:
Bespoke EYFS style pathways which hit the same objectives but in an accelerated way. This is different to following a standardised EYFS pathway.
KS1
KS2
KS3
KS4
Functional Skills and GCSE
Covering strengths within: Maths, English, Science, Finance, Sustainability, Cookery, Economics and Music.
• Each session will be evaluated to determine the sessions align with the pupil’s interest and views.
• A baseline assessment will inform the planning and delivery of each session to make sure that the sessions align with the pupil’s interest and views.
• In meeting the needs of the pupils, outside agencies will have opportunities to influence the direction of the tuition. For example: parents, education practitioners, healthcare practitioners, medics and each individual child’s voice will be heard through a qualitative research methods process.
• If applicable, a risk assessment, informed by the results of the qualitative research methods process and EHCP will be established and followed. Previous risk assessments will be acknowledged. It may be necessary to work alongside other practitioners to enable this to occur, for example, a social worker. Identified risks will be managed as documented within the safeguarding policy previously submitted.
• The EHCP will be followed via 1:1 support with a Qualified Teacher
• This process will ensure that: the individual learning pathway will comply with the health and safety requirements for pupils and access to medical assistance if necessary.
The Qualitative Research Methods process will include the following:
Pupil/parent carer views are obtained by a mixture of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods (Oxford University 2021). Engagement methods for (parent / child / practitioner / health care professional responses) are formed from:
• ethnographies,
• interviews,
• journaling,
• direct questioning,
• evaluating,
• listening to the needs and experiences of each child and family,
• critical thinking frameworks,
• grounded theory,
• thematic analysis,
• phenomenology
• framework analysis.
Within the context of a plan-do-review framework.
• This contributes to the individual learning plan for each individual based on their individual physiological, psychological and cognitive gateway. The pathways weave threads similar to EYFS style pathways but not EYFS itself (It's a much richer version) / KS1 / KS2 / KS3 / GCSE and Functional Skill curriculum scaffolds.
Parents and children feedback at the end of each session and before tutoring commences to make sure that all objectives are tailor-made to meet each individual's needs. Lessons are changed following the information gathered from the plan-do-review cycles.
• Processes are put in place if the provision is failing to meet the required outcomes/objectives set:
If a child appears to be “failing” the child will be assessed and smaller targets put in place to support the child. This will be in line with their personal physiology, psychology and previous subject knowledge as well as any EHCP or SEND statement. Engagement is enhanced during this process, by making sure that individual strengths and interests are catered for because of the above processes. Lessons can be changed before, after and during this process, as a result of, the evidence gathered from both QRM and plan – do – review processes.
Consideration to individual well-being, emotions, connections and stress will be determined.
By listening to each voice surrounding a child, a curriculum improvement plan for each individual child is created. Children are not physiologically or neurologically identical, they do not interpret or understand their outer or inner world in the same way. By using Qualitative Research Methods and by listening to both the child’s voice, the parents’ voices and all the healthcare and educational practitioner’s voices surrounding a child, from a non-biased standpoint, individualised curriculum pathways are created.
Since knowledge is constructed within the power that exists within society, curriculum progression is important because there is currently, a social context whereby truth is influenced. Ontological perspectives will compare and contrast because this should evidence how important it is for health, education, social care and families to work together to benefit each individual child. To do this effectively, secure relationships of trust are developed between the teams supporting the child - the professionals and the child’s social context – it’s family. This will mean that the knowledge is constructed through an individual’s experience and knowledge constructed via that, powerful, dimension.
Alternative pathways or improvement plans, to support these children, help them to gain a more positive life experience.
Ethics:
Individualised Learning or curriculum pathway developments will comply with:
Nuremberg code (1947)
Declaration of Helsinki (1975)
Belmont Report (1979)
Overall, the results would take into account:
