Alexandra Burke
Public System Educator & Neurodiversity Advocate
Alexandra Burke has taught all levels of the Japanese public school system from university to kindergarten. A former systems examiner & public health policy officer from Australia, she's been researching how students with neurodiversity experience language education in Japan. Burke presents on practical classroom strategies to improve outcomes for students and won Poster Session A at JALT2019. She is also a contributor to the MindBrainEd SIG Think Tank and is also published in the Language Teacher: JALT Praxis, Younger Learners in May/June 2020, alexburke.barrierfreelearning@gmail.com
Sessions
Neurodiversity, Studying, and Teaching Language
Neurodiversities. What are they and how do they affect performance in the language classroom? This poster will look at the impact of ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, color issues and how they affect learning for nearly 12.6 million people in Japan. Come and learn the facts and how to help students who appear to be struggling in mainstream classrooms. The poster will cover what clues to look for and where to find publicly-available resources.
Classroom Challenges: Your Hard-to-Reach Students
How do students actually experience your classes? Your hard-to-reach students may be among the over 10.8 million Japanese people with hidden neurodiverse learning differences that they, their teachers, and family may not even be aware of. In this workshop, you’ll get to experience these barriers first hand. What experiences have you had with these kinds of students? Come and share your ideas, and learn some best practice techniques to help these students achieve.