Incidental teaching: What is it & when can it be used?

What is incidental teaching?

Incidental teaching is a form of teaching in which a teacher takes advantage of naturally occurring ‘incidents’ or situations to provide learning opportunities for the pupils. For example, a teacher might use a videogame or favourite book characters to make a lesson relevant to the pupil’s life.

Incidental teaching is based on the idea that students, including children on the autism spectrum, are more willing to learn if the teaching is based around their own interests. Although this method of learning was developed to assist mainly pupils on the autism spectrum, all children can learn better when their interests and everyday lives are incorporated into lessons.

When to use incidental teaching methods

The teacher will organise the learning environment around a set learning objectives, but will take into account the student’s individual preferences. When the student demonstrates an interest in an item or activity, the teacher encourages that interest by questioning or prompting the student. One of the interesting aspects of incidental learning is that it requires the pupil to lead the learning process.

There is enough research evidence to suggest that incidental teaching can increase and improve social communication, including both spoken and sign language, in some children and young people on the autism spectrum.

Using incidental teaching to help communication skills

There are several steps to improve communication skills using incidental teaching:

1. Set up an interesting environment for a child
2. Restrict access to an interesting object in some way (e.g. by putting it in a place where it is visible but out of reach)
3. Wait for the child to ask for the object or make a gesture like pointing
4. Prompt the child to elaborate (e.g. “what colour is the item that you want?”)
5. Wait until the pupil responds
6. Reward the pupil by giving him or her the object

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