‘A Balancing Act’: Perceptions of Communication about Young Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities in the Early Years. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Study.

The communication relationship that is formed by early years practitioners with parents of young children with special educational needs and/or disabilities can have a particular intensity and nature. This qualitative research study has explored practitioner and parent perceptions of communication about young children with special educational needs and/or disabilities in the early years. Eleven practitioners and two parents completed semi-structured interviews and were offered the opportunity to amend or add to the transcripts of their interviews. The data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) which was informed by the application of Engeström’s second generation framework for activity theory. Findings suggest that there was frequent and consistent communication contact between practitioners and parents. A consensus seemed to emerge for preferring verbal communication, particularly during routine drop off and collection times. Written communication was seen as a means to obtain evidence that information had been shared and to confirm implementation of policies. The value of electronic communication seemed to be linked to the ability to upload and share photographs and information about the children’s time in the setting. Additionally, communication informed the partnership with parents which in turn seemed to foster a sense of community. Informing IPA with Engeström’s framework provided a clear means to strengthen development of the interview schedule. It also supported in the writing of the thesis by enabling structured presentation of participant perceptions of communication. The framework also facilitated researcher reflections on the research process. However, whilst a synergy of IPA and activity theory was found for framing the interview protocol and for making sense of the analysis, challenges emerged in the production of the analysis itself. Tensions arose from the potential incompatibility of the fluidity and dynamism of IPA, and the imposition of the underlying structure of an activity theory framework.