Need or noise?

Need or noise: how do we ensure that all students get the support they need, not just those who demand it the loudest?

The leadership team were posed this wicked question last week and from it stemmed all sorts of other questions: how do you ensure you differentiate for all students, not only the students with special educational needs? How do you hear the voice of the quiet, polite student who is making average progress?

We discussed that as a teacher you can do the following:

• Look at the data of your students and be aware of those who are quiet and coasting in terms of progress - what can you plan for them? Could you change their place in the seating plan to sit with someone who can push them on? 

• Are you aware of which students you may not be giving any attention to? Ask someone to observe you and create a “heat map” or tracker of the voices that are heard in a lesson - you may be surprised by the results!

• Mark! A great equaliser as you get the chance to see the work of all students and provide the support they need through feedback

• Embed some pedagogical strategies like Hands Down Questioning and No Help

• Opening equal lines of dialogue and/or collecting all voices through the use of mini whiteboards, padlet, google forms and other resources that allow answers to be taken from all students equally. 

The more we discussed this question the more it was becoming apparent how important a moral issue this was and how it goes to the core of what our purpose is as teachers.

What will you change to hear all the voices you teach?

If you have anything to contribute to this discussion please do get in touch - I’d love to update this blog post with your thoughts.