Does object oriented pedagogy promote learning about the past for key stage two children with special educational needs? Do they engage, enjoy and learn?

The purpose of this explorative research (due to the sample size being small) is to investigate how children with Special Needs learn about the past and whether using an object oriented approach will benefit this educational process. Does object oriented pedagogy promote learning about the past for key stage two children with Special Educational Needs? This will be examined through an analysis of the children’s engagement, enjoyment and their learning.

The school in which the research took place was a Special School, currently providing for forty-two primary and ninety-eight secondary school aged children. The school caters for a variety of Special Educational Needs (SEN).
Their level of engagement is answered through classroom observation when the pupils undertook a lesson about the Romans using objects and activities to bring this topic to life. Enjoyment was quantified from interviews which took place after the lessons had been completed and their learning was assessed through a series of activities that were completed.

The analysis of this data has shown that when using a tactile, tangible and object oriented approach to learning about the past, it enables even the most severely disabled child to learn about History. The sample group of key stage two children with Special Needs did indeed engage, enjoy and learn about the past!