THE ROLE OF A SUPPORT TEACHER (LEARNING SUPPORT/RESOURCE) IN A SECOND-LEVEL SCHOOL.

Support Teacher's Role in a Second-Level School

Support Teacher's Role in a Second-Level School

Introduction

In the past, special education was considered “the exclusive preserve of dedicated professionals who looked after the needs of children and young people who had disabilities”. (Griffin and Shevlin, 2007, p.1). These students were often educated in special national schools, separated from their peers without such difficulties. As a result, the interaction between these children and their peers in the community was comparatively lower. There was also little interaction between professionals in special education and mainstream teachers. In fact, mainstream teachers were not expected to deal with disabled children and, consequently, for many years special education expertise was restricted to special settings. (p. 6).

The introduction of the Education Act 1998 and the EPSEN Act 2004, under which regular schools are obliged to provide inclusive education for all learners, brought a radical change in the way these special children were dealt. In order to do so, schools employ resource and learning support teachers to work with children with special educational needs (SEN). Their role includes collaboration with mainstream teachers, identification and assessment of students, and allocation and coordination of resources. The resources employed by a school for the provision of support depend on the number of students enrolled with SEN and the type of needs.

This essay focuses on analysing, based on three-month observations, the general reasons for the need of resource/learning and support teachers in schools and the manner in which SEN provision is organised particularly in a Dublin inner city post-primary boy school. The adopted SEN provision models, the identification procedures of students with SEN and ongoing assessment will be analysed focusing on the interaction between support team and regular teachers. A general overview of the support programmes employed to provide education and ensure welfare of all students will be discussed followed by a description of the support team. In the final section, the focus will be on one role in particular, that of a Behaviour Support Teacher. Discussions will include the role's main duties and exploring some issues related to the provision of support for students with behavioural difficulties.

Discussion

Rationale for Resource/Learning Support Provision in Mainstream Schools

An international humanitarian appeal for a better-integrated education system arose in the late 1980s and resulted in international agreements, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 1989) and the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO, 1994). The Salamanca Statement declares the fundamental principle that “all children should learn together” (p. 11) should receive the same education. (p. 22).

In Ireland, the response to the Salamanca Statement was the Education Act 1998. Under the Act, for the first time, all mainstream schools were legally obliged to organize resources to provide for the education of all students, including those with physical/sensory impairments, or emotional, behavioural or learning complexities that hinder their capabilities to access mainstream education. Schools are expected to be sufficiently flexible in effectively responding and catering for the ...