What pedagogical approaches can effectively include children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms? a systematic literature review

Abstract

This article reports on a three-year systematic literature review funded by the UK Training and Development Agency for Schools. In order to begin to answer the question posed by the title of this article, the researchers systematically reviewed the literature with reported outcomes for the academic and social inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. This review
process led to a focus upon peer-group interactions, the nature of teacher and pupil interactions and wholeclass, subject-based pedagogies. This series of reviews highlights that within the complexities of a diverse mainstream classroom teachers’ effectiveness is strongly influenced by their recognition of their responsibility for all learners and the centrality of social interaction to learning, as well as having a shared understanding of characteristics, skills and knowledge associated with a subject. It is also strongly influenced by a facility to plan for and to encourage participation in a communal learning experience through flexible groupings and roles, offering diverse ppportunities to engage with concepts and practices using tivities the learner finds meaningful. Effective practices are not about the teacher alone, but are rooted in the community of
learners – including other practitioners – with whom they work.

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ORCID for Melanie Nind: orcid.org/0000-0003-4070-7513

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