Pedagogy: the method and practice of teaching

Pedagogy: the method and practice of teaching

Let’s assume that, as an educator, as a teacher, you entered the profession for all the ‘right’ reasons – reasons of moral integrity, altruism and public service.  Of course the pay, the holidays, the classroom autonomy and the status might still attract some.  But you are intrinsically a good person.  You do this frontline work because:

1. ‍ You care about the wellbeing of all learners
2. You want all your learners to succeed
3. You’d like learners to enjoy your lessons
4. You want to show that all your learners make progress whatever their starting points
5. You want to use the latest research-based practice
6. You’d like to reduce your workload while achieving all of the above

Excellent.  Let’s assume we agree.  But what do these laudable aims actually represent?

You care about the wellbeing of all learners

This clearly should be a prerequisite for going into any classroom, hall, conference centre, government briefing room or any other learning space.  But merely feeling a warm kindness towards your charges is not enough.  To care for learners you need to know what makes them tick.  You need to know whether there are any gaps in their development, in their learning, and in their skills.  You need to know how ready they are to learn.

There are many platforms out there which will help you to establish these benchmarks, many run by large, established firms.  But there is only one relatively new system which profiles the entire learner developmentally.  Many claims are made by the big companies for their platforms, systems you may be using right now.  But only one system really delivers.

You want all your learners to succeed

Success is always relative.  What do we actually mean by succeed?  To ‘get’ the learning objective, perhaps?  To finish the task?  To contribute to the lesson positively?  Success is a step forward, a breakthrough, a gap filled, a goal achieved.  Or at least a goal moved towards.  And to achieve this, particularly for your neurodiverse learners, you need a sensitive, holistic system that tracks every one of those tiny steps towards a goal.  Your standard platform – maybe the one you are using right now – might do this for 80% of your learners, but what about the other 20%?  You need the specialists.  The market is crowded, the big players make big claims, but when it comes to developmental delays only one player hits the back of the net every time.

You’d like learners to enjoy your lessons

This should be easy.  Even under the dull weight of syllabus requirements we can surely inject fun into our lessons.  But be careful.  Enjoyment isn’t the same as fun.  Enjoyment comes from feeling a sense of ownership about one’s learning, a sense of tangible progress and achievement.  And this only comes when the educator has pitched the work exactly at the challenge level for each learner.  And for some learners this will require a very smart tracking system.  And there is only one system that fits the bill.

You want to show that all your learners make progress whatever their starting points

Progress is everything.  You might have a class of students working at GCSE grade 5.  But what if a year ago some of them were at grade 6?  You need to show the journey they are on.  Attendance at 82%?  Doesn’t sound good.  Attendance was at 42% last year?  That’s progress.  For the neurodiverse learner you need to be able to demonstrate every tiny step of progress.  They may spend a year within one major standardised assessment level in your national curriculum, but in that time they may also have achieved four key developmental goals.  You need a rich, research-based platform to measure and demonstrate that micro-level progress.  Luckily there is a system that can smash that job easily.

You want to use the latest research-based practice

• Research is key.  Along with a track record of testing and development.  You want a system for your neurodiverse learners which will help you to be the best teacher on the block.  But is it reliable?  Let’s look at the kind of proofs you might need.
• Thoroughly and independently tested by a major university
• Built and developed by a team of practitioners with many collective decades of experience in teaching, SEND and leadership
• Developed with feedback from teachers all over Europe
• Based on establish research models around developmental goals
• Has amazing testimonials and reviews from teachers, parents and psychologists
• If that’s your minimum set of requirements, we have a system that ticks every box.

You’d like to reduce your workload while achieving all of the above

Of course you do!  You want more for less!  But surely that’s an impossible goal?  Well, there is a system that, for the tiniest investments in your time will, in return, deliver a rich, deep, detailed range of data, targets, progress measures and strategies you can use in your classroom.  Time is one of your most valuable resources.  If you teach neurodverse learners, if you are a SENCo or a senior leader in special education, why waste this precious resource?  You need to invest in a cost effective platform that is not only up to date, but future-proof.

PAGS® provides solutions for Special Educational Needs(SEN). Our comprehensive 360° SEN Management System, equipped with state-of-the-art features, empowers educators with digital assessments, actionable targets, inclusive strategies, and insightful reports. With PAGS, you can effortlessly track and monitor the learners' SEN journey while streamlining SEN processes, saving you valuable time. Find out more here.