A SENCO for all seasons

This presentation focuses on the research design of a doctoral study on the impact of SENCOs with the purpose of gaining suggestions on how to develop and improve the design prior to entering the stage of data collection. The role of the SENCO was established in the 1994 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 individual education plans and provisions for children with SEN. In the last two decades the role of the SENCO has changed as various policies have defined and redefined the provision made available to support children with SEN (DfEE, 2001; DfEE, 2004). [add something here about the Master course]. Since the role of the SENCO is central to supporting children’s inclusion and achievement, the research aims to investigate how SENCOs are able to successfully motivate teachers to confidently manage needs of children with SEN; to consider factors through which SENCOs contribute to teachers’ skills of dealing with students with SEN and the perceived success of such skills; and to identify which elements most impact the success of SENCO–teacher interactions. The study applies a mixed method approach Research methodology consists of three phases: the first involving a purposive, cross-sectional survey of approximately 200-220 SENCOs; the second level of data collection includes semi-structured interviews of about 40 SENCOs from two Local Authorities; and the third phase focuses on three schools, each with at least 10 teachers responsible for at least one student with SEN. Data collection then will include semi-structured interviews with SENCOs, teachers and headteachers, as well as document scrutiny of students’ work. Research outcomes will inform the nature of support mechanisms for SENCOs, teachers and headteachers, who will be able to utilise the findings to facilitate effective initiatives and exchanges which meet the needs of children with SEN.