Narrowing the inclusion gap – teachers and parents around SEN students

Figures & data

Table 1. Contextual Systems Model (Pianta and Walsh 2014).

Level	Factors	Indicators
Teachers	Relationship	Confidential relationship, frequent communication, accepting attitude
		Hierarchical relationships, top-down communication, bureaucratic
Family	Collaboration	Strengthening partnerships, positive collaboration practices based on shared values
		One-sided, mothers’ frequent involvement, monoparental families, marginalised groups
School	Structural	Inclusive schools focusing on highlighting individual skills
		Segregated schools, resulting from a process of student selection, creating a cold school climate
System-wide	Education policy	Effective advocacy, interdisciplinary teamwork and professional care, prompt assistance
		Lack of resources, lack of professional assistance, lack of interest

Table 2. Interviewees and their schools.^a

Interviewee	Gender	Professional experience^b	Education	Level of education	Student composition	School size	Size of settlement
P1	female	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Average SES	large	town
P2	female	senior	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	large	village
P3	male	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	medium	village
P4	female	senior	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Average SES	large	town
P5	female	early career	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	medium	village
P6	female	senior	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	small	city
P7	male	senior	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Average SES	large	village
P8	female	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	medium	village
P9	female	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	medium	village
P10	female	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	large	city
P11	female	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Average SES	large	city
P12	female	senior	Bachelor’s degree	primary	High SES	large	city
P13	female	experienced	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	medium	village
P14	female	early career	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Low SES	large	town
P15	female	senior	Bachelor’s degree	primary	Average SES	medium	village
P16	female	experienced	Master’s degree	secondary	High SES	medium	city
P17	male	senior	Master’s degree	secondary	High SES	large	city
P18	female	experienced	Master’s degree	secondary	Average SES	medium	city
P19	female	experienced	Master’s degree	secondary	Average SES	small	town
P20	female	senior	Master’s degree	secondary	Low SES	medium	town
P21	female	senior	Master’s degree	secondary	Average SES	large	city

^a About marking interview quotes: In Atlas.ti software, P4 2:12, this abbreviation for quotations are given by the software; therefore, P is the abbreviation for the document (P4 = document 4), and 2:12 stands for paragraph 2 and line 12.

^bEarly career: 2 years of experience or less; experienced: 3–20 years of experience; senior: over 20 years of experience.

Table 3. Main topics, quantified data on their associated sub-topics, with code frequencies and percentages, and relevant interview excerpts.

Main topic	Sub-topic	Code frequency	(% sub-codes)	Relevant interview excerpts
Teacher-parent interaction		206	100%
	Confidential relationship	25	12.14%	‘ … we try all kinds of methods, but I think the most important thing is for us to trust them and for them to trust us.’ P1 1:22
	Aimlessness	10	4.85%	‘Well, there is no plan for the future, so we don’t have a goal … ’ P13 13:31
	Rejection	23	11.17%	‘And all of them close in and don’t want to show themselves, and this parent is also like that, doesn’t want us to see anything from their life … ’ P10 10:20
	Superficial contact	7	3.40%	‘Superficial. I think it’s superficial.’ P2 2:34
	Frequent contact	24	10.65%	‘ … I hold parent-teacher conferences, class parent-teacher conferences, so I meet parents on a daily basis, whether it’s in the shop, on the street, on the way to school.’ P6 6:4
	Hierarchical role	8	3.88%	‘We absolutely disagree on educational principles. Because the vast majority of parents, as I said before, are not consistent.’ P2 2:24
	High SES parents	9	4.37%	‘Highly qualified parents also read psychologists’ analyses on the Internet and are very well informed or have specific ideas about the new way of education.’ P15 15:15
	Burnout and apathy	10	4.85%	‘I don’t want to change anything, nor do I want to innovate.’ P2 2:42
	Difficult communication	18	8.77%	‘Well, he’s busy! He’s working! He can’t come, the bus isn’t coming! He can’t come to the given town!’ P2 2:38
	Partnership	11	5.34%	‘Parents who want to pay attention to their child, and I see that they are a partner in that, we want the same thing … ’ P8 8:17
	Passivity	28	13.59%	‘Unfortunately, parents are characterized by negligence … ’ P5 5:8
	Rare contact	13	6.31%	‘There’s none, none, so there’s no personal communication at all … not personal, careless, and it’s hard to catch honest looks and even seek help with anything.’ P10 10:23
	Talent management	13	6.31%	‘Talent management is, well, just as important as bridging developmental gaps. At least the teacher has a sense of achievement.’ P6 6:14
	Accusations/ Verbal aggression	12	5.83%	‘ … sometimes the parent verbally attacks the teacher and blames the teacher for everything.’ P2 2:29
Labelling		108	100%
	SEN ‘B’ (ADHD, Disorders, Autism)	4	3.70%	‘ … dys-, dys-, dyslexia, dysgraphia, whatever … ’ P17 17:8
	Behavioural difficulties	16	14.81%	‘ … we have a lot of students with behavioral difficulties. I don’t know if that concept sounds familiar. So it’s difficulties with integration, learning, and behavior. The number of children with special educational needs is very high’ P8 9:13
	Ethnic minority	4	3.70%	‘ … all kinds of children … , speaking Russian or black … ’ P17 9:28
	Multiple disadvantages	29	26.85%	‘and disadvantaged, all our students are disadvantaged or face multiple disadvantages’ P14 14:5
	SEN ‘A’ (visually impairment, hearing impairment, mobility impairment)	2	1.85%	‘ … there was a visually impaired boy in my class, and a hearing-impaired boy in my other class … ’ P4 4:29
	Roma	13	12.04%	‘There are already many Roma children in this school; for example, in my class, 20 out of 20 are Roma … ’
	SEN	23	23.30%	‘ … who has SEN, that is, very low ability, has behavioral disorders and is under psychiatric care.’ P8 8:12
	Mental disorders (depression, anorexia, self-harm)	10	9.26%	‘ … very aggressive, he can barely control his behavior, and in one case when I was on duty, he almost strangled one of the children … ’ P16 16:20
	Heterogeneity	7	6.48%	‘Overall, it’s very mixed, very mixed, so it’s heterogeneous, which also has quite an impact on students’ performance and behavior.’ P3 3:1
Teacher roles		123	100%
	Supportive parent	12	9.76%	‘ … parents are completely open, flexible, they take their children for tests with an educational counselor, they follow the therapies suggested there.’ P12 12:33
	Good family background	14	11.38%	‘Teachers are allowed to visit families in grade 1 and grade 5 … In general, children are brought up in a harmonious family environment.’ P4 4:12
	Good school climate	5	4.07%	‘It’s a very good atmosphere in the school, we can count on each other in everything, and we mutually help each other in our work.’ P5 5:2
	The importance of communication	16	13.01%	‘Well, I think it’s very important to stay in touch with parents … 'P4 4:19
	Community	24	19.51%	‘ … friendly, we have very good friendships here among teachers.’ P21 21:2
	Compromise	22	17.89%	‘If a child is not supported at home … in this case, well, it’s a compromise that is made … ’ P2 2:22
	Partnership	11	8.94%	‘They are cooperative, so they come to the parent-teacher conference. Erm, they respond to everything I write to a particular parents’ group. They are supportive.’ P1 1:18
	Parent-child-teacher collaboration	19	15.45%	‘The teacher-student-parent triangle must work in an utterly conscious way.’ P12 12:1
Systemic problem		135
	Maternal involvement	15	11.54%	‘Family matters are usually handled by the mother, including contact with the school … ’ P3 3:9
	Non-intact families	24	17.78%	‘ … lots and lots of parents get divorced, so by the time the children enter grade 5, half the parents in the classes are divorced … ’ P11 11:5
	Selection of students	2	1.48%	‘Not all teachers take into account that he has SEN … and then the parent insists that he has SEN or behavioral difficulties and has this kind of paper … ’ P16 16:21
	Lack of values	19	14.07%	‘There is a huge discrepancy between the values transmitted by the parents and … and the teachers.’ P2 2:26
	Teenage mothers	11	8.15%	‘Eighth-graders … are likely having children the following year or the year after … they start having sex at a very early age and are multiplying.’ P2 2:14
	Cold school climate	4	2.96	‘ … the teachers there are extremely divided, I think the atmosphere is not really, not really good, there are several cliques even among the few people … ’ P2 2:3
	Burnout	10	7.41%	‘I don’t want to change anything, nor do I want to innovate.’ P2 2:42
	Low SES parents	16	11.85	‘They live in deep poverty, with 50% of families without running water. About 15–20% of them have no electricity. Actually, gas is available for a few families who are not disadvantaged.’ P13 13:21
	Systemic problem	15	11.11%	‘That’s our biggest problem, that slowly, with all the paperwork and other tasks, the student and the teaching are slowly lost.’ P20 20:3
	Lack of support	3	2.22%	‘And it’s simply impossible for parents to help their child even if they would like to.’ P2 2:12
	Lack of professional support	16	11.85%	‘There is no psychologist or speech therapist anywhere close. There is a great need for them, though.’ P7/7:4
Search for solutions		80
	Values (family, Christian spirituality, learning)	20	25%	‘Well, according to our educational program, we educate children in a parent-teacher-church framework. The focus of all these is the child, so they have the same goals … ’ P4 4:17
	Bridging gaps	15	18.75%	‘We hold catch-up sessions with colleagues for [the student] with other methods, but he really needs individual treatment and attention.’ P6 6:13
	Professional assistance	31	38.75%	‘Since one of our classes has become inclusive, it’s a great mix because we have a special needs teacher for children with special educational needs, a special needs assistant, a teaching assistant, a development teacher, a school nurse, and a school doctor, the doctor is there once a week, the nurse is there twice a week, if I remember correctly … there’s a full-time school psychologist.’ P11 11:3
	Education of parents	14	17.5%	‘We have events for them, lectures on hygiene, healthy eating, so there are events at school where we invite parents … ’ P8 8:14

Figure 1. Teacher-parent interaction.

Figure 2. Labelling.

Figure 3. Teacher roles.

Figure 4. Systematic problems.

Figure 5. Search for solutions.

Pianta, R., and D. Walsh. 2014. High-Risk Children in Schools: Constructing Sustaining Relationships. Oxford: Routledge.

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