Exploring Children's Views and Experiences of Having a Learning
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Exploring Children’s Views and Experiences of Having a Learning Difficulty and the Support They Receive at School Abigail Wilson A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of East London for the degree of Doctor of Applied Educational and Child Psychology April 2017 Word count: 38, 494 P a g e i Abstract Few studies have focused on gaining the views and experiences of primary aged children with the highest level of SEN – those with Statements of SEN (SSEN) or Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). This exploratory study aimed to understand from the perspective of children with moderate or general learning difficulties what they think of school, the additional support they receive, and what they would change about it in the future. It also aimed to investigate the extent to which these children are involved in the decision- making process around their provision and whether their views are considered. Six children were interviewed using pictorial prompts and the data were transcribed and analysed thematically from a social constructivist standpoint. The study found that the pupils with SSEN or EHCPs held generally positive views of schools, preferred creative subjects, but experienced a range of difficulties at school. Friends and the support of a considerate adult were viewed as important elements of school. However, close TA support and appearing different from their learning-abled peers seems to promote physical isolation, a lack of agency and bullying. Pupils placed more value on support linked to developing their interaction skills rather than support that helped them to learn, or support related to changes in their environment. Overall, the most valued support was ‘Working with different adults’. The most important change for children was a desire to have more opportunities to interact with their peers within the learning environment. The children showed mixed experiences of being involved with decision-making at the school, but generally findings showed that children were mostly left out of decision-making. These developments have the potential to inform schools, EPs and other professionals' practice. Additionally, this study highlights the difficulties that schools face over inclusion and provides readers with thoughts on the actual level of inclusion for some pupils with a SSEN or EHCP. P a g e ii Declaration I hereby declare that, except where explicit attribution is made, the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references in the text. A full reference list is included in the thesis. Abigail Wilson April 2017 P a g e iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank the UEL tutor team for their advice and support. I am especially grateful to my supervisor Dr Helena Bunn, who has been an invaluable source of support and encouragement. In addition, I would also like to thank my family, particularly my boyfriend Ben and my father for providing me with endless encouragement and feedback. I am forever grateful to my parents who have always supported me and believed that I could succeed in whatever I set out to do. I would also like to thank my colleagues at the Educational Psychology Service and my fellow Trainee Educational Psychologists; whose support has been invaluable. Special thanks go to the children who agreed to speak to me and share their stories with me. Without these six children, this research would not have been possible. Additionally, I would like to thank the schools where I was warmly welcomed each visit by all the helpful and friendly staff and the parents who gave permission for me to approach their children. P a g e iv Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction to the current chapter ......................................................... 1 1.2 Terminology ........................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 Learning Difficulties ......................................................................... 1 1.2.2 Special Educational Needs ............................................................. 2 1.2.3 SSENs, EHCPs and Additional Support .......................................... 2 1.3 National and International context ......................................................... 3 1.3.1 Legislation ....................................................................................... 5 1.4 Local Context ......................................................................................... 6 1.5 Philosophical perspective ...................................................................... 7 1.6 Purpose of research .............................................................................. 8 1.7 Research question ................................................................................. 9 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 10 2.1 Introduction to literature review ............................................................ 10 2.2 Details of systematic search ................................................................ 10 2.3 Details of previous research findings ................................................... 11 2.3.1 Awareness and experiences of feeling ‘different’ .......................... 12 2.3.2 Inclusion and children’s experiences of school ............................. 14 2.3.3 Additional support.......................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Pedagogy ...................................................................................... 19 2.3.5 Support staff .................................................................................. 21 2.3.6 Service delivery models ................................................................ 23 2.3.7 Participating in the decision-making process ................................ 24 2.3.8 Increasing children’s involvement and its challenges .................... 28 P a g e v 2.4 Issues arising from this review of literature .......................................... 31 2.5 Theoretical Underpinnings of this Study .............................................. 31 2.5.1 Personal Construct Theory ............................................................ 31 2.5.2 Relevance of Personal Construct Theory to this study .................. 32 2.5.3 Determination theory ..................................................................... 32 2.5.4 Relevance of Determination theory to this study ........................... 33 2.6 Conclusions linking previous research to the current research aims ... 34 3 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................... 36 3.1 Introduction to Methodology ................................................................. 36 3.2 Design .................................................................................................. 36 3.2.1 Sampling method .......................................................................... 36 3.2.2 Participants ................................................................................... 38 3.3 Method ................................................................................................. 38 3.3.1 Semi-structured interviews ............................................................ 38 3.4 Procedures .......................................................................................... 40 3.4.1 Research Timeline ........................................................................ 40 3.4.2 Interview Procedure ...................................................................... 40 3.4.3 Pictorial cues ................................................................................. 41 3.4.4 Drawing ......................................................................................... 42 3.4.5 Interviewing Children ..................................................................... 44 3.5 Ethical Consideration ........................................................................... 45 3.5.1 Gaining informed consent ............................................................. 45 3.5.2 Confidentiality ................................................................................ 46 3.6 Approach to data analysis .................................................................... 46 3.7 Summary ............................................................................................. 48 4 FINDINGS .................................................................................................. 49 4.1 Introduction to Findings........................................................................ 49 P a g e vi 4.2 Overview of the data ............................................................................ 49 4.3 Key theme 1: Experience of school life ................................................ 51 4.3.1 Individual portraits of lessons ........................................................ 53 4.3.2 General positive attitude towards school ....................................... 55 4.3.3 Not stimulated ............................................................................... 55 4.3.4 Some understanding of school importance ................................... 56 4.3.5 Routine is important ...................................................................... 59 4.3.6 Strengths and difficulties ..............................................................