Personalised learning, differentiation, individual targets, planning. These - and the slippery concepts that underpin them - have been the lyrics to the song of my working life for as long as I’ve been teaching. Although, at times (and very unfortunately), these phrases have been used as an excuse not to provide adequate support in the classroom, I do believe in their underlying ethos: students should be treated as individuals, and that should go towards shaping how you teach.

In FE, along with the standard considerations faced by other sectors when looking at the differences between students - such as starting point, additional learning needs, background and the like - there is another factor to take into account. This factor is age.

There’s 61 years between the youngest and the oldest person I’ve ever taught in FE; I’m assuming the range across the board is wider. Granted, it’s rare to see that type of difference in individual classes, but there have been plenty of times when I’ve been in a room with teenagers and thirty- or fortysomethings.

When differentiating materials, should we take into account how old our students are?

This leads to interesting challenges and questions. When differentiating materials, should we take into account how old our students are? Should our teaching approach change given that the person in front of us may have very little life experience or decades of the stuff? Does it even matter? Of course it does.

‘Take people’s lives and stories into account’

I’m all for treating everyone equally, but I’m also one for taking into account people’s lives and stories. In fact, I think it’s one of the most interesting things about the job. So no, I’m not going to treat a 56-year-old who’s doing an evening class to get a GCSE in English in the same way as I would a 16-year-old would-be mechanic who takes level 1 functional skills as part of their provision.

That said, the behaviours can often be extremely similar. To a greater or lesser extent, everyone reverts to “school mode” when they’re in a classroom with a teacher, no matter how many years they’ve got on the clock.

I’ve had days when I’ve taught people older than my parents and, in the next session, fresh-faced young ‘uns

The age range of our students is but one of the ways that the variety of the sector manifests itself. In addressing this variety, we set ourself apart as we welcome the broadest range of people, with the broadest range of needs, and attempt to get them where they need to be. The sweep of age and experience that I see on a daily basis both challenges and enriches. I have had days when I’ve taught people older than my parents, and in the next session have moved on to fresh-faced young ’uns.

You have to adapt and sometimes it’s hard, but I like that. It keeps me young.

Tom Starkey teaches English at a college in the North of England. He tweets as @tstarkey1212