QQI Special Needs Assisting Learner Record Brief: 10 Reflective Journal Entries Using Flood Case Studies

Special Needs Assisting Learner Record: 10 Reflective Journals (40 Marks)

This QQI Special Needs Assisting learner record asks for at least ten reflective journal entries across the module, worth 40 marks. Each entry links a case study from Eilis Flood’s Assisting Children with Special Needs: An Irish Perspective to your class learning and reading, what you did and found hard, how your thinking changed, and what you will take into your work as an SNA.

QQI Special Needs Assisting Learner Record Brief: 10 Reflective Journal Entries (40 Marks)

Guidelines and Instructions

Your learner record must include a minimum of 10 reflections.

A reflective journal will be kept by learners, detailing:

• Their own learning and attitudinal change in understanding special needs, and the impact that various special educational needs have on the family and the community.
• A focus on the promotion of good practice in working in special educational needs.
• A comprehensive reflection on their experiences in various workplace settings, to reinforce their understanding of the different conditions.

A minimum of ten reflections is necessary. Use the case studies outlined in Assisting Children with Special Needs: An Irish Perspective by Eilis Flood.

Grading Criteria

The learner record is graded according to the following criteria:

• Description of knowledge gained in class and through independent learning
• Description of activities, including challenges or conflict encountered and how they were dealt with
• Reflection on the experience of undertaking this module
• Identification of personal learning throughout the module

Evidence for this assessment technique may take the form of written, oral, graphic, audio, visual or digital evidence, or any combination of these. Any audio, video or digital evidence must be provided in a suitable format.

Assessment Criteria

Template Structure for Each Reflection Journal

The centre’s learner record template sets out each journal entry under a topic heading (for example, Reflection Journal 3: Complex Conditions and Syndromes, with a short case study of a pupil with Down syndrome drawn from Flood) followed by four sections:

1. Knowledge gained in class / independent learning
2. Description of activities, including challenges or conflict encountered and how they were dealt with
3. Reflection on own experience of undertaking this module
4. Personal learning identified throughout the module

Get Expert Help with Your SNA Learner Record

Ten entries can start to sound the same, so give each one a clear focus: a single case, one concept from class and one honest change in your attitude or practice. Use a simple model such as Gibbs to move from description to learning, and add short Harvard citations to Flood or other reading so the record shows research as well as reflection.

Our learner record and portfolio help can review your entries, and our reflective journal writing support shows how to deepen each reflection. For the research component of the same award, see the 5N1786 research project brief.