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Special education – do families really get a choice?

Research released today by CCS Disability Action indicates that for many families the ‘choice’ of which school to send their child to may be an illusion. TheFamilies Choices: Choosing School(s)researchlooks at the factors that influence parent and caregiver choice around where their child goes to school.

Kiwi parents spoken to in the study described themselves as ‘lucky’ when their local school accepted their child. The choice of the child’s enrolment is essentially being made by the school rather than parents or caregivers.

This is the latest in a continuing series of work commissioned by CCS Disability Action to look at issues in special and inclusive education. Phase 1 ofFamilies Choices: Choosing School(s)   launched today and undertaken by Drs Missy Morton and Trish McMenamin at the School of Educational Studies and Human Development, University of Canterbury, looked at international literature to review the factors influencing parental choices of schooling in countries such as Canada, Australia, UK and US. Common themes included: prevailing attitudes and philosophies in the school, school environment and educational provision, and factors that are specific to the child, including whether their siblings attended the school.

The researchers went on to test some of the themes with five Kiwi families, and found similarities. While factors influencing choice of school are no different for any parent, parents of disabled children are more likely to face barriers even when choosing to enrol their child at the local school despite their legal entitlement and right to do so.

Two of the five families in the research had to uproot their whole family and move cities in order to find the appropriate school, or any school, that would accept their children. This study will be followed later in the year with Phase 2, an extensive national study of 1,400 parents to look at the extent to which Kiwi families have real choice in where their child with a disability goes to school.

This research follows on from a CCS Disability Action study in 2006 which looked at teacher training:Inclusive education in Aotearoa: What are we doing in initial teacher education, professional learning and development?, completed by Drs Missy Morton and Liz Gordon.

The 2006 study asked why, in an inclusive system, so many disabled kids and their parents are not actually experiencing inclusion. The study found that there were few teacher training courses, particularly mandatory courses,on inclusion or special needs education. These courses were more likely to be present in three year degree programmes. Twelve and 18 month qualifications were less likely to have courses that focus on inclusive education. Where such courses did exist, in many cases this was because one or two staff were ‘championing’ inclusive education.

This is a major concern for CCS Disability Action as teachers may complete their initial teacher education qualifications lacking confidence in their skills to teach the range of students in their classrooms. The study showed that many teachers, new and experienced, do feel that, as professionals, they want to meet the learning needs of all of their students. Many who do share this view also want more support to meet their expectations of themselves as professionals. However, some teachers do not take this view and inclusion of people with disabilities is less likely to be part of their professional self-concept.

In releasing the Special Education Review discussion document on 5 February, Government has indicated its desire to improve the schooling choices available for parents and to look at teacher training. The Ministry of Education is calling for submissions to the Review, by 19 March. This gives parents, caregivers and schools an opportunity to outline current barriers to real choice.

So what would a truly inclusive school look like so that parents could feel they have a genuine choice about their disabled child’s schooling? In theFamilies Choices:Choosing School(s)research Kiwi parents described similar attributes to those reported in international literature: 

·       staff with interest, expertise and commitment to their students with special learning needs;

·       teachers with high but realistic expectations;

·       a focus on learning and outcomes;

·       collaboration with parents;

·       responsive to an individual child’s needs.

A full copy of the research, funded by J.R. McKenzie Trust, is available at www.ccsDisabilityAction.org.nz .

~ENDS~

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