Child study Project
Barney Fernandez is seven years old. An attractive boy with dark, curly hair and a sharp nose, resembling his father. He is of average stature, just right for his age, and can be described as a little slim, compared to other children of his age. A close observation would reveal that the expression on his face is dull, listless, normally. There are sudden bursts of enthusiasm when there are prospects of doing what he likes. For example, playing out of doors. Swinging, sliding, jumping, dancing. Barney is not interested in painting, cutting, pasting or playing carom or cards. His preferences are clearly visible on his face and expressions. His hands pine to act and move. Sometimes, he is hyperactive and his mother finds him irritating. He attends elementary school. He is in the first grade. He attended a private pre-school before he was admitted to the elementary school. Barney lives with his parents in a suburban area. He is the only child of his parents. When he was in pre-school, both his parents went to work. He managed to complete pre-school with other children in his class. However, when he joined elementary school, he showed little progress in studies compared to other children. The teachers observed that he had to struggle with the syllabus. They informed Barney’s parents who became worried about his education and development. Barney’s mother left her job in order to devote all her time for Barney. Barney’s parents had been thinking about a sibling for Barney so that he should not feel lonely. They dropped the idea, fearing that the second child may also be born with some problem. Moreover, they did not want to divide their attention as they realized that Barney needed special care and constant attention. Hence, Barney shares a home with his parents, who are extremely loving, caring and understanding. Barney has other relatives besides his parents; he has a grandmother and grandfather and two uncles and an aunt. He has three cousins, but they are much older.
Barney likes to be surrounded by people. He is a social child. Barney’s mother informed the researcher about his behaviour at home, in school, with his friends, among his cousins and in the company of his relatives. He is closest to his mother. He approaches her chiefly when he is hungry, thirsty and when he wants to eat something specific. He also asks his mother to play with him. He is very fond of his father and awaits his father’s return from work every day. The three of them dine together daily and share the day’s news with each other. Barney’s parents encourage him to talk about his school, teachers and friends. Barney loves to share the smallest details of what he did in school with his parents. Sometimes, Barney gets over excited. He is anxious to express himself but falters and cannot find words. The parents are patient with him. They give him time to think and express himself. If he feels incapable or is at a loss for words, they prompt him. They take care that he does not feel frustrated when he cannot express what he wants to convey. This has become a common problem with him. The parents are trying their best to help. The therapist has advised them to give him sufficient time. He has told them to ask questions which would help him to remember the right word rather than providing the word. Barney’s helplessness is clearly seen on his face, yet, he makes efforts to speak coherently. This was the first struggle with language that the parents noted at first. Initially, they thought that he would improve as he grew up. Gradually, they discovered that it was a problem.
Socially, Barney appears to be a normal child. He certainly prefers to spend time with children of his own age. He is happiest when he plays with children. He likes to play on swings and slides in parks, but only when other children are there! When he attends birthday parties of friends, he plays games and participates in all activities. He always makes it a point to carry a gift for the birthday boy or girl. He keeps reminding his mother that they have to buy a gift. He likes to accept gifts as much as he likes to give them! If the gift comes as a surprise, he feels elated. Occasionally, his parents take him to visit his grandparents, uncles and cousins. “Don’t you think we should take something for grandpa?” He asked his mother once. “Well, grandpa is older than you isn’t he? We carry gifts to someone who is smaller than us,” she explained. He was immediately convinced. He believes in everything that his mother says and takes it very seriously. If he doubts something that others say, he gets it confirmed from his mother. He responds naturally to his uncles, aunts and elders. Even if his cousins invite him to join them, he shows reluctance. Perhaps, he is scared because they are older. Of course, there is every reason to believe that Barney has pleasant associations about his visits and cousins. They are instructed by their parents not to hurt him in any way. All the family members and relatives are well aware of his problem and everyone makes an effort to treat him with care and compassion. Barney returns their efforts by being kind and helpful to them whenever possible. One noteworthy quality of Barney is his kind nature. He is naturally kind and sympathetic towards everyone. One day, on his way back from school, he saw a small bird lying on the road. “Why she is not flying Mama?” he asked his mother. “She is hurt Barney, she has cut off her wing. She cannot fly. Poor thing,” replied his mother. Barney kept asking her questions about how it had happened and what would happen to the bird, and whether they could not take it to the doctor. Barney slept over the incident. The first question he asked his mother when he woke up the next morning was where the bird would be. This incident proves that Barney was not a strong boy mentally; perhaps this being his first experience of the kind, he was affected by it severely. He did not forget the bird for a long time. Months later, he reminded his mother about it. It was on account of this kind of behaviour that Barney’s parents never suspected that something was wrong with him. The difference was not conspicuous even while he was in pre-school. It was only later that the difference became clear, when actual teaching began in the school. Academics were not Barney’s cup of tea.
Perhaps, in pre-school, the emphasis was on play. The method used was also play-way method. That may be the reason why Barney’s comfort level was maintained. When his problem came to light when he had to cope with reading, there were other things that Barney’s parents realized. Barney was normal when he went about his routine. His mother realized that he over-reacted when his normal routine was disturbed beyond a certain limit. His reaction was intense at such times, more than what could be expected from other children of his age. The parents also realized that if they insisted for long that he should follow their instructions or obey them and behave as they said, he would become aggressive. The parents found it difficult to control him. He even showed an inclination to harm himself physically by banging his head against the wall. Barney’s mother had to be very cautious and take care that he did not become violent and aggressive. She always feared that something might happen in school, to instigate him.
Barney’s mother told the researcher about his behavioural problems. It was in this condition that Barney continued to attend school. The school followed an inclusive policy and there were professionals appointed by the school to handle children like Barney. They took great efforts with him.
Barney’s teachers extended complete cooperation to the researcher and discussed Barney’s problems in school. The researcher observed Barney in the classroom setting after taking prior permission from the school authorities. When the teacher taught poems, Barney liked to repeat after the teacher. He joined the other children in recitation. However, he would soon forget the poems and react to them each day as though he were listening to them for the first time. He would copy the actions of the teachers. Sometimes, he would stop reciting or performing actions and keep staring at some other child. The expression on his face would either be blank or full of wonder on these occasions. He seemed to wonder how other children could sing and act so well! There was praise in his eyes! It is difficult to say whether Barney was aware that he was not like the others, that he could not do some of the things like them or whether he was conscious that he was treated in a different way at home and in school. Perhaps, he was sometimes aware and sometimes not. Had he been aware, he would have showed some signs of frustration or diffidence or lack of confidence. No such signs were visible in his behaviour.
Barney was always used to doing what all other children did. He knew it was expected of him. Hence, he approached his studies in the same way as others. But he could not concentrate for long. He had a very short attention span compared to other students. Reading particularly, was like a punishment for him, although he never complained. It was evident that he tried his best; sometimes, he stretched himself beyond his limits. When struggling with studies, the normally interactive boy showed signs of withdrawal. After reading a page, he would suggest, “Teacher, can we sing songs?” The teacher’s usual answer is “Barney, we sang songs in the morning. Just as we sing songs, we must also learn to read. You like stories. If you learn to read, you will be able to read stories. So you must try and learn to read. You are a good boy. Come on.” He avoided communication with others. He tried to concentrate on the task. But the limits prevailed and he lagged behind day after day. The struggling boy Barney needed a special program to cater to his needs.
Barney had a problem while reading because he had a problem while speaking. As the researcher observed, Barney could not recite poems very clearly. He could not pronounce the sound /r/ properly although he was quite old. He could not speak in complete sentences. His most common problem was not remembering words while speaking. He would wait for someone to prompt because he was used to the idea that if he stopped and failed to say the word, someone would prompt him. This had become a habit with him until he stopped making efforts to remember words and depended entirely on the teachers. Even if he was prompted with the words, he often left the sentences incomplete. His speech can be described as incoherent. There seemed to be nothing wrong with his organs of articulation; the problem was apparently in his brain. He could not think clearly and remember or retain what was learnt. He could not remember the pronunciation of new words that he was taught to read. He would show indications of mastering them after a lot of practice. However, with passage of time, he would be unable to read the words.
A few examples will help to make this point clear. This is the way Barney reads a passage:
“This is Bob. He lives in the house at the corner. The house has a red roof. It has four big windows. A white fence goes all round the house on four sides. There is a big garden. In the garden, there are roses and lilies. The roses are pink and red. The lilies are white.”
Barney’s Reading:
THIS this izBob. HEhe. He LIVElive at the CORNcorner the HOS..Ehoze haz a red ROOFroof it haaaz FOURFOUR four bbig WINDOWSwindzDOSdoze windzoze a WHITEWHIT wite FENCEfens goooze all ROUNDraaund the hauz on for SDSE no no I’m wrong. Sorry. SIDESsaaidz THEthere are red waaitTeacher, I can’t read. ( The capital letters are read separately to work out the spelling).
This example shows that he has to read the spellings of almost all words that contain four or more letters. this affects his speed. When he reads slowly, there is no comprehension. Because he does not understand the meaning of what he reads, he loses interest. He cannot enjoy reading because he cannot remember the spellings of words. Every time he has to spell each letter because he cannot remember it as a sight word and read the whole word quickly. He has to struggle in this way with every sentence and every word.
He has been learning alphabets from pre-school. He was able to identify the letter by now. Yet, the teacher complained that he sometimes confused small and capital letters, especially those which did not resemble each other, like G and g or H and h. He did not have difficulty with S and s or C and c because they are written in the same way, except the difference in size. He could manage to read words like ‘hat’ or ‘bat’. He found it difficult to read words like ‘gate’ or ‘hate’. He pronounced them in the same way as ‘hat’ or ‘gat’. He was unable to take into account the vowel endings while reading words. Words ending with consonant letters posed less difficulty for him. If a list of similar sounding words and a uniformity of spellings was presented, he would show satisfaction; only satisfaction, because it was the least challenging. The moment a slight change was made, he showed irritation and would start grumbling.
A number of strategies can be used to help children like Barney. Frustration leads Barney to some behaviour problems. The strategies that can be employed by parents at home or teachers in school in order to help struggling children to manage their emotions and behave in a socially acceptable manner are called behavioural strategies.
- In order to interact with him and maintain communication, teachers can repeat instructions slowly, loudly, and as many times as necessary. This would help to pin down attention and gradually increase the attention span.
- The teachers must include games and integrate them in the curriculum.
- The teacher can allow Barney to sit next to his favourite student or best friend.
- The teacher must give options regarding the choice of the subject and the time allotted for each subject.
- Classroom routine must be maintained as far as possible, with little changes introduced occasionally so as to prevent challenging disturbance which may lead to violence or aggressiveness. The teacher can also give an advanced notice of changes in the routine. This can help to prepare the mind for the change.
If struggling children are given a choice to express their learning preferences and interests and permitted to choose and learn, it helps to develop their interests further and engage them in all types of learning. The strategies used for this purpose are called learning preference or interest strategies. The effectiveness of teaching strategies based on the preferred learning styles works successfully in case of struggling learners like Barney. “If a child does not learn the way you teach, then teach him the way he learns,” ( Chasty, cited in Chinn & Ashcroft, 1999, p.126). Sioned Exley conducted a study to investigate whether teaching to learners’ preferred learning styles improved their performance ( Exley, p 213, 2003). The results were positive.
- Barney remembered things well when they were repeated periodically. He forgot things which were learnt and not revised for a long time. The teachers should revise the songs and poems periodically, after regular intervals of weeks or months and increase the duration of intervals gradually.
- The teacher must prompt and praise the performance from time to time in order to encourage the efforts of Barney and provide a positive feedback. This can help to create interest in difficult subjects.
- The teacher can spend extra time with Barney and try to bring him up to the level of others.
- The teacher can give short breaks at short intervals rather than one long break. The break can serve as a change and refresh the children.
- The teaching content must be broken into small units which are manageable for struggling learners. If too much content is introduced, the failure to acquire it may have a permanent negative impact on struggling learners like Barney.
The ultimate aim of education is to make students lifelong learners and equip them with a set of skills which will enable them to handle various kinds of tasks in life. They are basic skills but very important. They are comparatively difficult to master. They are called executive functions and the means employed for developing these functions are called executive function strategies. Executive function strategies begin to develop at the pre-school stage and continue to develop through elementary and high school level, until they can manage and execute tasks efficiently when they go for higher education. Some students are unable to organize tasks; some cannot get a grasp on the subject while some feel stuck up in the middle of a task. This model of a ‘clogged funnel’ explains the challenges faced by struggling learners whose executive functions are not developed. (Meltzer, 2010). Barney was often stuck up and stopped mid way between activities. Barney also faced problems in organizing tasks. The following strategies can be used to help students like Barney.
- Give them tasks like rearranging things in the bag or the cupboard.
- Mix a set of cards that contain pictures representing a story and assign the task of arranging the cards in a sequence.
- Asking students to arrange blocks of alphabets or numbers in order.
- Teaching them to complete a picture step-by-step.
- Giving a time limit for completing every task and announcing a prize for the one who completes a task in the given time. If a gift is given occasionally without announcing it, as a surprise, it is something like Barney likes. He likes to receive gifts and surprise gifts make him very happy.
Struggling learners face a number of problems related to behaviour, learning and executive functions. Behaviour problems range from withdrawal to violence. Some children avoid company. Some are bad at communication. Lack of communication skills prevents them from mixing in society. If too much attention is given to children, they become pampered and begin to expect too much from the elders. Total neglect on the other hand can be more dangerous. Strict discipline is not advisable. Freedom should be given but constant monitoring is important. The children cannot decide how, when and for what purpose they should utilize their freedom. Harsh punishments do not help for dealing with problem children. They have to be handled, delicately, carefully and patiently.
Struggling learners face problems in learning subjects like mathematics and languages. Failure to understand the subjects may lead some children to frustration and kill their interest in academics permanently. Struggling learners have a short attention span and cannot focus on given tasks. They also have a short memory. It is necessary to use mnemonic techniques as memory aids. Concepts can be associated with real life situations or experiences. Struggling learners have difficulties in reading, writing, mastering vocabulary, understanding abstract concepts, spelling and counting numbers. A number of strategies can be used at home by parents and teachers in school to cope with the problems of struggling learners. Repetition helps to a great extent. Showing pictures and performing actions can help in explaining the meaning of words. Objects can be used to teach counting. Lots of practice and drilling is necessary. Revision of units from time to time helps retention. Learning can be made meaningful by relating content with real life experiences.
The most difficult skills are executive function skills. There are a number of skills like organizing tasks, prioritizing tasks, managing time and completing tasks within a given time limit, sequencing and ordering, problem solving, creative tasks, classifying, identifying, differentiating, ordering, analyzing and synthesizing. All the executive functions work simultaneously in order to be successful. Sudden shifting from one topic to another may also be difficult for some learners. Executive functions provide a foundation for students in order to achieve academic success. Students become more confident and independent. Even bright and gifted students cannot succeed practically if they lack executive functions. It is the duty of teachers to see that the executive functions of students develop from the beginning. Various strategies can be implemented in the classroom for the purpose.
The chief objective of the school is to make students independent learners by applying various skills in learning tasks and activities. Every child is different. Uniform methods can be used in case of average normal children; it is the gifted intellectuals and struggling learners who need special attention. Programs and strategies must be devised and employed to serve the needs of all kinds of learners.
References
Exley, S. (2003). The effectiveness of teaching strategies for students with dyslexia based on their preferred learning styles. British Journal Of Special Education, 30(4), 213-220. doi:10.1111/j.0952-3383.2003.00313.x
Meltzer, L. (2010). Promoting executive function in the classroom. New York: Guilford Press.
Miles, E. (1994). Book reviews : Mathematics for dyslexics: a teaching handbook Stephen J. Chinn and J. Richard Ashcroft London: Whurr Publishers, 1993. xi + 231pp. Child Language Teaching And Therapy, 10(3), 356-358. doi:10.1177/026565909401000311
