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How best to differentiate lessons for children with SEND

Differentiation should help prepare every child for their own, personal future, says Cheryl Drabble

Cherryl Drabble
by Cherryl Drabble
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Differentiation is sometimes a thorny issue. There are those who say it is not necessary, or ‘lazy’ teaching. According to them, all teachers should teach the top children in their classes and support the rest accordingly. Then there are teachers who believe there should be one learning objective, and that differentiation occurs in the way the children are supported to reach that objective.

I have a slightly different view. Differentiation is simply what teachers do all the time. Every adjustment they make to their classroom counts as differentiation. Whenever they move a child nearer to the IWB, make a wall display less busy and bright, or move a learner away from the window or some other kind of distraction, they are differentiating.

See also the use of visual timetables for children with an autism spectrum condition, talking more slowly for a child with speech and language challenges and making bullet point lists for a child with dyslexia. All this is differentiation – teachers do it all day, and barely give it a thought.

There are, of course, several official methods of differentiation. There’s differentiation by outcome, which is where all children are given the same task and objective and complete it at their own level. I’m not a fan of this, but it’s quick and easy to do, so I appreciate its appeal.

With differentiation by support, all children have the same task but some receive more support than others. My concern with this is that it can lead to too much support being given if the work is too hard.

Differentiation by group work is also popular, but it lets a child who might be struggling with the work hide within the group.

Differentiation by task involves children being given different tasks based on their ability. This is better, since you can see the work achieved and personalise it for each child. It takes a long time, however, and isn’t popular with busy mainstream teachers.

For me, differentiation is about Quality First Teaching. Every child has the right to achieve their personal best and be the best that they can be. It’s about skilling every child for their own personal future. It isn’t about neglecting whole class teaching, but rather doing what’s best for each child.

So how do we differentiate for each child and ensure they have the opportunity to achieve success at their own level?

Let’s take literacy. For some children, it involves studying different genres and improving their reading, writing spelling and grammar. It’s about ensuring they possess enough knowledge to continue on to higher education, gain degrees and possibly add new knowledge to the world.

For other children, literacy is about becoming functional readers and writers who can hold down good jobs, buy their own houses and be independent adults. Then there are some children who are in a different category. They may have SEND, or learning difficulties – either way, they will need a personalised literacy objective.

If we use the example of a non-fiction instruction book, the most able children in the class will be quickly writing their own manuals, using lists, directives and time connectives to illustrate their growing knowledge.

The children with SEND or a learning difficulty, on the other hand, could be working on instructions seen in the real world. Their remit might be to follow instructions around a supermarket in order to find the fruit department. They would be looking for signs pointing to the trolleys, the fruit aisle and the cashiers and navigating via the store’s overhead displays.

This type of learning objective is incredibly relevant to the child, as we are skilling that child for their own personal future. A future that won’t include them reading instruction manuals, but may well see them attempting to do their shopping independently. These children want to be with their peers. They want to listen to the same books as their friends and experience, where possible, the same things. To deny them this opportunity is to exclude them while attempting to practice inclusion.

Keep your expectations high for all children. Remember – differentiation simply means ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. Include everyone in your basic lesson, and ensure your objectives are relevant to that child’s future.

About the author

Cheryl Drabble is acting assistant head at Highfurlong School in Blackpool; her latest book, Supporting Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, is available now, published by Bloomsbury; follow her blog at cherrylkd.wordpress.com

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