I have previously argued that to meet the complex, co-occurring needs of an increasing number of young people with special educational needs and disability, we need to be ever curious and more forensic in our teaching. In the post-lockdown classroom, this ability to think like a detective is more important than ever.

An investment in “recovery” - to use the government’s term - to strengthen quality-first teaching will certainly help pupils re-regulate their learning. However, it’s hard for teachers to make decisions about tailoring additional classroom support if the challenges that learners are experiencing are difficult to detect. We know that early and appropriate intervention is crucial, but this is contingent on activating tools and methods that unlock our “inner detective” as education professionals. What might those tools and methods be?

Ivar Fahsing is a senior detective and associate professor at the Norwegian Police University College in Oslo. By comparing the problem-solving behaviours of experienced detectives to those of the novice, he recognised that trainees needed to be taught early on how to think like their more experienced colleagues, rather than adopt rigid procedures that fail to take account of variable contexts. In short: just telling them the process of detection was not enough.

This is highly applicable to the classroom, where teaching is a complex, multi-faceted, problem-solving challenge. Like expert detectives, expert teachers need to think about how they think.

Identifying SEND pupils’ needs

Fahsing’s research suggests that the answer is to teach novice detectives metacognitive skills explicitly. His trainees learn not only to employ deductive reasoning - reasoning on the basis of known facts - but also abductive logic, the cognitive process of identifying the best possible explanation, in the absence of complete knowledge, for a given set of observations.

This chimes with Hatano?’s research (2005) into adaptive metacognition and how teachers benefit from learning how to confront complex problems from the beginning of their career. The teacher “detective” can gather evidence of pupil learning and wellbeing from moment to moment, using multiple micro-assessments, looking for patterns without jumping to conclusions.

Alas, for most of us, the process of slowing down, stepping back and triangulating information goes against our instincts. Innate cognitive bias (described by Daniel Kahneman in his 2011 book, Thinking, Fast and Slow as “what you see is all there is”) means our brains prefer to make easy judgements immediately. We find it really difficult to appreciate that there are still many things we don’t know.

Thinking like a detective forces us to take the harder route and, as such, it is a fantastic methodology for inclusive teaching. It takes time to build the fuller picture, seeking new information along the way from wide lines of enquiry. Consulting with colleagues (a teacher mentor, parents, the special educational needs coordinator) adds breadth and depth to the investigation.

As Fahsing points out, the best detectives step back and challenge their own quick-fit judgements. By being an active listener - curious and patient - a good teacher will “keep digging”. And, by doing so, we find out how best to help our pupils learn.

Margaret Mulholland is the special educational needs and inclusion specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders

This article originally appeared in the 28 May 2021 issue under the headline “Do you have the sleuthing skills to spot hidden needs?”