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Unit 2: Senior Learners and the Concept of Wellbeing

6.2  Reflection Task

In the Unit 2 Reflection Task, you will put your plan for a language learning activity into action and reflect on the successes and challenges of the activity together.

Step A

Try out the planned activity with your learner in your care setting. You might want to gather some feedback from your learner about the activity as well, which you can bring to the course and share with your fellow students.

Step B

Write a reflective account of 250 or more, explaining what you did with your learner and why, highlighting the successes and challenges you encountered when applying what you have learned in terms of language learning, wellbeing and external factors. Refer to the criteria for good practice in social care which you have developed yourself and then discussed in the tutorial. It may also be helpful to consider these questions:

  • What do you think worked particularly well in your care setting?
  • Is there anything you would do differently if you were to repeat this activity?
  • What feedback did your learner give you on the activity?
  • What are the next steps for your learners?
  • How will you provide further opportunities to practise and reinforce the new language?

Please note: Your account should be more than a description of your teaching activity.  Give reasons for your planning and compare what you had planned with the reality of putting the plan into action considering why you might have had to divert from your plan, why certain aspects might have worked well and others didn't.  Reflection is a vital element of successful learning and teaching. Post this on the Forum.

Step C

This final step in activity 6.2 is specifically designed for you to contribute to the collaborative research project between The Open University and Lingo Flamingo. Each unit’s section on application and reflection will include this activity, which requires you to reflect on embedding language learning with senior learners in your care practice and context; the impact this has  on you as a carer as well as the elderly person/people you care for and whom you undertake  the language learning with, and finally the impact of this intervention on your wider professional context.

In your Reflective Learning Log, make notes capturing your reflections during the study and application of content of this unit on the following aspects, which will be particularly important for the research project:

  • your own learning journey applying the skills you are learning in this course in your care context, in particular:
    • your motivation and confidence as you go through the course
    • whether your relationships with your learners are changing due to the language learning
    • any impact this learning has on your opinion of good care practice
    • any views colleagues, your learners and/or families have shared regarding the language learning activities

  • your observations on you senior learner(s)’ learning journey (the individual as well as the group), particularly:
    • on their motivation for participating in this learning
    • the impact the learning has on their overall confidence and participation in the sessions and the learning group (if there is one)
    • aspects of how they learn and engage (for example you could share some relevant incidents during the language learning sessions and other examples)

Please note: This part of the application and reflection is NOT assessed and is primarily a tool for you to feed into our research whilst encouraging you to think more closely about your own learning journey and the wider impact of the language learning activities. Your tutors will read your entry and provide some brief comments, although the main focus here are your own insights and reflections.