When you walk into an inclusive classroom, you can often tell straightaway. It’s in the relationships, the communication, the learning environment. But these things (secure relationships, clear communication, etc.) benefit all pupils – so does that mean teaching pupils with SEND is ‘just good teaching’? Let me elaborate on why, for me, the answer is no.
Making teaching ‘the thing’
If we are looking to improve a wide range of outcomes for pupils with SEND, we should focus on high-quality teaching. From NASEN’s CEO, Annamarie Hassall MBE:
One of the most impactful experiences for learners with SEND is to have access to high quality, inclusive teaching.
(NASEN, Teacher Handbook: SEND, 2024)
If we are looking to understand what ‘high-quality teaching’ might mean for pupils with SEND, we know that it means many of the things that support all pupils anyway. From the EEF:
To a great extent, good teaching for pupils with SEND is good teaching for all.
(EEF, SEN in Mainstream guidance report, 2020)
Just good teaching?
Teaching any class of pupils can be a challenge. It needs us to communicate well, to understand our pupils’ starting points, to track progress constantly, to develop secure teacher-pupil relationships, to give feedback effectively, to nurture children’s social and emotional wellbeing, to motivate learners, and a hundred things besides.
Teaching in a way that meets the needs of pupils with a range of SEND can be really hard. It needs us to communicate well, to understand our pupils’ starting points, to track progress constantly, to develop secure teacher-pupil relationships, etc. (see previous paragraph).
So, it’s true that good teaching for pupils with SEND is built on many of the same principles and practices as good teaching for all. No pupil will be harmed by content that is taught clearly and communicated well, within a calm learning environment underpinned by consistent routines and relationships of trust.
Why ‘just’?
But here’s the rub for me – it’s nonsensical to suggest that good teaching needs a ‘just’ anywhere near it, like it just happens. Good teaching is really hard.
For classroom teachers, it takes resilience, reflection, a mindset of inclusion, a thick skin, excellent communication skills and the implementation of many of the approaches mentioned above. It also takes a good working understanding of your pupils and their needs, especially their SEND needs. To call this ‘just good teaching’ undervalues the skill and hard work required to be a consistently good teacher.
For school leaders, it takes the creation of a culture of ongoing improvement, the implementation of a well-sequenced curriculum, a targeted programme of ongoing support and CPD, insightful data collection, a strong understanding of a pupil cohort (including SEND needs), respectful and purposeful line management, and many things besides. School leadership is also not something we should devalue by suggesting that leaders work towards embedding a school culture of ‘just good teaching’.
So, pupils with SEND should be our starting point, not our after-thought. Get it right for those pupils and we’ll probably be getting it right for all. And getting it right is largely about good teaching. But let’s never call it ‘just’ – it deserves more credit than that.
Gary Aubin is the author of The Lone SENDCO, a handbook for busy SENDCOs, containing answers to over 300 questions.
References:
Teacher SEND handbook 30th January 2024.pdf
(nasen.org.uk)EEF_Special_Educational_Needs_in_Mainstream_Schools_Guidance_Report.pdf (d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net)
SEND Matters 