‘I will be “fighting” even more for pupils with SEN’: SENCOs' role predictions in the changing English policy context

Sue Pearson,Maria Rapti,Rafael Mitchell

doi:10.1111/1471-3802.12062

Abstract

The Coalition Government's ‘Green Paper’ (DfE 2011) proposes a systemic overhaul of services for pupils with special educational needs in England, with increased parental choice of provision and ‘sharper accountability’ (p. 67) in schools. Deadlines for various stages of this reform have not been met, and its final nature remains uncertain. This paper reveals SENCOs' insights into their changing role in this turbulent policy context. This is achieved through the thematic analysis of 227 responses to an ‘open‐ended’ question in the national Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) Survey 2012. Findings from this sample indicate that SENCOs predict that schools in England will become more inclusive, with greater shared responsibility for achievement for all, and SENCOs' increased involvement in staff training and other whole school capacity‐building activities. Respondents predict a greater partnership with parents, for whom they will provide advice and links to other services. They foresee their reduced involvement in direct teaching and an intensification of their work in other ways, especially in terms of paperwork associated with pupil tracking and other accountability measures. These changes are anticipated against a backdrop of resource cuts, requiring SENCOs to show increasing self‐reliance and imagination.

Highlights

This article draws from a national survey of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) in England conducted by the University of Leeds with the support of nasen in Autumn 2012 ( SENCO Survey 2012)
This article draws from a national survey of SENCOs in England conducted by the University of Leeds with the support of nasen in Autumn 2012 ( SENCO Survey 2012)
This article begins with an overview of research into the role of SENCOs conducted in the last decade, followed by an account of the Coalition Government’s proposed changes to SEN provision in England

Summary

Introduction

This article draws from a national survey of SENCOs in England conducted by the University of Leeds with the support of nasen in Autumn 2012 ( SENCO Survey 2012). As a re-issue of a previous survey undertaken five years previously (see Pearson, 2008a), SENCO Survey 2012 is an opportunity to understand the changing nature of the recruitment, induction and retention of SENCOs, and roleholders’ attitudes to, and experiences of, organisational and national policy contexts. A report of the data is published elsewhere (Pearson & Mitchell, 2013), and this current article focuses on a single aspect of our investigation: SENCOs’ insights into the future direction of their role in a changing policy context. This article begins with an overview of research into the role of SENCOs conducted in the last decade, followed by an account of the Coalition Government’s proposed changes to SEN provision in England. An account of data collection and analysis is followed by our findings, which offer a thematic presentation of SENCOs’ predictions.

Methods

Results

Conclusion