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1.
This paper considers the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) in mainstream post-primary schools (12–18 years) in Ireland. Little is known of the role in the Irish context and it is hoped that this research will inform policy. The Irish educational landscape has witnessed seismic change recently with further transformation imminent. The SENCO role is a recent phenomenon in Irish schools and while much is known of the role internationally, Irish SENCOs tend to operate in a policy vacuum. This paper draws on research with a purposive sample of twenty-seven SENCOs. A lengthy postal questionnaire served as the method of data collection, where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Findings reveal the complexity of the role in an evolving education system. SENCOs continue to fulfil largely operational roles and are limited in their capacity to effect change in inclusive practice from a whole-school perspective. Lack of formal recognition of the SENCO role has led to its ad-hoc development. This research makes the case for the formalisation of the role at policy level and recognition of the need to develop the SENCO as strategic leader, firmly situated within school management. Otherwise, Irish SENCOs risk being victims rather than agents of change.  相似文献   

2.
One outcome of England's Code of Practice’ (DfE, 1994) was an increase, first, in the number of learning support assistants (LSAs) working in mainstream schools and, second, the establishment of the role of special educational needs co‐ordinator (SENCO). Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with SENCOs and LSAs to explore: (i) why they chose their occupation; (ii) how they conceptualise their role and (iii) the decisions they make when endeavouring (or not) to cultivate an inclusive culture in schools. Many SENCOs sought the role in order to increase the educational attainment and life chances of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Inclusive concepts such as fairness, equality and social justice underpinned their rationales. LSA justification was more pragmatic and often related to how the role would help them to achieve a further career ambition, or because it was compatible with personal circumstances. Younger participants thought that they could strengthen their teacher training applications by using the role of LSA to gain more experience working in schools generally, and with pupils with SEND in particular. The role of both SENCO and LSA has been found to be extremely diverse in England, depending largely on the needs and resources of the schools in which these two groups find themselves.  相似文献   

3.
This paper considers the role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), the teacher responsible for the implementation of policies relating to the teaching and learning of children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools in England and Wales. SENCOs also have a role to play in the inclusion of children with learning difficulties/disabilities in mainstream schools. Yet research indicates that despite the revision of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice in 2001, many SENCOs are still overwhelmed by the operational nature of the role with little support, time or funding to consider more strategic aspects of inclusion and SEN. The article draws on research by the author and offers the voices of SENCOs from two unitary authorities in the north of England which suggest that where the SENCO is supported by senior management within the school, the role can be a powerful one in relation to inclusion. It concludes by arguing that the role of the SENCO needs to be re‐conceptualized, redefined and remunerated as a senior management post within mainstream schools. If this were to be enforced by national policy, every mainstream school could have at least one powerful advocate for the inclusion of children with learning difficulties/disabilities.  相似文献   

4.
《Support for Learning》2005,20(2):53-60
Although the National Standards for special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) (TTA, 1998) emphasised, as essential, their preparation for leadership, the extent to which SENCOs are formally recognised as leaders varies significantly. In this article, Lyn Layton provides perspectives on the SENCO role, collected through a small‐scale study, that include suggestions from SENCOs themselves that they should be part of senior leadership teams in order to work strategically. At the same time the article relates one view of leadership to the SENCO role, in order to consider how systemic changes in schools can promote the inclusion of pupils with diverse learning needs.  相似文献   

5.
Inclusion has been a central educational issue for well over a quarter of a century, with continuing emphasis worldwide on initiatives by governments, Higher Education Institutions and schools that respond to the needs of children and young people with learning difficulties, disabilities or other disadvantage. This paper reports how Northern Ireland head teachers interpret inclusion in the nursery, primary, post‐primary and special sectors. Those in mainstream schools showed whole‐hearted commitment to the philosophy and practice of inclusion, and could critically examine what they have achieved so far. However, they recognized persistent and varied constraints both within and beyond their schools. Head teachers in the special sector perceived their schools to have a multiple role in providing for pupils with the greatest need, reintegrating those on placement into their regular schools, and offering outreach support to mainstream colleagues. The implications for all aspects of teacher education were identified, for beginning teachers, for more experienced practitioners and for the head teachers themselves. A number of key factors were suggested to make inclusion work.  相似文献   

6.
《Support for Learning》2005,20(2):61-68
In this article, Elizabeth Cowne presents the results of research which began as an investigation into the organisational contexts in which special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) work, and continued as an evaluation of the outreach SENCO training accredited with the London Institute of Education. Questionnaire data was collected from course members over a three‐year period. Further research used focus groups in four London boroughs to explore SENCOs' views of their constant and emerging roles. Interviews with local education authority (LEA) officers from the same London boroughs enquired how SENCOs and their schools were supported. Findings confirmed earlier research showing the importance of management support. Where SENCOs had sufficient non‐contact time and status, they felt efficient. Taking part in the long courses enhanced confidence, skills and knowledge. The focus groups uncovered the wide variety and expanding roles held by SENCOs: the majority requiring work with pupils, parents, teachers, teaching assistants (TAs) and outside agencies. LEA support was seen as essential in maintaining this ever‐changing development.  相似文献   

7.
Special needs care has taken on a substantial evolution within education. Special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) are no longer considered to provide individual guidance to students but to support and professionalize regular teachers in fulfilling special needs care in their classroom. In doing so, they act as teacher leaders. Many concerns are raised about how teacher leadership may interfere with the existing working relationships in schools. In this study, we use Positioning Theory as a theoretical approach to obtain an in-depth understanding of how the position of the SENCO and the responsibilities attached to this position are negotiated within the school. The findings illustrate that SENCOs received the legitimacy to act as teacher leaders when their expertise was recognized, when teachers perceived their task as first-line helpers, and when school principals were willing to release power.  相似文献   

8.
《师资教育杂志》2012,38(3):359-377
Northern Ireland has invested heavily in the use of technology enhanced learning at all levels of education. Alongside this, radical changes to the school curriculum and the planned move away from academic selection towards a more inclusive system are challenging those involved in Initial Teacher Education to find ways to improve teaching and learning for more inclusive classrooms. This study reviews a pilot programme that integrated problem‐based and blended e‐learning pedagogy to support student teachers learning in the area of special needs and inclusion education. Findings indicate that using a carefully constructed blended programme can effectively support key teaching and learning aspects of pre‐service training and help develop skills in critical reflection. It also offers initial teacher educators in Northern Ireland insight into some of the most pressing problems experienced by student teachers during training, and provides a rationale for continued programme development.  相似文献   

9.
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10.
A named professional with responsibility for overseeing and coordinating the educational inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities has become an important school role in many countries. In England, the SENCO (special educational needs coordinator) became a mandatory role in 1994, and associated mandatory training was introduced in 2009. A questionnaire survey of 618 in-training and actual SENCOs revealed that their motivating interest in becoming a SENCO varied. An exploratory factor analysis of 32 items covering different interests in the role yielded four interest factors in becoming a SENCO: outward-facing factors (‘inclusion’ and ‘high-quality provision’) and inward-facing factors (‘educational and professional development’ and ‘leadership voice and status’). The outward-facing factors were viewed as more important to respondents than the inward-facing factors. Interest factors did not interact with organisational variables, including age group taught and school quality. Nevertheless, younger SENCOs and those engaged in training were more motivated by educational and professional development. SENCOs holding school leadership contracts were more motivated in developing leadership voice and status compared with their classroom teacher peers. Moreover, there was a significant overall difference with women reporting a higher interest than men across all factors.  相似文献   

11.
The Coalition Government's ‘Green Paper’ (DfE 2011) proposes a systemic overhaul of services for pupils with special educational needs in England, with increased parental choice of provision and ‘sharper accountability’ (p. 67) in schools. Deadlines for various stages of this reform have not been met, and its final nature remains uncertain. This paper reveals SENCOs' insights into their changing role in this turbulent policy context. This is achieved through the thematic analysis of 227 responses to an ‘open‐ended’ question in the national Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) Survey 2012. Findings from this sample indicate that SENCOs predict that schools in England will become more inclusive, with greater shared responsibility for achievement for all, and SENCOs' increased involvement in staff training and other whole school capacity‐building activities. Respondents predict a greater partnership with parents, for whom they will provide advice and links to other services. They foresee their reduced involvement in direct teaching and an intensification of their work in other ways, especially in terms of paperwork associated with pupil tracking and other accountability measures. These changes are anticipated against a backdrop of resource cuts, requiring SENCOs to show increasing self‐reliance and imagination.  相似文献   

12.
There has been a significant policy shift from parallel systems of special and mainstream education in the Republic of Ireland towards provision underpinned by enabling legislation with a presumption for inclusion. The role of teachers in establishing inclusive learning environments is critical and it is generally accepted that inclusive practice relies to a large extent on teacher knowledge, skills, understanding, capacity and attitudes. This exploratory study aimed to gather information on teachers' attitudes about inclusion, and perceived constraints in creating inclusive learning environments. A range of schools from urban, semi-urban, provincial and rural backgrounds were included and data were collected using semi-structured interviews (n?=?24) including all principals, class teachers and support staff in the participating schools. Teachers recognised the challenge of responding appropriately to diversity within schools and are generally supportive of the principle of inclusion. However, there are clear concerns around their individual capacity and the capacity of their schools to develop inclusive learning environments. A positive school ethos was a significant factor in ensuring inclusive practice. International research indicates that the complex mix of positive teacher beliefs combined with fears and perceived inadequacies is quite common in the evolution of practice towards inclusive learning environments.  相似文献   

13.
《师资教育杂志》2012,38(1):99-113
This study seeks to discover the attitudes to inclusion of those about to embark on initial teacher education in Northern Ireland and the extent to which an extended teaching practice in a non‐selective placement school can influence attitude change. A cohort of 125 student teachers responded to a survey that explored their attitudes towards a range of issues relating to inclusive education in the context of Northern Ireland. The findings indicate that student teachers in Northern Ireland show positive attitudes towards the principles of inclusion, with teaching practice experience in a non‐selective school appearing to confirm and increase these positive attitudes. However, despite displaying increasingly positive attitudes towards inclusion post‐teaching practice, there are indications that student teachers continue to show strong attachment to current organisational practices strongly related to academic selection.  相似文献   

14.
This article considers the positive aspects of inclusion in Australian primary schools through a historical account of the nation's journey to adopting current policies and practices. The authors suggest that across the different states the picture is positive as there are clear attempts to make Australian schools as inclusive as possible. The importance of adequately resourcing schools to support teachers in the implementation of an inclusive environment is discussed as being second in importance to teacher attitudes to inclusion. The combination of these two factors has a direct influence on a school's ability to be effectively inclusive as it is the teacher at the ground level who must ensure inclusion is effective. As a result of improvements in teacher education programmes at universities, where inclusive education subjects are now compulsory, teaching in an inclusive environment is the ‘professional positive’ of teacher practice, which may potentially improve educational outcomes for all involved.  相似文献   

15.
Teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusive education are a prerequisite for its successful implementation. This study surveyed the attitudes of Finnish classroom, subject, resource room and special education class teachers (N = 4567) towards inclusive education. The results indicated very low support for the concept. Its acceptance was strongly associated with the specific teacher categories and the concern that inclusive placements would cause extra work for teachers. Teachers who were confident in their support networks and had sufficient access to educational resources, such as an in‐classroom teaching assistant, were more positive towards inclusion than other teachers. Attitudinal variables, including self‐efficacy and child‐centredness, and demographic variables, including age and gender, were also associated with attitudes towards inclusion. It is argued that vicious circle exists between resources and teacher attitudes. The negative climate towards inclusion prevents the legislation that would guarantee adequate resources for mainstream teachers who have students with support needs in their classrooms. The lack of legal guarantees, in turn, prevents negative teacher attitudes towards inclusive education from changing. Although the overall progress in inclusive education is tied to the development of cultural values, the promise of more inclusion in schools goes hand‐in‐hand with the availability of adequate resources.  相似文献   

16.
In schools, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) could be considered a key policy implementer of special educational needs and inclusive policy. Issues related to time, status and the effective facilitation of the SENCO role have been reported on extensively, yet literature has predominantly focused on the role prior to the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) reforms in 2014. This paper reports on research which explored the SENCO role post-reform. The research aimed to understand how widely the role varied across differing educational settings and phases, whilst also exploring the breadth and depth of the role, post-SEND reform. The research design was mixed methods and had two phases: online focus groups (n = 15), followed by a national online survey (n = 1903). The findings suggest that the facilitation of the SENCO role remains problematic post-reform. Constraints include the time to undertake responsibilities, the increasing breadth of the role and how the role is understood by others. This combined with increased external bureaucracy, budgetary constraints and a lack of consistency nationally has led to a situation where only approximately one-third of SENCOs intend to remain in the role in five years’ time.  相似文献   

17.
Through a narrative informed study, using concept drawing, ten newly appointed primary school Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) drawn from across three Local Authority areas at the start of their compulsory training, reflect upon and share their experiences at this early point in their SENCO career. Their experiences reveal that they like being SENCOs due to the support they provide for their pupils and professional colleagues together with the positive differences they perceive they make in terms of improved outcomes for children with special educational needs (expressed as their ‘Psychological Contract’). However, this is set against a climate which impacts negatively on their ability to meet the requirements of current legislation and statutory guidance (expressed as their Legal Contract). This climate is created through the Contextual Variety which exists between schools as they have their own culture/ethos which can result, as reported in this study, by SENCOs facing an excessive (and increasing) administrative workload, a general lack of resources, limited protected time, limited understanding about the role and special educational needs in general held by their colleagues and limited opportunities to develop as school leaders.  相似文献   

18.
The requirement for schools to appoint a special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) to coordinate provision for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) has existed since 1994. Since that time, the role has been subject to considerable research, debate and guidance. However, how the duty is being fulfilled in terms of the career pathways of the SENCOs is an under-researched area.
NASEN commissioned a postal questionnaire survey with a sample of 500 English SENCOs. Although the reliance on untriangulated data is a limitation, the study did highlight some of the issues from the perspectives of the post holders. There is evidence of a high turnover amongst SENCOs for a variety of reasons only partly explained by the demographics. This situation gives rise to particular concerns about the recruitment of SENCOs, and the extent, nature and value of the initial support offered to them. The role of the SENCO needs to be seen as attractive enough to ensure recruitment and an appropriate level of retention. It needs to be regarded as important enough to merit adequate, supportive induction. At present, in England, the situation is patchy with the respondents describing very different systems and sets of experiences. If all schools are to move beyond simply complying with the duty to ensuring the engagement of individuals willing or prepared to develop the necessary skills, then the views of current SENCOs should be taken into account.  相似文献   

19.
On the assumption that the successful implementation of any inclusive policy is largely dependent on educators being positive about it, a survey was undertaken into the attitudes of Greek teachers to inclusion. The 155 respondents were general education primary teachers drawn from one region of Northern Greece, with a proportion deliberately selected from schools identified as actively implementing inclusive programmes. The analysis revealed positive attitudes towards the general concept of inclusion but variable views on the difficulty of accommodating different types of disabilities in mainstream classrooms. Teachers who had been actively involved in teaching pupils with SEN held significantly more positive attitudes than their counterparts with little or no such experience. The analysis also demonstrated the importance of substantive long‐term training in the formation of positive teacher attitudes towards inclusion. The paper concludes with recommendations for developing critical professional development courses that can result in attitudinal change and the formulation of genuinely inclusive practices.  相似文献   

20.
The movement towards inclusion comes together with a neoliberal audit mentality whereby individuals are held responsible for the transformations. The Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) are seen as ‘change agents’ whose task it is, to support teachers in adapting their approach to optimise the chances for children with special needs in regular schools. In this paper, we want to problematise the ‘responsibility-blame discourse’ and look differently at agency. By using a diffractive methodology based on collaborative work, in which we have used material images of the workplace of the SENCO, and read-the-data-while-thinking-with-theory, we deconstruct the individualisation of agency. The SENCOs are no longer seen as separate individual humanist subjects where agency is solely lodged in the body of an individual agent [Barad, K. 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham: Duke University Press] but the SENCOs are part of the intra-active entanglement of multiple agencies, of an assemblage. This re-conceptualisation of agency leads to a different approach to inclusion, in which the participants in any encounter can work as part of the assemblage to develop communities capable of re-thinking practice and transforming it into a place where children with special needs become legitimate members of the school.  相似文献   

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