Education

Education is not just about school, university or getting a job. It’s a lifelong pastime equipping us with the vision to think outside our immediate world, enriching our knowledge for work and leisure interests.

In this section you’ll find established techniques for identifying your best learning medium, as well as some methods for improving your ability to learn more rapidly.

There’s also a wealth of web links to learning institutions, part and full-time course directories, and special interest clubs. Plus you’ll find useful information on how to go about getting learning support services such as note-taking, should you need them.

Faster, easier learning

There are a lot of ways to learn something new. Different people like to pick up information and skills in different ways. These are called “learning styles”. This section will help you decide which style suits you best, and how this can help you learn faster and more easily.

One of the first steps to better learning is to understand your own best way to pick up information. Your learning style is your individual preference – nobody can tell you which is best. You will be able to decide what feels right for you.

Of course, other people are really important in helping you learn. Parents, teachers, friends and work colleagues can all play a part. But at the end of the day, you are your own best tutor.

The questions below will help you work out which learning style you prefer. You may think more than one of these styles sounds right, but there is probably one that describes you best. Think carefully about these questions, and make your choice.

Are you a visualiser?

  • When you spell – do you see the word in your head?
  • When you talk – do you prefer words like see, picture, and imagine?
  • When you meet people – do you forget names but remember faces and situations?
  • When you read – do you pause to imagine what is happening?

Are you a listener?

  • When you spell – do you say the word before you start?
  • When you talk – do you prefer words like hear, tune, and think?
  • When you meet people – do you forget faces but remember names and the things you talked about?
  • When you read – do you hear the characters talk?

Are you a doer?

  • When you spell – do you write the word down to find out if it feels right?
  • When you talk – do you prefer words like feel, touch, and hold?
  • When you meet people – do you remember best what you did together?
  • When you read – do you prefer action stories or are you not even a keen reader?

Of course, just because you choose a learning style, it doesn’t mean you can throw away your textbooks! Everyone needs to start with the right information – but then it’s up to you to decide how to think about, remember and apply the information.

Put it into practice

Once you know which style suits you best, it’s time to put it into practice. So when you study or revise, try out these tips:

Visualisers: draw pictures or diagrams, or invent stories around the lessons you might even try to find photographs and pictures that you think are relevant

Listeners: repeat lessons out loud, remembering the voice of your teacher – or pick an everyday noise or a piece of music that is linked with the thing you are learning

Doers: write things down as if you were answering questions, or imagine you are writing down the results of an experiment you have actually done – try to apply each lesson to your everyday life, and think about how you can act on it.

A lot of people find it hard to get motivated about learning. They get started, but then find it hard to concentrate, or they keep putting it off until tomorrow. If this is true of you, don’t try to do everything at once – set yourself simple targets. Aim to read a certain number of pages in each study period. Join a study group or class and get the encouragement of others. Pit yourself against a friend or classmate to get the most out of a subject.

Remember, there isn’t a ‘right way’ to educate yourself. It’s up to you to make your own rules and develop your own way of learning – and, make it enjoyable too!

Extend your education

Education can go beyond school, exams and GCSEs. It can also be about the skills you use all through your life, and the things you do to build your knowledge year after year. This can be a lifelong experience, and nowadays there are more opportunities to learn than ever before – A levels, AS levels, GNVQs, NVQs, diplomas, and degrees.

If you are thinking of taking your education to the next level, you have some important decisions to make:

  • Do I want to carry on learning?
  • Which course do I want to take?
  • Where will it lead me in my life and career?
  • Where do I want to go to study – or do I want to study at home, or online?
  • What support do I need?

Here are some sites that might help you answer these questions:

  • UCAS is the official application service for full-time undergraduate courses
  • Aim Higher provides general advice and information on higher education courses, universities and colleges, and on how to manage life as a student
  • The Education and Learning section of Directgov has useful and practical information, as well as help in deciding whether or not to choose higher education
  • Learndirect offers a variety of remote courses, as well as advice and information on further education

Making it easy for yourself

If you’re thinking about applying to sixth form college or university, arrange a meeting with the Disabled Students’ Tutor or Officer. When you meet him or her, make sure you get a chance to look round and ask as many questions as you can:

  • Is there a learning agreement to say what help I will get?
  • Can courses be full-time or part-time?
  • Is the campus properly set up for access and for getting around?
  • What transport arrangements are there?
  • Will any special equipment be provided?

Culture, events and travel

You don’t have to go to college or university to carry on learning. By experiencing new and different things, you will broaden your knowledge horizons and learn new skills. This might take you further into things that already interest you, or lead you in completely new directions. What you learn may even help you in your formal education and your future career.

Below you will find a list of ideas to get you thinking about new things to experience and learn. Under each idea, we’ve suggested websites where you can find further information.

Developing your interests

Education doesn’t have to be about things that other people tell you to study. You need the time and opportunity to learn more about the things that interest you. Our personal passions can broaden our minds, help us interact with others, and lead to opportunities later in life.

Current affairs

Keeping up-to-speed on news and politics helps you understand the way the world works. You might be surprised how much education there is, even between the covers of a newspaper or online. Check out:

  • Newsround – for a round-up of the day’s news and politics for young people
  • Directgov – for insight into the way politics and government really work.

Travel

Travel is a real eye-opener. Nothing broadens our minds and offers new ideas quite as much as visiting new places, meeting different people, and absorbing different cultures and traditions.

This can give us a huge amount of knowledge about history, nature and people. The things we learn from these experiences stay with us for the rest of our lives, firing our imaginations and making us able to see things from different perspectives.

The good news is that the world is waking up to the fact that disabled people need these experiences too. There are more and more services that can help you and your family explore in Britain, Ireland and abroad:

  • www.allgohere.com – a directory of access-friendly hotels in the UK
  • www.holidaycare.org.uk – a holiday/travel and accommodation service for
  • www.accessibletravel.co.uk – worldwide travel for those with special access requirements
  • http://www.radar.org.uk/radarwebsite/ – RADAR’s well-established guide for disabled people, covering holiday accommodation in Britain and Ireland
  • Special Families Trust: a register of families who will exchange their accessible homes for short or longer holidays. Telephone: 01752 346 861
  • Can Be Done: a programme of fully accessible tours, short breaks and weekends in the UK and abroad, including day trips to London. Telephone: 020 8907 2400.