SecEd The ONLY weekly voice for secondary education Inside this issue


The seven Cs of effective teaching


A US study, which is soon to be trialled in England, has identified what it takes to be an effective teacher. The seven Cs framework makes for interesting reading Pages 8 and 9


The future of 14 to 19 education


SecEd this week focuses on 14 to 19 – with a full report on the Wolf Review, a look at what the future holds, and a focus on the skills that teachers of 14 to 19-year-olds will need in the future Pages 2, 6, 12 and 13


Managing CPD


Our CPD page looks at how teachers can find cost-effective and appropriate CPD in these straitened times Page 15


SecEddigital


and Twitter Thousands of teachers are reading SecEddigital, a virtual edition of SecEd, which is emailed out every week. You can sign up for free by emailing editor@sec-ed.co.uk. SecEd news and features are now also available on Twitter. You can follow us at www. twitter.com/SecEd_Education


Lack of SEN training drives teachers to quit


by Daniel White


A lack of SEN training and resources is leading to some teachers suffering from depression and even leaving the profession, a leading academic has said. Professor Paul Cooper has


called for PGCEs to focus more on SEN training so that more teachers are aware of the social, behavioural and emotional problems that stu- dents can have. Prof Cooper, who is professor


of education at the University of Leicester and a chartered psycholo- gist, said that it is often the case that teachers who have not been given “appropriate training and resourc- es” in SEN have to support other teachers – a case of the “blind lead- ing the blind” which he contends can lead to further problems. Prof Cooper, who has recently


published a book on the issue,From Inclusion to Engagement, has called for teachers to have more training and support on SEN during their PGCEs or after they have qualified. He feels the issue is so important


that he says consideration should be given to making the PGCE course longer, although he admits that this is unlikely in the current economic climate. He told SecEd: “It is patently


obvious that many of our schools experience difficulties in catering for the needs of all students, and demanding that they do so in the absence of appropriate training and resources. It is disheartening for teachers and disastrous for students – especially those who are most vulnerable. “Teachers need help and sup-


port. How can they be expected to know if a student has social, behavioural or emotional problems or support a child who has if they have no sense of the tools (that


can be effective)? Some teachers are affected by this, teachers can become depressed and have a sense of uselessness. “It’s a sort of halo effect, no


teacher wants to fail – if there is no support it can be one of the main reasons why teachers leave the profession so quickly. Every teacher needs to have at least the basic knowledge on how to handle these problems. “Teachers facing the most chal-


lenging circumstances find them- selves locked in a fire-fighting role, which has a negative effect on the learning experience of all students.” Prof Cooper has also said that teaching assistants should have


compulsory training because they deal with “some of the most com- plex” children in schools. Without blaming teaching


assistants, he said that if they do not know how to approach or deal with an SEN child they can make a situation worse. Elsewhere, Prof Cooper believes


that SEN students should not be made to attend mainstream schools if they are more suited or would receive more support at a special school. He said that if the right sup- port is not available it can lead to students underachieving. He added: “Some SEN students


will benefit from being in main- stream schools but not all, some


children attending their local school will not work and the provision might not suit them – they could become segregated. “With many students, alterna-


tive provision suits their needs and they are there because their parents want them to be – because they know them best and they don’t feel their child would perform in main- stream schools. “That’s not anti-inclusion, all


children need to be engaged in edu- cation, but sometimes their needs mean not always in the same place.” From Inclusion to Engagement:


Helping Students Engage With Schooling Through Policy and Practice examines classroom


Business Manager/Senior Staff £12* | Assistant Head/Assistant Principal £12* | Deputy Head/Vice Principal £14* | Head/Principal £16*


Issue 277 • March 10 2011 Price £1.00 www.sec-ed.com


strategies and approaches for SEN teaching that have been found to be effective. Prof Cooper’s claims follow a


report published this week by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) and the University of Manchester saying that students who are deaf and have additional complex needs are being denied support from specialist teach- ers. The study cites a lack of deaf awareness among mainstream teaching staff. The research involved inter-


views with 50 parents who have children aged 0 to 18 with a range of conditions, including multi-sen- sory impairments, Asperger’s, and autism. Susan Daniels, chief executive of


NDCS, said: “We are alarmed by the findings of this research which shows education services are not geared up to support children who are deaf and have other complex needs. “As the number of children with


complex needs rises, due to increas- ing survival rates of children who are born prematurely or suffer a severe illness, it is becoming even more important for services to dras- tically improve how they support these families. “We urge education profession-


als to work with parents to address shortfalls so that deaf children receive the support and care they need.” Both publications come ahead


of the government’s Green Paper on SEN, which was due to be pub- lished as SecEd went to press this week. See next week’s edition for a full report. From Inclusion to Engagement:


Helping Students Engage With Schooling Through Policy and Practice is published by Wiley Blackwell. For more information on the NDCS, visit www.ndcs.org.uk


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