Abstract:
How can I improve my practice as a learning support teacher?
Thérèse Burke
The following dissertation is a description of my professional practice. It outlines my educational values as a learning support teacher and the context in which I tried to honour those values My research recounts the steps I took to address my professional concerns that my belief in the values of education as emancipatory and the uniqueness of the individual were denied. It shows how I attempted to develop a theory of learning difference through action and reflection, as I researched the question, 'How can I improve my practice as a learning support teacher?' My choice of an action research methodology was a deliberate attempt to conduct my study within a framework that was compatible with my own professional integrity and values system. It was important to me that my pupils and colleagues be collaborative participants in my research and that I would be at its centre. In my dissertation I intend to show how I moved from a deficit model of learning remediation to a theory of learning difference. I investigated new methods of learning support, which I believe resulted in the development of a more collaborative consultative model of practice. Finally, I hope my dissertation demonstrates that I have taken my first tentative steps towards the development of an emancipatory theory of learning difference.
