Inclusion should never be down to Luck
“Inclusion is down to luck” - it is one of the most heartbreaking phrases levelled at the UK education system. There is only so much prep work you can do to try and find a school with a truly inclusive mindset, and skilled professionals to execute a truly inclusive strategy.
Adaptive teaching aims to bring inclusion to the classroom, finding ways to support young people far behind in age-related expectations, or presenting with strengths, differences and challenges due to neurodivergence.
However, concepts such as “age-related expectations” and ingrained practices such as “teaching to the test”, make it difficult for teachers to be inclusive in the first place. Neurotypical is a term for the way we expect most people to behave, but we are all neurodiverse to some degree. We have to meet young people where they are, not where the system or societal norms expect them to be.
There has been a shift in understanding as terms like neurodiversity enter the mainstream, 30 years on from when they were first introduced. Some schools are acting on this understanding, adapting behaviour policies, classrooms, and teacher CPD to better meet student needs. Of these schools, some are brave enough to say they will only raise attainment with wellbeing firmly at the centre of everything they do. The reality is challenging though, with greater SEN needs post-Covid, a drop in real-terms funding, and a retention crisis within teaching.
Many schools have not begun this process of adapting. The pressures placed upon them, the buildings they inhabit, the lack of funding for assistive technology - the list is lengthy for why “inclusion is down to luck”. Parents & carers sometimes have no choice but to look elsewhere for the support they need. This should start with advice and professional support to understand their child’s neurodivergence. With understanding (avoiding harmful assumptions that labels have typically generated) they can begin to access the right multimodal support for their child.
Our hope at Breakthrough Approach is that mentoring grows in stature as an important pillar of support for young people. Mentors occupy a unique position in-between parents, teachers, and other professionals such as therapists or social workers. They:
Understand educational settings and context
Focus on the young person’s wellbeing and personal development first and foremost
Bring behavioural psychology and educational neuroscience together in order to foster skills development
Tailor everything to the individual
Mentors act as one of the professionals that make up the multimodal support every young person needs. Anyone can act as a mentor with the right mindset, but professional mentors bring an awareness and focus on inclusivity, which is sometimes the crucial element missing in a young person’s development.
