Introduction to Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion

A Student′s Guide

Alexandra Sewell, Joanne Smith

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781529737332
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica inclusiva

This essential textbook equips you with a strong understanding of theories, policies and practices and how they impact on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, guiding you through your SEND course or modules. Itprovides you with the foundations and tools necessary to think critically about the issues and developments concerning SEND, inclusion, and professional practice.

The book includes:

-Material surrounding mental health in childhood and adolescence

-Chapters on global perspectives of SEND, and assistive technologies

-Practical case studies, reflection questions and activities

-Spotlights on key theories and research

-Up-to-date information on policies impacting SEND

1 An Introduction to SENDI: Models and Definitions

Joanne Smith (with contributions from Dr Alexandra Sewell)

Introduction

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to Special Educational Needs, Disability and Inclusion (SENDI). There are many models and definitions of SENDI, so this chapter will:

• Introduce you to differing definitions, theories and models of educational ‘inclusion’.
• Explore current terms and concepts in relation to the understanding of ‘special educational needs/disability’.
• Start to identify implications for practice.

Definitions of special educational needs

Throughout this book we will consistently refer to inclusive practice that involves Children and Young People (CYP) with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). This is in line with terminology used in current legislation: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice, aged 0–25 years (DfE and DoH, 2014: 4, 5):

A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her. A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if they have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or has a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or institutions.

A child under compulsory school age has SEN if they are likely to fall within the definition above when they reach compulsory school age or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them (Section 20 Children and Families Act 2014). Post-16 institutions often use the term Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LDD). The term SEN is used in the Code across the 0–25 age range but includes LDD.

Many CYP who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act (2010) – that is ‘…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. This definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer. CYP with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled CYP and those with SEN. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision, they will also be covered by the SEN definition.

This book will explore current research and practice within the area of SEND, with some necessary reference to the historical context, particularly discussed in the next chapter. We (the authors) introduce you to some aspects of ‘need’ including specific learning difficulties and mental health difficulties. We discuss implications for practice, particularly in an educational context, and will look at the varied roles and contexts for a SEND practitioner. We will look at more global perspectives of SEND and consider implications for further research, returning to shared understandings of inclusion in the final chapter.

Throughout the book we will be referring to concepts of inclusion and inclusive practice. Inclusion, as you will discover, and our concept of it, is ever-evolving. We will be exploring models of inclusion in more depth in the final chapter, but characteristics of inclusive (educational) practice involve considering the needs of all learners, requiring educational settings to adapt provisions, resources, methods and implementations of curriculum. It could be a tool for promoting equality, underpinned by the Code of Practice as a framework. We will encourage you throughout this book to reflect on your experiences, personal beliefs and values, whilst developing your knowledge and understanding of differing models of SENDI.

Time to Reflect

• What is inclusion?
• What does it mean to you?
• When we talk about educational inclusion where does this come from?
• What is inclusive practice?

‘The inclusion framework’

Historical changes to inclusive practice will be explored in the next chapter. However, for us to understand inclusive policy frameworks, we must look at recent key developments in legislation:

• 2001 – Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) and the SEN Code of Practice (DfES, 2001).
• 2010 – Equality Act.
• 2011 – SEN Green Paper (DfE, 2011b).
• 2013 – Children and Families Bill (DfE, 2013).
• 2014 – SEND Code of Practice (DfE and DoH, 2014).

SENDA (2001)

SENDA strengthened the right of children with SEN to attend mainstream school, unless their parents chose otherwise, or this was incompatible with ‘efficient education’ for other children and there were no reasonable steps that could be taken to prevent that incompatibility. Legislation ensured that pupils were not placed at ‘substantial disadvantage’ in comparison to non-disabled peers. There was a legal duty not to treat a person with disabilities ‘less favourably’, without justification, for a reason relating to their disability, and an anticipatory duty to make ‘reasonable adjustment’. Public sector organisations are required to provide reasonable adjustments to ‘avoid as far as possible by reasonable means the disadvantage which a disabled student experiences because of their disability’. The reasonable adjustments duty is explored in more depth in Chapter 6, and you can go to www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/advice-and-guidance/what-are-reasonable-adjustments for more information.

The SEN Code of Practice (DfES, 2001) stated that:

A child with SEN should have their needs met, and these needs will normally be met in mainstream schools with the views of the child considered. There should be full access to a broad, balanced and relevant education, with ‘all teachers being teachers of children with SEN’.

The CoP (DfES, 2001) identified that teaching children with SEN was a whole-school responsibility. A child had ‘SEN’ if they required provision which was different from, and additional to, that made for most pupils. Provision was made in a graduated approach. The terms ‘School Action’ (SA) and ‘School Action Plus’ (SA+) were used to identify, provide, and monitor provision for children with SEN. A Statutory Assessment was requested if there was ‘significant cause for concern’, which may or may not have led to a ‘Statement of Special Educational Need’. This was when the local authority (LA) considered that the special educational provision necessary to meet pupils’ needs could not be reasonably provided with resources normally available to mainstream schools. A statement specified longer-term objectives and SEN provision. The New Labour period emphasised SA and SA+ and discouraged LAs from linking all additional resources with statements. Statements were later dissolved or replaced with Education and Health Care (EHC) plans as discussed further on in this chapter.

The Equality Act (2010)

The Equality Act (2010) brought together several pieces of older legislation. In relation to disability, the objectives of the Equality Act are therefore the same as the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and SENDA (2001). The purpose is to avoid as far as possible, by all reasonable means, the disadvantage a student experiences through having a disability. Reasonable adjustments must be made for pupils with disability – if needed – whether they have a special educational need or not. The duty is proactive. The ‘disability equality duty’ means that public bodies must have due regard (for example) to the need to promote equality of opportunity and promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons. These duties are explored further in Chapter 6.

The 2011 SEN Green Paper, Support and Aspiration:A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability (DfE, 2011b)

The coalition government stated a ‘lack of the right help … system is bureaucratic and bewildering … culture of low expectations … limited choices’ (DfE, 2011b: 4) for pupils with SEN and their families. The Green Paper drew on the Bercow (2008), Lamb (2009), Salt (2010) and OfSTED (2010) reports.

Proposals included ‘tackling’ the over-identification of SEN (DfE, 2011b: 10) and replacing SA and SA+ with a single SEN category (p.4). There would be a single assessment process and education, health and care (EHC) plan to replace statements ‘with the same statutory protection’ (p.5). This statutory protectio...