In Part One of this mini blog series, I explored what Blended Learning was and the pros and cons associated with this unconventional way of learning. In this Part Two, I am going to talk about how the environment in which a student learns can be changed such to aid the learning process for someone with dyslexia or any other neurodiversity. Let’s talk about ‘Niche Construction’.

Introduction

Covid has caused, I believe, a bit of a problem for dyslexic learners. Ordinarily large class sizes, less one to one teaching time and a busy environment have, for some, presented barriers for learning. Now that pupils and students all the way from primary education right up to under grad higher education are having to adapt to blended learning, you would think that learning from the comfort of one’s ‘home’ would be favourable, but has changing the learning environment simply replaced one set of barriers for an other?

For under-graduates at the moment, they are in their student accommodation learning , neither at home nor within the college based learning environment. With the learning experience, in the main, being delivered online, this could seem monotonous (staring at MS Teams or equivalent all day consuming educational content), socially isolating and lacking the usual elements of multi-sensory learning that comes with attending lectures in person and as part of the wider student body.

At time of writing, the UK Government has announced the second national lockdown in order to combat the effects of COVID. With this announcement comes debates about whether or not to keep schools and colleges open (currently the UK Government is requiring them to stay open). If we are learning anything from education and the wider pandemic is that rules and guidelines are changing on on a daily basis. As parents and teachers it becomes even more relevant to consider making blended learning as effective as possible for the pupil or student and that wherever the learning takes place, the environment should be geared such that effective learning takes place.

Students need to be supported in considering what they need to help their ability to learn under these new conditions. With a better understanding of ‘Niche Construction’ a student may be empowered to enjoy their learning process, be more motivated and ultimately develop their knowledge and attainment under these current restrictions.

What is Niche Construction?

I absolutely love this quote:

For me, when I read Thomas Armstrong’s excellent book, The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the advantages of your differently wired brain, Armstrong uses the examples of various animals to illustrate ‘Niche Construction. For example, a spider in a web or a beaver in their dam. In both cases, both animals have changed their environment in order to thrive. The same works for our neurodiverse needs. If we don’t satisfy our neurodiverse learning needs whilst taking part in blended learning, how can we expect to thrive as students.

There are a number of elements that assist with constructing one’s own niche environment for learning. Broadly speaking, I really like to use Maslows Hierarchy of Needs to help me to think about this.

In essence Maslow talked about how we have a hierarchy of needs that need to be satisfied before we can be at our best (self-actualisation).

Physiological Needs

It makes sense, that if we are hungry, dehydrated, tired, too hot or too cold then it’s unlikely that we will feel at our best (Physiological) to study.

Safety Needs

Equally if we dread studying and are fearful of poor results or being seen to be ‘stupid’ then we won’t feel safe. As a result we may behave in a way to compensate for that fear that is destructive and engages us less. By choosing to adopt this behaviour perhaps we are trying to hide the root problem of struggling with studying with a neurodiverse mind?

Love & Belonging Needs

Those issues that we face with safety might then lead to emotional challenges with feeling included within the wider part of the student body. Indeed the current isolation that comes from studying via a laptop in student digs could indeed make one feel disconnected with peers and families, for that matter, as students at the moment are not allowed home.

Feeling lonely will affect one’s mental health and one’s ability to progress up the ‘hierarchy’.

Esteem Needs

If a student can satisfy most of the needs of the ‘hierarchy’ then they are in a good position to build up positive self-esteem as this promotes mental wellbeing. Healthy mental wellbeing empowers the student to pursue the opportunities within blended learning. We then start to see the positive outcomes that come with feeling good about ourselves.

Self-Actualisation

Ok, for me this is a weird term. I am uncomfortable with it as it seems to sound, to me, like some ethereal state that one can aspire to, not too dissimilar in tone to ‘reaching Nirvana’!

I always refer to this as ‘unlocking potential’ and for me the whole process that the ‘hierarchy’ describes is the general learning curve of life. We do have an innate urge to make the right decisions for ourselves if we are able to fulfil our needs first, as this puts us in a better position to deal with any challenges that we are faced with on the way to unlocking those opportunities in life especially when studying.

Some key points to consider when studying in a blended learning process when utilising a niche construction approach.

Movement.

Chained to a desk all day for most is neither healthy or useful in promoting good learning. Are you able to allow yourself to move about and take regular breaks? For me, wireless earphones are a godsend mixing standing and sitting when attending a lecture via a computer screen.

Good note taking.

Consider what works for you with this. For some, the act of writing notes whilst staring at a screen is distracting and uncomfortable. So consider what works for you. For many students recording lectures and reviewing and then taking notes at that point is very effective for learning and recall.

Block out distractions.

External distractions from noisy flatmates e.g doors slamming or footsteps in the corridors can all serve to distract. Added to this mobile phone and PC notifications and emails arriving can cause internal distractions within your room.

So consider what draws your attention away from the aspect of learning that you are dealing with. Do you need to switch off your notifications? Do you need to block out the sounds of life coming from other student rooms and communal areas? Listening to your lessons with earphones may be more helpful than without. I recommend the use of noise cancelling headphones as a way of immersing yourself into work, but that won’t work for everyone. You have to find the strategy that works for you.

What time of day is best for you to review notes and recordings?

There is a good chance that you can’t possibly schedule online lectures for times when you are at your cognitive best, but the times at which you are at your best to further study will be important. For example, for me, blog writing, doing my accounts and my research is often cognitively challenging in the afternoons, so I try to schedule the heavy cognitive workload for times when I am fresher. Mostly first thing in the day, the earlier the better. Ironically, I also seem to be able to do this later in the evening.

In my afternoons I schedule tasks that I know that I can easily focus on even if I am tired. If I do heavy cognitive work in the afternoons, I am fearful of not getting stuff done and getting distracted or procrastinating. This then starts to bring about anxiety and then that puts me down that ‘hierarchy’ to the ‘safety level’ when I am experiencing fear about getting stuff done. I get overwhelmed and the self-fulfilling prophecy takes place. I choose not to put myself in that position so that when I am doing the difficult stuff I experience more of a ‘cognitive tailwind’.

Self-Advocacy.

If you need something to help you learn, especially at this time, then get in touch with your lecturers, student wellbeing service or the Disabled Students Allowance scheme to advocate for what you need. It may well be as simple as getting lecture PowerPoints upfront so that you can review the slides before the lecturer commences their talk. This will make the content familiar to you before start the lecture.

Maybe there is something else that the lecturer can help you with so as to develop your niche construction process. As the old saying goes “You don’t get, if you don’t ask!”

Final Comments.

Dyslexic or not, every student is different, they think differently and as such their learning needs will differ. We can’t possibly expect our respective academic institutions to fulfil 100% of our learning needs.

We need to take responsibility for our own niche construction process and do what it takes to unlock our academic potential whilst also utilising available resources (Student Wellbeing services or the Disabled Students Allowance Scheme).

Don’t take a reactive approach, be proactive about niche construction especially whilst working within a blended learning environment.

This has been part two of two focusing on understanding Niche Construction as a way of building strategies for more effective studying under this current blended learning environment. I would love to know your thoughts on both articles or to hear from you sharing your experiences either as a student or as someone who supports students. Please comment below or via Twitter.