EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

Case Study
Brandon is an 8 year old boy, currently enrolled in year 3 who had received a
five-course session of chemotherapy when he was 3 years old. This treatment
had an effect on Brandons cognitive skills, rendering them to a lower
capability. The skills most affected by this treatment were comprehension,
speech, hearing and motor skills. Brandon was slowly introduced into school
life during prep and has now adapted to school. Brandon is very social and
has shown a great interest in drawing. Currently Brandon is receiving
additional help from the Ronald McDonald Learning Links Program who have
provided a private tutor for him.
In order to ensure that Brandon receives an optimal education, an individual
education support plan (IESP) needs to be implemented throughout his
education, with the consent the stakeholders involved. These stakeholders
will be assigned responsibilities within the IESP to ensure that it is
implemented to its fullest potential. Through this IESP Brandon will receive
opportunities to develop and become a successful learner.

Individual Education Support Learning Plan

In order to support Brandons education throughout his schooling, the IESP
needs to identify and support areas of weakness that need additional support
to develop throughout his schooling. Three areas of weakness have been
identified to support Brandon. They are comprehension, Social skills and
Motor skills. Within each area, pedagogical approaches are based on catering
for Brandon in the classroom, rather than offering approaches for individual
lessons. In order to ensure Brandon does develop within the areas
successfully, the stakeholders involved will establish both long-term and shortterm goals. Long-term goals reflect the outcomes and achievements that
stakeholders want Brandon to achieve (Hospital, 2013) while short-term goals
are weekly goals for Brandon to achieve which will gradually achieve the longterm goals (Hospital, 2013).

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

Area 1: Comprehension Skills

Due to his treatment, Brandons cognitive skills have been effected. One
important cognitive skill that Brandon requires in order to succeed in his
education is Comprehension. Comprehension is The process of constructing
meaning using both the authors text and readers background knowledge at
literal, inferential and critical levels of understanding(Tompkins, 2006). This
involves, creating meaning from the text itself to understand it. If Brandon
does not receive additional support to develop this skill, he will fall behind due
to lack of comprehending texts and will require even more support if this
weakness is not addressed within the early years of his education. In order to
insure that this weakness has been supported, the long-term goal is to
develop Brandons comprehension skills towards the expectation outlined in
the Australian National Curriculum.
Pedagogical Approach
In order to achieve this goal, the teacher will need to implement pedagogical
approaches to support Brandons comprehension skills. Along with these
approaches, short-term goals will be established to assess Brandons
progress in achieving the final goal.
In order to develop Brandons comprehension skills, the most effective
pedagogical approach is to provide both Brandon and the class with
educational posters of strategies to use in order to understand text. The
teacher will determine these strategies. In order for this strategy to work, the
teacher will need to explicitly demonstrate each strategy presented on the
posters to the class, in order for them to understand how read the poster to
apply the strategy. Through this strategy Brandon will be provided with a
means to access strategies for comprehension during all school hours. The
short-term goals within this strategy are for Brandon to develop understanding
and be capable of applying each strategy. To measure whether Brandon has
successfully achieved this goal, either a teacher or teacher-aide will work with
Brandon on reading a book and focusing on one strategy and determine if he
applies it to comprehend the text.

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

Another strategy that will be implemented is providing Brandon with a reading

support program. The Special Education Unit (SEU) will develop the reading
support program to assess and measures Brandons reading and
comprehension skills. This process will be undertaken once a week to provide
the teacher and other stakeholders with a clear measurement of Brandons
development. The program will be implemented until the SEU determines that
Brandon has developed the skills necessary to be capable of reading and
comprehending texts independently. The short-term goals for this strategy will
be determined and assessed by the SEU, with an additional long-term goal of
Brandon becoming an independent reader.

Area 2: Social Skills

As noted before, Brandon is sociable child. However due to his condition,
there are skills that Brandon will be require to develop in order for him to
maintain a healthy social life.
Social skills are defined as a set of competencies that allow children or
adolescents to initiate and maintain positive social interactions with others,
establish peer acceptance, and cope effectively and adaptively with the larger
social environment (Kavale et al., 1997).
Within social skills there are six competencies. They are timing and staging,
affective matching, social memory, social predication, social relevance and
paralinguistics (Wooley G, 2015). While no official long-term goal can be
made for this area, due to lack of measurable results, it is within the interest of
the school to ensure that Brandon achieves a healthy sociable life.

Pedagogical Approach
Out of the six competencies, three are considered the most relevant for
Brandon to develop at this time. They are timing and staging, affective
matching and paralinguistics.
The first competency, timing and staging, involves the student being able to
pace the sequence of events related to the development of a friendship
(Q.E.D Foundation, 2015). Due to his time in hospital, Brandon has not had
many opportunities to experience developing a friendship with someone his

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

own age. For Brandon to achieve a healthy sociable life, he will need to
develop an understanding of a good friendship. To help develop this
understanding, the stakeholders involved will establish the behaviour of a
good friendship. To establish the characteristics of a good friendship, the
stakeholders will model a good friendship through books and other media and
intervene during problematic situations to model correct behaviour and
provide Brandon feedback on how independently avoid or resolve the conflict.
The next competency, affective matching is being able to take the perspective
of another, to see how other people are feeling or thinking (Q.E.D Foundation,
2015). Again due to the lack of interaction with other students during his time
in hospital, it is important to ensure that Brandon can apply the knowledge of
other peoples emotions. To measure Brandons abilities within this
competency, the teacher can read picture books to Brandon and asks
questions referring to the characters and their emotions. If Brandon
demonstrates difficulty with this skill, the SEU or the Learning Links
Association, can work with Brandon on developing this skill by defining and
modelling the behaviour through strategies such as puppet role-play. If any
conflict scenarios occur between Brandon and another student, it is important
for the teacher to also define, model and provide Brandon with feedback on
reading others emotions.
The final competency is paralinguistics, which is understanding and using
non-verbal aspects of communication, such as vocalics, proxemics, kinesics
and artifactual systems (Wooley G, 2015). Due to the chemotherapy,
Brandons ability to hear was affected. Combined with the lack of social
interaction with students his own age while in hospital, this leaves Brandon
with a difficulty with using vocalics. To assist Brandon in developing an
understanding of vocalics, establishing a five point scale of volume in to the
classroom will provide Brandon with a visual and auditory reference for
volume. The five point scale, developed by Karri Buron (Garham M, 2015),
utilises establishing five levels of volume, silent, whisper, talking, yelling
screaming. The teacher will introduce this scale to the class and apply real life
scenarios to each point, for the class to establish a relevant situation when
Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

using the scale. Throughout the year, Brandon can refer back to the scale, to
establish a proper level of volume for the situation and will independently be
able to monitor his own volume.

Area 3: Motor Skills

Another identified area of weakness for Brandon was his fine and gross motor
skills. These skills need to be catered for during lessons as well as developed,
to ensure that Brandon can achieve the set goal. Without developing these
skills Brandons ability to work in the classroom will be affected due to
struggling with basic skills like penmanship. The long-term goal for this area is
for Brandon to develop both his fine and gross motor skills to national
standards outline in the National Curriculum.
Pedagogical Approach
In order to achieve this goal, the teacher will need to implement pedagogical
approaches to support Brandons development.
The most basic approach to cater for Brandons fine motor skill development
is to provide Brandon with suitable objects and materials for him to manipulate
during class activities. While the choice of objects and materials will vary
throughout the year it is important to ensure that Brandon can easily
manipulate the objects and materials. Through this approach, Brandon will
develop his skill naturally while still completing the same level of classwork as
the other students. Another approach to catering for Brandons fine motor
skills is providing him with a pencil grip during written and drawing tasks.
Pencil grips are designed to accommodate students with fine motor skill
problems by making writing a less burdensome task (Response: Pencil Grips
- TeacherVision.com, 2014). With support Brandon will hopefully be capable of
completing writing and drawing tasks without having to strain himself. A final
approach would be to recommend that, if Brandon continuously demonstrates
difficulty with fine motor skills, that his parents should contact an Occupational
Therapist to develop, assess and measure his fine motor skills. This will be
determined by whether Brandon continually was unable to complete writing

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

tasks, difficulty with object manipulation and complaints about pain during
those tasks.
In order to assist Brandons development in gross motor skills, the most basic
approach would incorporate kinesthetic learning style into class activities.
Kinesthetic learning involves the students using their senses (T Hawk, A
Shah, 2007), such as sense of body. Using activates such as role-play and
ball games to learn content will provide Brandon with opportunities to use and
develop his gross motor skills in the classroom. While the development of
gross motor skills will not be assessed in class, Brandons abilities will be
monitored and assessed by the Health and Physical Education teacher, who
provide feedback to the other stakeholders.

Support Network
In order for the IESP to be effective in the classroom, it is required that all
participating stakeholders be identified and have their responsibilities in the
plan clearly outlined. In the plan the following stakeholders are involved:

Brandons Parents: The most essential responsibility of consenting and

confirming to the implementation and any changes to the IESP. They
will be required to be informed of the IESP progress throughout the

year.
Ronald McDonald Learning Links associate: The Learning Links
associate will be required to be constantly informed of Brandon
progress at school, as well as informing the school and teacher of

Brandons progress with the Ronald McDonald representative

Teacher Aides: Will be required to have knowledge of the IESP in order

to assist in the implementation of the plan in the classroom.

School Admin: Will be required to act as a mediator between the

stakeholders to ensure that they are all informed on his progress.

Supply Teachers: Will be required to read a summary of the IESP to

cater their lessons for Brandon.

Class Teacher/ Additional Teachers: Will be required to implement the
IESP into their classroom. They will be required to monitor Brandons

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

progress and communicate the results to all other stakeholders

involved in the plan.
Through this IESP, Brandon will receive opportunities to develop skills he
requires in order to be a successful learner. In order for this IESP to be
successful, a strong support network will be established and maintained
throughout Brandons education. It is important to ensure that Brandons
needs are catered for during classes in order for him to achieve the
established long-term goals. Through Brandons education, modification will
be made to the program to ensure that his needs are met and that the
classroom remains a safe and supportive learning environment.

References
Culture in the Classroom,. 'Non-Verbal Aspects Of Language
(Paralinguistics) > Non-Verbal Communication > Cultures In The
Classroom'. Culturesintheclassroom.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 Apr.
2015.
Forness, S. R., Kavale, K. A., Blum, I. M., & Lloyd, J. W. (1997). What
works in special education and related services: Using meta-analysis to
guide practice. Teaching Exceptional Children,
Graham, M. 'Tips For Adjusting Voice Volume And Tone - SpecialIsm'. Special-Ism. N.p., 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Hawk, T F., and Amit J. Shah. 'Using Learning Style Instruments To
Enhance Student Learning'.Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative
Education 5.1 (2007): 1-19. Web. 10 Apr. 2015.
Hospital, T., 2013. Education Institute : Developing an Individual Learning
Plan. [online] Rch.org.au. Available at:
<http://www.rch.org.au/education/educators/developing-an-individualeducation-plan/> [Accessed 14 Apr. 2014].

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley

EDU402

Task 2

Case Study

Response: Pencil Grips - TeacherVision.com. 2014. [online]

Teachervision.com. Available at:
<https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-methods/educationaltesting/4160.html> [Accessed 16 Apr. 2014].
Tompkins, G., 2006. Literacy for the 21st century. 1st ed. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Q.E.D Foundation,. 'Learning To Relate To Others - Utilizing Non-Verbal

Abilities To Relate Others'.Allkindsofminds.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 10
Apr. 2015.
Wooley. G, (2015). 402 Tutorial 3 Notes, Retrieved from
https://online.usc.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-793778-dt-content-rid4117626_2/xid-4117626_2

Robert Gianduzzo

1059876

Gary Wooley