Key players in inclusion: are we meeting the professional needs of learning support assistants for pupils with complex needs?

Abstract

Under the aegis of inclusion, greater numbers of learning support assistants (LSAs) in mainstream and special schools are increasingly required to assist teachers with pupils who have complex needs across the full age range. Because of the numerous and wide‐ranging learning difficulties and learning disabilities in addition to sensory impairment, behavioural difficulties and physical disability that they meet, their roles and responsibilities have dramatically changed. As a result, the professional needs of LSAs have grown and widened, and the question of whether these are being properly met arises. This paper reports on research carried out with a representative sample of learning support staff in Northern Ireland, and with special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and school nurses. The study examined through a questionnaire the perceptions of LSAs working in a range of schools as to their training needs and, through interviews, sought the views of the SENCOs on current and future training arrange...