Classroom Leaders

Teaching Standard 5: “Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils”

Photo by Ksenia Chernaya on Pexels.com

The standard

  1. Adapt teaching to respond to the strengths and needs of all pupils
  • know when and how to differentiate appropriately, using approaches which
    enable pupils to be taught effectively
  • have a secure understanding of how a range of factors can inhibit pupils’
    ability to learn, and how best to overcome these
  • demonstrate an awareness of the physical, social and intellectual
    development of children, and know how to adapt teaching to support pupils’
    education at different stages of development
  • have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

The framework

Learn that…

  1. Adapting teaching in a responsive way,including by providing targeted support to pupils who are struggling, is likely to increase pupil success.
  2. Pupils are likely to learn at different rates and to require different levels and types of support from teachers to succeed.
  3. Seeking to understand pupils’ differences, including their different levels of prior knowledge and potential barriers to learning, is an essential part of teaching.
  4. Adaptive teaching is less likely to be valuable if it causes the teacher to artificially create distinct tasks for different groups of pupils or to set lower expectations for particular pupils.
  5. Flexibly grouping pupils within a class to provide more tailored support can support learning, but care should be taken to monitor its impact on attainment, behaviour, engagement and motivation, particularly for low attaining pupils.
  6. There is a common misconception that pupils have distinct and identifiable learning styles. This is not supported by evidence and attempting to tailor lessons to learning styles is unlikely to be beneficial.
  7. Pupils with SEND are likely to require additional or adapted support; working closely with colleagues, parents/carers, and pupils to understand barriers to learning and identify effective strategies is essential.
  8. High quality teaching for all pupils, including those with SEND, is based on strategies which are often already practised by teachers, and which can be developed through training and support.
  9. Technology, including educational software and assistive technology, can support teaching and learning for pupils with SEND.

Learn how to…

Develop an understanding of different pupil needs, by:

  • Identifying pupils who need new content further broken down.
  • Making use of formative assessment.
  • Working closely with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) and other SEND specialists or expert colleagues.
  • Working closely with the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
  • Supporting pupils with a range of additional needs and using the SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years, which provides guidance on effective school systems and approaches for identifying and supporting the special educational needs of pupils with SEND.
  • Utilising existing opportunities to engage with parents and carers to better understand pupils’ individual needs (e.g. meetings with parents).

Provide opportunity for all pupils to experience success, by:

  • Adapting lessons, whilst maintaining high expectations for all, so that all pupils have the opportunity to meet expectations.
  • Balancing input of new content with the revisiting of prior learning so that pupils master important concepts.
  • Making effective use of teaching assistants and other adults in the classroom.
  • Making effective and judicious use of specialist technology to support pupils with SEND.

Meet individual needs without creating unnecessary workload, by:

  • Making use of well-designed resources (e.g. textbooks, manipulatives).
  • Planning to connect new content with pupils’ existing knowledge or providing additional pre-teaching if pupils lack critical knowledge.
  • Building in additional practice or removing unnecessary expositions.
  • Reframing questions to provide greater scaffolding or greater stretch.
  • Considering carefully whether intervening within lessons with individuals and small groups would be more efficient and effective than planning different lessons for different groups of pupils.

Group pupils effectively, by:

  • Applying high expectations to all groups, and ensuring all pupils have access to a rich curriculum.
  • Intentionally grouping in relation to a specific learning outcome, regularly reviewing those groupings, taking care to monitor their impact and avoiding the perception that groups are fixed.

The text above is taken from the Teachers’ Standards and the ITTECF Combined Framework. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0 and v3.0.

Discover

Deepen, develop or extend

References and research