Managing Special Needs in Mainstream Schools: The Role of the SENCO

Citation

V., H. (2001), "Managing Special Needs in Mainstream Schools: The Role of the SENCO", Quality Assurance in Education, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 236-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/qae.2001.9.4.236.1

Chapter one, by the editors, is thought‐provoking, highlighting the increased political role of the SENCO, the job stresses and the diverse management skills required to operate in this political environment. The authors skilfully outline the often disparate demands of current legislation and the implications of this for SENCOs. They adequately explore the micro‐political world, in the sense that it impinges on the interpersonal relationships in schools – and how legislation since the late 1970s has resulted in this becoming, as Hoyle predicted, a much more challenging area for teachers to operate in. In chapter two, Hazel Bines considers the influence of legislation in relation to possible future influences on the role of the SENCO. While this task is more than sufficiently completed, and indeed informative, I nonetheless felt that there were in particular two limitations; first the lack of exploration of certain issues such as positive discrimination, and inclusion, which were very much presented as given; these topics are [far] from uncontentious. Second, the opinion that the Butler Education Act 1944, “… can be seen as the final completion of the universalist agenda of ensuring equal access to education for all children”. There has always been a marked anti‐egalitarian bias in the UK education system that the Butler Act of 1944 had not greatly diminished with its introduction of differential education.

There is a worthy of note chapter by William Evans taking into consideration the legal aspects of the SENCO’s role. It has been my experience that teachers in particular are often very unacquainted with the legal aspects of their working circumstances. In the context of ever‐increasing litigation one needs to be aware of some of the potential difficulties, especially when working with vulnerable groups. The following ten chapters focus on the perspectives of practitioners and provide useful insights into the voices of those who are working at the coalface; all these chapters are well thought out and thought‐provoking. It is these chapters from practitioners that form the heart and strength of this book. Janet Tod and John Cornwall contribute a constructive chapter on the IEPs. Of some note is chapter 15, which is based on research conducted in the Faculty of Education, of the University of the West of England; it is a valuable study of the issues involved in writing school policies for SENs. The concluding chapter by the editors raises some out of the ordinary questions on how SENCOs should consider themselves as managers, understand policy, and the philosophical manner in which the code of practice should be viewed. This is a book that should be in every staffroom, and on the reading list of teachers in training.