Welcome to the "Know the Person" course!
Introduction
This module targets adult educators, daily working and in contact with adults with intellectual disabilities. It will guide you through different approaches and techniques (e.g. person centred approach, active-listening) to enhance your teaching relationship with adult with disabilities.
Conducting these approaches will allow/enable you to:
- Develop trust
- Adapt your teaching content to your target group
- Help adult with disabilities to develop in social and emotional fields
Throughout this module, you will learn to be a better listener, respecting learners’ decisions and building meaningful relationships that enhance the learning process, making it enjoyable and secure.
Estimated time to complete: approx.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge
- Understand the principles of person-centered planning and support.
- Recognise the importance of building trust and relationships in adult education.
- Identify techniques for active listening and meaningful communication.
Skills
- Apply person-centered approaches to individualize support strategies.
- Build rapport through empathy, respect, and genuine interest.
- Support learners in expressing their preferences, strengths, and goals.
Attitudes
- Value the uniqueness and dignity of each learner.
- Approach teaching relationships with authenticity and care.
- Commit to learner empowerment and collaborative decision-making.
Topic 1: Seeing the Person First
The person-centred approach fosters considering every individual’s singularity. It is widely used in services supporting people with disabilities, promoting participation and inclusion. In this sector, it aims to put individuals and their families at the centre of the decisions, considering their values, family situations and lifestyles to develop appropriate caring solutions.
Applying this approach to the target group “adult with disabilities”, this means not defining a person by their disability but being responsive to an individual’s personal circumstances, needs and preferences. Every learner is different and has their own needs, strengths, interests and goals. This approach will help adult educators design inclusive intellectual activities that build on these differences and promote active participation.
Seeing the Person First
Using the person-centred approach will enhance the teaching relationship between educators and students. Regardless of their disability, students will more likely feel valued and safe, which will strengthen their confidence and encourage them to participate and engage themselves more in the lesson.
Applying a person-centred approach in teaching requires educators to carefully consider how they plan and deliver their lessons.
Example: When preparing content, instead of asking “What can I teach this person?”, they should reflect on the individual needs of each student. By doing so, students are more likely to feel engaged and encouraged to actively participate in the learning process.
Interactive Break
Title: Person or Disability?
Instructions: Read the following statements and determine whether they are person centered or disability centered.
Statements
- Maria has to take time discussing her ideas.
- Maria likes creative work and music.
- Maria is not able to work in a group.
Action: Empathy Role playing
Divide the participants into pairs and role-play situations, where one of them talks about a difficult emotion and the other one listens and empathises. Next, think about the experience to talk about the ways of applying empathy to practice.
Topic 2: Building Trust Through Listening & Empathy
The course is oriented towards active listening and empathy. Active listening is a communication skill that goes beyond hearing words: when a person practices active listening, it means she/he is fully present and engaged in the conversation. This involves showing interests, noticing non-verbal signs and asking clarifying questions to check understanding. When learners feel listened, respected and safe emotionally, they become more willing and eager to learn.
Building Trust Through Listening & Empathy
Benefits of active listening:
- Building trust
- Reduce misunderstandings
- Strengthen teacher/learner relationship by making students feel heard and valued.
Example:
An educator pays attention when a learner is upset and does not interrupt or judge them. What impacts do you think this behaviour will have to their teacher-student relationship?
Interactive Break
Title: Are You Really Listening?
Instructions: Recall a recent situation with a learner and answer the questions with honest:
- Did I interrupt the learner?
- Did I listen without judging?
- Did I understand correctly, everything he was saying?
Link: Active listening is…
SCAN ME
Topic 3: Supporting Individual Strengths, Needs & Goals
This topic explains how educators can support learners in their own way, based on what they can do and what they want to achieve.
Supporting Individual Strengths, Needs & Goals
Personalised instructions can help learners:
- Feel motivated
- Become a confident and independent person.
- Become more socially and emotionally skilled.
Example:
A teacher who assists a student to get a small but achievable task, such as talking in a group after one week.
Interactive Break
Title: Build the Support Plan
Instructions: Read the profile description below and answer the questions.
Learner Profile
- Likes routines
- Struggles with communication
- Wants to make friends
Questions
- What is one strength you see?
- How would you support the learner?
- What could be the next goal?
Media: Support Plan
Conclusion - Module Summary
- Acknowledge and support each person’s unique strengths and capabilities: Offer moments for students to identify and showcase their strengths.
- Respect, dignity and choice are very important: Create safe spaces during the lessons.
- Practicing active listening. Focus fully on the speaker without interrupting or planning your response. Use verbal and non-verbal cues (like nodding or paraphrasing what the student just said).
- Understanding through empathy: Acknowledge feelings and validate experiences by reflecting what you hear and mentioning out loud the feelings the student might be expressing.
- Using body language to show empathy and build trust: Listen with the intention of understanding the speaker’s perspective, emotions, and needs—rather than simply preparing your reply or solution.
- Building trust takes time and patience: Trust develops through consistent interactions over time. Make sure to give your students the space and time they need to feel comfortable, and create an environment where they feel safe to open up.
- Provide individualized support: Adapt your teaching approach to suite each learner’s unique needs, preferences and pace. Offer different options of exercises.
- Set meaningful and achievable goals: Work with learners to create practical, relevant goals that match their abilities and interests.
- Value gradual progress: Encourage steady development by giving learners time to grow and celebrating small successes along the way.
Self-Reflection
- What have I learned about approaching a learner to help him feel safe in the classroom?
- How will I change in my behaviour, with my learners in the next lesson?
- What was new to me about person-centered teaching?
Additional Resources
Title: Universal Design for Learning
Link: https://edtechbooks.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/pdfs/7/14.pdf Working with people with intellectual disabilities
References
- Pixabay. (n.d.). Various photographs. https://pixabay.com/
- Mentimeter. (n.d.). *Live polling*. https://www.mentimeter.com/features/live-polling
- Let’s talk about person-centred care. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM9QAxFSBMU
- Active listening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzsVh8YwZEQ
- Goal Setting for Students. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8agsaXfHN4
- Rogers, C. (1961). On Becoming a Person. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- EASPD. (2020). Person-centred approaches in disability support.
- Inclusion Europe. (2018). Inclusive Education for Learners with Intellectual Disabilities.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Project Number: 2024-1-HR01-KA220-ADU-000247169