Diana Burton

The inclusion of students with BESD in mainstream schools: teachers' experiences of and recommendations for creating a successful inclusive environment

Since the election of the Labour government in 1997, England has seen policy changes leading to increased rights for students with special educational needs (SEN), including those with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD), to be educated in mainstream schools. The present paper reports on the findings of a small-scale study conducted with a sample of mainstream secondary school teachers across the UK. Semi-structured interviews were used to investigate their experiences and approaches to including students with BESD in mainstream education. Teachers spoke of the challenges to effective inclusion centring on lack of resources and level of expertise. Despite identifying a variety of strategies for working with students with BESD, the issues raised by teachers bear striking resemblance to those acknowledged in policy over 20 years ago suggesting that regardless of Labours changes, longstanding obstacles to inclusion have yet to be addressed.

Practitioner research or descriptions of classroom practice? A discussion of teachers investigating their classrooms

This article outlines how a group of primary school teachers from a cluster of nine schools in a networked learning community enquired into their classroom teaching. The teachers each identified an area of practice that they were developing in their classroom and wanted to evaluate, such as the benefits of pupils working in teams, or the creation of role‐play areas. They decided what evidence they needed to collect and how to collect it. They met as a group and also individually with a mentor several times to share experiences and to discuss progress. At the end of their projects they presented findings and their analysis to each other. Their evidence and conclusions were also presented to other teachers at their school and sometimes at other schools within the cluster. The article considers whether, in the light of critiques of other similar teacher researcher projects, these data gathering and analytical activities may be legitimately described as research. The authors conclude by suggesting that the investigative processes carried out by these teachers constitute an effective form of professional learning. The authors contend that it is the systematic collection of evidence and the critical examination of the teachers’ own practice that characterise such enquiry as research notwithstanding the emergent, rather than well‐developed, use of traditional research conventions.

Psycho‐pedagogy and personalised learning

Over the past decade international discussions of pedagogy have increasingly clustered around a few ubiquitous and popular ideas drawn ostensibly from psychological research. The internet has been a powerful force in disseminating and globalising pedagogically relevant research into such matters as metacognition, multiple forms of intelligence, learning styles, learning preferences, thinking skills, brain functioning, emotional intelligence and neuro‐linguistic programming. This article explores the extent to which moulding pedagogy from a superficial reading of psychological ideas is educationally viable and suggests that pedagogical research is becoming increasingly self‐referential. The widespread acceptance of such ideas and their apparent validation within government documentation are examined. England will provide the case study for this examination since its government actively sponsors particular pedagogical approaches, packaging them currently under the now familiar label ‘personalised learning’, a term elaborated by government think‐tank adviser Charles Leadbeater.

Perspectives of SENCos and Support Staff in England on Their Roles, Relationships and Capacity to Support Inclusive Practice for Students with Behavioural Emotional and Social Difficulties.

With teachers under pressure to meet curriculum targets, responsibility for including students with behavioural emotional and social difficulties (BESD) in mainstream schools falls heavily on non‐teaching staff. In this article, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) and support staff in a small sample of secondary education settings in England, to examine their perceptions of their role, their relationships with students with BESD and their parents and their ability to facilitate inclusive practice. Despite both SENCo and support staff roles having been regarded as low‐status roles in the past, findings reported here depict a set of highly skilled workers crucial to the inclusion of students with BESD. Through the creation of a nurturing environment combined with caring attitudes and accessibility, these staff were able to form positive relationships with these students and their parents. Implications regarding staffing, resources and inclusion are further discussed.

Are the contradictions and tensions that have characterised educational provision for young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties a persistent feature of current policy?

English educational policy for pupils displaying disturbed emotions and behaviour has been characterised by inconsistencies, oscillating between discourses of inclusion and exclusion. While the social inclusion agenda presents an opportunity to improve the educational experience of this traditionally underserved population, it appears that inconsistencies remain a feature of current policy. This small case study describes the contradictions faced by a cross-section of education and childrens services professionals involved in practice or policy implementation in the secondary phase. Within this English Local Authority district, professionals highlighted confused and contradictory messages for the treatment of and priority afforded to young people with behaviour, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) within the education system. The findings heighten a concern that the pressure on Local Authorities and school leaders to effect academic achievement at the highest grades may overshadow attempts to address the educational and other developmental needs of disadvantaged pupils, including those with BESD.

Learning networks for schools: keeping up with the times or a leap into the unknown?

This article seeks to explore the ‘fit’ of ‘the network’ as an organizational form being implemented in schools in England. It considers current trends within education policy, pedagogy and educational technology in the context of these new service delivery models and relates these to the current interest in learning networks. The article draws upon the experience of school networks as it has been discussed in evaluation research and literature surveys, to highlight the issues around their implementation. The purpose, typology and potential tensions of educational networks are reviewed, with a particular focus on the Networked Learning Communities (NLCs) pioneered by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL). Although, on the face of things, the position of the ‘school network’ as a structural model seems logical, there are significant tensions which suggest that the implementation and development of meaningful and high quality networks is far more challenging than the government may appreciate.

‘I know it’s not proper research, but…’: how professionals’ understandings of research can frustrate its potential for CPD

This article draws upon the work of two researchers who facilitated practitioner research with school professionals in Liverpool. The researchers themselves had not been involved in practitioner research before. In this account, the researchers reflect critically upon their own experience. The discussion presents the learning curve that the researchers underwent as well as what they discovered about the relationship between practitioners and researchers when engaged in school‐based research. Crucially the issue of practitioners’ understandings of what constituted ‘good’ research emerged as a significant issue. In particular, positivist notions of research that drew from popular scientific understandings, as well as the culture of numerical targeting in the schools system, seemed to shape these practitioners’ sense of what was expected of them as practitioner‐researchers. The article finishes by reflecting upon the possible lessons that this work presents for education managers considering practitioner research approaches for continuing professional development (CPD).

The Masters in Teaching and Learning: a revolution in teacher education or a bright light quickly extinguished?

Summer 2009 saw the introduction in England of the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL). Funded in full by the Training and Development Agency for Schools, the MTL aims to improve the quality of teaching and to raise standards in schools. In this paper we discuss what the MTL might mean both for in‐service teacher education and initial teacher training. We explore issues relating to the structure and delivery of MTL including the tension between standardisation and personalisation of its content as well as the lack of focus on research and the costs of this to its reputation and appeal of the qualification. Furthermore, we question the extent to which newly qualified teachers are ready to benefit from undertaking the MTL and consider how availability criteria may give rise to equity issues. With these concerns in mind we discuss the future of the MTL and whether this Labour initiative will have a chance to prove itself under a Conservative‐led coalition government at a time of severe austerity.

‘Strategic Repositioning of Institutional Frameworks’: Balancing Competing Demands within the Modular UK Higher Education Environment

Abstract The UK higher education sector is grounded in an academic culture protective of its autonomy in the exercise of academic judgement within a flexible and internally validated tradition. However, the socio‐political demands placed upon this sector articulate an outcomes‐based, transparent and consistent model of higher education provision, as defined within quality assurance processes. Aspects of this national perspective may be manifest within higher education provision within other countries and contexts. Delivering upon the demands of this ‘transparency agenda’ presents challenges to a sector grounded in a tradition of ‘flexibility’ and the application of autonomous discretion. This paper articulates a conceptual model within which institutional frameworks (regulations, processes and systems) can be strategically positioned to balance internal and external priorities. Issues are raised about organisational cultures, the diverse nature of higher education provision, ‘academic discretion’ and the complex interdependency of processes for the consideration of institutions prior to employing the framework for implementation.

What Is the Nature of the Achievement Gap, Why Does It Persist and Are Government Goals Sufficient to Create Social Justice in the Education System?.

The ‘achievement gap’ – the term typically used to refer to differences in pupil attainment associated with social class, ethnicity and gender – remains an enduring obstacle to government goals of creating a socially just society. This article explores the nature of the achievement gap and some of the mechanisms that serve to perpetuate disadvantage in education systems providing a context in which to consider the appropriateness of government policies aimed at addressing the gap. Accessing predominantly English research but also consulting studies conducted in other education systems including the US and elsewhere in the UK, we argue that in contrast to its noble rhetoric, government approaches to addressing the achievement gap are preoccupied with standardised assessment and accountability (such as the latest attempt at raising pupil standards in England, the introduction of Academies) while paying little more than lip service to the persistent, underlying roots of inequality.