Report: Inclusive Education, Core Elements, Communication Methods UK

This report analyzes the minimum core elements (literacy, numeracy, and language) in planning, delivering, and assessing inclusive teaching and learning, drawing on the author's experience as a health and safety trainer in the UK. It discusses the challenges of incorporating all core elements and provides examples of how to integrate them into lessons, including the use of ICT. The report also examines verbal, non-verbal, and written communication methods, outlining their benefits and limitations in a teaching context. Verbal communication is explored through its various forms, highlighting its efficiency and potential drawbacks related to audience size and hearing impairments. Non-verbal communication's role in complementing verbal cues and substituting for it in certain situations is discussed alongside its limitations, such as cultural variations and potential for misinterpretation. Finally, the report covers written communication, emphasizing its formality and ease of preservation while acknowledging potential challenges in presenting complex matters. The report concludes by advocating for the interdependent use of all three communication methods to enhance teaching and learning effectiveness.

Education and Training
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
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Table of Contents
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Education and Training....................................................................................................................3
Question (a): Minimum Core Elements...........................................................................................3
Question (b): Communication Methods..........................................................................................4
Verbal Communication................................................................................................................5
Benefits of Verbal Communication.........................................................................................6
Limitations of Verbal Communication....................................................................................6
Non-Verbal Communication.......................................................................................................7
Benefits of Non-Verbal Communication.................................................................................7
Limitations of Non-Verbal Communication............................................................................8
Written Communication..............................................................................................................8
Benefits of Written Communication........................................................................................9
Limitations of Written Communication...................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
Education and Training
Question (a): Minimum Core Elements
Minimum core elements include literacy, numeracy, and language. It is important to note that
inclusive learning and teaching combine vocational skills with the development of numeracy,
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literacy, and language. The skills that the learners acquire help ensure that they are confident and
motivated to succeed in their lives and careers. The use of minimum core elements helps the
learner progress in their education and career. Incorporating all the minimum core elements may
be challenging due to the difficulty of demonstrating number skills (Wallace, 2011, p. 82).
Literacy, on the other hand, is easier to demonstrate because resources, as well as teaching and
learning methods, are available. For example, a teacher can use books and other learning
materials brought by the learner from home to start discussions and group work on the types of
questions students should be asked during shared reading (Gadsby and Beere, 2013, p. 102). This
activity incorporates both oral and written communication and is believed to be suitable for a
large group of learners.
It is important to strive and include all the minimum core elements during each lesson one tries
to deliver. As it may have already been mentioned that the use of numeracy can be slightly
challenging especially in arts, it is, however, it is easier when learners are using measurements in
their artwork (Petty, 2009, p. 356). Written assignments, on the other hand, should involve the
learner being given an essay that focuses on word count. This will help them in improving both
numeracy and language skills (Gravells and Simpson, 2010). Adhering to the maximum word
count allows the learners to practice counting. This technique can even be used when setting
different types of poems that have specified stanzas or word count. One must try to squeeze in a
minimum core element in planning lessons whenever possible. It may be initially difficult to
implement these individual minimum core elements but with time one finds a way of fitting them
into their learning and teaching.
Leaners can also be taught new narratives, narrative techniques, terms, concepts, and new ways
of writing to ensure that their language and literacy skills are in constant development. Learners
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can also be asked to read some handouts out loud to help in improving their literacy and
language skills. Inclusive teaching and learning also involve incorporating ICT minimum core
elements. This can be done by requesting the learners to submit their work online. The learners
get the opportunity of interacting with technology when they explore different sites on how to
submit their work online and get it published on other websites (Gravells and Simpson, 2010).
It is important to note that ICT minimum core elements can be incorporated in lessons in
different ways. One of the ways is by making passages read by students in class more interactive
by adding links to make the lesson more active. Through these links, more diagrams, videos, and
quizzes can be opened up which can help in explaining the context of a passage (Wallace, 2011,
p. 78). The use of ICT in inclusive learning and teaching can expand the thinking of students and
ensure that their thinking is not just limited to within the classroom walls. As long as technology
is available to all learners, inclusive teaching and learning approach is improved.
Question (b): Communication Methods
Communication is very important in teaching practice to ensure that a message is appropriately
passed between the learner and their teacher. In my teaching practice as a health and safety
trainer, I learned a lot of important communication methods that can help in improving teaching
and learning. The three main categories of communication that I learned during my time while I
was practicing as a health and safety trainer included verbal, non-verbal and written
communication (Kurtz et al., 2017). These three communication methods normally complement
each other and they should therefore be used interdependently. Communication is more efficient
and effective if we strive to implement all these three types of communication in teaching and
learning. Additionally, these communication methods have both benefits and limitations that will
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be discussed in this paper. However, before discussing these benefits and limitations it is
important to understand what each of these communication methods mean.
Verbal Communication
This type of communication involves anything that the student or the teacher says aloud in the
classroom. In other words, verbal communication may be described as the process of sending or
receiving a message through languages and sounds (Zlatić et al., 2014, p. 608). Four main types
of verbal communication can be used in teaching and learning. They include intrapersonal,
interpersonal, small group communication, and public communication.
Intrapersonal communication is a strictly private communication that is restricted to oneself. It
involves the silent conversations one has within their minds. It is rare for this type of
communication to occur within a teaching and learning setting unless when a learner or a teacher
is trying to reflect on something (Liu, 2016). Interpersonal communication is the type of
communication that occurs between two individuals who practice turn-taking to swap their roles
of sending and receiving a message. An example of such communication is the one between a
teacher and one of their student. This communication is one-on-one and is more appropriate
when a private communication should be passed (Liu, 2016). For example when the teacher aims
to address a particular student’s discipline or academic performance. A small group
communication, on the other, hand occurs between more than two people. The group must,
however, be small enough to give every participant to take part in the communication. An
example of small group communication is the communication between a teacher and the entire
classroom. The teacher, in this case, may intend to pass a piece of information to the entire class
while at the same time give room for participation by the student. Finally, public communication
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occurs when one addresses a huge population such as in election campaigns or when a teacher
decides to address the entire school.
Benefits of Verbal Communication
During my teaching practice as a health and safety trainer, I noticed that verbal communication is
very important in passing information. One of the benefits of this type of communication is that
it saves time. This is because the communication is direct and there is no time to second guess
what someone could be referring to because they verbally send their message (Rfwireless-
world.com, 2020). This message is received by the other party who responds accordingly to it
without wasting time. Additionally, feedback is obtained almost immediately after the intended
message has been delivered. Another benefit of this communication is that it ensures that the
message is clearly understood and there is always a chance to clarify things that require clarity
(Rfwireless-world.com, 2020). This communication method is also important when you intend to
persuade someone to do something.
Limitations of Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is not suitable for people with hearing or speech problems because the
intended message is not delivered appropriately. Additionally, some people do not know how to
accompany their message with the appropriate emotions and therefore meaning may be lost
during the delivery of a piece of information. This type of communication may also be
disadvantaged by the size of the audience (Bizfluent.com, 2020). For example in a teaching and
learning setting where the population of learners is very huge. This is because only a particular
group of individuals receive the message but those people sat at the back far away from the
speaker are disadvantaged. Listening is also another problem with verbal communication
because this type of communication is always two-way (Bizfluent.com, 2020). One party speaks
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while the other listens but the listener may not be active and attentive because they may choose
to focus on their response more than the message.
Non-Verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication involves communicating via gestures, body language, tone, the pitch
of voice, facial expression, and posture as opposed to communication via words (Mehrabian,
2017, p. 1). For example, in a classroom setting when a student nods as the teacher speaks then
that is a type of non-verbal communication. There are very many types of non-verbal
communication that help in ensuring that communication is effective and efficient. One of them
is facial expressions. It is important to note that the human face is capable of conveying several
emotions without someone necessarily saying a word. Facial expressions can be used to convey
happiness, sadness, shock, disgust, and fear among others. Another one is gestures that may
involve waving, pointing, or hand movements during arguments or when explaining a point
(Mehrabian, 2017, p. 9). It is, however, important to note that unlike facial expressions, gestures
are not universal and gestures may mean different things in different cultures. Eye contact is
another form of non-verbal communication because it conveys a message about interest,
attention, attraction, hostility, or affection. Finally, body movements and posture communicate a
lot of information about a person. This involves how someone sits, stands, walks, and carry
themselves around.
Benefits of Non-Verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication is important because it complements verbal communication by
adding meaning to a message and thus ensuring that the recipient appropriately understands the
intended message. For example, when a teacher is teaching and using hand gestures to drive a
point home. This makes the student more active and attentive to listen to the teacher (Neill,
2017). Another benefit of non-verbal communication is that it can easily substitute verbal
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communication. For example in cases where noise makes it almost impossible for verbal
communication or in cases where one intends to pass a piece of private information to another
person without anyone else getting the message (Hall and Knapp, 2013, p. 306). Additionally,
non-verbal communication is easy to present in visual and audio-visual. Another benefit of this
method of communication is that it makes communication with handicapped people especially
deaf easier because they cannot communicate using verbal communication.
Limitations of Non-Verbal Communication
It is important to note that using non-verbal communication independently may be challenging at
some time. This is because it is in some instances vague because there is no use of words to give
a clear meaning to the message being passed thus making the communication not only vague but
also imprecise (The Business Communication, 2020). Another limitation of this communication
method is that it is culture-bound implying that a particular non-verbal cues may mean different
things in different cultures. This may lead to the wrong information being passed (The Business
Communication, 2020). It is also impossible to have long conversations via non-verbal
communication because particular meanings of a message are missed. Information may also be
distorted because non-verbal communication heavily relies on gestures, facial expressions, and
eye contact among others (The Business Communication, 2020). This type of communication
also lacks a formality and does not follow any rules like the other forms of communication.
Written Communication
Written communication is sending or receiving a piece of information via a way of writing such
as written assignments, reports, and essays among others. This method of communication is
more formal as compared to the previously discussed methods. It is one of the most used
methods of communication in a teaching and learning setting.
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Benefits of Written Communication
Documents of written communication are easier to preserve as opposed to verbal or non-verbal
communication that is almost impossible to preserve. Additionally, it may be difficult to verbally
present some complex matters in class but when put in writing they become easier to present
(The Business Communication, 2020). Furthermore, written communication ensures that the
documents remain permanent records whenever they are needed as long as nobody or nothing
destroys them (The Business Communication, 2020). This is also made easier by their longevity.
The possibility of a piece of information being distorted is also limited with written
communication thus making the process of teaching and learning easier.
Limitations of Written Communication
Written communication is only suitable for literate people who know how to right thus making it
the wrong method of communication for illiterates (The Business Communication, 2020).
Written communication also lacks flexibility and the details of a written document may not be
easily changed. It is also time-consuming because it takes time to communicate with others.
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References
Bizfluent.com. (2020). [online] Available at: https://bizfluent.com/list-7192558-disadvantages-
verbal-communication.html [Accessed 27 Feb. 2020].
Gadsby, C. and Beere, J. (2013). Perfect Assessment for Learning. Bancyfelin: Independent
Thinking Pr, pp.1-142.
Gravells, A. and Simpson, S., 2010. Planning and enabling learning in the lifelong learning
sector. SAGE.
Hall, J.A. and Knapp, M.L. eds., 2013. Nonverbal communication (Vol. 2). Walter de Gruyter.
Kurtz, S., Draper, J. and Silverman, J., 2017. Teaching and learning communication skills in
medicine. CRC press.
Liu, M., 2016. Verbal communication styles and culture. In Oxford research encyclopedia of
communication.
Mehrabian, A., 2017. Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
Neill, S., 2017. Classroom nonverbal communication. Routledge.
Petty, G., 2009. Evidence-based teaching. Nelson Thornes.
Rfwireless-world.com. (2020). Advantages of Verbal Communication,Disadvantages of Verbal
Communication. [online] Available at:
https://www.rfwireless-world.com/Terminology/Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Verbal-
Communication.html [Accessed 27 Feb. 2020].
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The Business Communication. (2020). Advantages and disadvantages of written communication.
[online] Available at: https://thebusinesscommunication.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-
written-communication/ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2020].
The Business Communication. (2020). Advantages and disadvantages of non-verbal
communication. [online] Available at: https://thebusinesscommunication.com/advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-non-verbal-communication/ [Accessed 27 Feb. 2020].
Wallace, S., 2011. Teaching, tutoring and training in the lifelong learning sector. Learning
Matters.
Zlatić, L., Bjekić, D., Marinković, S. and Bojović, M., 2014. Development of teacher
communication competence. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 116, pp.606-610.
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