High Impact Teaching Strategies

Example 2: Self-regulation in a specialist setting

A teacher became increasingly concerned about the difficulties experienced by a group of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). When the classroom grew louder during on task activities, this group found learning particularly hard. He formulated a goal of supporting them to extend their repertoire of metacognitive strategies and considered a number of possible interventions. The teacher decided to explicitly teach tangible strategies that would enable them to problem solve independently, and to self-regulate in the classroom. The teacher drew on his knowledge about learning and teaching practices that support good learning outcomes for students who have ASD. They learn well when they have opportunities to process information visually, when teachers use language appropriate to their receptive skills, and when they have sufficient time to process the information. Using these learning characteristics to guide the design of an intervention, the teacher scaffolded the self-regulation learning around clear instructions, visual cues and progressively reducing assistance. When the class was becoming louder, the teacher brought these elements together. He moved towards the students and said, ‘The room is getting loud – you can use your headphones.’ He showed them a photograph of the headphones, prompted them to go where the headphones were located, and assisted them to put on the headphones. After working through this routine several times, prompts and verbal language were slowly reduced and the students began to enact the routine independently. It was apparent they could recognise their sensory triggers and use strategies to overcome them. They were developing metacognitive skills of self-regulation and understanding links between their thoughts, feelings and actions. Reflecting on the intervention’s effectiveness in a PLC meeting, another teacher commented that a key part in its success was observing what gave rise to the challenging behaviours or sensory meltdowns. Tracking the cause and creatively reducing its influence assisted students to recognise their thought processes and build appropriate self-regulation strategies.