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Teachers' Special Needs StruggleTue, May 16, 2006Source: BBCChildren with special needs are far more likely to be excluded.Children with special needs are far more likely to be excluded. He said: "We put the needs of the child first. "Children should be taught in mainstream schools where this is what their parents want and it is not incompatible with the efficient education of other children. "We also want pupils for whom this is not an option to benefit from high quality education and for strong links to be forged between special and mainstream schools so pupils can mix with their peers." The study was conducted by a team from Cambridge University's education faculty led by Professor John MacBeath. They visited 10 primary schools, nine secondary and two special schools, in seven different authorities around England with a range of policies on inclusion. Tolerance They focused on the growing number of children with physical disabilities, medical conditions, behavioural issues and learning difficulties. These were often inter-related in complex ways which challenged parents, teachers and even "experts".
They believed it was good for children who would previously have been in special schools to be included in mainstream schools. But also their classmates learnt "important lessons about diversity and tolerance". What concerned the teachers was whether schools could provide a suitable education for those with complex needs. "While there are children and young people who thrive in the mainstream environment there are others for whom it can be difficult or even threatening," the report said. 'Marginalised' As others have observed, getting formal "statements" of need was, for parents, "a long road" and a "struggle". Very often children were turned down for lack of evidence "even though it was obvious to all that the child was unable to cope in the mainstream classroom". The way schools were compared on their results meant children with very low attainment were marginalised. Teachers often felt "guilt" at letting down both the children with special needs and others in their care. "In some cases teachers are asked to deal with acute medical conditions, for example 'sucking out' tracheotomy tubes at regular intervals, coping with incontinence and frequent nappy changing or clearing up after accidents." It was widespread practice, the report said, for teachers to give special needs pupils almost entirely into the care of teaching assistants - though few had suitable training. Growing demand far exceeded the specialist help available, with long waits for children even to be seen by an educational psychologist. "Outward expression of unmet needs often takes the form of extreme forms of behaviour," it said. 'Awful' lives In disadvantaged areas where a school may have over half its pupils classified as special needs and 5% or more of children with statements, effective teaching was "nigh on impossible". Staff spoke of the "awful realities" of the lives of some young people - "beyond imagination" - for whom school was the only safe place. They often had to provide counselling and social welfare roles without proper training. The authors recommended that inclusion should not rely on individual schools struggling but should be conceived as "a collaborative effort, sharing resources in a spirit of mutual support". But they said: "Currently collaborative initiatives are undermined by fragmentation of schools types - specialist schools, academies, selective schools - competition for pupils and reluctance to accept children seen as detrimental to the school's attainment profile." The report concluded: "An independent review of inclusive practice is now essential." |