Special Educational Needs
Interview One: Regular Classroom Teacher
What aspects of your subject cause SEN students to struggle?
As an English teacher, my subject is frequently a direct problem for students because many learning difficulties involve poor literacy, an inability to express oneself, and difficulty in reading for meaning – relating to characters, authors and so on.
How do you endeavour to improve this situation for these students?
It really depends on the student in question and their particular learning difficulty. For example, students with dyslexia are often helped by using coloured overlays to help the words on the page clearer; students on the autistic spectrum can be helped when empathising with characters by giving them a sheet of facial expressions and, instead of asking them to analyse the character’s emotions, I might ask them to choose the face that they think best fits the character.
How does the learning environment affect the performance of SEN students?
It is crucial that the learning environment strikes a fine balance between being stimulating but not over-stimulating.
Do you make any special accommodations for SEN students?
In all honesty, no; all students, SEN or otherwise, wish to be treated like normal kids. If a student has a physical disability then that is a different matter because they may need access requirements and the like. However, for students with learning difficulties, they are often embarrassed by their inability and would far prefer to be treated like their peers. That said, I will incorporate subtle accommodations such as manoeuvring certain students around the room in seating plans to allow them to be nearer to the board, or easier to monitor from my desk and so on. Subtlety is key when dealing with these students, particularly as they become older.
Summary of Interview One
In short, the regular classroom teacher was keen to emphasise the need to treat students with special educational needs as normally as possible. However, she seemed keen to help these students as best as she could and felt that implementing subtle strategies were more effective than outright ones. Following our interview, she spoke about an ADHD student whom she knew hated having attention being drawn to his condition. A strategy that they decided upon together was that he would remove himself from the room for a few minutes, without saying anything, if he felt he needed to calm down. As part of this strategy, the teacher had placed him near to the classroom door to allow this to be easier for him.
She made reference to her seating plans during the formal interview. It seems that the seating plan is one of the teacher’s most powerful tools which allows them to manipulate the classroom, the behaviour of students, and the performance of students and, in particular, that of SEN students, without making a fuss and drawing attention to what was happening. This, along with a number of other subtle strategies, it is clear that effective provision can be made for SEN students without it being a big deal.
Interview Two: An SEN Child.
I have ADHD. I found out a year or so ago after I was always getting into trouble for messing about in lessons.
Okay, so how does ADHD affect your ability to learn?
The main problem is that I find it hard to focus on one thing for longer than a few minutes. I get distracted really easily and usually end up messing around with my friends instead. It gets even worse when I’m doing something which I find hard; if I can’t do it then I switch off really quickly.
What do you feel as though you’re good at?
I have a lot of extra energy so I think I’m quite good at physical subjects like Gym. I like it when my lessons involve being busy and active too. I also like being creative.
Do you feel as though you’re successful when taking part in sports?
I suppose so. I’m not the best one at sports but I really enjoy it and I find it helps to control my energy.
Do you like school?
Most of the time, but I don’t like being in trouble. Because I have to be quiet and focus during school, I get into trouble a lot and I sometimes wish that I didn’t but I find it hard to control it. I like seeing my friends and I really enjoy taking part in sports teams.
Do you like your teachers?
Some of them are better than others. I like the ones who try and help me to focus more in lessons instead of just shouting at me. Sometimes, a teacher will tell me off and I feel like shouting that I can’t help it because I’m so frustrated but don’t. I like it when teachers recognise that I need to take a few minutes for myself and who don’t make a fuss about my ADHD.
Summary of Interview Two
This interview was an interesting insight into how an SEN child handles everyday life and school. He seemed as though he wanted his teachers to accommodate his learning difficulty but without making a fuss about it. The boy seemed to understand his condition quite well, even discussing how sports can help him to burn off the excess of energy which ADHD affords him.
On the whole, the boy seemed to quite like school and his teachers. The main issue was that he would get into trouble because of his ADHD condition. A side effect of this is an inability to focus and an increased likelihood to become distracted and unfocused. In a school environment, he recognises that this is a problem but still begrudges his teachers telling him off for it. I wondered if this situation had knocked his confidence as he seemed reluctant to say that he was good at anything.
Reflection
After carrying out these interviews, it became clear that the teacher of SEN students must strike a careful balance between supporting the student but without making a fuss. It is also clear that students want understanding and flexibility as opposed to a wealth of differentiated resources or extra assistance in lessons, for example. Following the second interview, it became obvious to me that the teacher must be careful to support the student without knocking their confidence. For many SEN students, they are unaware of what they are doing wrong when misbehaving and so it seems prudent that the teacher calmly explains the issue, rather than becoming cross. This may help to secure the on-going development of the SEN student’s confidence too.
I was also struck by how important it is to find subtle ways of managing the classroom without drawing attention to any particular students. I wondered if part of the reason why the student in interview two disliked being in trouble is because, indirectly, it does draw attention to him and his learning difficulty. Seating plans seem to be the best form of classroom management which enables students to be more independent in their own behaviour management and also allows the teacher to recognise who needs support and who doesn’t.
