Abstract
The aim of this paper is to enhance understanding of the contradictions that arise in the drive to improve teaching practices among pupils with special educational needs (SENs). A questionnaire was administrated to 167 classroom teachers, subject teachers, special education teachers and teaching assistants in Finland. The analysis, based on thematic coding and analysis of manifestations of contradictions, revealed contradictions related to artefacts of teaching, participation in the community and school staff’s professional ability to teach SEN pupils in mainstream. Four types of manifestations, namely conflicts, critical conflicts, dilemmas, and double binds, could be identified in the data. Focusing the improvement of inclusive practices on all pupils calls for the collective resolution of contradictions and the development of tools and models that facilitate the educational change.
Highlights
The aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of contradictions as drivers of improvement in inclusive teaching practices within the context of pupils with special educational needs (SEN)
We address the following research question: What are the main manifestations of contradictions in classroom teachers, subject teachers, special education teachers and teaching assistants whose pupils include SEN learners? Our main contribution is to offer our analysis as a means of identifying potential future directions for the development of the teaching of SEN pupils in mainstream schools
We were inspired by the typology of discursive manifestation of contradictions developed by Engeström & Sannino (2011) for the analysis of data produced in interaction amongst a group of people, and we modified it for analysing our data of responses to the questions in a survey
Summary
The aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of contradictions as drivers of improvement in inclusive teaching practices within the context of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). In the context of inclusive education, the identification and resolving of contradictions potentially provides a move away from segregated teaching and learning situations towards the inclusion of SEN pupils within the general education. In the framework of inclusive education (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2016; UNESCO 2009) all pupils’ participation in constructive interplay in a classroom needs to be supported. Teachers with different professional specializations play a central role in the implementation of inclusive education (Liasidou, 2015). It is important to identify their concerns and struggles regarding the implementation of inclusive educational practices
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