Inclusive Education for All #23
6 July 2022 by Chris Barnes, Inclusive Education Officer, Down Syndrome International
Qualifying as a teacher is similar to passing your driving test – while being technically qualified, becoming ‘skilled’ takes time and patience. Newly qualified teachers have demonstrated a commitment in passing their teacher training course and as they begin their first teaching role, they will be bombarded with many more things to learn. England has a comprehensive 2-year induction period with guidelines for mentoring and support, as well as observations and feedback. This blog is going to look at, aside from general teacher induction guidance, how early career teachers can be supported when welcoming a child, or children, with an intellectual disability in their class/classes.
Dedicated time for ‘inclusion’ mentoring
During mentoring and feedback meetings with the early career teacher (ECT) dedicate some time to discuss what inclusion, and inclusive education, actually means for your school, and how it links to your school values and school improvement plan (SIP). This gives the ECT some context and a broad, long-term view and understanding of what is to be expected over their tenure. Explain the long-term vision, how they can be part of it, and how they will be supported to achieve various goals.
Discuss children with intellectual disabilities
The ECT may or may not have a child in their class/classes with an intellectual disability. Either way, it is important to have conversations about how to approach education where a learner with an intellectual disability is one of the cohort. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to a teacher to be told they will teach learners with an intellectual disability during their career. Discuss their initial thoughts and who & where they can go to, to seek advice and support.
Talk about individual children
Chat about the child in question, remembering they are an individual and cannot be grouped or compared to a previous or current learner. Discuss what you know about them: what they like, what they’re good at, their family setup, academic abilities, the four broad areas of special educational needs & disabilities (SEND) (communication and interaction; cognition and learning; social, emotional, and mental health difficulties; sensory and/or physical needs), perceived and statutory support requirements, and expected challenges. If the child has an education and health care plan (EHCP) or individual education plan (IEP) or similar, look through it together and pull out the key headlines and non-negotiable requirements. Decide what needs to be found out, and agree a timescale to obtain this info.
Whole-class inclusion
The most up-to-date guidance, research, and thinking states that the best inclusion occurs when considered alongside all children in the class/cohort. Rather than encouraging the ECT to solely consider the learner as separate to the whole class, advise that, where possible, long-term, and short-term planning should focus on what all children can be included in. Encourage the consideration of when, where, and how-often the learner can be actively included in lessons and activities. This can be a big ask, so it should be seen as a long-term process of development. If tackled in small chunks, from the start – it has every chance of becoming the ‘norm’.
Support and encouragement
As well as being enjoyable and intensely rewarding, teaching can be a very time-consuming and demanding job. Inclusion, while being seen as a priority for some, is still only one part of this role. If, however, challenges arise with including children, it can become the main focus of a new teacher’s energy and resources. It’s important to support ECT’s practically and emotionally – this can mean visiting their class (more, or indeed less, often!), checking in on them regularly, tasking other staff to support practically or socially, or providing more experienced/suitable support staff to work alongside them. The best leaders talk to their staff and make time to listen to their problems and concerns, alongside giving positive advice and ways of thinking that allow the staff member to solve the problem independently – basically, what good teachers do for children!
Do get in touch and share your thoughts on this subject – I’d love to hear from you.
Next week: ‘How can we best work with peripatetic staff?’
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