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University of Leeds

Inclusive Education: Exploring SEND Practice and Strategies

University of Leeds via FutureLearn

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Transform your approach to inclusive education by exploring the nature of SEND

Nearly 1.5 million children in the UK have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), about 16.5% of the total student population. This makes it crucial for educators, caregivers, and family members of those with special needs to be equipped with the knowledge to support these learners effectively.

This four-week, introductory course from the University of Leeds delves into SEND, focusing on inclusive strategies and teaching methods through practical applications.

Learn practical support strategies for special education

Begin this course by exploring various support strategies tailored for special education settings. These strategies are designed to enhance learning experiences and address the specific needs of individuals with disabilities.

By exploring models of disability, you’ll learn how to approach supporting individuals with disabilities in educational contexts.

Gain insights about diverse learners from real-world experiences

Through practical case studies, you’ll deepen your understanding of SEND and the ways to support young and mature students with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, and dyslexia.

Become an advocate for learners with special educational needs 

Empower inclusive education and champion the rights of individuals with SEND by discussing legislative frameworks and policy guidelines with a dynamic learning community dedicated to fostering inclusivity.

Discover pathways for transformative learning and careers in education

You’ll wrap up this course by exploring additional SEND resources, career opportunities, and additional education programmes offered by the University of Leeds.

By the end, you’ll be prepared to help individuals with SEND thrive in educational environments by identifying and addressing their specific needs effectively.

This course is designed to help learners promote inclusive learning and equitable classroom environments through SEND applications and strategies.

It’s ideal for individuals pursuing a career in education, looking to upskill for SEND-related roles, or current educators, caregivers, or family members of those with special educational needs or disabilities.

You’ll gain a comprehensive overview of SEND principles and practices throughout this course, so no prior knowledge is needed to join.

Syllabus

  • Introduction to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
    • Welcome
    • People, definitions and ways of thinking about SEND
    • Models of disability
    • Summary
  • The range of special educational needs and disabilities
    • About Week 2
    • Case studies: George and Vinita
    • Summary
  • Good practice in SEND support
    • About Week 3
    • SEND support practice in educational settings and at home
    • Case studies: Holly and Akia
    • Summary
  • What's next for you?
    • About Week 4
    • Exploring sources of support
    • Planning your next steps in SEND
    • Summary

Taught by

Anita Collins

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Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 50 Class Central reviews

Start your review of Inclusive Education: Exploring SEND Practice and Strategies

  • Profile image for Olayinka Adetisola
    Olayinka Adetisola
    As a primary school teacher with over 20 years of classroom experience across multiple curricula, I found this course both affirming and deeply informative. It validated much of what I have observed in my teaching practice while giving me sharper la…
  • Anonymous
    I absolutely loved this course! As a professional working with neurodivergent learners, I am always looking for frameworks that truly bridge theory and practice, and this program does it beautifully. The practical, low-stress structure made the lea…
  • Anonymous
    This course helped me broaden my views about SEND students. The course is extremely well designed including case studies, videos and resource materials.
    The exercises at the end of every chapter are engaging and make us think in a positive way.
    None the less, it is offered free of cost. Thanks a lot !
  • Anonymous
    I found this course to be engaging, informative, and highly relevant to my professional practice. It provided a solid introduction to inclusive education, particularly through its emphasis on the social model of disability and the importance of removing barriers to learning. I especially appreciated the real-life case studies and practical strategies, which helped connect the theory to everyday educational settings.

    The course has encouraged me to reflect more deeply on my own practice and has motivated me to continue developing my knowledge of SEND. I would recommend it to anyone working with children and young people, as it provides a solid foundation for creating more inclusive and supportive learning environments.
  • Anonymous
    This course is one of the best pieces I have seen of SEND! It’s so insightful and informative.

    Special thanks to all the academics and students on the who helped to put all these together . I would

    I will recommend the course to anyone and my colleagues.
  • Profile image for Ayasha Sadie Albarando
    Ayasha Sadie Albarando
    A useful and engaging course that improve my understanding and skills for supporting diverse learners
  • Profile image for Faithful Chukwudumebi Ogini
    Faithful Chukwudumebi Ogini
    Beautiful curated, put together, understandable, conscise and simple.
    Everything was put into perspectives, with updated resources, classes was easy to follow, and the user interface was really good.
  • Profile image for Wafa Alkhlaifi
    Wafa Alkhlaifi
    I absolutely loved this course! As a professional working with neurodivergent learners, I am always looking for frameworks that truly bridge theory and practice, and this program does it beautifully.
  • Anonymous
    This course was clear and useful, giving me a better understanding of SEND, reasonable adjustments, and practical ways to support learners with different needs in school.
  • Anonymous
    This course has been very informative and easy to follow. It helped me understand inclusive education and SEND practice more clearly, especially through real case studies of dyslexia and autism. I learned the importance of personalised support, strengths-based approaches, and simple adjustments like visual supports, routines, and assistive technology. Overall, it has been very useful for my learning and professional development.
  • Anonymous
    This course was highly informative, engaging, and practical. It gave me a deeper understanding of SEND, inclusive education, and effective support strategies. I especially valued the real-life case studies and useful examples, which made the learning meaningful and easy to apply in real settings
  • Anonymous
    This course was very flexible and allowed me to study anytime and anywhere. It is more affordable, Overall, it was very useful, and I was able to learn more about SEND and how to deal with kids who need the help both at school and at home. Thank you for this opportunity.
  • Anonymous
    This course gave me a solid, practical foundation for understanding SEND and inclusive practice. What I appreciated most was how it connected the theory to real-world scenarios, especially the sections on recognising additional needs early, using ev…
  • Anonymous
    The team did a great job in putting all of these work into one piece just to impact the society with the knowledge. I say thank you to them, especially the instructor. This course is a best practice to the field of special needs education. The concepts shared are quite in sync with real world cases. The case studies used, are actually practical examples of what we experience in schools and even in the society. I learnt particularly that children with SEND can also become stars in the society when they are supported with the right resources.
  • Anonymous
    This is a very good general introduction to SEND. Which signposted lots of ways to increase your knowledge and provided additional reading materials relevant to the subject for those wanting more background information. However, be aware that in order to gain anything meaningful from this course you will definitely need to be prepared to spent more than 1 hour per week on it. Probably 2-4 hours is more realistic.
  • Anonymous
    A well thought out and structured course which gave an excellent introduction to an extremely complicated area. I found the video material particularly useful as it dealt with real people in real life situations.
  • Anonymous
    A well thought out and structured course which gave an excellent introduction to an extremely complicated area. I found the video material particularly useful as it dealt with real people in real life situations.
  • Anonymous
    This course was phenomenal! It gave me a massive insight to the lives of SEND individuals, how they can be labelled based on the medical and social models of disability, and how reasonable adjustments can be made to their environments to support them in school/work and at home. Would definitely recommend
  • Anonymous
    A very useful course. It helped clarify the differences between the medical model and social model for differently abled students and how to better provide for them to access learning within the classroom.
  • Anonymous
    Thank you for taking us through this course. It has widened my horizon on the concept of SEND. The cases investigated made the learning clearer and more engaging. I understood what to do if every learner has access and walks freely in the school, at home, and in the community.

    I implore every teacher to take this course too.

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