Learning for Excellence: Professional Learning for Learning Support

i ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY ‘LEARNING FOR EXCELLENCE’ PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS WITHIN FUTHER EDUCATION BENITA McLACHLAN Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Submitted: June 2012 ii Acknowledgements I need to extend my sincere gratitude to a number of people who have supported me over the last seven years during this immensely personal, professional and academic learning journey. My largest debt is to the learning support assistants who volunteered to take part in my research. I have huge appreciation for their time, effort and the enthusiasm they have displayed over a prolonged period in support of professional identity development for all college LSAs’. I must also acknowledge the many young people with disabilities who played a key role through prompting my interest in their condition which stimulated my imagination towards workable and practical solutions and educational interventions. They and their immediate and future well-being were and still are, without any doubt, the most important aspect of my research. I am also sincerely grateful to many colleagues who have offered support and discussion about LSA provision who are perhaps not even aware of the crucial input they have provided, but which has particularly informed decisions during the design and developmental phase of ELSAP. My progress and achievement is, however, entirely down to the excellent supervision, academic discussion and boundless knowledge and vision on learning and disability, of my first supervisor, Dr Chrissie Rogers, with whom I will be in debt forever. She believed in my research, the relevance and importance of providing meaningful, ethical education for individuals with disabilities in colleges, when others were not so sure. She put her trust and judgement in my personal, professional and academic abilities and made me believe in myself. Thank you for providing me with so many challenges and opportunities to learn, for your consistent encouragement, support and positivity; they are very, very much appreciated. More people need to be acknowledged for their consistent support and without whom I would have struggled to be successful. The first is Mr Russ Bevington for his excellent, timely proof reading and the second is my husband Niel, who acted for many years as a sounding board for my ideas and views. Thank you for your patience and love, particularly over the last few years, which have seen the birth and growth of my research. Benita McLachlan, June 2012 iii ABSTRACT Professional Learning for Supporters of Learning The 1980s saw an increase in learning support assistants (LSAs’) in colleges for further education to support post-sixteen learners with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD). LSAs’ were appointed on an ad hoc basis with little or no experience, or relevant qualifications to deliver support in ‘inclusive’ vocational classrooms. The Workforce Development Plan in 2004 acknowledged this phenomenon and advocated that occupational standards be developed. Two years later, in October 2006, the first National Occupational Standards (NOS) for college LSAs was launched but it did not include an official training framework for their professional learning and although there are some training structures in place, this still remains the case today. Learners with LDD are, therefore, still supported by untrained LSAs’ who are not professionally equipped to deal with the particular challenges they present. Educators like myself who work alongside LSAs’ in colleges, must seek to naturalistically explore professional learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. Such professional learning opportunities should reflect the creative and dynamic contribution college LSAs’ bring to inclusive classrooms and, thereby, not only improve the quality of the support LSAs’ give but the overall integrative, ethical and non-discriminative ethos of a college. With this knowledge, I developed and implemented an Enhanced Learning Support Assistant Programme (ELSAP) for the professional learning of volunteer LSA participants with the aim of improving their knowledge and skills to deliver a more meaningful education for post- sixteen learners with LDD. For the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, professional learning for LSAs’ needs to occur systemically over time and be integrated within the multi- layered context of a college to allow dynamic and reciprocal influences to make transformative connections. Critically, my action research study strengthens the connection between socio-political theory and practice within the sociology of disability education on moral, ethical and human rights grounds. Key words: inclusive education, further education, learning support assistants, professional learning, action research iv For Niel, with love v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 ‘TROUBLES AND ISSUES’: CONTEXTUALISATION OF THE STUDY 1 INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCING THE STUDY 2 Contextual Review, Background and Personal Motivation 2 The Intervention 5 Ethical Considerations 8 PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENT EMBEDDED IN THEORY 9 Theoretical Framework 9 Conceptual Argument 10 Relationship between Intervention, Theory, Conceptual Framework and Evaluation 13 INTRODUCTION OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS 14 Setting the Research Field 14 Design 17 Methods 17 Data Collection 18 CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE 19 Insufficient Programmes 19 Learning and Development Needs 20 No Training Framework 20 Gap in the Knowledge 21 CONCLUDING COMMENTS 21 STRUCTURE OF THESIS 23 Chapter 2 ‘LEARNING FOR EXCELLENCE OR NOT?’ LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS AND CURRENT TRAINING 24 INTRODUCTION 24 PARTICIPANTS AND CONTEXT 25 vi Setting up the Sample 24 Contextualisation of Participants within Research 32 CURRENT PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS IN FURTHER EDUCATION 34 Background Information 34 Day Seminar: with SEN in FE 35 Certificate/Diploma HE in Learning Support 37 Summary of Current Training Provision 39 Analysis of Current Training Provision 41 SYSTEMIC INFLUENCES ON THE SOCIOLOGY OF THE ENHANCED LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANT PROGRAMME’S DESIGN AND INMPLEMENTATION 43 Introductory Comments 43 Continuous Professional Development 44 Comparing other Relevant Curricula 45 Occupational Standards 45 Exploration versus Evaluation 47 Work-based Learning 47 Integrated Learning 48 THE ENHANCED LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANT PROGRAMME (ELSAP) 48 Background Information and Contextualisation 48 Programme Structure 50 CONCLUSION 52 Chapter 3 ‘TRICKS OF THE TRADE’: CONCEPTUALISING POLICY, ‘INCLUSIVE’ FURTHER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS 54 INTRODUCTION 54 POLICY DEVELOPMENT 56 Introductory Comments 56 Historical Developments 59 Towards Current Developments 63 Policy Reform Implications for Further Education Provision 65 ANALYSIS OF FURTHER EDUCATION POLICY 67 Leadership for Learning 69 14-19 Reform 73 A Skills Delivery Focus 74 Empowering Employers 76 vii Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) 78 Concluding the Rhetoric on Further Education Policy 79 Conclusive Comments to Policy 80 COMPLEXITY THEORY WITHIN A SYSTEMS THINKING APPROACH FOR EDUCATIONAL CHANGE 81 Systemic Thinking for Classroom Change 82 Complexity, Chaos and Change 86 ‘INCLUSIVE’ FURTHER EDUCATION PROVISION 89 Introduction 89 Defining ‘Inclusive’ Education 89 Changes in Approaches 90 ‘Inclusive’ Further Education 92 Learning Support within Further Education 94 Post-Sixteen Learners within Further Education 98 Extrinsic Influences on Post-Sixteen Learning 102 Role of Learning Support Assistants within Further Education 104 Effective Communication: Key to Classroom Success 112 THE CONCEPT OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING 116 Introduction to Adult Learning: Andragogy 118 Perspectives on Professional Learning Processes 120 Psychological Theories on Adult Learning 123 CONCLUSION 130 Chapter 4 RESEARCH PROCESS: METHODS AND METHODOLOGY 132 INTRODUCTION 132 RESEARCH PROCESS 134 Design 134 Epistemological Grounding 138 Data Analysis 160 VALIDITY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS 167 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 170 CONCLUSION 173 viii Chapter 5 ‘OUT OF DEPTH’: FURTHER EDUCATION POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS 174 THEORETICAL BACKDROP 176 LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS ARE ‘OUT OF DEPTH’ 176 No Recruitment and Appointment Strategy 179 Induction Dilemma for New College Learning Support Assistants 183 No Appraisals or Continuous Professional Development 186 Unexpected or Sudden Additional Responsibilities 190 CONCLUSION 194 Chapter 6 ‘REALITY CHECK’: INCLUSIVE FURTHER EDUCATION AND DISABILITY 196 THEORETICAL BACKDROP 196 ‘REALITY CHECK’ ON COLLEGE LEARNING SUPPORT PROVISION 199 College as Complex Work Environment 199 Hindrances in Supporting Learning 220 CONCLUSION 239 Chapter 7 ‘EFFICACY OR INEFFICIENCY’: PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS IN FURTHER EDUCATION 242 THEORETICAL BACKDROP 242 ESTABLISHING THE ‘EFFICACY OR INEFFICIENCY’ OF LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS 247 Emotional State 247 Professional Competence 256 Need for Future Training 264 CONCLUSION 270 ix Chapter 8 CONCLUSIONS: LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS ‘LEARNING FOR EXCELLENCE’ 273 INTRODUCTION 273 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF LIMITATIONS 275 A MATTER OF SOCIAL JUSTICE 278 POLICY DEVELOPMENT INFORMS INCLUSIVE PRACTICE 280 TRAINING NEEDS ADDRESSED TO ENSURE CHANGED INCLUSIVE PRACTICE 282 QUEST FOR MANDATORY PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR LEARNING SUPPORT ASSISTANTS IN FURTHER EDUCATION 283 OVERALL CONCLUDING COMMENTS 286 FINAL COMMENTS

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