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Alicia Lawrence Post 1

• 5 May 2021, 3:06 AM

4.5 Practical benefits to schools of outside organizations

Practical benefits to schools of outside organizations
  1. In the case study of itinerant teachers, what do you think the practical benefits would be of this partnership to the school and the child?
  • It gives the child a level of inclusivity and individual attention, thus making him/her feel that he/she is important
  • The school gets the assistance where necessary for special cases so at times the teachers don't feel overwhelmed
  • It increases the resources available to the school
  • It builds a network of collaboration with special, qualified individuals who are available and accessible
  • The school's learning environment is adapted to meet the specific needs of the child
What sort of training is offered by the itinerant teachers and how might this change classroom practice?
  • Hands-on professional development through suggestions and ideas that deal with immediate needs
  • Brainstorming to come up with ideas to help the students who need the special assistance
  • Creating resources that may be beneficial to students in a particular class
What do you think might be the challenges faced by itinerant teachers ?
  • Financial challenges, unless they are given travelling allowances
  • The time between schools and meeting with students and parents periodically. There may be the challenge of too much time between visits to get the success that they may want to see
  • They may have too many school under their purview and might not be able to adequately service these schools
Do you have any similar examples of schools working with organizations in your context?
  • Students get assistance from Students Support Services, but not always in a timely manner
  • Visits by guidance officers and reading specialists to work with individual students who may be having behavioural and academic challenges
  • Sporting aid through football school offering free assistance to parents by providing students with football kits and transport for training and development

MARGARET Ongek Post 2 in reply to 1

• 4 July 2021, 12:44 PM

I totally agree with you Alicia that specialist input is present where itinerant teacher is involved thus meaningful learning occurs. The usual classroom teachers and entire school gets real motivation and support for the benefit of the learner.

Training coming from specialist teacher is definitely relevant to  and focused on issues at hand ,that is, the disabilities as they are in class. Actual learner needs are promptly addressed through necessary adjustments of available resources, interactions etc hence increased performance for both learner and teacher.

Challenges for itinerant teacher may include scarcity of resources for effective class practice hence they may not achieve as per their expectations.   Vast distances between schools, schools -homes can be tiresome hence fatigue may set in leading to under performance. What about working with parents or relatives who may turn out not to be uncooperative.

In my context the few learners with disability often get support from their peers, also there is a braille specialist within the school who assists in times of need.  However, I now see the need to channel to school management that it is necessary to source external support which can really help enhance both teacher and learner performance.