Balancing Personalisation and Workload: How Teachers Can Meet Individual Needs Using Well-Designed Resources

The Early Career Framework states that teachers should learn how to... Meet individual needs without creating unnecessary workload, by making use of well-designed resources (e.g. textbooks).

One of the most enduring challenges in education is how to meet the diverse individual needs of pupils without becoming overwhelmed by planning, preparation, and differentiation. At a time when teacher workload remains a persistent concern, the pressure to personalise learning for increasingly diverse cohorts can feel like an impossible task. But there is a solution that is often underused or even viewed with scepticism: the thoughtful use of well-designed resources, such as textbooks, schemes of work, and digital learning materials.

Rather than being a relic of the past, high-quality teaching resources—when selected carefully and used intentionally—can play a vital role in supporting inclusive practice while reducing unnecessary workload. They provide structure, consistency, and opportunities for adaptive teaching, all without requiring teachers to constantly reinvent the wheel.

The Myth of the “Bespoke” Lesson

There is a common narrative in education that the most effective lessons are those that have been custom-built by the teacher for a specific class. While this approach may occasionally yield excellent outcomes, it is rarely sustainable. Research from the Department for Education (2019) found that teachers in England spend significantly more time on planning than their international counterparts—often at the expense of their wellbeing and long-term retention.

What’s more, there is limited evidence to suggest that crafting completely unique lesson materials for every class produces better outcomes than using well-designed, evidence-informed resources. As Dylan Wiliam (2016) notes, “Good teaching is adaptive teaching, not personalised lesson planning.” In other words, success comes not from designing different lessons for each learner, but from using flexible materials that can be adjusted to suit learners' needs in real time.

Why Textbooks and Structured Materials Matter

High-quality resources—especially textbooks and structured curricula—offer several benefits that directly support both workload reduction and differentiation:

1. Cognitive coherence: Textbooks that follow a logical sequence help pupils build schema and make meaningful connections between topics (Sweller, 1988). This benefits all learners, particularly those with SEND or gaps in prior knowledge.

2. Consistency of language and concept development: When textbooks and resources are used across classes or year groups, they reduce the variation in terminology and explanation that can confuse learners.

3. Built-in scaffolding: Many modern textbooks include worked examples, model answers, comprehension checks, and visual aids—all of which support independent learning and metacognition (Rosenshine, 2012).

4. Retrieval and formative assessment: Quality resources often include recap questions and opportunities for self-assessment, reducing the need for teachers to constantly create bespoke starter activities or quizzes (Agarwal & Bain, 2019).

Meeting Individual Needs Through Resource Design

Meeting individual needs does not mean creating different worksheets for each pupil. Instead, it means anticipating common barriers to learning and using resources that include built-in supports or challenges. Well-designed textbooks, for example, often incorporate:

• Tiered questions, allowing learners to access the content at different levels.

• Glossaries and dual coding, which support pupils with language needs or working memory challenges (Paivio, 1986).

• Extension tasks, which stretch higher prior attainers without needing a separate task.

Teachers can also use textbooks strategically by adapting the task, rather than the material. For instance, instead of preparing three differentiated versions of a lesson, a teacher might:

• Assign all pupils the same reading or worked example but ask them different follow-up questions.

• Use textbook examples as the basis for group discussion, varying the level of support provided.

• Ask some pupils to explain a model to others, strengthening understanding through peer teaching.

Using Resources Doesn’t Mean Teaching “By the Book”

A common critique of textbook use is the fear of becoming “scripted” or “de-professionalised”. However, using structured resources does not remove the need for skilled teaching. In fact, it amplifies the teacher’s role by freeing up cognitive and emotional bandwidth for responsive teaching—questioning, checking for understanding, adapting explanations, and supporting individuals in real time.

Mary Myatt (2020) argues that well-chosen resources offer "a form of curation, not abdication." They enable teachers to focus on how pupils are engaging with content, rather than spending hours preparing the content itself.

Moreover, textbooks and schemes of work should be seen as starting points, not scripts. Teachers can and should annotate, adapt, and supplement these materials to reflect the context of their school, the needs of their learners, and the dynamics of the classroom.

Making Resource Selection a Collaborative Process

To truly reduce workload and improve inclusive practice, schools must approach resource selection and sharing collaboratively. When every teacher is expected to create their own lessons from scratch, it leads to inconsistency and burnout. Instead, departments should invest time in:

• Auditing existing resources for quality, accessibility, and alignment with curriculum intent.

• Sharing planning and resource banks, so that staff can draw from a central, quality-assured pool.

• Training staff to adapt existing resources rather than recreate them, with a focus on inclusive strategies.

This approach also supports early career teachers and non-specialists, who may lack the confidence or subject knowledge to design differentiated materials alone. By starting with a strong, well-structured resource, they are better positioned to focus on effective delivery and pupil support.

Digital Resources and Online Platforms

The rise of digital tools has also expanded the landscape of high-quality resources. Online platforms like Oak National Academy, Seneca Learning, and subject-specific repositories offer sequenced content, instructional videos, and adaptive quizzes. Used strategically, these tools can support homework, revision, or flipped learning—particularly for pupils who may benefit from revisiting content at their own pace.

However, the same principles apply: digital resources must be curated, not piled on. Teachers should select a small number of high-impact tools, align them with their curriculum, and integrate them thoughtfully into lessons, rather than overwhelming learners with endless links and logins.

Avoiding the Trap of Over-Differentiation

Perhaps the biggest takeaway is this: meeting individual needs does not require a different resource for every child. Instead, it requires deliberate pedagogy, informed use of high-quality materials, and a culture where adaptation is fluid and responsive.

Tom Sherrington (2020) reminds us that “clarity and simplicity are inclusive”. The more streamlined and accessible our core materials are, the easier it is to scaffold learning, check understanding, and intervene effectively. Over-differentiation often leads to confusion, inequity, and unsustainable workload—without any meaningful gains in learning.

Conclusion

In a climate where teacher wellbeing is at risk and retention is a national concern, we must reframe how we view the use of textbooks and other structured resources. Far from being a symbol of lazy or inflexible teaching, well-designed materials are an essential tool in meeting individual needs—efficiently, consistently, and equitably.

It’s time we moved away from the myth of the heroic, overworked teacher crafting personalised resources every night. Instead, let’s empower teachers to use what works: carefully chosen, thoughtfully adapted resources that serve learners and sustain the profession.

References

• Agarwal, P., & Bain, P. (2019). Powerful Teaching: Unleash the Science of Learning. Jossey-Bass.

• Department for Education. (2019). Teacher Workload Survey. DfE.

• Education Endowment Foundation. (2018). Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning.

• Myatt, M. (2020). Back on Track: Fewer Things, Deeper Learning. John Catt Educational.

• Paivio, A. (1986). Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach. Oxford University Press.

• Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of Instruction. American Educator, 36(1), 12–19.

• Sherrington, T. (2020). Teaching Walkthrus: Five-Step Guides to Instructional Coaching. John Catt Educational.

• Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive Load During Problem Solving: Effects on Learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285.

• Wiliam, D. (2016). Leadership for Teacher Learning. Learning Sciences International.