Research School Network: Every Interaction, Every Day: Interrupting the Effects of Disadvantage By Rachael Wilson, Deputy Director of Norfolk Research School

Reflections from the East Coast Partnership Bridging Event, Ipswich

What does disadvantage actually look like once it enters a classroom?

Schools are familiar with the data around disadvantage: attainment gaps, vocabulary differences and the relationship between socioeconomic circumstances and educational outcomes. This information matters, but it tells us relatively little about how disadvantage is experienced by an individual child during an ordinary school day.

The more useful question is what happens next. How might disadvantage influence a child’s experience of learning, and how might our everyday practice make that experience better or worse?

1) Look beyond the label

Treat disadvantage as a reason to understand a child better, never as a reason to predict their potential.

Reflection questions:

• Are our expectations equally ambitious for all pupils?
• What might children be learning about themselves through our everyday interactions?

Disadvantage is not a fixed characteristic. Its effects develop over time and differ across communities, influencing children’s confidence, agency and sense of belonging.

Children are constantly forming ideas about their place in school: What is expected of me? What do my teachers think I can do? Where do I fit?

These decisions can seem insignificant, but repeated experiences shape expectations. A child who regularly finds that someone else will answer, that challenging work is not really intended for them, or that opting out is acceptable may eventually become a reluctant participant.

Representation matters here too. Children should see people who look, sound and live like them represented as successful and valued. Inclusion should widen opportunity without suggesting that children’s identities or backgrounds need to be changed.

2) Make participation possible

Don’t assume that putting children into pairs, asking a question or providing a text means everyone can access the learning.

Reflection questions:

• Who is actually participating, and whose thinking remains invisible?
• Are we teaching the vocabulary and background knowledge children need, or assuming they already have it?

Language and background knowledge are essential to accessing learning. Yet children do not arrive with equal experiences of either. Children with greater vocabulary and confidence can become more visible in classrooms. They have more to contribute, engage adults more readily and may be perceived as more able.

The same applies to classroom discussion. Speaking on this at the Bridging Event, Marc Rowland cited his own research in the North of England, which involved large scale classroom observations. This found that the overwhelming majority of sessions included at least one pupil without a partner during paired talk. A routine intended to increase participation can therefore leave some children excluded, ​“pounced on” by well-meaning adults who then lose the opportunity to glean important formative assessment information from the rest of the room.

3) Teach until children are ready

Judge teaching by what pupils have understood, not simply by what has been covered.

Reflection questions:

• Have we taught it, or have we demonstrated it?
• What do we do differently when our checks reveal that pupils are not ready?

There is a temptation to move quickly from modelling to independent work. I do, we do, you do is useful, but it should not become a fixed timetable.

Sometimes children need more guided practice: we do, we do, we do. The distinction is between demonstrating a task and ensuring pupils have learnt how to complete it.

Checking understanding matters for the same reason. Asking whether everyone understands is not enough. If the answer does not influence what happens next, the check has achieved very little.

This requires secure subject knowledge, careful explanation and responsive teaching.

4) Maintain expectations while building independence

Support should open up access to ambitious learning, not quietly lower the ambition.

Reflection questions:

• Are all pupils experiencing meaningful challenge?
• Does our feedback communicate that we expect every child to think, improve and succeed?

High expectations are particularly important when children may have fewer opportunities for support outside school.

The expectation of no opting out, used well, communicates that participation matters and that the teacher will help pupils find a way to succeed. It should not mean putting a child on the spot without providing the necessary support.

There is an important difference between not knowing yet and not being expected to engage.

Consistent routines and boundaries matter too. A reliable classroom environment provides security and makes expectations clear.

The same consideration applies to praise and feedback. Some children can become recognised primarily for effort and compliance, while others are recognised for the quality of their thinking. We need to ensure that all pupils are seen as intellectually capable.

5) Understand the barriers families experience

Make engagement accessible without making assumptions about what families know, value or can manage.

Reflection questions:

• Do our expectations of families reflect the realities of different circumstances?
• Do children see their communities positively represented in our school?

Family income affects agency as well as access. Living payday to payday creates different choices and priorities. Equally, making an experience free does not automatically make it accessible. Confidence, familiarity and fear of judgement can remain significant barriers.

It is worth being cautious about describing families as disengaged without understanding their circumstances. Previous experiences of school, competing pressures and a lack of confidence navigating systems may all influence engagement.

Our approach should be empathetic without lowering expectations. The SMILE principle offers a useful test for our approaches to family engagement: are they Simple, Manageable, Impactful, Learning-focused and Empathetic?

….So what? NOW What?

Addressing disadvantage doesn’t always require another intervention or initiative. Much of the work happens through everyday teaching, relationships, routines and expectations.

Schools cannot remove every barrier children encounter. But we can work to ensure that their experiences of school don’t add unnecessarily to them.

Are our everyday practices interrupting the effects of disadvantage, or unintentionally compounding them?

Every interaction. Every day.

Rachael Wilson is Deputy Director of Norfolk Research School and a year 3 teacher.