Creating the right learning environment for students with SEND

This article was written for SEN Leader magazine and first published in January 2018. You can read the original version on the SEN Leader website here.

In Part One of this 2-part article on how to create a positive learning environment for students with SEND, I explored ways of building a physical environment that’s conducive to learning.

However, I also concluded that creating a positive learning environment is about more than just the bricks and mortar of the built environment.

Indeed, I argued that an effective learning environment is also about how the teacher teaches and about the culture or ethos they create. In this article we will explore the pedagogical and emotional features of an SEND classroom in more detail…

The SEND Code of Practice says that ‘Special educational provision is underpinned by high quality teaching and is compromised by anything less.’ Providing an inclusive learning environment whereby students’ needs are met without drawing attention to their difficulties, therefore, is crucial because this will maximise their learning potential but limit any feelings they may have of embarrassment and frustration.

As such, let’s now turn our attentions to some of the pedagogical and emotional – rather than physical – features of a positive SEND learning environment…

In a moment we will consider some specific teaching strategies, but first I’d like us to take a step further back and ask ourselves the ostensibly simple question: What is learning? …

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