Enriching Education - Adaptive Teaching: Culture to the classroom

Demand for SEND support continues to rise sharply, with the number of students with education, health and care plans increasing significantly in recent years, while funding still struggles to keep pace.¹

Schools are caught in a difficult situation between accountability frameworks and the complex, day-to-day needs of pupils. As UK headteacher, Brian Walton notes, the system is “a full-blown daily crisis”,² with expectations often far removed from operational reality.

This is where Andrew Young comes in. His new book, Adaptive Teaching, gives teachers an easy, accessible and inexpensive way to prioritise SEND inclusion despite budget cuts to SEND provision and a hugely overstretched workforce.

Drawing on a highly successful CPD programme and his extensive work with schools, Andrew reframes inclusive teaching through a more sustainable and human lens. Rather than focusing on labels or bureaucratic processes, he encourages teachers to understand and respond to the barriers pupils face in learning – whether linked to cognitive load, working memory, communication, or executive function. Andrew reminds us that:

“Labels are necessary but not sufficient. By focusing less on individual labels and more on shared barriers to learning - cognitive load, executive function, and working memory - we begin to see the wood from the trees. This book cuts through the noise of adaptive teaching by exploring 4 essential themes of inclusive classroom practice - culture, brains, teaching, and curriculum. The aim is to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to better meet the needs of their pupils with SEND”.

Drawing on his daily classroom experiences, Andrew Young has written this book to bridge the gap between theory and the practical needs of the busy, time-poor educator.

Suitable for teachers and school leaders working in mainstream education, as well as special school or alternative provision staff.

Andrew Young is a teacher of Social Sciences and Co-Director of Pathfinder Teaching School Hub (TSH). Andrew’s work includes the leadership, design and delivery of professional development across North Yorkshire and leadership of the TSH ITT programmes, where they train around 50 new teachers a year with York St John University, UK. Having secured DfE approval for the Teaching School Hub Adaptive Teaching CPD programme over 4 years ago, Andrew has worked with hundreds of staff and schools on building an inclusive classroom climate.