Identify and describe at least two ways that early childhood special education teachers can promote the generalization of learned skills across settings. Give an example of how you could use each strategy to promote the generalization of shoe-tying skills for a child across home and school settings.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

There are several strategies that can be used when trying to promote the generalization of skills across settings. First, ensure that activities created in the learning environment are consistent across home and school environments. For example, if a child is learning to tie his shoes at school, we must make sure that he is not using Velcro shoes at home. Another strategy to ensure generalization is to embed interventions and skills into a child's naturally occurring activities and routines. For example, if a child struggles with tying his shoes, then instruction on this topic should occur in the morning when the child is tying his shoes to get ready for school. Finally, the instructional environment should be varied as much as possible. By expanding the settings and activities in which the children utilize the target skill, teachers can increase the probability of generalization. For example, a child learning to tie his shoes can demonstrate these skills in the classroom, in PE, in the lunchroom in front of the supervisors, and so on. The more places the skill is used and the more people the skill is performed in front of, the better chances we have of generalizing the learned skill across settings.