Constructing Special Educational Needs Coordinators’ identities through emotions

ABSTRACT

A growing number of countries have implemented the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) as a strategy for providing quality inclusive education. While studies have examined general education teachers and/or special education teachers’ identities in inclusive educational settings, little research has investigated SENCos’ identities. Even fewer studies have examined SENCo identity through the lens of emotion. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of how emotions contribute to SENCo identity construction. Adopting a qualitative multiple case study approach, data were collected from five primary school SENCos in Auckland, New Zealand, via semi-structured interviews, work shadowing and school documents. The findings showed that SENCos, despite dealing with a range of emotions from passion to frustration, all saw themselves as being advocates, problem solvers, learners, collaborators and fighters for children with special educational needs. Drawing on the findings, it is argued that emotions form an indispensable part of SENCo identity and also act as a vital means through which SENCo identity is constructed and enacted. Implications for policy and practice are suggested to inform the recruitment of SENCos and provide SENCos emotional support.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher identity
• teacher emotion
• Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCos)

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the five SENCos who participated in this study and the school principals who assisted in accessing prospective participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Auckland postgraduate research student support funding.