Children's Special Needs

Credit to aleserralvo published on Pixabay

Rather than diving directly into pedagogy and the role of schools, this text takes a different approach. Pedagogy and its renewal will be the theme of a later text. This text starts from the premise of school as a safe place to be, as well as a space where focus is entirely on learning. This applies at all levels within the school system.

For children and young people to maximise their learning during their time at school, it must be a place that they feel safe to attend. It needs to be a place where all children are seen for who they are. Some might think this is impossible, but I disagree. We simply need to reassess how we organise the school itself. It seems somewhat strange that we gather many children or young people in a classroom, sometimes over 30, and overlook the fact that everyone needs to be acknowledged.

It is not enough to merely be seen; each child also has the right to receive the support they need to reach their goals. Mathematically speaking, there aren’t many minutes available to devote to each child, given that a lesson lasts 60 minutes. Adding to that, each child has their own challenges as well as their individual gifts and interests, making the situation even more complex.

To be seen, to receive individually tailored support when needed, and to have a personalised development plan should be the right of every child and young person. However, in most cases, society does not provide this. The notion that no one is left behind—meaning that everyone receives the right support to achieve their goals—can sometimes feel like a nice thought lacking substance. If we wish to use such a phrase, we must also ensure that it becomes feasible for schools to actually realise this.

One of the responsibilities that schools need to undertake is to create a culture of belonging in the classrooms, as well as in the school as a whole. It is important to foster an environment that builds trust between children and young people, and the school staff. All staff can contribute to children and young people feeling acknowledged.

The school that children and young people attend needs to have an absolute zero-tolerance policy against bullying. This applies not only among students but also between staff and students, as well as between staff members. Even the slightest tendencies should be highlighted and discussed in an open climate. If any structural changes need to be made, it should not be the victim of bullying who bears the consequences.

Schools should have the funding and resources necessary to ensure that the goals set for the school, and thus for the students, can be achieved. Schools need to employ staff with the requisite skills to carry out the learning process that equips children and young people with knowledge they will find valuable throughout their lives.

Teachers at the school need to engage in continuous development of their pedagogy and consistently utilise the modern technologies available. A fundamental principle of learning is that theory and practice go hand in hand. Tasks based on real problems or genuine challenges feel more meaningful than entirely theoretical constructs. Experiencing and learning from outcomes—regardless of whether the results are good or bad—is a mindset that children and young people will benefit from in life.

Credit to sasint published on Pixabay

The necessary skills must be present in those who lead, including headmasters and teachers, from both leadership and pedagogical perspectives. The starting point must always be learning, from teacher to child and from child to teacher. It is not possible to implement new methods and approaches if teachers lack an open mindset. This applies to methods, approaches, or content in teaching.

There needs to be a long-term strategy for how schools should operate on many levels. Today, there is both excessive regulation and a plethora of administrative demands placed upon classrooms, along with a significant amount of reporting that burdens school management and headmasters.

School leaders and their staff need to maintain a focus on learning and its processes. All other tasks that do not pertain to learning, development, or building strong individuals should not be the school’s responsibility.

I conclude this text with an open question that I will return to in another text.

Is there a limit to the number of students that can attend a school? When does staff lose oversight? When does the environment shift from being safe to becoming unsafe?

Be Conscious

Ulf