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 Kay
Rankin
What
led you to become an STLD?
I was
a secondary school teacher. I left to have my children and developed rheumatoid
arthritis. My children went to Macgregor Primary School and the closest
building to where I used to drop them off was where the support teacher
worked and as I had severe arthritis and couldn't walk very far, I used
to get as far as that building to drop them off. So because I had nothing
I could really do at home I used to stay in the building and help students
with learning difficulties. I did that under the direction of Judy Gray
for about two years. I had a remission from rheumatoid arthritis about
the time the additional support teacher had a car accident. I was a teacher
and they couldn't think of anyone else to give the job to so I got it
on the condition I attended Teachers' College the following year to gain
some qualifications. That was in 1980 and I've been in the job ever since.
What teaching
experience did you have prior to becoming an STLD?
I
had four years teaching experience in a secondary school teaching a range
of subjects, majoring in biology. I had very little primary school experience
apart from a small amount of supply teaching after I had the remission
from the rheumatoid arthritis and before I was appointed as a support
teacher.
What subsequent
professional training opportunities have you been able to access?
I
guess it's been absolutely ongoing. There are so many opportunities it's
difficult to take advantage of them all. There were a few formal ten-week
courses. I have done innumerable seminars, lectures, workshops through
the RTAQ, University of Queensland, through AREA, through the School Support
Centres and other sections of the Education Department.
What aspects
of your current role do you enjoy?
There
are numerous aspects to that. I enjoy working with the children and the
training of parents. I particularly enjoy the training of teachers, presenting
workshops and seminars and I enjoy the challenge of working with principals
across a range of schools; trying to convince them of the importance of
the role of the STLD and the whole support structure within their school.
I also enjoy the assessment role of an STLD; the fact that you can really
look in depth at a student's learning styles and learning needs and then
you can devise strategies and develop programs out of that. I think we
are in a really privileged position to be able to do that, to really analyse
children's learning and I think that the difficulty of doing that within
the constraints of a classroom in the depth that we do it would be a real
frustration for me if I were ever to become a primary classroom teacher.
What if any
are your frustrations?
The
frustrations are related to never having closure on a task. It always
seems so never-ending. There is so much to do constantly. That in itself
is a challenge but at the same time it presents its frustrations because
there is so much more you could do if the time was there. Sometimes it's
difficult that the senior STLD role is not a classified position so that
when you go into schools it really involves negotiating with some principals
as to the role you can have within that school. If there was a set negotiated
statewide role we wouldn't be negotiating the roles at each school we
went into. So that's a bit of a frustration as well.
Tell us more
about your role as a senior STLD.
I
do work in a dual role as an STLD and Senior ST. Since the start of the
appraisement trial I've been working in the Senior ST role two days a
week. I'm assisting with the appraisement role in the region. That in
itself has been a very interesting experience. It has been great to be
part of the trial and I hope there are some positive outcomes from the
results. I think we need that statewide structure for students with learning
difficulties. I've really appreciated being part of the trial and I really
believe that it should be accepted and become part of our role to appraise
students with learning difficulties. Now the appraisement trial is finished,
I'll go back to what I was doing but now two days a week that is, going
into schools with particular needs and working with students and support
teachers and parents to help establish programs; sometimes working with
specific students and sometimes working with the STLD and the teachers
and support STLDs, particularly those who have had little training or
little experience, and supporting others where the needs are very, very
high.
Could you identify
one or two teaching strategies that you find particularly powerful?
I
guess that does very across a range of students depending upon those students'
needs. I couldn't identify any two strategies that are particularly powerful
with all students & but I guess an approach that I find particularly
useful with the students in the lower school is the strategy advocated
by Marie Clay, not following strictly the Reading Recovery approach, but
using the kind of strategies in analysing pieces of text with young students
and working with and manipulating text. I find this particularly useful
with students in the lower grades.
For the upper grade
students one of the strategies I find particularly useful for them is
preparing them in advance for particular units of work in the classroom.
If I can work with the teacher and know the work the student is going
to do in the classroom and if I can assist that student to access that
classroom program more effectively & I think that is one of the most
powerful strategies. For example, if a student is going to be working
in a particular genre and if I can analyse that genre and 'walk' the student
through that genre and even some of the texts or very similar texts they
will be using & if I can work with them in the topic area or texts
particularly close to the ones they will be using & I find this really
motivates the student with learning difficulties in the upper school.
It s a strategy I'm using more and more with Year 6 and 7 students.
Are there any
new skills, bodies of knowledge etc. that you feel you need to acquire?
I
need to acquire more skills in the use of technology. I'm currently trying
to streamline my administrative workload on the computer; even trying
to write students' needs, goals and strategies and programs on the computer.
I know these are better ways of doing it, so I know I need to acquire
more skills in that area. Also computer technology for students with LD.
I feel a need to learn a great deal in this area. I'll be attending some
courses in the near future.
How could your
needs for ongoing access to knowledge about learning and knowledge of
strategies best be met?
I
think our needs are met. The biggest problem is getting to read; to read
all my journals and read the excellent books I've bought and haven't got
around to reading. I made myself a goal this year of reading one journal
article a week and a book a month. I must admit I haven't met my goal.
I
Im going into hibernation
into the holidays to try to catch up on meeting the goals. I think if
we're motivated to access the knowledge there isn't any difficulty with
that and I think our needs can be met very easily by the wonderful literature
that is being produced in this area at the moment. I really think that's
the best way of doing it. We can always attend seminars and workshops
but I often find my best learning is done on my own with a pile of books
and a pile of journal articles and a great amount of time.
What advice
can you offer an STLD going into the role for the first time?
I
think that being extremely organised is very important; keeping accurate
records, designing pro forms that meet your particular needs and yet help
you to have the information at your fingertips at all times. Also, keep
learning, reading and attending seminars and workshops and set goals in
the area of professional development and professional reading. And I think
also that I'd advise them to be flexible, never to get into a rut in the
role of an STLD. Constantly be searching for better ways to address problems,
better ways to organise time and programs. There isn't one good way and
I think we all need to keep on learning all of the time. That is probably
the most important advice I can give any support teacher.
Are there any
aspects of STLD practice that have been lost that you feel are worth recovering?
There
is honestly nothing I think I've lost. I've lost a lot of things in 18
years of practice but I'm happy to leave them behind. I think the one
thing that bothers me is in the STLD training. The time spent with other
support teachers during training, that designated time with an experienced
STLD for a period of time was invaluable to me. That practice has been
lost and has had a serious effect on the practice of new support teachers.
This is something worth recovering; that STLDs can have that block of
time with experienced support teachers before they begin practising or
in the early stages of their career in learning difficulties.
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