Developing mainstream resource provision for pupils with autism spectrum disorder: parent and pupil perceptions

The diverse needs of pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have led to a continuum of educational provision being promoted in many countries, and which is often developed at a local level. The majority of children and young people with ASD in the UK attend mainstream schools, and resourced mainstream schools are increasingly part of this continuum of provision. These schools offer additional environmental modifications and adult support over and above that normally provided by mainstream schools. How parents and pupils perceive such provisions has not previously been investigated. The current study was designed to explore the perceptions of parents and pupils in five primary and three secondary resource provision schools in one Local Authority during the pupils’ first year at the provisions. A series of interviews took place with 16 parents and 9 pupils during this initial year. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecosystemic theory was used to conceptualise and organise the complex interactions between home, local education systems, school systems and sub-systems, and their impact on pupil outcomes over time. Findings and implications are discussed in relation to theory and practice.     

Developing mainstream resource provision for pupils with autism spectrum disorder: staff perceptions and satisfaction

The majority of children and young people with autism spectrum disorder are educated in mainstream schools. The diverse needs of this group of pupils has led to a continuum of provision being promoted in the UK and other countries, and developed at a local level. This continuum includes mainstream schools with resource provision which can offer enhanced physical and staffing resources beyond those normally provided in mainstream schools. How teaching staff perceive such provisions and their development over time have not previously been investigated. The current study was designed to explore the perceptions of staff working in five primary and three secondary school resource provisions in one local authority throughout the first year of the provisions and at three-year follow-up.Sixty-six interviews with senior teachers, mainstream teachers and resource provision staff took place during the initial year, with 21 three-year follow-up interviews. Data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Data provide tentative support for Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecosystemic theory as a framework for representing the complex interactions within the resource provision schools, between systems and their development over time. Findings and implications are discussed in relation to theory and practice.     

Pathways to Inclusion: Moving from special school to mainstream

The present study investigated a schools partnership program that has achieved an unusually high level of reintegration of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) from a special school to neighbourhood mainstream schools. The study explores, through a qualitative methodology, the perspectives of mainstream and special school staff. Factors that were barriers and facilitators in successful inclusion are identified and a measure of social inclusion completed by peers is used to validate the perceptions of staff regarding the success of the children’s social inclusion. The article concludes by considering a model of special school–mainstream school partnerships in promoting inclusion, developed from the factors identified.     

Inclusion: the role of special and mainstream schools

For children with special educational needs, seeds were sown for the move away from segregated settings to inclusion in mainstream settings following the 1978 Warnock Report. However, the ‘special versus mainstream school’ debate was re‐ignited in 2005 when Warnock recommended a more significant role for special schools than previously envisaged. Furthermore, an increase in special school placement has been reported, prompting this investigation of the role of special schools in the current climate of inclusion. Literature from Britain, Europe and New Zealand, including research that listens to ‘the voice of the child’, which compares experiences of children with special educational needs in special and mainstream schools, is reviewed. The findings give no clear indication that either setting leads to better outcomes. Tensions between the inclusion agenda and standards agenda are highlighted. It is concluded that special schools in reduced numbers are likely to remain a feature of the inclusive education system, with recommendations for the development of special–mainstream school partnership links. The quality of the setting, regardless of the type of setting, is emphasised, highlighting implications for staff training in special and mainstream schools. Further research comparing outcomes for children educated in different types of provision is recommended.     

Understanding of epilepsy by children and young people with epilepsy

There is a striking dearth of studies focusing sensitively and in depth on the mainstream educational experiences of children with epilepsy, as viewed by those children themselves. The one‐year project (2006–7) reported here addresses that gap. Children’s perceptions about mainstream teachers’ understanding of epilepsy and school‐based needs are particularly interesting and this work breaks new ground in that connection. The authors report findings from two complementary qualitative methods of data collection: (1) an e‐survey of 44 self‐selected children and young people with epilepsy, and (2) interviews (mainly individual) in mainstream schools with 22 children/young people with epilepsy. Overall, the children and young people (aged 7–18) were clear about the nature of their condition, including seizures. For many, there was an implicit reluctance in accepting epilepsy as a “part of them”; self‐reported feelings of secrecy, stigma and shame abounded. This had repercussions for how schools were seen to need to respond with sensitivity and knowledge‐based understanding. Taking a qualitative methodological approach revealed important insights into complex concepts like stigma in the school context. This was illustrated in children and young people’s readiness to talk about their feelings of “difference” in relation to others when given the opportunity to do so sensitively. The findings have important implications for how schools and services work in a genuinely fully inclusive way with children and young people who have epilepsy.     

Person centred planning ‘in action’: exploring the use of person centred planning in supporting young people's transition and re‐integration to mainstream education

This study, by Emma Corrigan of the Plymouth Excellence Cluster and Community Psychology Service, explores the use of person centred planning (PCP) in supporting young people who have experienced school exclusion, in their transition and re‐integration to mainstream settings. Young people of different ages participated in the PCP process and multiple stakeholder perspectives provided insight into the implementation and outcomes of PCP over time. Reported findings indicate a positive impact upon young people's social‐emotional well‐being, attendance in school, and educational achievement, and highlight a range of ‘supports’ and ‘barriers’ that can facilitate and/or obstruct the use of PCP in practice. This research contributes towards practice‐based evidence at a time when legislative reform advocates a broader use of PCP to support special educational needs in the UK. Potential gains, pitfalls and further actions are considered to support a wider application of PCP within the new statutory framework and to inform implications for future practice and further research.     

Fostering positive attitudes: reactions of mainstream pupils to contact with their counterparts who have severe/profound intellectual disabilities

This paper is concerned with the impact of an Irish schools link programme on the attitudes of able-bodied young people towards their severely/profoundly intellectually disabled peers. Eradicating the misconceptions and stereotypes often associated with severely/profoundly intellectually disabled young people can be particularly difficult in an Irish context as these young people attend Developmental Day Centres under the auspices of the Department of Health rather than a regular school. Within the remit of this paper, it is proposed to focus on the effects of structured contact on the attitudes of mainstream pupils towards their counterparts who have severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Findings would suggest that involvement in the link programme had enabled the mainstream pupils to develop and retain over a two-year period positive pro-social attitudes towards their severely/profoundly intellectually disabled peers.     

Young people and alternative provision: Perspectives from participatory–collaborative evaluations in three UK local authorities

This article reports the findings of four separately commissioned evaluations of alternative provision (AP) undertaken in three local authorities in the UK. The evaluations were specifically predicated on the principles of children's rights and used a combination of qualitative research methods and documentary analysis to elicit the experiences of young people in conjunction with the viewpoints of key stakeholders. Data from each evaluation was gathered over a total period of 6 years. The sites and time scales for each evaluation varied from 6-month authority-wide strategic reviews to a 3-year evaluation of an AP free school and an evaluation of pupil referrals in a large school partnership. The evaluations involved 200 participant children and young people, 30 managers and stakeholders, 8 parents of non-attending pupils and local authority officers and school governors. The evaluations report the complexity of needs amongst children and young people; the continuing problem of unsuccessful transitions between key phases/stages of education and the profound consequences of this for young people; assumptions around mainstream reintegration and managed moves; and the curriculum challenges of vocationalism and academic emphasis. While the research data confirms the positive value of multi-agency approaches in AP, it also shows a more recent troubling increase in the number of young people now being referred to AP as a consequence of their exposure to performative school cultures.     

Hopes and fears: stakeholder views on the transfer of special school resources towards inclusion

This paper reviews the findings and wider policy implications of an evaluation of two pilot projects for the inclusion of disabled pupils from special schools into mainstream settings in a single English education authority. These included (a) paired Partnerships between schools, and (b) the use of special school staff and resources in a Support role within mainstream schools. The focus of the schemes was to promote the inclusion of those children with more complex impairments and health conditions not ‘easily’ included in mainstream settings. The research investigated the views and experiences of all stakeholders in the process, including pupils, parents, support staff, health professionals, teachers and senior managers. Although there was shared support for the principle of inclusion, there were significant differences of emphasis and concern among the different groups. In this paper, we review the commonalities and differences in these stakeholder views and highlight six key areas for evaluating process and outcome in the inclusion of disabled children. These findings are analysed within the wider context of UK educational policy and the inclusion literature. The paper concludes that although the pilot schemes under consideration had relatively little impact, they highlight a number of important tensions in the debate over inclusion, competition and managerialism in the British schooling system under the New Labour government.     

What happens to pupils permanently excluded from special schools and pupil referral units in England?

There is widespread consensus in the research and policy‐related literature over the last decade that young people who have been permanently excluded from school are at a far greater risk of a variety of negative outcomes than young people who have not had this experience. These negative outcomes include prolonged periods out of education and/or employment; poor mental and physical health; involvement in crime; and homelessness. This article presents evidence from a small‐scale qualitative study of destinations and outcomes post‐exclusion for a group of young people considered to be at particular risk of such negative outcomes: namely, those who have been permanently excluded from special schools or Pupil Referral Units (now known as short‐stay schools). The specific focus of this paper is on the 24 young people's educational trajectories pre‐ and post‐exclusion; the reasons for their exclusion from school; and on what forms of alternative provision were available to them after their permanent exclusion.     

Darren: a case study in school–college liaison

Some recent attention has been directed towards the role that post‐16 colleges can play in providing young people at risk of exclusion from school with opportunities to experience ‘alternative’ curricula and ways of learning. In this article the case of ‘Darren’ is considered, a boy for whom education in a mainstream secondary school setting appeared to have grown increasingly disjointed and irrelevant. This ‘case’ is used to highlight some of the challenges involved in school–college liaison in supporting young people who experience social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD).     

A decade of change in mainstream education for children with intellectual disabilities in the Republic of Ireland

Inclusive rather than segregated schooling has been advocated in several significant international declarations during the past two decades. Even so children with significant intellectual disabilities are at greater risk of being excluded from mainstream education, unless particular efforts are made to support them in such settings. These children and young people are more likely to be educated in special schools or in special classes within mainstream schools. In the decade from 2003 to 2013, the Republic of Ireland enacted legislation and provided additional financial resources for pupils with special educational needs, although these were more constrained during the financial crisis that Ireland experienced from 2008 onwards. A national database, updated annually, is maintained of children receiving services from specialist intellectual disability services and this enabled comparisons to be made for the enrolments of over 8000 children aged 4–19 in mainstream and special schools following the introduction of legislation and availability of additional resources. The data showed a steady increase in children with significant intellectual disabilities attending mainstream classes and a decrease in the proportion attending special schools along with a much smaller but decreasing proportion in special classes. The profile of pupils with intellectual disabilities in mainstream and special schools also changed over the 10 years with higher proportions of males, of pupils with moderate disabilities and those of primary age attending mainstream schools, whereas special schools now tend to have higher proportions of females and those of secondary school age. However, there was marked regional variation in the proportions of pupils in mainstream schools which was attributed to the availability of special schools across the State. This study demonstrates how a national data-set can be used to track the impact that policy changes and legislation designed to enhance the development of inclusive learning environments had on the number of pupils availing of mainstream opportunities. It was also possible to identify prevailing trends in types of support provided within schools and the changing pattern of provision for pupils with different levels of intellectual disability. At the broader level of international trends in policy and provision aimed at establishing inclusive learning environments, this study demonstrates the need for a common frame of reference around which the national and international conversations on educational systems can take place.     

Challenging normative assumptions regarding disengaged youth: a phenomenological perspective

This paper explores the experiences of 12 young people, all teenagers, who have chosen to attend alternative schools known as flexible learning options within the Australian context. Using a phenomenological approach, the study seeks to understand their experiences outside the normalised public discourse that they had ‘disengaged’ from mainstream school. A phenomenological approach is employed because of its potential to draw attention to predetermined assumptions about, in this study’s case, student disengagement, a concept commonly framed within a pathologised and deficit perspective. The study gives evidence for the utility of a phenomenological approach in providing insight into how macrosystem policy, such as a nationalistic neoliberal agenda, influences ‘schooling’ and subsequently students’ experiences with schools. The implications of this study with attention to the nexus between methodology and policy are discussed, especially in drawing attention to how phenomenology as a qualitative methodology provides a means of agency for the disenfranchised to challenge existing policy and public assumptions.     

Re-engaged students’ perceptions of mainstream and flexible learning environments – a ‘semi-quantitative’ approach

ABSTRACT

Flexible Learning Options (FLOs) attempt to enable secondary school completion by young people for whom ‘mainstream’ schooling has not worked well. Despite their proliferation and the increased research attention to understanding the mechanisms at work within such programmes, quantitative methods have not been utilised to compare participants’ perceptions of the learning environments of FLOs and mainstream schools. This study describes the development and application of a quantitative instrument to assess re-engaged Australian students’ perceptions of an FLO relative to their previous (mainstream) schools. Findings indicate that, on average, young people rate the learning environment more highly at the FLO than at the mainstream school from which they disengaged, indicating that the learning environment of the FLO aligns more closely with the needs of its student cohort. However, bimodal results for some instrument items highlight that the learning environment is influential, but not necessarily a precondition of school disengagement or re-engagement. Implications of this study are considered, with attention to the complexities that mainstream schools and FLOs negotiate in creating effective learning environments for diverse young people.     

Balancing acts in the half‐way houses: the role of resourced provisions in mainstream schools

This article by Gordon Stan White, who is SENCo and Head of the Foundation Stage Resourced Provision at Lowerhouses CE School in Huddersfield, considers the role of resourced provisions or ‘units’ within the present school system. Issues discussed include transition, the impact of children being transported out of their local communities, the social and academic benefits and tensions for the children, implications for mainstream teachers and support assistants, and the impact on school standards. The article also discusses the role of resourced provisions in the wider debate over inclusion, analysing whether they are an integral part of genuinely inclusive educational provision or simply make up deficiencies within a fundamentally flawed system. The author concludes that, in the absence of the political will and funding to create a truly inclusive system, although resourced provisions have significant limitations, the access to a mainstream environment with mainstream peer role‐models coupled with specialist support provides the best opportunity within the present system for children with special educational needs to make academic, social and emotional progress.     

Pupils' views on inclusion: moderate learning difficulties and bullying in mainstream and special schools

This study examined the views of 101 boys and girls aged 10–11 and 13–14 with statements of special educational needs for moderate learning difficulties. Questions centred on their experiences of school, teaching and learning in mainstream and special schools. The study is set in the context of the international move towards more inclusion of children with disabilities into mainstream schools and the greater importance attached to the child's voice in decision‐making in education. Most children expressed positive evaluations of their schools and the teaching they received, while a significant minority expressed mixed views. A significant proportion in the mainstream preferred learning support in withdrawal settings. While the majority in both settings preferred their current school, a significant minority in special school preferred to be in a mainstream setting. A notable emergent theme from the study was the high incidence of ‘bullying’ that was experienced. Though experienced in both settings, those in special schools experienced far more ‘bullying’ by children from other mainstream schools and from peers and outsiders in their neighbourhood. These findings are discussed in terms of the tensions or dilemmas about difference that were experienced and their implications for the move towards greater inclusion.     

Violence in schools and representations of young people: a critique of government policies in France and England

This paper examines media discourses in France and in Britain relating to young people, violence and disaffection in schools, setting these within the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which emphasises young people’s participation rights. It analyses policy initiatives developed since 1997 in each country to address concerns about young people, disaffection and violence, examining these in the light of research evidence. It considers how public policies are variously shaped by research findings and by media representations. In France, attempts to reduce violence in schools have been accompanied by recognition that schools structurally produce disaffection and violence. In England there has been a shift in policy discourses. In 1997 the primary emphasis was social inclusion, but greater weight has since been given to the need to combat crime. (Male) youth disaffection is linked to crime. Policies addressing standards and achievement have been prioritised over policies to combat social exclusion. In both countries researchers and the media give particular attention to urban communities where minority ethnic communities live. Individual schools are labelled as failing and large numbers of young people are excluded or marginalised. In both countries minority ethnic students are over‐represented among those formally excluded from mainstream education and in the least popular, most stigmatised, schools and classes. Violence and disadvantage are effectively institutionalised. Discourses in each country are racialised and disaffection is associated with minorities. Yet both countries offer universalist rather than targeted policy responses. Opportunities for student participation in school decision‐making are limited.     

Embedded yet separate: tensions in voluntary sector working to support mental health in state‐run schools

The policy agenda of the UK government has repositioned the voluntary sector as a key player in the delivery of locally responsive, ‘bottom up’ services to address the complex problems of social exclusion, reaching out to sectors of the community which are beyond the grasp of traditional state or market providers. This has drawn many voluntary sector organizations into new forms of partnership with statutory bodies. This article draws from a Scottish study to explore the role of voluntary sector organizations working in schools to support the mental well‐being of children and young people. A framework to interrogate the data from case studies is provided by the Scottish Executive, who rehearse four main advantages of such partnerships between state and the voluntary sector. The article concludes that whilst voluntary sector organizations can and do deliver support to children and young people in innovative ways on the margins of school life, the power differential within the school structure makes their position too vulnerable to bring about quick or substantial change.     

Young people’s views on sexting education and support needs: findings and recommendations from a UK-based study

Young people’s sexting is an area of increasing concern amongst parents, educationalists and policy makers, yet little research has been conducted with young people themselves to explore their perspectives on the support they need to navigate relationships in the new digital media landscape. To address this absence, an inter-disciplinary team of researchers undertook a participatory study with students, aged 13 to 15, in a UK secondary school. This paper outlines key study findings, including young people’s views on sexting, their recommendations for improved education around sexting in schools, their preferred sources of support, and their perspectives on the way adults should respond to young people’s sexting. Findings indicate that sexting education needs to be developed within the context of wider relationship issues, such as gender, power dynamics and trust between peers, and improved communication between students and teachers or other responsible adults. Findings may be used to consider ways of designing and communicating messages around sexting to young people within and beyond educational settings.     

Improving the educational experience of children and young people in public care: a Scottish perspective

The context for this paper relates to the policy and practice implications of efforts to achieve social justice for Scotland’s 12,000 children and young people in the care of local government authorities. The paper is located within a growing evidence base of the educational experience of young people in care and leaving care. The data on attainment and exclusion from school in particular are reviewed and confirm that looked‐after children in Scotland, as elsewhere in the UK, typically leave education with significantly fewer school leaving qualifications than is now the common expectation for young people in their age group and are significantly more likely to lose time in school due to exclusion. However, the review also shows the devastating impact of being in care on young children’s attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. The implications of the data reviewed are discussed in relation to the concepts of social justice, resilience and the educationally rich environment.