[Gentle music]
Troy Wood: I applied to do the Masters of Learning Intervention at Melbourne University. The stream I chose was specific learning difficulties: dyscalculia, dyslexia, dyspraxia, learning difficulties that are very common in an everyday classroom.
[On-screen text: Master of Inclusive Education Program – Melbourne University - Master of Learning Intervention]
Troy Wood: Like most primary school teachers, I would have students in my classroom that needed extra support and I wasn't always confident in how to teach them, especially with their reading skills.
James Whitla: What he's brought is a deep understanding of how students learn, this is beyond reading. This is about how the brain functions. This is about how we memorise things.
Troy Wood: What I did get out of the course was that explicit instruction and direct teaching methods are, by and large, the most powerful and impactful for the most students.
James Whitla: Ultimately, what we want to be able to do is get our kids to be able to inquire and learn and discover themselves, but they’ve got to have the tools to be able to do that. For them to be able to comprehend, dissect, interpret, they need to be able to read first and foremost.
Troy Wood: I could come back to school with confidence and the supporting evidence and say, ‘Hey guys, I reckon we can make some big gains here. If we can tweak some of our practices to help all students.’
James Whitla: It gained momentum with his knowledge and belief and he modelled that for other staff members to be able to do. And then they got inquisitive about that and wanted to find out a little bit more.
Troy Wood: But I also have been able to show them what we do in an intervention. So the types of strategies and the types of programs that we put together for students with learning difficulties, just so that they they're aware of the types of things they can do in the classroom that will help lift the outcomes of those students. I’ve got so much more confidence in my teaching ability. I could go into any classroom and lift outcomes where before I probably couldn't put my hand on my heart and say that.
Troy Wood: The work that he does has infiltrated all the classrooms now. And they've really run with it. It's having a huge impact and our kids are having success at the end of it.
[On-screen text: Disability Inclusion – Education for All. Victorian State Government – Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne]
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