Invention and repair: disability and education after the UK Coalition Government

This short paper examines the extent to which the UK Coalition Government has been inventive or reparatory in their approach to policies governing the education of disabled children and young people. Of central concern here is the extent to which policies contribute to the invention of the disabled child by conceptualising their education as a constant process of reparation. I argue here that this landscape of policy proposals creates particular problems for the ways in which the pedagogic relationship can be conceptualised, reinforcing teaching as a complex negotiation of deficit and anxiety

"The SEND Code of Practice has given me clout": a phenomenological study illustrating how SENCos managed the introduction of the SEND reforms

The introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) reforms were hailed in 2014, by the then Government, as the most significant change to SEND policy for thirty years. Despite introduced changes, the 2015 Code continued to place responsibility for the co-ordination of provision for children with SEN within the remit of the SENCo. This article forms part of a wider study which examined the role of the SENCo at this time of significant reform; the study aimed to understand the role of the SENCo as a policy actor tasked with policy implementation as well as their perceptions impact during the first year of reform. This article discusses the themes which arose from the in-depth semi-structured interviews carried out with SENCo participants during 2014/ 2015, which explored reflections on the SENCo role, SENCo activities undertaken across the year, and how SENCos facilitated the implementation of the 2015 Code

Curious teachers, create curious learners and great historians

© 2018, © 2018 ASPE. Engel, S.[2011. “Children’s Need to Know: Curiosity in Schools.” Harvard Educational Review 81 (4): 625–645] stated that curiosity should be cultivated in our schools as it is intrinsic to children’s development. However, this is often absent from classrooms. In this paper we aim to explore some of the factors that have led to a lack of curiosity in today’s classrooms by identifying the impact of rapid policy and curriculum change. We will then justify the importance of creative teaching to develop curiosity, not only in children but also in their teachers–curious teachers develop curious learners. We will conclude by sharing some case studies to illustrate how curiosity can be developed using history lessons as a platform

Plans that work: improving employment outcomes for young people with learning disabilities

This article offers a critical reflection on the function of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in pathways to employment for disabled young people. We consider ‘the education plan’ as an artefact of special educational needs systems. We problematise the often taken‐for‐granted assumption that such plans are always and only a ‘good’ thing in the lives of disabled young people seeking pathways to employment. At the same time, we consider the rise in demand for plans that are understood by many as a crucial mechanism for achieving support. Following the recent policy reforms in England, we describe a context in which the funding of education is shrinking and in which the promise of employment for disabled young people has yet to be delivered. We conclude by proposing some changes to policy and practice to enhance employment opportunities for disabled young people

Calibrating fundamental British values: how head teachers are approaching appraisal in the light of the Teachers’ Standards 2012, Prevent and the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, 2015

In requiring that teachers should ‘not undermine fundamental British values (FBV)’, a phrase originally articulated in the Home Office counter-terrorism document, Prevent, the Teachers’ Standards has brought into focus the nature of teacher professionalism. Teachers in England are now required to promote FBV within and outside school, and, since the publication of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act of 2015 and the White Paper ‘Educational Excellence Everywhere’, are required to prevent pupils from being drawn towards radicalisation. School practices in relation to the promotion of British values are now subject to OfSTED inspection under the Common Inspection Framework of 2015. The research presented here considers the policy and purpose of appraisal in such new times, and engages with 48 school leaders from across the education sector to reveal issues in emerging appraisal practices. Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of Liquid Modernity is used to fully understand the issues and dilemmas that are emerging in new times and argue that fear and ‘impermanence’ are key characteristics of the way school leaders engage with FBV

Problematising policies for workforce reform in early childhood education: A rhetorical analysis of England's Early Years Teacher Status

This paper examines workforce reform in early childhood education in England, specifically the policy trajectory that led to implementation of the Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS) qualification in 2014. Taking a critical perspective on policy analysis, the paper uses rhetorical analysis to make sense of the how EYTS is understood within workforce reform. From an assemblage of salient policy documents, we report our critical analysis of two key texts: Foundations for Quality and More Great Childcare. Both documents identify policy levers and drivers for reform, but from markedly different perspectives and with contrasting recommendations. By using rhetorical analysis to examine how these policy texts construct not only problems but also preferred solutions, we illustrate the paradoxical nature of early childhood policy in England as it relates to aspirations to raise the status of the sector and improve quality through the implementation of EYTS

Ready, steady, learn: school readiness and children’s voices in English early childhood settings

Internationally, school readiness is increasingly the rationale for early childhood education and care. This is the case in England, yet the statutory English Early Years Foundation Stage framework for children 0-5 years also requires practitioners to listen to children’s voices: discourse indicates dissonance between school readiness and listening to children’s voices so this paper discusses an intrinsic case study that investigated beliefs and practices of 25 practitioners in the English midlands regarding school readiness and listening to children’s voices. In survey responses and semi-structured interviews, practitioners indicated they listen to – and act on – children’s voices but are confused about school readiness; their beliefs and practices align more strongly with social pedagogy than pre-primary schoolification. Findings carry messages for policymakers regarding the need for coherent policy concerning the purpose of early childhood education and care, with practitioner training and a framework aligned fully with that policy. A larger study is indicated

Work to be done? A survey of educational psychologists exploring their contribution to special schools for profound and multiple learning difficulties

This article explores the perspectives of educational psychologists across England with regard to their professional involvement, role and contribution to special schools for children and young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). An online survey was distributed to all educational psychology services in England and to private educational psychology practices. Data collected from 207 respondents were analysed using descriptive statistics and quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The findings suggest a complex national picture, including great variation in the frequency of educational psychology visits and indirect contact with the special schools. While the work carried out by educational psychologists in these special schools is primarily individual, statutory-led casework, systemic work is considered to be the ‘ideal’ contribution. Educational psychologists’ views on their role in PMLD settings seem to feature limited ideas. The authors suggest that improving educational psychologists’ skills and knowledge of PMLD, building relationships with special schools and finding a niche in supporting, among other things, the emotional well-being of the school’s community, might be ways forward for working in PMLD schools. The article concludes by emphasising the continued need for the profession to understand and market the specific role it can play in PMLD settings

Making a target work: messages from a pilot of the six-month time limit on care proceedings in England

Since 2014, it has been a legal requirement in England and Wales for child care proceedings to be concluded, apart from ‘exceptional cases’, within 26 weeks. When this was first proposed there were concerns that it might lead to poorer decision-making, or to delay being squeezed to either side of the court proceedings, before or afterwards. This paper reports on the messages from a pilot programme to hit the 26-week target that took place in London in 2012-13. The study compared the progress of the cases from the pilot year with those the year before, 180 cases in total, involving 256 children. The local authorities involved were able to achieve considerable improvements in timeliness, not just in the proceedings, but for the pre- and post-court processes too; and the quality and fairness of decisions did not seem to be impaired, in terms of the plans for the children and subsequent outcomes over a period of two years. ‘Targets’ do not generally find a warm welcome in the social work literature, but this paper shows that when collaboratively implemented, with a measure of flexibility and adequate resources, they can be an effective way of helping to achieve positive change

How inclusion became exclusion: Policy, teachers and inclusive education

It is almost two decades since a concept of inclusion as selective segregation was proposed as an alternative to the concept of full inclusion and inclusive education was reconfigured as providing children with varied educational settings in order to meet their needs. A version of this model of inclusive education subsequently gained political traction in England where the issue of segregated or mainstream provision is now constructed as a matter of parental choice and child voice. Meanwhile, the implications of this latest model of inclusive education for teachers and schools in a rapidly changing wider educational landscape have largely been ignored or reduced to a question of training. This paper explores how the inclusive education landscape has changed in England in recent years, charting recent key developments in areas such as policy, statutory guidance and teacher training, with particular reference to teacher workload and the positioning of teachers within political and polemical educational discourse