Learning support assistants or teaching assistants play a vital role in the education of pupils with complex learning disabilities, routinely supporting students on a 1:1 basis without the direct supervision of teachers. Despite the responsibility afforded these classroom support staff, there appear to be few training programmes designed for this…

The aim of this study was to explore primary school teachers' awareness and knowledge of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder ((C)APD). Teachers' awareness and knowledge are crucial for initial recognition and appropriate referral of children suspected of having (C)APD. When a child is diagnosed with (C)APD, teachers have a role in…

Previous research on home-school relationships and blame has concentrated on the experiences of parents with children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). This has led to the voices of educational practitioners, as well as parents of children with other special educational needs, being neglected. This article, by Karen…

The year 2014 marks an important milestone for the SENCo role. It is the 20-year anniversary of the requirement for schools to have a named person as lead for special educational needs. This article, by Catherine Tissot from the University of Reading, explores the vision of the role as seen in Government guidance and documents and compares this…

Monitoring mechanisms of support services for students with special needs can be broadly classified as external and internal. Resembling the UK model, Hong Kong has adopted an internal mechanism through the establishment of the SENCo post. This investigation, written by Dr Kim Fong Poon-McBrayer, of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, explores…

The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act in Ireland advocated the development of individual education plans (IEPs). However, this section of the Act has never been fully implemented and there is no obligation upon schools to develop IEPs. Research conducted across the country by Richard Rose and Yu Zhao of the University of…

This study, authored by Dominic Griffiths and Rachel Dubsky, both of Manchester Metropolitan University, considers the impact of the new National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordinators (NASENCo) in one English local authority. Data on the impacts upon both SENCos' personal professional development and upon their schools are drawn from…

This follow-up study, written by Kristiina Lappalainen of the University of Eastern Finland and Hotulainen Risto of the University of Helsinki, investigated whether young adults designated as having part-time special education needs (PtSEN) during their comprehensive schooling had differentiated educational and vocational paths, perceived…

The ways in which SENCos identify themselves and how they enact the SENCo role is the focus of this research by Sarah Rosen-Webb, an associate tutor and course coordinator at Middlesex University. Who becomes a SENCo and how different individuals develop their SENCo role is explored through the study of the career pathways of nine SENCos in nine…

In this qualitative study, James Oldham, assistant head of the Inclusion Advisory Service, Cambridge Education, and Julie Radford, senior lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, investigate the tension in the role of mainstream secondary school SENCos. A review of legislation and literature…

This article by Gordon Stan White, who is SENCo and Head of the Foundation Stage Resourced Provision at Lowerhouses CE School in Huddersfield, considers the role of resourced provisions or "units" within the present school system. Issues discussed include transition, the impact of children being transported out of their local communities, the…

The National Curriculum of 1988 provided a common curriculum for all primary and secondary schools in the state school sector in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and ensured that schools in all local authorities had a common curriculum. However, pupils with special educational needs had attainments that fell well below those that the National…

Special education in England has over the past 25 years been subject to rapid development, not least in relation to the emergence of inclusive education. Alan Hodkinson of the Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure, John Moore's University, critically examines the development of inclusion in England and the barriers that can stall the…

Samir Dukmak is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education in the Faculty of Education at the United Arab Emirates University. The research reported in this article investigated the frequency, types of and reasons for student-initiated interactions in both regular and special education classrooms in the United Arab Emirates…

The association of inclusive education with an equity discourse means that the question of "how" to include is one currently faced by many teachers in the UK. Written by Eve Griffiths, who teaches English, literacy, media studies and drama in a special school in Wolverhampton, this article constructs a set of inclusive principles for teaching and…