Educational Needs and Learning Spaces for Disadvantaged Students

My first thought when considering educational needs for students was that they need writing materials; pens, paper and other stationary to assist them in their work. But then I thought, there are so many impoverished children in the world who in certain circumstances, still find a way to learn without these materials so I thought about it again and here’s what I came up with.

Students educational needs (in my opinion) are:

• First and foremost, they need a dedicated and passionate teacher. A mentor to guide and encourage students to want to learn and give them that thirst for knowledge (or like I like to call it, a pursuit for ‘wisdocation’).

• They need to have an understanding of how they learn, why its important for them to get an education and that acquiring an education can make a big difference to their lives.

• They need to be educated in the context of their reality and learn about the world around them, with the goal of bettering their circumstances.

• They need to be able to be educated with limited resources and technologies and teachers should be implementing creative ways to present content to their students as well as have alternative ways for students to present what they know other than writing it down.

In terms of learning spaces an important consideration is that the majority of these students in war torn or disaster stricken countries do not have access to resources and technologies. For children affected by war or natural disasters, their learning spaces may consist of a small concrete surrounded courtyard or sitting in the doorway of a village hut. Their spaces are limited and not adorned with educational posters for inspiration, large round tables for collaborative work or an inviting reading corner to encourage readers. These lovely additions to our learning spaces, that we have come to expect are not a necessity for these students, instead what is important is using the environment in which they are in to provide educational experiences. This is where creative teaching methods and ways to use the space in which the students are learning, should be employed. A teacher/ mentor may use a stick and the sand to demonstrate and model content or a real life experience may present some educational value. It is up to the teacher to identify these opportunities. It is also important to consider that the stress of these children’s situations may limit how long they are able to engage in their learning however, in saying that, learning about the outside world may come as a welcomed distraction.

#school #syrianrefugees #educationalneeds #learningspace