The Role Pressures for Special Educational Needs Coordinators as Managers, Leaders and Advocates in The Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications for Inclusive Education
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper aims to provide a literature-based consideration of the role of the Special Needs Educational Coordinator (SENCo) in England during COVID-19 pandemic conditions of school lockdown and partial reopening for children classified as vulnerable. The review indicates that the pressures and tensions already experienced by SENCos (around time, workload, status, and their prescribed dichotomised managerial and strategic role) were intensified under pandemic conditions, risking inadequate or delayed provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The review also considers research prompted by related concerns around the exclusion or marginalisation of this group of students, through legal and illegal practices, during and following national lockdown. It had been suggested that the risk of exclusion might increase at this time, thus highlighting the advocacy role of SENCos, and small-scale research did report a lack of involvement of SENCos in strategic crisis planning at school level. It is concluded that an advocacy role for students with special educational needs and disabilities who were at risk of becoming increasingly marginalised within school and wider communities during the COVID-19 pandemic should now be considered as central to the SENCos’ remit.
Keywords: SENCos; advocacy; inclusion-related leadership; crisis planning.
Keywords:
SENCos, advocacy, inclusion-related leadership, crisis planning
Article Details
How to Cite
DONE, Elizabeth J..
The Role Pressures for Special Educational Needs Coordinators as Managers, Leaders and Advocates in The Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications for Inclusive Education.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 10, n. 11, nov. 2022.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/3395>. Date accessed: 19 apr. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v10i11.3395.
Section
Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
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6. Done, E.J. & Knowler, H. Exclusion and the strategic leadership role of SENCos in England: planning for Covid-19 and future crises. Br J Spec Educ. 2021;48(4):438-454. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12388
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https://doi-org.plymouth.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/bjep.12381
8. Done EJ, Knowler H, Warnes E, Pickett-Jones B. Think piece on parents, off rolling and wavelength methodology: issues for SENCos. Support Learn. 2021;36(1):70-82. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9604.12339
9. Done EJ, Knowler H. Off-rolling and the art of visibility / invisibility: exploring senior leaders’ views of ‘strategic’ school exclusion in England. Br Educ Res J. Preprint published online 4 March, 2021. doi:10.1002/BERJ.3709
10. Done EJ. Researching ‘off rolling’ as a sensitive topic: ‘hard’ evidence and experiential accounts. Emot Behav Diffic. 2022. [in press]
11. Done EJ, Knowler H. Painful invisibilities: roll management or off-rolling and professional identity. Br Educ Res J. 2020;46(3):516-531. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3591
12. Ball SJ. The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. J Educ Policy. 2003; 18(2):215–28.
https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093022000043065
13. Thompson P. School scandals: Blowing the whistle on the corruption of our education system. Policy Press; 2020.
14. Done EJ, Knowler H, Armstrong D. Grey exclusions matter: mapping illegal exclusionary practices and the implications for children with disabilities in England and Australia. J Res Spec Educ Needs. 2021;21:36–44.
doi: 10.1111/1471-3802.12539
15. Done EJ, Knowler H. A tension between rationalities: off-rolling as gaming and the implications for head teachers and the inclusion agenda. Educ Rev. Preprint published online 11 September, 2020. doi: 10.1080/00131911.2020.1806785
16. Clarke AL, Done EJ. Balancing pressures for SENCos as managers, leaders and advocates in the emerging context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Br J Spec Educ. 2021;48(2):157-174. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8578.12353
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18. Lee J. Mental health effects of school closures during COVID-19. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2020;4:421.
https://doi.org/1016/S2352-4642(20)30109=7
19. Petretto DR, Masala I, Masala C. Special educational needs, distance learning, inclusion and COVID-19. Educ Sci. 2020; 10:154. doi:10.3390/educsci10060154.
20. Viner RM, Russell SJ, Croker H, Packer J, Ward J, Stansfield C, Mytton O, Bonell, C, Booy R. School closure and management practices during coronavirus outbreaks including COVID-19: a rapid systematic review. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2020;4:397- 404.
doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30095-X
21. Ashbury K, Fox L, Deniz E, Code A, Toseeb U. How is COVID-19 affecting the mental health of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and their families? J Autism Dev Disord. 2020;51(5):1772–1780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04577-2
22. Department for Education. Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): Implementing Protective Measures in Education and Childcare Settings. 2020. Accessed August 5, 2020.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings
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