A delegation of Polish primary school teachers visited Jump Association during the week 30/01-06/02/2026. They brought with them two deceptively simple questions: How can we improve the integration of students with special educational needs? And how can we foster genuine collaboration among subject teachers? These questions sit at the heart of contemporary inclusive education and reflect a shared European concern that goes far beyond national borders.
Our work with teachers, and students has consistently shown that inclusion is not a binary concept included versus excluded but a spectrum of educational pathways that must be carefully matched to each child’s cognitive, emotional, and sensory profile. Research over the last two decades strongly supports this view, highlighting that inclusive education is most effective when it is flexible, well-resourced, and pedagogically intentional rather than ideologically rigid.
Mainstream Inclusion with Targeted Support
Students without severe developmental delays can, in most cases, thrive within mainstream education when appropriate mediation is in place. This group includes children with normal to high intellectual functioning on the autism spectrum, students with ADHD, and gifted learners. Large-scale studies confirm that these students benefit academically and socially from inclusive classrooms, provided that support teachers act as bridges between the learner, the curriculum, and the classroom environment.
For autistic students with average or high IQ, challenges often lie not in learning capacity but in sensory regulation, social communication, and cognitive flexibility. Similarly, ADHD is associated with executive function difficulties, particularly working memory, inhibition, and sustained attention rather than reduced intelligence. In these cases, a single well-trained support teacher, collaborating closely with subject teachers, can effectively scaffold learning, reduce cognitive overload, and translate abstract demands into accessible steps.
The Value of Hybrid Educational Models
When minor developmental delays are present, or when additional barriers such as limited proficiency in the school’s primary language arise, a hybrid model often proves more effective. In this approach, students participate in mainstream classes while attending selected subjects in smaller groups led by subject teachers with specialization in special needs education.
Evidence suggests that even mild developmental delays can significantly affect a child’s ability to keep pace with curricular objectives and to build stable peer relationships. The hybrid model offers something essential: time and psychological safety. Within smaller groups, students experience a sense of being seen, supported, and understood, which directly enhances motivation and learning engagement.
Crucially, this is not a “step back” from inclusion but a strategic adaptation that prevents repeated failure and secondary emotional difficulties, such as anxiety or learned helplessness.
When Special Schools Are the Most Ethical Choice
For students with severe developmental delays, mainstream education can unintentionally become a source of frustration and exclusion. When disabilities significantly interfere with basic learning processes and daily functioning, specialized educational settings are often the most ethical and effective option.
Long-term studies emphasize the importance of life-skills-oriented education for these students, focusing on autonomy, manual skills, and vocational abilities that can be transferred into adult life. Schools designed around these principles should ideally extend into early adulthood, ensuring a smooth transition from education to independent or supported living and meaningful work.
Learning by Feeling: Neurodiversity and Teacher Collaboration
Through activities such as “Sensing Nature” and training grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), we invited teachers to experience the world from a neurodiverse perspective. By simulating sensory hypersensitivity, reduced working memory capacity, dopamine-related motivation deficits, object impermanence, and difficulties with abstract reasoning, educators were able to feel not just understand the daily challenges faced by many students.
This experiential approach proved invaluable. Research shows that empathy-based professional training significantly improves interdisciplinary collaboration and instructional flexibility. When subject teachers personally encounter cognitive overload or sensory distress, cooperation with support teachers becomes not an obligation, but a shared mission.
Toward a Culture of Thoughtful Inclusion
True inclusion is not about placing every child in the same room, but about designing educational ecosystems in which every learner has the best possible chance to grow. By combining evidence-based models, humane observation, and professional collaboration, schools can move from asking “Where should this child be?” to the far more meaningful question: “What does this child need in order to flourish?”
References
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Butterworth, B., & Kovas, Y. (2013). Understanding neurocognitive developmental disorders. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14, 783-794.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227-268.
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