ABSTRACT
When you qualify to teach, you enter a school system where there are massive differences in the extent to which pupils from different backgrounds fulfil their educational potential (see, for example, Gilborn, 2000; Ajegbo, 2007). Some teachers, departments and schools make a big difference to the attainment of pupils from groups who often underachieve ‘nationally’. Issues of equality of opportunity and educational inclusion are therefore very high-profile and important in current policy debates on education. Ensuring inclusion means responding to the diverse needs of each individual pupil. This means respecting cultural diversity, as well as making the curriculum accessible to all learners. It is the teacher’s role to enable each pupil to feel part of the learning process, and to make sure that they achieve their ‘personal best’.
