The practice issue I will be exploring in relation to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) is the active participation of children in their own learning, with an emphasis on the importance of appropriate differentiation. I have chosen to investigate this fundamental issue as it strikes me that I have seen little evidence of children with SEND being encouraged to actively participate in their learning. Firstly, I will attempt to define inclusion and what it means to be engaging in inclusive practice. I will then analyse the new Code of Practice and Equality Act 2010 and discuss whether these documents recognise the issues of differentiation and active participation and if so to what extent. The crux of this essay focuses specifically
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Hart et al proposes the ‘Pedagogy of Transformability’ in which he/she moves away from determinist ideas about ‘ability’ and ‘ability-based’ teaching. It is his/her view that the principles of Co-agency, Everybody and Trusting the Learner should be applied ‘flexibly and contextually’. In order for these principles to contribute to the movement of inclusive practice, they have to be supported and endorsed by a ‘person-cantered’ school. A person-centred school puts the child at the forefront of their learning and seek to create a community within the school. The idea of schools being communities is supported by Macmurray (1950) who said that ‘Community is ‘entering into fully personal relations with others’. It is central because education is essentially about being and becoming more fully human’. What Macmurry is emphasising here is that only in community are we able to fully understand ourselves and find out who we are. Where schools adopt this approach, children are consistently engaging in active participation. Active participation refers to a range of things from full engagement, hands- on tasks, asking questions, being inspired but also being aware of your learning. Not only is it important for this much needed change to occur, it is important that it is embedded in children from a young age. Allen (2011) believes that implementing this from an …show more content…
Pupil voice is arguably the most beneficial way of developing inclusivity through active participation. Research by The National Children’s Bureau suggests that active participation and voice is directly linked to engagement in learning as well as a happier learning environment (National Children’s Bureau, 2008). The New SEN Code of Practice ‘requires pupils to be involved in decisions and to be listened to’. This suggests that for the first time, children’s opinions and suggestions must be taken seriously. For active participation to take place, children need to be given the opportunity to voice their opinions and to make suggestions about what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. If this change is to take place, it is important to create a school culture that enables this. To give children the right to speak is to give them freedom and treat them as equals. From an ethical point of view, human rights are fundamental to overcoming disabling barriers and promoting inclusion (REFERENCE). If we accept this idea that voice is a ‘human right’ then we must also accept the reality which is that up until the New Code of Practice, children had no voice and therefore were being deprived of a basic fundamental human
Hart et al proposes the ‘Pedagogy of Transformability’ in which he/she moves away from determinist ideas about ‘ability’ and ‘ability-based’ teaching. It is his/her view that the principles of Co-agency, Everybody and Trusting the Learner should be applied ‘flexibly and contextually’. In order for these principles to contribute to the movement of inclusive practice, they have to be supported and endorsed by a ‘person-cantered’ school. A person-centred school puts the child at the forefront of their learning and seek to create a community within the school. The idea of schools being communities is supported by Macmurray (1950) who said that ‘Community is ‘entering into fully personal relations with others’. It is central because education is essentially about being and becoming more fully human’. What Macmurry is emphasising here is that only in community are we able to fully understand ourselves and find out who we are. Where schools adopt this approach, children are consistently engaging in active participation. Active participation refers to a range of things from full engagement, hands- on tasks, asking questions, being inspired but also being aware of your learning. Not only is it important for this much needed change to occur, it is important that it is embedded in children from a young age. Allen (2011) believes that implementing this from an …show more content…
Pupil voice is arguably the most beneficial way of developing inclusivity through active participation. Research by The National Children’s Bureau suggests that active participation and voice is directly linked to engagement in learning as well as a happier learning environment (National Children’s Bureau, 2008). The New SEN Code of Practice ‘requires pupils to be involved in decisions and to be listened to’. This suggests that for the first time, children’s opinions and suggestions must be taken seriously. For active participation to take place, children need to be given the opportunity to voice their opinions and to make suggestions about what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. If this change is to take place, it is important to create a school culture that enables this. To give children the right to speak is to give them freedom and treat them as equals. From an ethical point of view, human rights are fundamental to overcoming disabling barriers and promoting inclusion (REFERENCE). If we accept this idea that voice is a ‘human right’ then we must also accept the reality which is that up until the New Code of Practice, children had no voice and therefore were being deprived of a basic fundamental human