An informative table comparing provision in 20 countries for the training of teachers of children with special educational needs can be downloaded from the INCA website. The countries in the table are listed in blocks: ‘UK and Ireland’ (5), ‘Europe’ (8) and ‘the rest of the world’ (7).
Of the 20 countries, 9 offer "specialist initial teacher training": Germany, Spain, Hungary, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore, USA.
18 of the 20 countries are said to offer "post qualification specialisation", the exceptions being Hungary and Spain.
14 of the 20 offer some element of "Special needs education [as] part of initial teacher training".
2 of the 20 rely solely on "post qualification specialisation" as the only means of training teachers of pupils with special educational needs.
In addition to the Table, for each country it is possible to discover, by means of a simple search facility, a wealth of information about arrangements for the training of teachers of children with special educational needs. For instance, I copy below an extract from the information on England.
As I read this extract, I am struck by (i) the intellectual and academic poverty of the "basic knowledge and skills in
the field of special educational needs" required of all newly qualified teachers; (ii) the question as to whether there is any such "field" as that of "special educational needs" and (iii) a curiosity as to the reason why teachers of children with sensory impairments - and not other disabilities - are required to obtain a "recognised specialist qualification within
three years of appointment" as a Mandatory Qualification.
Is it fair and reasonable to conclude from this that when newly qualified teachers in England (and presumably the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland) begin their first day of teaching in a special school for children with cerebral palsy, they are largely bereft of the slightest clue what they are doing and why?
As I read this extract, I am also reminded that Conductors have undertaken 3-4 years of specialist initial teacher training to work with children with motor disorders before setting a first step in a classroom in earnest.
In The Times today is the story ("How could my boy be racist") of a boy with Down's Syndrome being charged by the police with assault and racial abuse after an incident at a college between him and an Asian girl also with special needs. Remarkably, The Times allocates nearly two whole pages (minus a very large photograph) to the story. The parents comment on the lack of training and of specialist knowledge of children with Down's Syndrome. This is supported by David Congdon, Head of Campaigns and Policy at Mencap: ".... it is surprising and concerning that more attention has not been given to the support needed by suspects with learning disabilities" and "Better training about the needs of people with a learning disability would equip police officers when dealing with suspects."
I would stress that my point here is not to criticise the police generally nor those in this case specifically. Indeed, the parents of the boy are reported as saying that the officers who first interviewed the boy "were very pleasant".
But in the light of this report and the extract quoted from the INCA research, I cannot help but wonder: why would a society that decides against the initial training of specialist teachers to work with pupils with special needs regard as a proper, effective and efficient allocation of scarce resources to the specialist training of police officers? In a similar way, I once asked my daughters home carers what they new about cerebral palsy. I'll leave you to guess the answer.
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Extract from the 'England' section of the INCA database:
7.5.2 Types of training institutions and courses
There is no longer any initial teacher training (ITT) focusing on special educational needs as a specialist subject. All initial teacher training courses in England must provide all student teachers with basic knowledge and skills in the field of special educational needs (SEN). Requirements have been introduced to ensure that all newly qualified teachers are:
- Familiar with the "Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs" (see section 1.2.1.)
- Able to identify students with SEN in their classes and know where to obtain help to give positive and targeted support.
SEN teachers are usually classroom teachers with several years of teaching experience.
Specialist SEN training
In addition to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), teachers of classes of students with hearing impairment (HI), visual impairment (VI) or multi-sensory impairment (MSI) must, in addition, obtain a recognised specialist qualification within three years of appointment. This qualification must be approved by the Secretary of State as a so-called Mandatory Qualification (MQ). Institutions are approved to award MQs.