Linking learning theories and learning difficulties

Elizabeth Twomey
Queensland University of Technology

Abstract
Developing effective strategies to support secondary students with learning difficulties is important because they are the most prevalent students with special educational needs in contemporary mainstream classes. A learner-focused instructional approach that incorporates meaning making, student control, and acceptance of errors, combined with explicit instruction will facilitate the learning of students with learning difficulties. This approach derives from an instructional setting model of learning difficulties, as distinct from a deficit model or an inefficient learner model, and draws on principles from constructivist learning theory and whole language theory. Guided by this model and these principles, secondary teachers can design curricula and classroom environments that support the needs of all students.