1. The Successful Post
Secondary Student –
Session 2

2. Website - Agenda

3. What are you going to take
away from what we have
to say?
 What choices will you make?

4. What has that got to do with
school?

5. It is all about choice – and
what you deem is important
 Because we can teach you nothing….
 Unless you want to learn
 And if you do not want to be here – you are free
to leave – today
 If you stay – you commit to 9 days of building your
post-secondary to be a foundation for the next 6
years
 What do you want to take away from today?
 How are we going to do that together?

6. Rules of Engagement
 Willbe common to all university
classrooms
 Student code of conduct
 Expectations for my sessions

7. You can do this
 What will you choose?

8. 2001 Statistics
 Population Sampled (15 years and older)
= 23 901 360
 or about 24 000 000
 6 173 225 start university = 24%
 3 687 650 complete degree = 15%
 642 055 complete a masters = 2.6%
 128 625 complete a PhD = .5%

9. Social Role
As Defined by Sociologist Talcott Parsons
A Social Role may be defined as a socially
expected pattern…
 of behaviours,
 responsibilities,
 expectations,
 and privileges.

10. Characteristics of the
Successful Student
 What do they look like?
 What don’t they look like?
 How do they behave?
 How don’t they behave?
 Divide into 4 groups

11. Characteristics
What do they look like? What don’t they look
like?
1. “smart” – glasses,
reading 1. Rumpled
2. Scruffy
2. Carries backpack
3. Baggy clothes
3. Well dressed 4. Intoxicated
4. Carries books 5. Parties all the time
5. Conservative 6. Bags under their
clothing eyes

12. Characteristics
How do they How don’t they
Behave? behave?
1. Motivated 1. Lazy
2. Articulate 2. Disrespectful
3. Well spoken 3. Hostile

13. Images of Students

14. Age? Gender? Diversity?
 Who will be in your classes?

15. Social Role of the Student
 of behaviour
 responsibilities –
 Expectations –
and privileges –
What are these for a student

16. Social Role of the Student
 of behaviour, - doing work
 responsibilities - studying, completing
assignments, attending class
 Expectations – you will work hard, you
will fulfill all class requirements
 and privileges – access to library,
access to funding, access to student
services, reduced rates for museums,
travel, ability to choose courses,
create own time table

17. Roles Powerfully Impact Upon:
 Image in eyes of others ~ status &
reputation
 Image in own eyes ~ self-image
 Acceptance and belonging
 Associations and relationships
 Autonomy and freedom
 Personal growth and development
 Opportunities
 Material side of life
 Lifestyle

18. What other Social Roles Do You Hold
· It is useful to make a list of the roles that
you hold in your life.
· These may include some of the following
common roles:
· Spouse, child, parent, sibling, worker,
friend, profession, hobbyist, voluntary
worker, older person.

19. What Happens when Roles
Conflict?

20. Social Roles and LDs
Connection
 Terminology re LD
 Permanent disability – tied to rights
 Neurological dysfunction in one or more of
the psychological processes related to
learning
 Learn
“differently” vs Learning Disability
 Concept of “passing”
 Concept of “comorbidity” stopped here

21. There are both positive
and negative social
roles.
List positive social roles
and negative ones

22. The Social Definition of
Devaluation
A person becomes perceived or
defined as devalued…
1. By being different from others…
2. In one or more dimensions…
3. Which are perceived as significant by a
majority or ruling segment of a society…
4. Who value this difference negatively.

23. Society Devalues
Certain Qualities
&Conditions

24. Minority groups Widely
Devalued in Western Society
 Those impaired in
 Senses – vision, hearing
 Body – CP, epilespy, etc
 Mind – psychiatric illness, intellectual disability
 Those see as disordered in behavior
 Activity level – hyperactive, lethargic
 Self-destructive , substance dependent
 Sexual orientation or conduct
 Socially rebellious
 Lawless, delinquent, imprisioned
 dissident
Wolf Wolfsenberger - Syracuse University
Training Institute

25. Minority groups Widely
Devalued in Western Society
 The poor
 Those with few or unwanted skills
 Illiterate
 unemployed
 Those“unassimilated” for other
reasons:
 Age – unborn, newborn, aged
 Race, nationality, ethnicity
 religion

26. So what do we do
about it?
Minimize devaluation...
Maximizevalued social
roles…

27. By paying attention to…
the socially expected
 pattern of behaviours,
 responsibilities,
 expectations,
 and privileges,
…of a University Student

28. We accomplish this through role
communicators
What are role communicators?

29. Role Communicators
1. The structure & context of the physical
environment
University Campus vs. separate space

30. Role Communicators
1. The people associated with a person or
group, including clients, staff, others

31. Role Communicators
 The
behaviours that are expected,
demanded, shaped, & acted out

32. Role Communicators con’t.
4. The language that is used:
a. Direct address to people
a. Dr. vs. Sir vs. Miss
b. Indirect references to people
c. Names of services processes,
including activities, staff titles
d. Facility/service names
a. Student Affairs vs. Student, Community
and Leadership Development

33. Role Communicators con’t.
5. Other imagery attached to a person or
group
1. stereotypes

34. Awareness/Advocacy
 Why at present at beginning of program?

35. STEPS TO LEARNING
 Senses
 Processing
 Memory
 Expression

36. Senses
 Eyes, ears, mouth, skin

37. Processing
* breakdown starting here often defines an LD
 Visual Processing
 Auditory Processing
 Tactile (skin)
 Kinesthetic Processing (body movement)
Speed of processing crucial factor in
interpreting information

38. Concrete Example of
Processing
 Rick Lavoie Processing

39. Memory
 Working ***
 Short Term
 Long Term

40. Expression
 Speaking
 Reading
 Writing

41. Breakdown in Pathways
 General way of explaining what a
learning disability is - breakdown or
slowdown of pathways that process,
interpret, express information

42. Learning Disabilities:
A new definition
Learning Disabilities Association of
Ontario (LDAO)
2001

43. “Learning Disabilities” refers to a variety of
disorders that affect the
acquisition,
retention,
understanding
organization
or use of
verbal and/or non-verbal information

44. These disorders result from impairments in one or
more psychological processes related to
learning,
in combination with otherwise average abilities
essential for thinking and reasoning.

45. “Psychological Processes” - An evolving list that
has focused on functions such as:
 phonological processing
 memory and attention
 processing speed

46. Learning disabilities are specific not global
impairments and as such are distinct from
intellectual disabilities.

47. Learning disabilities range in severity and
invariable interfere with the acquisition and use
of one or more of the following important skills:
 Orallanguage (e.g., listening, speaking,
understanding)
 Reading (e.g., decoding, comprehension)
 Written language (e.g., spelling, written
expression)
 Mathematics (e.g., computation, problem
solving)

48. Learning disabilities may also cause difficulties
with organizational skills, social perception and
social interaction.

49. The impairments are generally life-long.
However, their effects may be expressed
differently over time, depending on the match
between the demands of the environment and
the individual’s characteristics.

50. Common Elements Regardless
of Definition
 Neurological dysfunction
 Uneven growth pattern and psychological
processing deficits
 Difficulty in academic and learning tasks
 Discrepancy between achievement and
potential
 Exclusion of other causes

51. Now we have a sense of what
a LD is
 How do we assess one?

54. Traditional Assessment
Rely on standardized / formal tests
 Use scores to compare student’s
progress with others
 “norm-referenced”
 Tests available in more than 1 form
 Standard administration
 Contains grade norms, age norms,
percentiles
 Information on validity of the test

55. Traditional Assessment
Caveats
 What are the limitations of the tests you
are using
 Use multiple sources of data when
possible to get a more accurate picture

56. Standardized Tests
Reading
- Nelson-Denny Test of Reading
Comprehension (Vocab/Comp/Rate)
Diagnostic Reading
- Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests -
Revised
Language
- Peabody Picture vocabulary test
Visual – Motor
- Bender

57. Types of Standardized Tests
Tests of Mental Abilities and Processes IQ
 WISC – III – Wechsler Intellignce Scale for
Children
 > 16 – WAIS – Wechsler Adult Intelligence
Scale
 Stanford-Binet
 Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children
(KAB-C)