When planning support and intervention for children with diverse needs, it is important to consider the individual child and the impact that these strategies may have for them. For the support to be effective, teachers should consider two factors in the decision-making: an awareness of the children’s conditions and their comorbidities alongside a strong understanding of their pupils.
An important lesson that I have learned during my school experience is that teachers should not make assumptions or use preconceptions about their SEND pupils' condition and must see each child respectively, considering their individual personalities and interests, rather than a 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Another lesson: while it might be beneficial to draw on others' opinions of a child (parents, previous teachers, other school staff), this should not discourage the current teacher from building their own relationship and awareness of the child's needs.
Each school will have a wealth of knowledge and resources ready to support children in their learning. Below details some of the strategies I have seen in practice during my school experience that are easy to implement in the classroom to support all learners.
Routine and structure
Fear of the unknown is almost instinct in humans and children often deal with a lot of change in their lives which can be quite daunting for them. With consistency in the classroom, they can develop a sense of security and self-control.
Provide visual timetables;
Consistent and clear communication;
Breaking down tasks into manageable chunks (see below for a resource I have used to support this).
Reduce stimulation
Classrooms are often rich in resources to support learning but this richness may overstimulate and distract pupils. Much consideration has been placed on the classroom environment recently on Edutwitter, possibly inspiring the craze for beautiful hessian-decorated classrooms.
Are there any distractions in the classroom that could hinder children’s learning?;
Accessibility in the classroom layout (e.g. are visual displays overstimulating and distracting for children? can all children see/hear the teacher?).
Allow personal space
Creating a personal space for children that reflects their interests and personalities will allow them to feel more safe and engage more effectively in their learning.
Talk to pupils' about their interests;
Create a self-regulation area/toolkit that is always accessible to the children. With this, children should be encouraged to speak openly about their emotions through teacher modelling and clear rules should be set about when and why children should access this area to ensure that it is being used effectively).
This is a resource that I have used to allow children to visually see the workload that the teacher expects of them. I ‘magpied’ this resource from a fantastic mentor I had during one of my placements in a SEND setting. It helps children to focus on the task at hand and feel less overwhelmed by the amount of work that the teacher sets by displaying it in accessible chunks. It is a good resource to use for children who struggle to concentrate for long periods or during activities as it provides them with structure. It can also be used for all children during 1:1/small group activities for the same purposes.
The resource itself is a strip of card with small, detachable circles (representing the workload) and a finish PECS card. Each time a child completes a task or instruction, one dot would be removed until they are finished.
As with all aspects of teaching, many of the strategies that are implemented to achieve inclusivity in schools often result from trial and error. Teachers must therefore be reflective, consistently drawing on the expertise and experiences of others and evaluating their own practice, modifying and adapting intervention where appropriate. Hopefully with these consideration, the teacher can really begin to understand their pupils, the needs that they have and the role they play in supporting the children's overall development.
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