The impact of Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) on teachers’ abilities to address special educational needs in English primary schools

The role of the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) in England was established in the 1994 Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice (DfE, 1994) which stated that all mainstream schools must have a SENCO responsible for coordinating services around children with SEN and helping teachers develop and implement appropriate provision for these children. A similar role exists in other European countries such as Sweden and Ireland. Since 1994, the SENCO role in the UK has changed as various policies continually redefined SEN provisions (DfES, 2001a; DfES, 2001b; DCSF, 2004). This paper focuses on the data gathered through questionnaires and interviews relating to the impact that SENCOs have on teachers’ capacity to address SEN in their classrooms. The issue is timely now that the intended legislation, ‘Support and Aspiration: a New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability’ (DfE, 2011) plans to end “the bias towards the inclusion” of children with special needs in mainstream schools. This particular statement has caused much furore within the Special Needs community, particularly amongst SENCOs, whose principal guidance, the Revised SEN Code of Practice (DfES, 2001b) promotes the inclusion for children with SEN in mainstream schools. Since SENCOs are central to supporting children’s inclusion and achievement, the research centres around three specific research questions: Are SENCOs able to motivate teachers to take the initiative in addressing the needs of children with Special Education Needs in their classrooms? Do SENCOs skill or inhibit teachers from becoming effective teachers for children with Special Education Needs? How is the impact of SENCOs currently assessed within primary schools? This study investigates how SENCOs enable teachers to take ownership of SEN teaching in their classroom, and to what degree teachers feel that SENCO’s support enables them to ‘successfully’ and independently meet the needs of children with SEN. Moreover, the study also explores whether the teachers’ views are shared with the views of the SENCO in question in each setting. The theoretical framework within which I am conducting my research is that of interpretivism, as I have “...(begun) with individuals and set out to understand their interpretations of the world around them... (and) particular situations.” (Cohen and Manion, 1998, p. 37) I also believe that through an interpretivist approach, I am acknowledging the various ‘relative-ness’ of diverse elements and social issues that impact upon my research findings. As Robson (2002, p. 24) maintains, “(the) behaviour, what (people) actually do, has to be interpreted in the light of (their) underlying ideas, meanings and motivations.” Method The study applies a mixed method approach (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2007). The project consists of three phases. The first involving a survey of a purposive sample of 42 SENCOs from the UK ‘National Award for SEN Coordination’ Course. A mandatory professional development for all new to role SENCOs and those who had been working in their respective schools in the SENCO role for less than 12 months prior to September 2009 (DCSF, 2009). The questionnaire gained a deeper insight into SENCOs’ perceptions of their roles in relation to teachers, and formed a basis for in-depth interview questions. The second phase, consisted of semi-structured interviews of 20 SENCOs, including some who participated in the first phase. The third phase focused on three schools, each with minimum 10 teachers responsible for at least one student with SEN. Data collection includes semi-structured interviews with SENCOs, teachers and headteachers, and document scrutiny of students’ work, alongside school SEN policies and other related documentation. The triangulation of data (Creswell, 1994; Bell, 2005), so as to try to ensure the verification and validity of data (Silverman, 2010) will be accomplished through a three-pronged methodological approach including questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and document scrutiny. Expected Outcomes Data collected to date illustrates that SENCOs have a complex role, involving a wide range of skills, knowledge and expertise across different contexts and social interactions which vary from school to school. This is influenced by whether or not they are members of their School Leadership Teams. Further, time management is a constant concern in balancing competing priorities and demands, which include liaising with and arranging external support and the current trend away from Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) towards provision mapping. There is evidence that SENCOs do have impact, and primary data indicates that this impact varies from school to school, as the SENCOs function within holistic national guidelines. It is intended that research outcomes will inform the nature of support mechanisms for SENCOs, teachers and headteachers, who will be able to utilise the findings to facilitate more effective provisions which will better meet the needs of children with SEN. It is also anticipated that the outcomes will further benefit the SENCOs involved in the study through the identification of the factors that influence their own motivation, professional and self-development, as well as that of their colleagues in the workplace.