For many families, but especially for those whose children are disabled or neurodivergent, September is a daunting time, as children often find themselves in a classroom with new faces, spaces or routines. Much is said about the importance of the 3Rs for teaching and learning (reading, writing and arithmetic), but when we think about inclusive classroom cultures, it’s necessary to consider three other Rs: routines, rituals and rites of passage. Those 3Rs are often implicitly part of classroom management research, but as a researcher focused on inclusive education, I believe their role extends to creating a classroom community. For example, my article on alternative teaching methods demonstrates an inclusive routine for learning for all children.Especially in settings composed of a diversity of learners, routines, rituals and rites of passage are building blocks for a classroom where learning and engagement becomes possible for all children. Structures at the beginning of the yearIt is essential to stress the importance of these kinds of structures at the onset of the school year where it all begins. Neuroscience has taught us that children’s developing brains need to have attachment to people they depend on, and support for their executive functioning skills. Engagement and motivation (the why of learning) sit in the limbic system. This needs to be well integrated with the cortex (the what of learning) and the prefrontal cortex (the how of learning). If that is not the case, learning and classroom management becomes a major issue for the teacher. Overstimulation in a disorganized classroom can become a problem for many children. Creating structures and routines in the classroom means providing children with predictability of what is expected, when it is expected and how. Routines free up capacity for the brain to think and learn. Disabled and neurodivergent children thrive in environments that provide reliable and consistent responses, where routines and rituals are well established. So do neurotypical children.Communal working habitsRoutines are communal working habits established by the classroom teacher. They help organize how the class interacts, functions and transitions. Routines might encompass how students start to engage in individual work after a period of direct instruction, or how to proceed when children need to leave the classroom to use the bathroom.For example, the teacher could explain the children’s bathroom routine beginning in the following way: “If you need the bathroom, there is a routine that you will need to follow. Firstly, you lift your hand with the index finger stretched out. If I am OK with you going to the bathroom, I will give you a thumbs up. We don’t need to speak about this, the gestures are enough. You will then get up, grab the small cone and put it on your seat while you’re away.” Creating community, togethernessRituals are very similar to routines, but are even more infused with intention, symbolism and meaning. Rituals are intended to create community and togetherness, and could range from daily rhythmic practices (like a morning circle), to seasonal or religious events addressed in schools. Read more: School breaks privilege Christmas, and classroom strategies are needed to foster inclusion A morning circle can turn into a meaningful ritual especially if the students take ownership of it and understand what it means for the entire classroom community. All children thrive when they know where they are located in time and space, and the relationships and processes they can rely on. Starting the dayA morning circle, for example, gives children time to debrief about anything that happened at home, or the previous day. It also allows the teacher space to organize the day’s learning by giving meaning and structure to what will happen during that day — and how.If routines and rituals are predictable and consistent, once children understand their rationale, children will buy into them and will also help maintain them over the course of the school year. Classroom management gets easier, as effective routines and rituals are often the invisible superpower in the classroom. Students can be reminded of the routines and rituals verbally. They can also be written down on the board, or a poster visible to the students.Rites of passageRites of passage belong to every culture across the globe. Anthropologist Arnold van Gennep discussed these as being essential to the human condition transitioning from one stage of life to the next. Rites of passage signal belonging and community, as well as growth through the life stages. In school community, this means capturing moments of transition, celebrating them and designing them in a way that all children can be a part of. For example, moving from one grade level to the next can be celebrated and organized as a rite of passage with the entire class when children are preparing to leave for the summer break. Teachers can lead children in asking: How do we prepare for this transition? What have we experienced together during this school year? What will be different in the next grade? How do we celebrate our achievements of this past school year? How do we say goodbye knowing we will return to a different grade, often a different teacher, after two months of summer experiences?Teaching them explicitlyTeaching those routines, rituals and rites of passage in the most explicit way, and modelling them, helps children to understand their meaning and also helps enforce them. An inclusive classroom is more than throwing different children in the same room and hoping it will work out. It can only function when all children know what their place and their role is in that room. Teachers, and especially beginning teachers, need help designing, building and implementing the three 3Rs, as they are the powerful foundations of inclusive classrooms.Cornelia Schneider does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.