Educational Intervention: Models, Principles and Example

The educative intervention It encompasses actions that seek for the student to achieve integral development through education. Educational interventions are not any educational action, but refer to a series of strategies (which can be part of a program) that depend on the need of the student.

If something characterizes educational interventions is that they have intention; that is, if they are given without being planned, they are not educational interventions. These actions are usually referred to the formal scope, as for example, in nursery schools, colleges and universities, among others.

The use of support technologies in class can be part of an educational intervention

In addition, they are considered formal because they are part of a plan and require an initial evaluation, an establishment of objectives, programming and periodic reviews.

Basic concepts

There are a series of concepts that are closely related to educational interventions and that are necessary to understand where they come from and how they are applied.

It is important to keep in mind that, according to the legislation of each country, the terms and fields of action may vary.

Inclusive education

Inclusive education is a process in which the educational system is expected to have the capacity to reach all students, by determining what barriers exist to access and participate in education, and by providing resources to overcome them.

This is important because this commitment to inclusive education is what has made it possible to see the needs of students as something to which the education system through ordinary channels is obliged to respond.

In this way, the need for a more segregated special education is minimized or eliminated. From this perspective, the student with needs must be under the tutelage of the ordinary classroom teacher, although always attending to the needs of the student.

Specific needs for educational support

It includes special educational needs, which are related to disability or serious behavior disorders. It also includes students with specific learning difficulties (reading, writing, mathematics) and high abilities.

Finally, students with other situations are included, such as late incorporation into the educational system and personal conditions or complex school history.

Intervention models

Ordinary measures

These measures are aimed at avoiding, compensating and favoring overcoming slight difficulties without altering key elements of the common curriculum.

In this way it is sought that students in their entirety achieve the objectives proposed for the course.

For example, they can be curricular measures such as planning different types of activities (individual, group, exhibitions, etc.) or organization, such as seeking that the center is organized in such a way that there is easy communication between teachers for the same group / subject.

Specific measures

With these measures, programs and actions are applied that are customized for the student with specific educational support needs. The important thing is that they are measures that are saved for when the general measures did not obtain the desired results.

Some of these are adaptations of access to the curriculum, significant adaptations, flexibility, support of a specialist teacher in Special Education, among others.

Beginning

It is necessary to follow a series of principles that are based on the idea of ​​inclusive education, either as an institution or as teachers:

Meet the students

The teacher must know his students to be able to assess the needs they present and thus plan properly. In addition, this allows having a starting point to compare in the future.

Thanks to the teacher's knowledge of his students, he can adequately plan the type of strategies or approach that will be necessary.

Offer various ways to access the curriculum

Based on what the teacher learns after the careful evaluation of the student, it can offer different types of ways to access information, activities and other resources.

In addition, it must be borne in mind that students may vary in learning styles, autonomy, social and communication skills, prior educational opportunities, interests and motivations, among other elements.

Criteria and planning

The teacher must plan the strategies to apply, so that they can have clear criteria that demonstrate their progress and effectiveness. In other words, the planning process does not occur randomly but must be well structured.

Example of educational intervention project

A high school student has visual difficulties that do not allow her to access the information in the same way as the rest of the students in the Literature class, in addition to other social and family factors that influence her case.

From this, the teachers establish specific measures, especially access to the curriculum, which imply a series of modifications that must be taken into account so that she can actively participate in the classes.

For example, from the school it is proposed that you make use of an electronic device (a tablet) with support technologies such as text-to-speech reader, which allows you to listen to the documents required to participate in the class.

It was also decided to use significant adaptations based on the curriculum, since it was planned that the heavier note included an exhibition and a poster related to the chosen theme.

In his case, this structure was modified, to give more weight to the exhibition and allow him an alternative form of oral evaluation with the teacher.

A periodic follow-up was scheduled to determine if the modifications were sufficient for the student to achieve the proposed objectives.

References

1. Gupta, R. M. and Coxhead, P. (2014). Counseling and psychopedagogical support: practical strategies for educational intervention . Madrid: Narcea, S.A. of Editions
2. United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture (2009). Policy guidelines on inclusion in education.
3. Torres, G. J. A., Peñafiel, M. F. and Fernandez, B. J. M. (2014). Evaluation and didactic intervention: attention to the specific needs of educational support. Pyramid editions.
4. Weber, C. (2016). Foundational Principles of Instruction and Intervention Systems. International Center for Leadership in Education.
5. Wright, J. (2011). RTI: Academic & Behavioral Evidence-Based Interventions. Central Intervention.