Working through my response to the SEND reforms and attempting to contribute to the policy conversation by pointing out some ‘illusions’, so that we can support schools to be truly inclusive.
4. The expert illusion
I don’t agree with Micheal Gove very often but when the ‘experts at hand’ policy was announced I did think, haven’t we all had enough of experts? This wasn’t coming from from a place of anti-intellectualism. I think it’s obvious from this series that I’m calling for more robust research and deeper thinking around Inclusion. Rather, it was because of what the term ‘experts’ sets up: an external authority; someone who has all the answers. Not only is this paternalistic, I think it’s a trap.
I don’t think there are any authorities when it comes to the complex nature of inclusion in schools, not even the best EPs or National SEND advisors have all the answers. As I’ve pointed to in this series, the evidence base is not there yet for how to meet the needs of many of our most complex young people and the conversation about what it means to ‘catch up’ in terms of the curriculum is not developed enough.
That doesn’t mean that there is not a lot of ‘expertise’. It’s just that it is partial. The real expertise sits in the between. The crucial piece then is the bringing together of partial expertise and making sense of it.
This has to pull in those who have the most knowledge of the children and young people. The students themselves and their families. It must also draw on the best possible evidence expertise from cradle to career. In order to support children struggling the most with their social and emotional development. We need to bring specialists in infant development, such as health visitors and early years educators into the conversation to understand how development can be interrupted and how we can intervene effectively. We need to draw Speech and Language therapists alongside English curriculum leaders to consider how we can systematically and efficiently build vocabulary for students who’s language is delayed. And we need to get more subject leaders to think horizontally about the threshold concepts, considering the bottlenecks and misconceptions that might sit across curricula, like the importance of thermodynamics in physics for properly understanding weather in Geography. We also need a better conversation with industries, FE and HE about destinations, one which doesn’t reduce the purpose of education to getting a job but which adequately prepares all young people for a life of choice and opportunity in adulthood.
How we might do this? I think Multi Academy Trusts are very well placed in the system but the collaboration needs to exist outside of these organisations too: Trust to Trust and between Trusts, Health and Local Authorities. I think recent reforms, such as the RISE programme, and the focus on localities in the Families First Partnerships have gone someway to enabling this. Social media can also be a brilliant tool for this. Which I guess is why I’m writing this piece. So if you want to talk? To challenge or think through ideas with me, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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