Ways to approach Discipline...
It is sometimes the case that with learning difficulty can come some challenging behaviours. In order for a class to be successful challenging and disruptive behaviour needs to be kept to a minimum. If it is not this impairs the ability of all students to learn and potentially limits any achievable benefits, time being disruptive in time not learning.
However it is important to remember that adults with learning difficulties are not children, and they should not be treated as such, they are adults and should be afforded the same respect of any other adult class and therefore discipline should be dealt with sensitively.
Pre empt challenging behaviours.
Some student will have known challenging behaviours, limited attention span for example that may lead to loss of concentration and disruption. If you know this about a student, take special care to involve them all of the time, praise them for doing well and remind them of the task in hand. Keeping them on task will limit disruption.
Allow Students to take breaks.
Some students will need breaks, and may become agitated if asked to concentrate for longer than is comfortable. Allow these students to sit out, after a time prompt them to re join the group and praise them when they do.
Don't engage with disruption.
Once you have asked a student to stop an undesired behaviour, or asked them to take a break, do not engage any further, just continue with teaching the rest of the class. It has been seen that students will often re-engage when they feel they are missing out.
Follow agreed Behaviour Plans.
Some student will have behaviour plans that are used in other areas of their lives, at home or in a care environment. If an individual does have such a plan, they will have been put in place by people that know the student well and should usually be the most effective way to deal with undesired behaviour.
Make lesson plans engaging.
If your lesson plan is engaging, with activities that capture the imagination of the students then this should limit disruption and the need for discipline. Although repetition is useful for memory and skill learning, try and vary activities, perform the steps in groups, facing a different direction, or to different music.
And be observant, if the students look bored or are not getting what you expected from an activity, then change the things that don't work.
Praise and Correction...
As a teacher you are responsible for your students learning. As part of this there may be a need to correct them. If this is done incorrectly then a student can be left confused, or even worse deflated.
It is important to understand how your students process information, some students will learn by watching, so we need to demonstrate for them
Some students learn by listening, in which case we must explain what we mean in the simplest and clearest way.
Some are helped by imagery so description might help for example "move like you are swimming"
Some student learn by doing, this may mean we need to help them by guiding their movement, providing they are comfortable with touch.
Again it is about knowing the people in front of you, and being observant to how your teaching effects them.
ABOVE ALL.... it is important to praise! All corrections and incidences of behaviour management should be sandwiched with praise. for example....
"...You were dancing so beautifully before. Would you like to join back in, I know how good you are at this exercise..."
"Your jumps are really beautiful, could you try and stretch your toes, then they will be even better..."
We ALL love praise and doing well, adults with learning disability are no different. Dancing should be about achieving and it is our responsibility to make that happen, make it fun, and let our students know how well they are doing.