Special educational needs across two decades: survey evidence from english primary schools

Abstract The article considers the perceived prevalence of special educational needs in English primary schools and changes in this prevalence over two decades and relates these to issues in education policy, teacher practice and the concept of special educational needs. The studies considered are two major surveys of schools and teachers, the first conducted in 1981 and the second conducted in the same schools in 1998. Important features of both studies were their scale and the exceptionally high response rates achieved. Two central findings were the perception of teachers that special educational needs were widespread and of an increase in special educational needs over time: perceived levels of special educational needs were one in five children in 1981, which had risen to one in four children in 1998. Learning difficulties were by far the most common aspects of special educational needs but many children had multiple difficulties, and behavioural difficulties were seen by teachers as the main barriers to inclusion. The very high figures for prevalence raise questions about the continued usefulness of the concept of special educational need distinct from broader issues of achievement.     

全纳背景下幼儿教师的专业技能探讨

随着学前全纳教育的开展,很多幼儿教师在面对班级中有特殊需要的幼儿时感觉专业技能缺乏。在创设环境时,教师要时刻考虑特殊幼儿需求,使环境具有安全性、参与性、创造性和接纳性;在设计活动时,教师在活动计划、材料选择、任务分析及分组等方面都要考虑特殊幼儿;在开展活动时,教师在站位、讲解与示范、提问、倾听、引导和反馈、鼓励与赞扬等方面也要考虑特殊幼儿。在全纳班级中教师需合理运用专业技能,适当调整教育活动组织的策略,从而满足特殊幼儿的需要,让每个幼儿都能从教育活动中受益。     

Impact of facilities on academic performance of students with special needs in mainstreamed public schools in Southwestern Nigeria

Facilities have a great impact on academic performances of students, and inadequate facilities translate to poor performance. The study examined the availability and convenience of the facilities that were provided to students with special educational needs in mainstreamed schools. It ascertained the qualifications of teachers teaching in mainstreamed public secondary schools. It determined the relationship between availability of facilities and academic performance of students with special educational needs; and also compared the academic performance of male and female students with special educational needs. The results showed that essential facilities and materials like hand railings, hearing aids, Braille, instructional materials, and lower toilets were not available, although the few that were available (typewriters, resource rooms, wheel chairs) were in poor condition. The study showed that specialist teachers were inadequate in mainstreamed public schools in Southwestern Nigeria. There was a significant relationship between availability of facilities and academic performance of students with special educational needs. However, there was no significant difference between the academic performance of male and female students with special educational needs. The study concluded that inadequate provision of facilities and materials to mainstreamed public schools would lead to poor academic performances of students with special educational needs. Finally, adequate funding of integrated schools would help to overcome the problem of provision and maintenance of special equipment and materials for the use of students with special educational needs.     

A Framework for Religious Education

Religious education is not compulsory for pupils in special schools and its curriculum content is not laid down in the National Curriculum but Erica Brown believes that the spiritual and religious development of all pupils with special educational needs must be encouraged. She is director of special educational needs, The National Society, Church House, Westminster, responsible for in-service training for church schools in England and Wales, and editor of RESPECT, a bi-annual journal for teachers of RE to pupils with special educational needs.     

Let the children have their say: children with special educational needs and their experiences of Physical Education – a review

This paper reviews literature examining the perspectives of children with special educational needs related to their experiences of Physical Education (PE). The extent to which literature addresses inclusion in PE was determined and emerging themes arising from consultation with children with special educational needs regarding PE were examined. Qualitative studies, concentrating on consultation with special educational needs children, were reviewed and six key themes were identified: children's experiences of PE; their experiences of PE teachers; discrimination by others; feelings of self‐doubt; barriers to inclusion; and empowerment and consultation. Findings indicate children with special educational needs enjoy PE when fully included; however, participation is restricted by discrimination, limited teacher training and material barriers to inclusion. Consequently, teacher training in special educational needs and the education of non‐disabled children about special educational needs requires extensive consideration.     

Even while they teach, newly-qualified teachers learn

The Training and Development Agency sets national standards in the UK for qualified teacher status. These standards set out the areas of knowledge and skills that aspiring teachers should acquire during their training. One of these areas of knowledge and skills concerns the identification and teaching of pupils with special educational needs yet the effectiveness of current training routes for teachers in this area remains a matter of ongoing debate. In this article, Nicola Barber, a senior educational psychologist working in Medway, and Mark Turner, who runs an online training company and is a part-time tutor at the University of East London and senior educational psychologist in Medway, focus on the experiences of newly-qualified teachers during their induction and first year of teaching. These authors sent out questionnaires to newly-qualified teachers working in primary schools in two local authorities and received 60 responses. Their results suggest that these teachers, during this opening phase of their careers, experienced an increase in confidence in relation to special educational needs and report that they feel more skilled in this area at the end of their first year of teaching. Nicola Barber and Mark Turner analyse the factors that contribute to this scenario and begin to draw out implications for future approaches to the training and induction of teachers with regard to special educational needs and inclusion.     

A Little Learning is a Dangerous Thing: Factors Influencing the Increased Identification of Special Educational Needs from the Perspective of Education Policy-makers and School Practitioners

This article considers the increased identification of special educational needs in Australia’s largest education system from the perspectives of senior public servants, regional directors, principals, school counsellors, classroom teachers, support class teachers, learning support teachers, and teaching assistants (n = 30). While their perceptions of an increase generally align with the story told by official statistics, participants’ narratives reveal that school-based identification of special educational needs is neither art nor science. This research finds that rather than an objective indication of the number and nature of children with special educational needs, official statistics may be more appropriately viewed as a product of funding eligibility and the assumptions of the adults who teach, refer, and assess children who experience difficulties in school and with learning.     

普通学校中学生特殊教育需要响应:以英国为例

采用渐进型响应模式来满足普通学校中学生的不同特殊教育需要,是英国在普通学校实践全纳教育过程中所采用的一种方法,这种模式要求各学校和教师根据学生特殊教育需要程度的不同分五阶段进行响应,为学生提供不同水平的支持,以便及时帮助学生解决学习困难,提高其教育质量。     

Departmental differences in attitudes to special educational needs in the secondary school

As trends in favour of inclusion continue, questions arise concerning the extent to which teachers in mainstream schools feel prepared for the task of meeting pupils' special educational needs. Little previous research has considered how the subject taught impacts upon the attitudes of mainstream teachers towards pupils with special educational needs. In this article, Jean Ellins, research fellow at the University of Birmingham, and Jill Porter, senior lecturer at the University of Bath, report on their research into the attitudes of teachers in one mainstream secondary school. Building a detailed case study using documents, records of pupil progress, an interview and a questionnaire using a Likert-type attitude scale and open-ended questions, these researchers set out to explore distinctions between the attitudes of teachers working in different departments. Their findings suggest that the teachers of the core subjects, English, mathematics and science, had less positive attitudes than their colleagues. Further, pupils with special educational needs made least progress in science where teacher attitudes were the least positive. Jean Ellins and Jill Porter review the implications of these findings and make recommendations for future practice and further enquiry.     

Assessment of special educational needs integration by the educational community in Spain

The study collected and contrasted the opinions of different sectors of the educational community about the functioning and integration of students with special educational needs. In order to do this, a broad questionnaire was sent to teachers of diverse educational stages, to counsellors, parents and to students, both with and without special educational needs. The objective was to examine the respondents’ approach to mainstream integration and their opinions about how their school operated. At the same time, the study examined their opinion concerning the work of the teachers, the learning and social development of the students, the relationships with families and the input of the education authorities. Barriers which create difficulties for educational integration were assessed.     

Students with special educational needs and cooperative learning in the ordinary classroom: some learnings from teaching practice

This article presents the results of a study to determine the strategies used by teachers to include students with special educational needs in regular classrooms, primarily using Cooperative Learning strategies. It aims to identify the factors of inclusive learning in order to enhance the participation and learning of all students in the classroom and in their cooperative teams. A qualitative case study was carried out in the context of the teachers participating in a postgraduate course ‘expert in cooperative learning’ offered by the University of Alcalá (Spain), over a period of six years (2011–2017), involving the participation of 176 professional teachers. All the participants attended an annual university continuous training course on cooperative learning. Document analysis, in-depth interviews and a questionnaire designed ad hoc were used. The conclusions include the importance of cooperative work in facilitating inclusive education, with a variety of different strategies used to respond to all students' needs, and those with special educational needs in particular, and the coordination required between teachers and special educational needs specialists to implement those strategies.     

Classroom Organisation and Teaching Approaches at Key Stage One: meeting the needs of children with and without additional educational needs in five inner city schools

This study is based on case studies of five inner city schools and focuses on organisation and teaching approaches used by teachers of Year 2 classes. It also addresses teaching approaches adopted and support for children with ‘additional’ educational needs, operationalised in terms of both special educational needs (not necessarily statemented) and English language needs. Planning was almost universally carried out on a weekly basis, with longer‐term planning also being apparent. Varied responses in relation to teachers’ aims and teaching approaches adopted emerged. These were frequently reported to have changed as a result of the National Curriculum. The majority of teachers reported that they grouped children on the basis of their ability. Children with language needs and with special educational needs were not equally distributed amongst the schools in the study and the support available for these children differed markedly. The findings are discussed in the context of past research and current policy.     

The standards agenda: reflections of a special educational needs co‐ordinator

This study is a life history account of Bev, a special educational needs co‐ordinator who works in a primary school in England. The research examines how, within Bev's experiences, the discourses of integration and inclusion have affected learners with special educational needs. Additionally, the study examines the impact of the ‘performativity’ agenda on a mainstream school with a high proportion of learners with special educational needs. The account illustrates how, in Bev's experiences, inclusion operates within a powerful othering framework which marginalises children with special educational needs and their teachers. Additionally, the account raises questions about the risks of choosing to work in schools with high proportions of children with special educational needs within a discourse of performativity. It raises questions about whether the inclusion agenda has resulted in limited forms of inclusion and whether it was easier to meet children's holistic needs under the integration agenda.     

English and Mathematics Teachers' Attitudes to Integration

An attitude questionnaire completed by 102 teachers of English and mathematics on the integration of students with special education needs in the mainstream classroom indicated no significant differences in attitude between the two groups. Differences, however, were discernible when teacher training in special educational needs was considered; a situation which has implications for further study and for the inservice and initial training of teachers.     

From vocational training to open learning environments: vocational special needs education during change

This paper describes the development of education of students with special needs in vocational education. The paper is based on a case study research conducted in 2001–2005 in Jyväskylä Municipal Federation of Vocational Education in Central Finland. The study consisted of two parts: firstly of the historical analysis of special educational stages, and secondly of the contemporary analysis of special educational challenges in the research target. The Developmental Work Research model was used in attempting to get a systemic view of different factors affecting a special educational entity. The study showed the importance of a holistic view. The special educational system in the research target seems to be strongly linked to the general structure of vocational education, its goals, learning principles, legislation and personnel structure. The development of vocational special education in Jyväskylä followed the strongly regulated national guidelines set for vocational special education until the end of the 1990s. At that time new legislation, structural reforms and the change from norm‐based towards an autonomous information‐based self‐government opened doors for new special educational implementation. From the perspective of teachers specialized in special educational needs (SEN‐teachers) a clear change can be seen from an autonomous, defined work towards a loss of an expertise position. However, the strong linkage between general and special education in vocational education offers possibilities for inclusive education. In order to face the new challenges, the work of SEN‐teachers has to be redefined to clearly broaden the perspective from teaching towards new expertise in each educational establishment.     

我国中小学心理教师的角色模糊及其深层次原因剖析

本文对我国中小学心理教师的角色模糊现象及其体制的原因进行了理论探讨。心理教师的角色模糊主要表现为心理教师与管理者、与德育教师及与普通教师的混淆。造成这一混淆的根本原因在于心理健康教育在德育和管理框架内运作,缺少与特殊教育的联系,现存殊教育范围的狭窄及其与主流教育的脱节等。解决混淆的根本途径在于深化目前的德育与管理体制的改革,在特殊教育框架内,以特殊儿童的服务为核心,重新整合心理健康教育资源,使心理辅导与心理测评发挥其应有作用。     

Does the Code of Practice help secondary school SENCos to improve learning?

Tony Lingard is special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo) in a large comprehensive secondary school. He believes that the requirements of the Code of Practice detract from his capacity to support pupils with special educational needs. Anticipating the introduction of a revised, but still significant, bureaucratic burden in the new Code, he reports his use of a questionnaire to gather the views of other secondary SENCos in his LEA. The results are challenging but compelling. Do individual education plans (IEPs) help subject teachers to address individual pupils' special educational needs? Do targets help pupils and parents to engage with priorities for learning? Would whole-school strategies for meeting special educational needs be more effective, efficient and inclusive than the current individualised system? Tony Lingard's article will prompt reflection in schools around the country as SENCos await the launch of the revised Code.     

Preparing German pre-service teachers in special needs education for school development—Can we do otherwise?

Although school development can be viewed as an emerging responsibility of teachers, special needs education in Germany does not leave sufficient room for non-teaching tasks, leading to a knowledge gap in the professionalisation of pre-service teachers with regard to school development upon entering the profession. This study focused on the preparedness of pre-service teachers in school development as a professional task at the end of their initial teacher training. The respondents of the interview study are 12 pre-service teachers enrolled at master level in special educational needs at a German university. The findings of the study report on the marginal situatedness of school development in the curriculum, the associated understanding of pre-service teachers of school development and their low assessment of the relevance of school development within special needs education. The study closes with practical recommendations on how to tackle the low level of preparedness for school development tasks in German teacher education.     

Support teachers' beliefs about the academic achievement of students with special educational needs

José Castro Silva, lecturer in sciences of education, and José Morgado, assistant professor, both work at the Instituto Superior de Psicologica Aplicada in Lisboa, Portugal. In this article, they describe their study of support teachers' beliefs about the academic achievement of school students with special educational needs. The 'support teachers' who were the subject of this study work in mainstream schools where the majority of pupils with special educational needs are educated in mainstream classes run by 'general teachers'. The work of the support teachers is supervised and supported by 'special education team co-ordinators'. The study reported here set out to elicit the support teachers' beliefs about the factors that contribute to success at school for pupils with special educational needs. Results suggest that the support teachers consider that factors including 'school climate', 'curriculum design' and 'teaching approach' contribute significantly to achievements among these pupils. On the other hand, analysis reveals that the support teachers attribute difficulties and lack of achievement significantly to 'out-of-school' contextual variables. These findings are related to a detailed review of the literature and the authors discuss the implications for policy, practice and professional development.     

Effects of personal and professional factors on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion in preschool

Attitudes towards inclusive education have a crucial place in the effective implementation of inclusion practices. The aim of this study was to explore teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education in preschool education in Portugal and to identify teachers’ personal and professional variables that influence these attitudes. The data were collected from a sample composed of 68 preschool teachers working in mainstream schools located in urban and rural areas. The results indicated overall positive attitudes towards inclusion. Having previous personal contact with a person with special educational needs predicted more positive affective attitudes, whereas having previous experience teaching classes that included students with and without special educational needs predicted less positive behavioural intentions. From these results, we infer an emergent need for continuous training and for the promotion of positive attitudes among preschool teachers to achieve the successful implementation of inclusion at this educational level.