Title: Can we make the special ordinary? Personalising the education of pupils with SEN
1Can we make the special ordinary? Personalising
the education of pupils with SEN. and everyone
elseNick Peacey
2What is personalisation?
- The key to tackling the persistent achievement
gaps between different social and ethnic groups. - It means a tailored education for every child and
young person, that gives them strength in the
basics, stretches their aspirations, and builds
their life chances. (Department for Education
and Skills, London, 2005).
3What is personalisation?
- Personalisation implies that schools should have
systems in which the needs of all pupils are
understood and their learning planned accordingly
- It does not mean that every child needs an
individualised curriculum, but rather that
schools need to cater for the range of aptitudes,
interests and abilities of all their pupils
4We have set up our systems as if pupils with SEN
need
- special
- pedagogies
- curricula
- groups
- plans (IEPs)
- Do they?
5Does the pupil with SEN need a special pedagogy?
- Most of what is seen as special pedagogy is
- -the provision of some sort of support or
assistive technology - -emphasised or intensified ordinary good
teaching - Davis Florian 2004, Norwich and Lewis 2007
-
6Does the special needs pupil need a special
pedagogy?
- Norwich and Lewis (2007) report that only pupils
with autism spectrum condition and ADHD were seen
as requiring a pedagogy that is specific to their
group needs -
- the more important agenda is how to develop a
pedagogy that is inclusive to all learners - Davis and Florian 2004
7Does the pupil with SEN need a special curriculum?
- Often such curricula are seen as inferior
- Is it not better to work for a flexible
curriculum designed to value many areas and
forms of learning? - Then we can mould the curriculum to meet all
learners needs.
8Does the pupil with SENneed a special group?
- Let me get this straight we are going to catch
up with the rest of the class by going slower
than everyone else. - Bart Simpson
9Pupil grouping
- Effective teachers seem to use a mixed economy
- Low ability groups are unlikely to be successful
as there is nowhere for new ideas to come from.
http//creict.homerton.cam.ac.uk/spring/research.h
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10Another form of special group? What does research
tell us about teaching assistants?
- Other adults like having them around
- Pupils sometimes like having them around
- Pupils with them attain less well than similar
pupils without them(eg Ofsted 2006)
11Does the pupil with SEN need a special plan?
- Often the special plan (individual education
plan) ends up on a shelf - Many teachers never use them to plan
12Does the pupil with SEN need a special plan?
- Some schools have individual target and review
systems for all pupils so special individual
plans are not needed
13How can we take personalisation forward? We
can learn lessons for all from
- our knowledge of communication difficulties
- improving environments for pupils with SEN
- specialist teachers, psychologists,therapists
- pupils with SEN and/or disabilities
14A diversion- it is worth getting communication
right
- 50-70 of all pupils identified as having social,
emotional and behavioural difficulties have
identifiable (but not always identified) speech,
language and communication impairments (eg.Benner
2002) -
15A dynamic process the incorporation of
strategies and approaches
- A strategy or approach starts by being used with
a few - It is adopted more widely
- It is recognised as useful for all
16Lessons from advice on SEN
- How often do we ask educational psychologists,
therapists and specialist support staff to advise
on individuals in schools? - How often do we take their advice-and they can be
rare and expensive resources- and use it to
improve learning for all?
17Visual timetables
- Visual timetables are often advised for pupils
with autism - In fact, they benefit all pupils
18Symbols are recommended for pupils with
communication difficulties
- Why not use them to support learning for all?
19Tema 4 Los nutrientes del bosque http//www.ioe.a
c.uk/nof/tfi/rainforest
20Classrooms for communication
- We know from research that teachers still talk
through 60-75 of most lessons - Classrooms need to be good listening spaces
- Research has demonstrated how poor acoustics
damages the attainment of all, particularly
pupils with SEN (Shield and Dockrell 2002) - English building regulations for schools have
been tightened - all new classrooms should have
good acoustics and all will benefit
21Lessons from pupils with disabilities
- Eleni Burgess, 14 year old wheelchair user,
surveyed another 80 wheelchair users just leaving
the English education system - She produced a booklet of ideas which has been
used all over England 1000 copies were sold
within a week of publication
22Do ideas of special needs prevent us seeing
other student characteristics, such as pupils
philosophies of learning?
- Carol Dweck studied why some girls who succeeded
in primary school failed in secondary school. - She found that those who succeeded in both
phases believed if they tried hard enough they
could learn - But girls who succeeded in primary but failed in
secondary attributed any success to being
clever, not hard work. - So when they failed, they decided they were not
clever. They also had a reason for failure
learning success was not in their nature! - Do we discuss these things with pupils?
23Some conclusions
- Much that we have thought special for the few
will benefit many - Minorities benefit from most things that benefit
everyone else
24- Personalisation is a challenge to the temptation
to put pupils in separate boxes - We do not like adults being segregated in our
societies - In our schools, by working towards
personalisation, we take de-segregation-inclusion-
forward - It will not be easy, but the benefits for all
will be great