Research School Network: Inclusive Teaching Webinar Series- Exploring Strategic Literacy Leadership as Inclusion Literacy as an Inclusion Strategy

This webinar explores how literacy can be a powerful lens for your Inclusion Strategy, drawing on Sarah Bagshaw-McCormick’s recent writing and work on literacy, equity and school improvement.

We will consider how leaders can identify literacy related barriers, understand the needs of different pupils and develop a coordinated whole school response. The session will connect evidence with practical guidance to help you consider what this means for provision, curriculum, culture and resource use in your own setting. Below are the key aspects the session will cover.

What is inclusion?

Ensuring factors such as SEND, disadvantage or other experiences do not create barriers to all children’s participation in education and the world. For example, SEND encompasses speech and language disorders, which include receptive and production challenges with spoken and written forms of language.

Experiencing disadvantage can affect children’s literacy via availability of texts, or knowing the language codes of school. Schools report that the biggest challenge they face in supporting all pupils are literacy focused. 

If your school isn’t effectively teaching and supporting literacy, it’s probably not inclusive.

This is because learning is mediated by literacy. This is a question of equity, And should be managed systematically and strategically. Through…Universal provision – high quality instruction Assessment – screen, then diagnoses the literacy barriers a pupil faces Match children to interventions.

Against a backdrop of a strong literacy culture, which values literacy for learning and leisure.

To do this well educators (teachers, leaders and support staff) need to have strong foundations of literacy knowledge, including theory (what evidence tells us) and in practice (how to put it into action) to…Know when literacy demand is placed on pupils through instructional design, and subject discipline. Know how to teach literacy as a part of instructional design. Identify when pupils are struggling because of literacy. Be able to support and scaffold literacy for children who are still developing their literacy.

Conclusion - this is the aim, it’s unlikely to be a quick fix, but investing resource, effort and time into genuine literacy improvements is an important step to creating an inclusive school.