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10 tips for teachers on creating an inclusive classroom

By Sarah Coxon in BLOG on April 7th 2021

Updated 05/03/2024

Every child has an equal chance of learning, regardless of whether they have a disability or special need. This could mean that the physical classroom is altered to meet the mobility or visual issues a child faces, or the teaching style and social society of the class are modified to break down any barriers to achievement.

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An inclusive classroom is so important on a personal level for each student, because any additional need, or strategy used here, may even help special educational needs children without an IEP statement, boosting everyone's self-confidence to accept themselves and each other. Indeed, in around 20% of the 26 studies reviewed from across the world by the University Of Manchester, it was found that having a student who was less able in the classroom actually benefited the academic achievement, and social development, of other pupils. If certain considerations are put into place, you will make a community in your classroom where the students thrive, and will hopefully take this inclusive mentality into their adult lives.

Although a teacher will always put specifically designed plans in place to meet the particular needs of the children in their class, here are our top 10 tips that all teachers can incorporate into their classrooms to create a happy, safe, focussed and inclusive environment.

1. Provide support which benefits all children in your class

If you have children with specific SEND or disability needs, consider whether the strategies you are putting in place could make learning more positive for the class as a whole. This will not only help to make the children you initially need to support feel more included with the rest of the children, but could also ease learning for others in ways that you would never have considered before.

For example, some pupils with dyslexia find it difficult to read pure black text on a pure white background. By avoiding black and white on your slides, posters, displays, worksheets and signs, you will also make it much easier for all the children to access the classroom and the work you set them. Generally, children with mild dyslexic traits often go undiagnosed, so you will be helping more students in the class than you may realise.

Another really important strategy you might want to consider is finding a way to incorporate more breaks into the learning day. The lockdown has shown us how much children have needed breaks away from the screen during online learning, but this necessity also reflects how your students, along with those with specific needs, may require more breaks when they return to classroom learning. These breaks can take many different forms which include having a walk around, stretching, chatting to neighbours, talking and walking, reading, doodling and closing your eyes for a few minutes.

One final broad change you can make that will support both children with autism, and those without particular needs, is to create an environment of organization. In primary schools in particular, most children find organizing their equipment, uniform, space and time a struggle, and so anything you implement for specific children should be encouraged throughout the classroom too.

Putting the students into groups for specific cleaning up, setting up, or checking up roles can help to galvanize everyone, and make them feel like they are making a difference together. Another tactic is to create a to-do list together as a class, which can then be displayed around the room and on tables. This list will give the pupils a greater sense of ownership for their responsibilities, and can be used as a helpful reminder throughout the day. If this list or poster can be made as visual as possible with photos or pictures, then you have made what you expect from your students as clear as possible.

2. Clearly display timetables and key information

Following on from visual to-do lists, you can do much more with visuals around your environment that will help with both the general running of the classroom, and the lessons you teach.

Often, children with dyslexia and autism can become distressed when they do not know what is going to happen, where they are meant to be or how they are expected to behave. If you can clearly display visual timetables on their table, that they can fill up and change throughout the day, you will greatly ease their anxiety. You can replicate this on a larger scale for the whole class as well, placing it at the front of the room, by the whiteboard, or in a special area that is clear to see. As a result, all children can look forward to their favourite or least favourite lessons, and mentally prepare themselves, reducing the stress they may not feel able to talk about.

Empowerment continues if you can use Comic Sans, Ariel, or Dyslexie fonts on your handouts, rules, displays and key vocabulary cards. These fonts are particularly accessible for children with dyslexia, and so will be easy to process for all children in your class. Also, it will help your students if any keywords, worksheets and activities are stuck on your displays, because then your current topic of learning stays fresher in their minds for longer.

Key information should also be offered in your student's primary language if possible, both in letters home and with displays. Although it is essential that your children learn concepts in English, it is sometimes more important than the information is received clearly, rather than ensuring that language skills are practiced. Providing the information in primary languages can avoid misunderstandings if the subject matter is particularly complex, and may be part of the building blocks to developing deeper learning in the long term. The same should be considered for students that use sign language or Makaton. Incorporating posters or learning resources which use pictorials of specific signs, can ease a child into their learning, and will also help the pupils around them to learn the signs as well.

3. Create a calm, focused and unique learning environment.

Although creating a calm environment in a classroom is often half the battle with teaching, we all know that a calmer environment can lead to enhanced learning for some subjects, and encourage social openness. But how can you create such an oasis?

First of all, make sure that your classroom is fully resourced with toys, objects and opportunities which can soothe, and provide comfort, in times of distress or sensory overload. Fiddly items such as fidget spinners, blu tack, pipe cleaners and squeezy toys should be kept close by if any such event occurs. Although you must try and keep items that specifically meet the requirements of children with IEP statements, do not underestimate how such objects could help to relax the rest of your students too. Just make sure you set some ground rules with how they can be used to make sure they are not abused.

Another important action you can take is to think of ways you can make the classroom feel and look more comfortable to learn in. If possible, consider different seating options in various areas of your room. Think about beanbag seats, rocking chairs, deckchairs, cushions, benches, stuffed footstools, armchairs and even upturned buckets to give the classroom a softer edge, and a greater sense of relaxing homeliness. The same can be said for controlling the type of light in the environment, such as using only some banks of light whilst turning off others, focussing on upward projecting light or providing sunglasses to students who are particularly sensitive. Also, do not forget that comfort can be ruined by sound, and so consider ways you can reduce, or prepare your pupils for noises. Perhaps you can offer earplugs or headphones, fit sound proofing or carpeting where possible, and talk about fire drills well before time.

4. Create safe spaces

Most pupils, regardless of need or ability, react better to rules and to the classroom when there are safe or special places they can visit and use. Of course, it is a great strategy to make a sensory-friendly area for students with autism or learning difficulties, but as you get to know the individual needs of your pupils, consider how it may help their social mobility if others in the class can access it too. If areas can be shared, then your class will learn how to share and understand their responsibilities towards one another. Children with SEND may be able to build up their social skills in this space as a result, and feel less singled out when they use it.

Another area you can create is a break out space. Using the different seating or comforting ideas above, make an area where students can discuss, socialize, read and get away from each other if personal space is needed. You may find that children who do not normally talk to each other, start to mix more easily, and frayed tempers disappear after a time away from the normal learning space.

Of course, you may already have a reading area in or near your classroom. One way you can help make these spaces even more inclusive is by stocking it with authors, stories and characters that the children have never experienced before, or that they feel reflect their own lives. By allowing the reading area to both reflect the students and mirror the world, they can begin to learn about and accept differences, whilst also recognizing their own lives are acceptable and have been heard.

Looking for SEN Jobs? Click here to search our current roles

 

5. Make time and opportunities for children to show what they have learned

When you finish a topic, it is always very tempting to assess children's learning with a formal test or assignment. If possible throughout the year, try to allow the children to choose how they can best present what they have learnt.An inclusive classroom, and inclusivity in general, allows for children to access learning however it best suits their ability, and so it is obvious that this needs to follow through with how they are assessed. Not only will making their own choice give them a greater sense of purpose and ownership over their learning, but it will also empower them to feel like they have achieved something.

Perhaps your students can make a poster, a slideshow presentation, a video, a blog, a podcast or a story. Consider what resources and support you have at your school to make this happen, and then encourage the children to show their learning in a way that plays to their strengths.

6. Keep consequences consistent

An inclusive classroom is one where expectations for behaviour, and socially inclusive behaviour, are understood and followed on a daily basis. We all know how maintaining such behaviour can be difficult, and is often effected by what is going on at home for that child, their ability, their particular needs and their interest in the subject you are teaching. Therefore it is really important that when you establish your class rules, any consequences for behaviour that goes against them, are known by the children and are acted upon religiously. A predictable classroom is a safe and secure place where trust can be built, boundaries will be more easily respected and no child will feel unfairly treated.

7. Take as many training opportunities and courses as possible

As the teacher, you are the main driver and authority on how the classroom can be changed for the better. There are a lot of excellent conferences, day courses, training opportunities and online courses which address how you can make a school more inclusive. Ask your senior leadership team or head teacher about particular courses they recommend, or ones you have researched yourself, so that you can strengthen your knowledge and make a real difference for all of your pupils.

8. Teach the material in a variety of ways

Not all students learn in the same way, and no doubt, after you have spent a few days with your class, you will see more clearly how each pupil does or does not access your lessons. Planning sessions to meet their learning needs can often feel like trial and error, but if you introduce students to material in a variety of ways, then make a record of what works and what does not, and most importantly of all, keep trying. Ask the teaching staff around you for their advice, and share your knowledge as well to make the school an actively inclusive environment.

One way to make teaching in different ways successful, is to think about what the children's strengths are, what they are interested in and what they would be excited to show at the end of that topic.

For example, writing can be a difficult challenge for students with autism. Although it is of course very important that all students learn to write, you can make the process easier if you allow them to use an iPad, a computer or even an old typewriter for some sections of the topic. For some learners, typing helps them focus on the task you set them, rather than worrying about the physical process of writing as well. How much more energized and engaged would the rest of your class feel if they also got the opportunity to use these technologies too? Perhaps they would also be able to write more easily, or produce their best piece of work with a break from pen and paper writing.

9. Make resources, do not expect to be able to buy or borrow everything

Teaching is one of the busiest and most stressful occupations due to the high turnover of daily activities and lessons. However, no matter how much easier it is to download a worksheet or presentation that almost fits the criteria for a lesson, or nearly meets the needs of the students in your class, you will always be able to make or adapt a resource yourself that can do a better and more accurate job.

If possible, at the beginning and end of term, really think specifically about the needs of your children and how you can fine tune or create resources that will maximise their learning. It is also helpful to make notes throughout the term about what sort of resources have worked well.

Taking all this knowledge forward, you may eventually find that you have a store of templates for future activities which you know will be uniquely accessible and affective for the class. Also, as previously discussed, a unique learning resource that has worked well for a child with dyslexia or autism, may break down barriers for other children too, and be something you can tweak numerous times throughout the year.

Here are some helpful pages on Engage Education's website which showcase free resource ideas that you can alter and try out in your classroom:

10. Stay positive and be ready to adapt

Creating an inclusive classroom both on a physical and social level can be a daunting task, and one which you have to alter and review as the school year goes on. We hope that the ideas above will be useful to increase the inclusion in your class, but never forget to stay positive or these final benefits of sticking with it:

  • Pupils without disabilities learn tolerance for those that are differently-able.
  • Children with disabilities in inclusive settings have an improved chance of meeting their learning and behavioural goals.
  • All students receive positive short-term and long-term skills.
  • Pupils with SEND in inclusive environments have better attendance and develop stronger skills in the core subjects.
  • Students with disabilities build stronger, longer-lasting friendships in inclusive settings.

  • Looking for SEN Jobs? Click here to search our current roles

Here are some more useful links:

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