An academic at Edge Hill University has undertaken research with Special educational needs coordinators following the publication of a code of practice.
The new Special educational needs (Sen) code of practice, published by the Department for Education in 2013, came into effect from September 2014 and requires local authorities and schools to provide clear, impartial advice and fully involve children, young people and their parents in various stages of decision making.
Schools must also ensure that appropriate evidence-based interventions are put in place when pupils’ needs are identified, and it is explicitly stated that all support must be planned and collaboratively reviewed by Special educational needs co-ordinators (Sencos) with class and subject teachers, children and their parents.
The kinds of pressures that such new legislation places on professionals has been investigated by Dr Clare Woolhouse, a senior research fellow at Edge Hill University.
She has interviewed Sencos to investigate day to day practice in schools and explored the impact of training on their experiences, on their hopes for the children they work with, on their engagement with colleagues and the changes they want in the education system as a whole.
Those who were interviewed spoke about belonging to an “inclusion community”, and viewed themselves as different from other teachers, as having distinct attributes and different motivations for pursuing the Senco career paths.
One of the teachers interviewed said: “I think you need to be empathetic, I think you need to be diplomatic, and you need to have good relationships with parents and teachers and have the patience of a saint and good interpersonal skills, so you can build up trust with a child.”
Another added: I don’t know how to describe the personality of specialists, we are very warm personalities, very communicative and genuinely have a desire to have change within the schools we are working in.”
Dr Woolhouse says: “It seems that the motivations for becoming a Senco was related to having a caring personality, but they also appear to be committed to fighting to get the best for their pupils, as one teacher said: ‘You have to want to fight in your school, for your position’ and another stated: ‘I am pushy. I think my personality is that I would, for want of a more positive term be pushy. If I feel that there is an injustice, or a child is not getting entitlement, I will push’.”
While the UK Government acknowledges that pupils with a variety of needs should be supported in a cohesive way, this does not redress how many teachers feel that they are struggling to introduce a truly inclusive climate in schools which meet every child’s needs.
She adds: “As a nation we need to think about how policy decisions impact upon the day to day practices of those working directly with children by listening to the thoughts and experiences of those professionals.”
Find out more about Senco and inclusion at Edge Hill University
