Lack of motivation, behavioural issues, limited resources and social disparities are among some of Portugal’s current educational challenges. The still unsettling massification and acculturation of primary school practices make teaching and learning progressively more complex. Pupils’ success is measured by national exams, regular evaluation tests and their ability to memorise information, rather than their ongoing effort and commitment to apply knowledge and skills to overcome barriers.

Nevertheless, the mission is clear: innovative, inclusive and transformative teaching methods are the key to unlock the necessary change in our schools and in our classrooms in order to overcome these challenges. Hence, teachers need to create learning environments where every student can assimilate and create proactive knowledge regardless of their skill level. Learning English at a primary level should, therefore, extend beyond mastering its structural aspects, serving instead as a bridge to developing active agents in today’s society. Moreover, it is essential to provide multiple paths for success in the teaching and learning process. In our Primary English classrooms, students benefit from learning from diverse perspectives whilst developing cognitive, motivational, flexible, and social skills.

A pedagogy which encourages pupils’ autonomy of thought and takes into consideration their desired actions has to be a must. Therefore, in our study we explore gamification as a transformative approach in the English curriculum which combined with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) help us meet the unique needs of our young English learners. We apply a Gamification Design Framework for Everyone where any pupil is capable of learning irrespective of their disability, age, gender, size, culture, and other factors, as long as their motivational drives are attended. This gamified and inclusive teaching environment focuses on game-based mechanisms, aesthetics and game thinking that considers each pupils’ learning profile. It allows them to develop future skills which focus not only on the language domain but also on ethics, emotional intelligence and social interaction.

The research involves approximately 40 students from a Portuguese public school, attending curricular English. A predominantly qualitative and ethnographic methodology is followed. Our data collection tools include field notes, critical reflections on lesson plans, analysis of student work, and audiovisual recordings. The findings indicate enhanced productivity, commitment, and interest in using the foreign language. Pupils also communicate more with each other to solve problems, tend to collaborate more and help others voluntarily, showing initiative and more autonomous behaviours. Contrarily to more traditional methods, ours enabled us to create alternative forms of evaluation and learning paths in which pupils feel comfortable. However, we faced some challenges related to resource limitations, classroom management and teacher-parent relationship. Digital resources were not always available, some pupils reacted poorly to more competitive tasks and some parents questioned if their children would not feel anxious due to peer pressure.

Keywords: Primary English, inclusive teaching, gamification, future skills.