Learning Support in Nigerian Schools

Children do not have the same abilites even if they are of the same age; thus, in a class there will be some disparities in achivement levels.
As defined by Southern Regional College, Learning Support is additional support to assist students who might otherwise be unable to access a programme of study or who, by reason of their learning difficulty or disability, may require specialist support beyond that normally provided by a college.
I define learning support as additional help given to a pupil to help them perform at their best.




Children may need learning support when they have been assessed to have a form of learning difficulty or a special need. Learning support is also needed for pupils that are talented and gifted.The support for gifted and talented education can be in the form of curriculum enrichment. This entails giving that child a little more examples to help the child delve deeper into the topic.Or the child gets more sums to work on then the other pupils.
 

There are many ways learning of pupils can be supported. One of the basic forms is differentiation. Here, pupil's class teacher plans and delivers lessons taking the said child or children into consideration. This consideration can be in the form of questions, etc.  In doing so some of the challenges the child has can be met.



Where differentiation is not enough, the pullout method can be employed where a learning support expert will pull the pupil out of class and work with the pupil one-on-one. This is done for short periods at a time and done when a non-core subject is going on.

 

Learning support is a service that most Nigerian schools have offered and are still offering to pupils. What makes it a little abigious is the fact that most schools are not aware that they are putting in this effort due to poor documentation.
 You may remember when your class teacher sets you aside to explain a concept you did not quite understand. Or when you were told to memorize the 9 times table because everyone else in you class could do so. These two scenarios show teachers supporting the learning of their pupils.


To make this support more worthwhile in a school where your learning support department is yet to be created;

•  Tell your head about your observations about the pupil
•  Communicate to the parent about the observation and the course of action you will take to help child; and when you have the green light from the parent, you can start working with child.
• Always have a separate journal for the activities you will do with the child. This helps to keep track of what you are doing with the child and also helps to build your portfolio as a teacher.

 

I hope this helps to support and enhance learning in your classrooms and also helps parents to monitor such support.
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