Here are some of our clients’ stories: are these problems familiar.

K was a 50 year old who had been a mature student at a London college; she gained a First but was about to fail her 1st year as a newly qualifying teacher. She is dyslexic and was lacking in self confidence. She completed the ELLI and we found that she was very strong in the Changing and Learning and Meaning Making dimensions but was not using Learning Relationships, Critical Curiosity or Resilience. We worked with her to support her own development and at the same time encouraged a dialogue on how she could use these aspects in her teaching. She has now successfully completed her 1st year and has been offered permanent employment as a qualified teacher.

N was a disorganised Yr 9 student who found sitting still difficult and, he told us that, “I only learn when I am very active”. He loved sailing and wind surfing so we used these activities to get him to plan and organise his learning. He was with us from September through to February, fitting in with his water activities, which gave him time to think about and try out the new approaches to learning. We used the Inspiration 8 Mind Mapping programme with N and this worked very well. He decorated his learning space at home with mind maps and diagrams of his work and divided the maps into easy/not so easy/ difficult sections. Previously he worked when he had to and drifted from one piece of work to another. At his final session he summed up his understanding of the dimensions in a ‘giant map’, adding his plans along the bottom.
 

H had dropped out of university because he could not keep up with the work. He is dyslexic and was quite demoralised when he came to us, although he had started a degree course at a local higher education college. He came because his mother was anxious that he should not fail again. When he first arrived he was dejected but, by the end of his course, he arrived early, with a smile, and our sessions frequently ran over time. His ELLI showed that he was using Changing and Learning and Meaning Making and very little of the other dimensions. We worked on the others. We encouraged him to take note of the other students in his group and by the end of his sessions he had become a valuable member of the group. He had to plan, organise and think of interesting ways to work and, as a result, he had all his 1st semester assignments finished on time, he achieved a good standard. Although he would be reluctant to admit it, he enjoyed his work.

S was a 19 year old student who nearly failed her 1^st year university exams. She is extremely bright having gained grade ‘A’s throughout her school career and she was deeply shocked by her results. She came to us with only 2 spare weeks in her summer vacation to discover what was going wrong with her learning. Her ELLI profile revealed that she was good at Meaning Making and Learning Relationships but she was low on the remaining dimensions. She had to get to grips with her course subject matter before returning to university. After her first 2 sessions she realised that she could do this and after 4 sessions she went away a very happy student with her skills, images and tools ready to start the new academic year.