International School of Cape Town

Every parent would love their child to receive individual attention at school so that their potential can be maximised. The reality of one teacher being able to come close to this in a classroom full of children is well-nigh impossible (or a recipe for burnout!). Or is it?

Enter the Individual Learning Profile (ILP). This is a nifty piece of software that analyses key pieces of information about a child to produce a learning profile that will not only assist the learner to understand how best they learn but also help the teacher to plan their lessons to accommodate the individual learning styles in their class.

In the UK there is a significant focus on teaching to the individual and maximising their learning potential. Consequently, the development of innovative teaching and learning receives a lot of attention. It is small wonder, therefore, that this program is assisting thousands of UK learners with their learning.

10000km away from the UK, the International School of Cape Town is the first school in Africa to adopt this well researched ILP approach to individualising the learning of children and empowering the educators to be able to gear their teaching more closely to the individual needs. ISCT has a strong learner-centred approach and has recognised the importance of having this valuable information available to their educators.

We all learn in different ways. ILP is based on well established research into brain and sensory dominance, and its effects on the way that we receive, process and communicate information. We all favour a lead, or ‘dominant’ brain hemisphere, hand, ear, eye and foot. These different body parts have nerve pathways leading directly to the brain hemisphere on the opposite side of the body. The two brain hemispheres have subtly different ways of perceiving and processing information from the body and senses. The variations of dominance patterns give rise to 32 fascinating and very different ‘learning profiles’.

ILP is about discovering your learning profile, sharing the information with both learner and educator in the form of an illustrated report, and then using it to achieve success!

Here’s how:

1. Both learner and educator are shown how to play to the learner’s strengths, and avoid and overcome the effects of stress on their learning.

2. Educators are given the ability to create overviews of the learning styles and needs in their classes, and then to seat, group and teach them using the specially selected strategies to engage each type of learner.

3. Activities and exercises for each profile are suggested, designed specifically to reduce the effects of stress on the brain, and stimulate whole-brain thinking and learning.

There are many schools that are learner-centred but it is not easy for educators to implement effective strategies to meet the individual needs. Here is a tool that assists in teaching the individual in a class – a win-win for educator and parent.

ILP has been developed by Simon Olding from Achievement in Mind and Entropy Multimedia, Inc. More information can be gained from his website www.achievementinmind.com. The following is a quote from his website: “It is due to the groundbreaking work and writings of these educators* and all the other scientists, researchers and contributors to this field that I am able to present today what I hope will be an easy, and radically effective tool for all educators to help students achieve their potential in today’s learning environment.”

* Dr. Paul E. Dennison and his wife Gail Dennison were the originators and founders of Educational Kinesiology (Edu-K). Presented as part of the Edu-K system is the understanding of Dominances.

* Carla Hannaford Phd, presented her work on dominance processing and learning styles, and created the eminently useable manual book ‘The Dominance Factor, How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain, Hand and Foot can Improve Your Learning’.

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