Unveiling the Context of practice: Teacher Allocation Models to support inclusion in primary schools in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Inclusive education in Ireland has made major advances in the past two decades, with an increasing number of students with special educational needs (SEN) attending mainstream schools. This paper is part of a bigger study which examines the Special Education Teacher Allocation Model (SETAM) (Circular 0013/2017 Department of Education and Skills 2017) as the current model to support inclusion in practice in Irish primary schools. Guided by a constructivist paradigm, a mixed-methods approach was adopted to reveal the workings of the SETAM, in the Context of Practice. This paper presents the findings from the first phase of data collection; a national, online survey. Findings show that greater teacher autonomy to identify students’ needs and allocate support, under this model, was welcomed by participants. However, limited continuous professional development sees some teachers feeling underprepared to identify such needs. More collaborative and inclusive practice is evident since the introduction of the SETAM, with increased use of in-class support for students with SEN. These findings may inform key stakeholders in inclusive education policy and practice, at a national and international level, by unveiling areas of success and potential for improvement, as recognised by Irish teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusion policy and practice
• special educational needs
• teacher allocation models
• policy analysis

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Mary Immaculate College under the MICPeadarCreminFellowship2017; Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship 2020 under Grant [GOIPG/2020/433].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 NEPS is a service funded by the Department of Education and Skills. NEPS psychologists specialise in working with the school community.

2 Approval number: A18-052

Additional information

Funding

This work was supportedby Mary Immaculate College under the Peadar Cremin Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Louise Curtin

Louise Curtin is a qualified primary school teacher and a President’s Scholar. She was presented with the College Gold Medal 2017 for achieving first place in the Bachelor of Education (Primary Teaching) programme at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland and was awarded the Peadar Cremin Fellowship for her research at an undergraduate level. She is currently engaged in Ph.D. research under the supervision of Dr Margaret Egan at Mary Immaculate College. She has recently won the Irish Research Council 2020 Government of Ireland Postgraduate Award for her research. Her areas of interest include Inclusive and Special Education, Inclusion Policy and Practice, Teacher Allocation Models and Policy Analysis.

Margaret Egan

Dr Margaret Egan is a faculty member of the Department of Educational Psychology, Inclusive and Special Education in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Ireland since 2006. Her Masters’ Degree in Special Education (2005) focused on Positive Behaviour Support, implementing a Whole School Approach to Emotional Literacy. Her Ph.D. in Inclusive Education Policy and Practice was undertaken at University College Cork under the supervision of Prof. Paul F. Conway. She presents nationally and internationally on this subject area. Margaret has been a member of the national executive of the Irish Learning Support Association (ILSA). She is Chairperson of the Inclusive Education Special Interest Group (SIG) at Education Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI). Her research interests include Inclusion Policy; Teacher Allocation Models; Language and Literacy for Children with Additional Needs, Supporting Children with ADHD, and Social and Emotional for all Children, including those with ASD.