Earlier this year, we attended the Wits Principals' Breakfast, where the discussion centred on Mental Health Meets Neurodiversity: How Schools Can Better Support Diverse Learning Needs in an Evolving Education Landscape.
Framed around the theme Mental Health Meets Neurodiversity, the discussion challenged education leaders to think beyond curriculum delivery and academic performance. It invited us to reflect on how schools can create learning environments that recognise the individuality of every learner.
Photo cred: University of the Witwatersrand
Neurodiversity asks educators to consider that some learners experience attention, communication, information processing and sensory environments differently, not as a deficit to be fixed, but as natural variations in how people think and learn. While these conversations are often associated with specialists and clinical settings, they also have an important place in everyday teaching. They invite educators to look more closely at the learners in front of them and to ask a simple but important question: What does this learner need in order to learn well?
At the time, it was a thought-provoking discussion. It remained with us long after the event had ended.
Recently, while supporting a group of Grade 7 and Grade 8 learners during a partner programme, many of our tutors found themselves returning to that conversation. Although working with younger learners has always formed part of our work, it had been some time since many of our tutors had spent several consecutive days teaching this age group together in a physical classroom. It provided a valuable opportunity to observe learners over an extended period rather than within the shorter interactions we are more accustomed to.
As the programme progressed, our reflections became less about the lessons themselves and more about how learners engaged with them. We observed how quickly attention shifted from one activity to another, how differently learners processed new information and how varied their responses were to the same teaching approach. Some learners needed time before they were ready to contribute, while others eagerly answered before a question had even been completed. Some responded immediately to verbal explanations, while others only developed confidence after working through examples themselves.
Like all educators, adapting is part of our practice. We slowed our pace when necessary, explained concepts differently, changed our examples and adjusted our questioning to meet learners where they were. These are decisions teachers make every day.
What stood out during our reflections afterwards, however, was something deeper.
Many of the learning behaviours we regularly recognise in older learners do not suddenly emerge in high school. They are often visible much earlier. By the time learners reach the senior grades, many have already developed ways of adapting, coping or quietly navigating learning environments that may not always align with how they process information or engage with learning.
This realisation brought us back to the conversations we had at the Wits Principals' Breakfast. Discussions around neurodiversity are not simply about diagnoses or specialised interventions. They encourage educators to become more observant, more responsive and more intentional in the way they create learning environments. They remind us that the same lesson will not be experienced in the same way by every learner and that meaningful support often begins long before formal interventions are required.
For schools and educators, this does not mean having all the answers. It means remaining curious. It means noticing before assuming, adapting before judging and recognising that different learners may require different pathways to reach the same outcome.
Perhaps that is why the conversations from the Wits Principals' Breakfast continue to resonate months later. Their value was never confined to a single morning of discussion. It lies in the way those ideas continue to shape the questions we ask, the observations we make and the environments we strive to create for every learner who walks into our classrooms.
As an organisation, academic excellence remains at the heart of what we do. Equally important is our commitment to creating learning environments where learners feel understood, supported and empowered to succeed. we remain committed to creating learning environments where every learner feels seen, supported and given the opportunity to succeed.
