'The Best of Both Worlds' Or 'A Compromise Policy'? Co
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‘THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS’ OR ‘A COMPROMISE POLICY’? CO-LOCATION AS A FORM OF EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENT FOR PUPILS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS. EVE GRIFFITHS BA(Hons.), PGCE, M.Ed. A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Education University of Birmingham September 2013 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Co-location involves the physical placement of two schools onto one site. By some it is seen as a ‘compromise policy’ which prevents inclusion, whilst other authors argue that it offers ‘the best of both worlds’ in allowing pupils with special needs to access both mainstream and special school environments. The teacher-research presented here focused on the co-location of a special school with a mainstream secondary school. It used formal interviews and questionnaires to explore the attitudes of staff and parents towards the co-location and a ‘mosaic’ (Clark and Moss, 2001, p.1) of child-friendly methods to access the opinions of pupils from both schools. The research also included case studies of two co-located special schools which further explored the concept of co-location and considered the relationship of co-location to broader literature relating to the educational placement and inclusion of children with special needs. The research discovered that participants from the mainstream school were generally less concerned about the co-location than the special school participants. Participants from the special school were concerned about bullying, inequality and educational failure as a result of the co-location. Participants from all groups spoke with enthusiasm about the potential of the co-location to deconstruct prejudices and offer staff and pupils opportunities to learn together. The research concludes that co-located schools can be ‘autonomous’ and joined only by their physical placement on the same site, or that the schools can become ‘collaborative’ and work together to offer a unique inclusive learning environment. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wonderful husband and children. With love and thanks. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thanks go to all of the amazing participants that took part in this research, particularly the young people with whom I worked, who opened my eyes wide to the value of research. Many thanks also to the two head teachers and BSF group for their financial contributions and Dr Steve Powers, my supervisor, for priceless advice. CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1: Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 1.2: Defining co-location…………………………………………………………………….. 2 1.3: Connecting co-location with inclusion………………………………………………….. 3 1.4: Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and the political context………………………...5 1.5: BSF and the Local Authority……………………………………………………………. 7 1.6: The schools and research context ...………………………………………………………8 1.7: Historical and speculative context……………………………………………………….10 1.8: The role of the teacher-researcher……………………………………………………….13 1.9: Research overview……………………………………………………………………...14 1.10: Research purpose………………………………………………………………………15 1.11: Research aims…………………………………………………………………………..16 1.12: Research questions……………………………………………………………………..17 1.13: Organisation of the thesis………………………………………………………………17 Chapter 2: Analysis, Ethics and Theorising 2.1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...19 2.2: Sample size………………………………………………………………………………20 2.3: Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….20 2.4: Participatory data analysis……………………………………………………………….23 2.5: Ethical issues…………………………………………………………………………….24 2.6: Young people and individuals with learning difficulties………………………………..27 2.7: Ethics and emancipation…………………………………………………………………28 2.8: Linking participation and emancipation…………………………………………………31 2.9: Theoretical considerations and grounded theory………………………………………..33 2.10: Construction, interaction, interpretation and complexity………………………………35 2.11: Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...39 Chapter 3: Literature Review 3.1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………...40 3.2: Definitions of inclusion and how these relate to co-location……………………………42 3.3: Documentation from the researched School, Local Authority and BSF group…………46 3.4: References to future expectations of co-location………………………………………..47 3.5: Documents from other schools and Local Authorities…………………………………..48 3.6: Ofsted (2006) Inclusion: Does it Matter Where Pupils are Taught? ...............................51 3.7: Educational press ……………………………………………………………………….52 3.8: Gordon (2006) Opening Doors Opening Minds ……………………………………………..53 3.9: Thomas, Walker and Webb, (1998) The Making of the Inclusive School ………………55 3.10: SEN Policy Options Group (2007) Special Schools in the New Era: How Do We Go Beyond Generalities?...............................................................................................................56 3.11: Peacey (2009) A Storytelling Project in Two Sets of Co-located Mainstream and Special Schools in Country and City. ………………………………………………………………...58 3.12: Lindsay, Muijs, Harris, Chapman, Arweck and Goodall (2007) School Federations Pilot Study 2003-2007 ……………………………………………………………………….59 3.13: Evans (2008 ) Co-location: Does it Work? ……………………………………………61 3.14: Letts (2002) The Best of Both Worlds and Letts (2004) Making Co-location Work …..63 3.15: Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………..64 Chapter 4: Staff attitudes to the co-location 4.1: Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………..67 4.2: Research questions………………………………………………………………………70 4.3: Methodology ……………………………………………………………………………70 4.4: Methods…………………………………………………………………………………72 4.5: Sample…………………………………………………………………………………...74 4.6: Findings………………………………………………………………………………….76 4.7: Template 1- Inclusion …………………………………………………………………..77 4.8: Template 2- Different forms of provision……………………………………………….80 4.9: Template 3- Issues of stigma, power and barriers……………………………………….81 4.10: Templates 5 and 6 - Steps towards co-location and interchange, sharing and togetherness…………………………………………………………………………………..86 4.11: Template 7 - BSF and communication ………………………………………………...89 4.12: Template 8- Definitions, perceptions and purposes of co-location…………………….92 4.13: Findings for the educational provision models………………………………………...94 4.14: Discussion……………………………………………………………………………...94 4.15: Summary…………………………………………………………………………….....99 Chapter 5: Pupil attitudes to the co-location 5.1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….102 5.2: Research questions …………………………………………………………………….104 5.3: Methodology…………………………………………………………………………...105 5.4: Methods………………………………………………………………………………...108 5.5: Sample …………………………………………………………………………………113 5.6: Findings………………………………………………………………………………...115 5.7: Template 1- Attitudes to the environment……………………………………………..116 5.8: Template 2- Attitudes to each other …………………………………………………..119 5.9: Template 3- Bullying ………………………………………………………………….124 5.10: Template 4- Co-location and togetherness…………………………………………...127 5.11: Construction activity………………………………………………………………….130 5.12: Discussion…………………………………………………………………………….133 5.13: Discussion of Methods……………………………………………………………….133 5.14: Discussion of Findings……………………………………………………………….136 5.15: Summary ......................................................................................................................142 Chapter 6: Parent attitudes to the co-location 6.1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….146 6.2: Research questions……………………………………………………………………..148 6.3: Methodology…………………………………………………………………………...149 6.4: Methods………………………………………………………………………………...151 6.5: Sample………………………………………………………………………………….153 6.6: Findings………………………………………………………………………………...154 6.7: Template 1- The mainstream parents are more positive about the co-location of the two schools than the special school parents……………………………………………………..156 6.8: Template 2- The Special School parents want their children to continue to attend separate special school education…………………………………………………………………….162 6.9: Template 3 - Gathers together reasons for special school parental attitudes towards the co-location…………………………………………………………………………………..166 6.10: Template 4 - Special school parents feel that they have not been appropriately consulted on the co-location and there is a sense of helplessness with regard to parental choice…….174 6.11: Discussion of methods………………………………………………………………..176 6.12: Discussion of findings………………………………………………………………..179 6.13: Summary……………………………………………………………………………...187 Chapter 7: A case study of two co-located schools 7.1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….189 7.2 Case 1: Cherry Fields School…………………………………………………………...190 7.3 Case 2: Willow Fields School…………………………………………………………..190 7.4: Research Questions…………………………………………………………………….192 7.5: Methodology…………………………………………………………………………...192 7.6: Methods………………………………………………………………………………...196 7.7: Sample………………………………………………………………………………….203 7.8: Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………..204 7.9: Findings………………………………………………………………………………...205 7.10: Discussion