Instruction is what happens in the school in a classroom. Remediation and intervention are not instruction. Only when the instruction has failed do remediation and intervention take over.
Instruction
Instruction is what happens in the school in a classroom. The teachers instruct or formally teach the students, typically a large number of students.
Although there are many ways to teach students, the essence of teaching is transferring knowledge. The teacher has the knowledge, and the problem in instruction is how to transfer this knowledge to the child.
Instruction has at least four different components:
- The teacher instructs a student, so the characteristics of the student determine, to some extent, both the manner of instruction and the successful outcome.
. - Then there is the teacher. They have certain modes and manners that affect the outcome of instruction.
. - The student and the teacher are in a particular setting—this is the school. The school may be of good or poor quality. It may be in a slum area or in a wealthy suburb. Accordingly, the school may or may not have adequate resources to engage the children in various activities.
. - Finally, there is the curriculum and its content.
Effective instruction depends on all these four components.
The instructor or teacher cannot consider each individual child’s learning style, maturation, and case history. Instruction does not aim to remove a deficit or difficulty the child may be experiencing for specific reasons. It treats children as a community of learners in a classroom.
Remediation vs. intervention
Remediation and intervention are not instruction. When instruction has failed remediation and intervention take over. The purpose of remediation and intervention is to help the child compensate for the difficulties they may have.
Remediation is colloquially known as “re-teaching,” as it assumes that the student has been introduced to concepts previously but has not yet mastered them. Remediation is appropriate for virtually any student who has not yet mastered a particular concept, typically related to math or reading. Remediation enables teachers to spot blind spots in students’ learning and quickly assess and correct them.
Intervention is typically used to target specific learning disabilities and is tailored for each individual student.
Learning disabilities can significantly hamper learning abilities. People with learning disabilities may have trouble speaking, reading, writing, paying attention, understanding information, remembering things, performing mathematical calculations, or coordinating movements. Specific learning disabilities include dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, language processing disorder, visual processing disorder, auditory processing disorder, and nonverbal learning disorder.
While ADHD and autism are not learning disabilities per se, these conditions are usually included because they can negatively impact learning.
