WA Pivotal People Event - Fostering Student Self-regulation in the Classroom

Join us for an informative evening where ACEL Executive Member and Principal Merrilee Wright will explore how to foster student self-regulation in schools. Inspired by her daughter with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Merrilee developed a holistic framework to foster learner self-regulation in the classroom that has since been embedded in mainstream primary and secondary schools as well as special needs contexts. Come and join us to discover more about this adaptable visual Framework promoting communication and self-regulation, how it differs from existing self-regulation and behaviour management models, how it will strengthen or compliment models already in place and how it can be implemented and personalised to meet the unique needs of each learner relevant to all ages at home and / or at school.

Audience:
The session is targeted at all those pivotal people in and around schools: teachers, teacher assistants, middle leaders, senior leaders, Principals, Deputies, carers and parents.

Presenter:
Merrilee Wright, one of our ACEL WA Executive Board members, is a past President of the Western Australian Education Support Principals and Administrator's Association (WAESPAA), previous Director, Public School Review, Principal of Malibu School and proud mother of a daughter with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Detailed description of what to expect:
In establishing home, family and community strategies to support a young daughter with Autism Spectrum Disorder to successfully negotiate and respond to early childhood social and academic challenges and transitions, the presenter developed a visual communication Framework for use at home. The Framework was further extended to support positive social and emotional regulation across any context, at any time through the development of accompanying vocabulary and 'Principles of Application'. Whilst there exist commercial/practical models for 'managing behaviour', the Framework filled a void for the presenter in that it validated the child's emotions whilst identifying individualised and independent strategies to demonstrate socially appropriate expressions of extreme emotion before resolving or addressing the cause of the emotion escalation.

The Framework was highly successful and was implemented at the daughter's mainstream school to support the teachers and leadership team to continue with a holistic and consistent approach in fostering the child's self-regulation independence. The visible progress motivated the school to use the Framework to support other children with ASD and those requiring additional adjustments in demonstrating socially appropriate behaviours when escalated.

Motivated by the achievements of her daughter, the presenter implemented the Framework within her high school classes when she commenced as a Special Needs teacher. Although the students were older, the Framework was adaptable and well received by the students, each with a diverse range of needs and abilities. The presenter has since expanded the implementation of The Framework to embed it as the foundation of the Whole School Behaviour Management Policy within other Western Australian schools.

A holistic 'whole child' implementation included planning and the learning involvement inclusive of students, school staff, school families and carers. Workshops were held for each group with subsequent opportunities for staff and families to collaborate and share their own successes in adapting the Framework and resources to suit individual needs. The result of full implementation and a shared practice between home and school demonstrated higher rates of student independence in self-regulation, increased awareness of individual de-escalation strategies, increased incidents of children volunteering or communicating their current emotional state, decreased intervention and prompting from adults and reduced volatile or violent escalation incidents as reported by both staff and families. These positive outcomes have meant increased school-based achievement for the children using the Framework through increased engagement in learning at school and increased self-regulation autonomy at school and home.

Attending delegates will be provided the opportunity to discover the adaptable visual Framework promoting communication and self-regulation, how it differs from existing self-regulation and behaviour management models, how it will strengthen or compliment models already in place and how it can be implemented and personalised to meet the unique needs of each learner relevant to all ages at home and / or school. Delegates will receive information around the theory and implementation with a range of accompanying age appropriate resources, templates and examples to support implementation, consistency, mastery and sustainability across home and school.