The following seven sub-themes, outlined in Table 4.1 in the previous chapter, form the foundation of this chapter within the main theme of the lived experience of the PE teacher
in relation to inclusion. The sub-themes encompass: demographic data, government policies
on inclusion, influences, perspectives, resources, student health and, lastly student participation and interaction. My main undertaking in this chapter is to interpret and understand PE teachers’ experiences of inclusion in great depth. This chapter focuses upon the first research question: What are PE teachers’ perspectives on their lived work lives regarding inclusion and PE in the Irish cultural context?
5.2: Demographic data
Table 5.1 represents an overview of the seven PE teachers’ demographic data, the four types of school denoting each case and the range of disability categories within each school. It should be noted at this juncture that the four schools involved in this study fall under the following post-primary type. All schools are located in the south of Ireland. Case school one is a large community school in a town (only post primary school in the town) in a rural area, it is an amalgamation of 3 former post-primary schools. Established now over a decade, this large school portrays a pragmatic view towards inclusion: for me it just hasn’t been an issue
in any way, every student has the right to an education. That seems to be our (school’s) line. We are a community school with a community based ethos [Noel, interview 1, school one].
Case school two is also a community school, albeit much smaller than school one, it is in a city suburb with DEIS designation. Delivering equality of opportunity in schools or more commonly referred to as DEIS, is the Department of Education and Skills policy instrument to address educational disadvantage. The DEIS action plan focuses on addressing and prioritising the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities (Department of Education and Skills 2018a). The DEIS designation was expounded upon by Mona: we would be a DEIS school so we would have a lot of students
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would have special educational needs. We have a Deaf unit in the school so we have a large number of ... I think it’s around 20 students who would be in that unit [Mona, interview 1,
school two]. Both Mona and Carly in school two articulated that their school is open to students of all abilities, however, both indicated caveats in relation to levels of ability:
I think we try and make it (inclusion) work as best as possible and we accept any student that wants to come here basically, but there have been one or two students that probably would be better suited in a different educational setting [Mona, interview 1].
So it's very difficult for a child with moderate learning difficulty to be in a mainstream school [Carly, interview 1].
Case study school three is an all-girls religious school in a city centre, having just recently retrieved its DEIS designation. School three had lost its DEIS status, much to the surprise of its PE teacher.
We would have been a DEIS school, we lost our DEIS status, our DEIS provisions, I suppose a number of years ago, to our complete astonishment. We would have a lot of girls here whose brothers would be walking into the school nearby, which has a DEIS status. So money would be very tight, we would have a lot of social problems really, the new way of allocating special needs hours is that one-year group is surveyed. And when we surveyed the year group that were chosen for us by the Department of Education the results were unbelievably astonishing [Jane, Interview 1, school three].
Certainly, Jane’s comment raises a question regarding the Department of Education and Skills method of DEIS designation, which is beyond the scope of this research. Subsequently, Jane mentioned in her follow-up interview 2, that her school had just regained DEIS status, we’ve just thankfully got back our DEIS status which we should have never
lost.
Case study school four is an all-boys religious school in a city suburb with DEIS designation. It is a school with a long history, but has evolved with changing times. Overall, school numbers have reduced: in the seventies, and the eighties, I think there could have been four
or five hundred boys here. Now I think we are down to about 235, 240 boys [Ed, interview
1, school four]. In the broad sense of inclusion, the school embraces multi-culturalism with students of many nationalities forming the school community, in addition it was one of the first Catholic schools to display the rainbow flag. Both teachers, Sam and Ed articulated a positive school view towards inclusion of students with disabilities: the school’s philosophy
is that all students have available support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to their needs and abilities [Sam, interview 1, school four]. In this case study
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All PE teachers in the four schools listed a range of presenting SEN/disabilities. School one presented with the largest range of disability categories, possibly indicative of its size and also it is the only school in the particular town. Interestingly, it is the only school of the four which has wheelchair users. Both school three and four have ASD units and school two has a deaf unit.
Table 5.1: Demographic data of PE teachers, school type and student disability categories. Teacher Gender Years of
experience & Qualifying University
School type and size Student disability category
Noel* M 22
University A
School one is a co-ed Community school, town, 1000 students approx., 5 PE teachers in school
Range of disability categories: Wheelchair users, C.P, ASD, EBD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, GLD, ODD. Gina* F 7 University B Mona* F 10 University B
School two is a DEIS, community school, city suburb, 300 students, 2 PE teachers in the school, deaf unit.
Range of disability categories: deaf unit, visual impairment, ASD,
GLD, muscular dystrophy, no wheelchair user Carly* F 6 University C Jane* F 27 University D
School three is an all- girls, DEIS, religious secondary school in a city, 220 students, 1 PE teacher in the school, ASD unit.
Range of disability categories: GLD, ASD, EBD, no wheelchair user.
Ed* M 28
University D
School four is an all- boys, DEIS, religious secondary school in a city, 235 students, 3 PE teachers in the school, ASD unit.
Range of disability categories – mostly ASD (35-40), dyslexia, ADHD, EBD, no wheelchair user
Sam* M 4
University C *= pseudonym used
Note: ASD = autism spectrum disorder, ADHD = attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, C.P = cerebral palsy, EBD = emotional behavioural disturbance, GLD = general learning disability, ODD = oppositional defiant disorder.
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Four female PE teachers and three male PE teachers participated in this study. The teachers’ teaching experience ranged from 4 years to 28 years. Most participating teachers received their qualifying degree from Universities in Ireland, with Noel qualifying in the UK. The post- primary schools ranged in size from just over 200 students to 1000 students.
5.3: Number of students with SEN
All seven PE teachers indicated that they have observed an increase in the number of students presenting with SEN/disabilities:
There has certainly been an increase in the number of diagnosed conditions that students are being labelled with [Noel, interview 1].
I think the number has increased definitely yeah [Gina, interview 1].
Yeah I do think there is a big increase in general there is definitely at least one person in every class. But I don’t think it is just our school, it’s across the way there is someone in every class [Carly, interview 1].
Certainly this trend concurs with both international and national findings (Sideridis and Chandler 1997; Smith and Green 2004; Block and Obrusnikova 2007; Vickerman 2007a; Vickerman and Coates 2009; Petkova, Kudlácek and Nikolova 2012; Crawford, O’Reilly and Flanagan 2012). Likewise, the NCSE (2013, p. 113) noted that most children with SEN attend mainstream schools with less “than 1% of students in Ireland attending a special school”.
Some teachers linked this observation (increase in the number of students with SEN/disabilities) with the broader concept of inclusive education for all in a general setting, reflected in the literature (UNESCO 2005; Winter and O’Raw 2010):
But I suppose there is an increase and as well our classes are bigger than they would have been, so there is an increase, there probably are some parents that they want their child to go to a mainstream educational school [Mona, interview 1].
I suppose we have more children with we will say obvious disabilities now. I mean a lot of parents now are moving away from the special school situation, and want their child to go to a mainstream school. And so therefore, I think all schools are …. I would say probably have students with special educational needs yeah [Jane, interview 1].
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Well there has been an increase, for example the ASD Programme started in 2007 with four students. There now are forty students on the programme, though this will be reduced to 24 within the next few years, and the amount of students with SEN, maybe learning difficulties has increased as well [Sam, interview 1].
Additionally, the shift towards inclusive education in relation to SEN emerged from three of the five teachers’ of-action reflective e-journals:
There are many more students with SEN and disabilities in mainstream education and I really think this is a good thing [Carly, reflective entry of-action].
I have noticed a large change in the cohort of students that arrive in a school now compared with when I first qualified (10 years ago) and I think a lot of this is down to the policies of Inclusive Education [Mona, reflective entry of-action].
The latter comment from Mona resonates with Qi, Wang and Ha (2017), whereby the teachers in their study, reported that the execution of educational policy was important for their perception of inclusion. Interestingly both Mona and Jane referred to the phenomenon that parents may nowadays wish to send their child with an SEN to a mainstream school rather than a special school. This point reflects a sociocultural shift towards inclusivity in society in general (United Nations 2006; WHO 2011). Likewise, Travers and Savage (2014, p. 13) have commented on “the mainstreaming of many special education concerns within a wider educational, social, economic and political context”.
However, emanating from the data were trepidations expressed by some teachers, by the increase in the numbers of students with SEN/disabilities. These concerns were voiced through a lack of resourcing and ability to cope with increased numbers:
I would definitely say there are more students coming in and it’s a challenge [Ed, interview 1].
Due largely to the success of the ASD programme, we have become recognised as a school that caters very well for students with SEN and ASD. As a result, an increasing number of students with various needs are enrolling. While additional supports are given to academic subjects, I feel the requirement to match this in PE class is often overlooked. Therefore, it is possible that we will soon have a situation where students with SEN and disabilities are in the majority [Sam, reflective entry of-action].
I mean we’re at full capacity here now with known special needs in our autistic unit so we’re at 10 per cent of our population and the school is very definitely special needs apart from the other children who need special help along the way, that’s the problem [Jane, interview 2].
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The increased numbers of students with SEN/disabilities, especially in the DEIS schools appears to be viewed as a ‘problem’ for teachers. In the follow-up interview with Sam, it was clear that he felt, that all schools should be catering for students with SEN/disabilities. In the case of his school (case four), he suggests that it has developed a reputation for supporting students with SEN very well, but it seems to be the victim of its success:
Whereas we are now seen as a school that is very good at catering for kids with needs and therefore we are ... the balance is tilting a small bit maybe. Whereby the students with needs could at some point outnumber the mainstream students. So what I would say is that every school should be catering for children with needs ... and schools shouldn’t be, for example, discouraging parents from sending their children to their school (in their locality) if they have needs and pointing them to another school. So my attitude would be that, yes we’ve been very good at dealing with the kids with special needs because we have it under control but if it gets to the point where there are too many children with special needs it’s stressful for the staff then ... and it could collapse, you know [Sam, interview 2].
In essence, Sam feels that every school should be catering for students with SEN/disabilities within their own locality. These sentiments resonate with developing research relating to the notion of a community of provision (Vickerman 2007b; Rix et al 2013; Rix et al 2015; Day and Prunty 2015), entailing a collective rather than a continuum or linear response to provision. Rix et al., (2013, p.178) proffer the idea of a community of provision as “the settings and services which work together to provide learning and support for all children and young people within their locality”. Entrenched in this belief are government policies, their deliverance and implementation within a structure that encompasses all agencies and individuals’ vision of inclusive schooling (Vickerman 2007b). Additionally, giving legal strength to Sam’s view, is the recently (May 2018) proposed amendment to the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016 by the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton. This amendment will afford the Minister the power to require a school to open a special class or classes, where the National Council for Special Education has recognised a need for such provision within an area (Department of Education and Skills 2018d). This amendment has immense significance for all schools and special education provision.
5.4: Government policies on inclusion
Government policy in relation to SEN provision in Ireland has evolved from a system of segregation and special schooling to a more inclusive education for all. This is evident from the Report of the Special Education Review Committee (1993), The Education Act (1998),
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The Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act (EPSEN 2004), the establishment of The National Council for Special Education in 2005 and the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016. When participants were questioned on their knowledge regarding the government’s policies of inclusion and their views on it, most were not familiar with the policies and legislation per se, but felt inclusion was working in the school. The teachers from school one to three all gave similar responses.
I wouldn’t be overly familiar with it. I know it’s there [Mona, interview 1].
I am not aware of the policy other than the fact that it seems to be happening. Our school seems to be getting on with it and it seems to have the resources to support it [Noel, interview 1].
However, both teachers in school four appeared more knowledgeable, citing The Education Act (1998), with Sam also referring to the EPSEN Act (2004), I think it’s (inclusion) better
than what it was, like I know I’m aware of the …. is it 1998 the Education Act and you know, it sounds good inclusion, it’s a great buzz word [Ed, interview 1].
Well I’m familiar with the 1998 Education Act which sought to provide inclusivity and equality of access with emphasis on ensuring provision, and for people with disabilities or other special educational needs to support the development of inclusive school environments for students with special educational needs. And the school here has endorsed this and it seems to be working. However, a failure to implement in full the 2004 EPSEN Act, I suppose remains a concern which needs to be addressed by Government alright [Sam, interview 1].
Certainly, the lack of implementation of the EPSEN Act (2004) is impacting adversely on the progression of inclusive learning environments in Ireland (Shevlin, Winter and Flynn 2013; Smyth et al., 2014). The very pertinent point on the partial implementation of the EPSEN Act, highlighted by Sam leads us to the issue of individual education plans (IEPs). Research into the development and implementation of IEPs in an “Irish context have been limited in scope” (Nugent, 2002; Ring and Travers, 2005 in Rose et al., 2015, p. 29). A legal entitlement to an IEP does not currently exist for students with SEN and will not come into effect until the appropriate sections of the EPSEN Act are commenced by ministerial order (Department of Education and Science 2007). Thus, I was keen to discover if the participating teachers in the schools were familiar with IEPs and if they currently use them. Once more the teachers from school one to three presented similar findings. For the most part they do not use IEPs in physical education.
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I don't use them anyway, I know what they are but I haven't used them [Carly, interview 1]. I am familiar with the concept yes, I suppose no (use of IEPs) because any of the students with special needs are in with their class group for PE [Jane, interview 1].
Not for PE no but maybe for their resource I’m pretty sure they do yeah [Gina, interview 1].
Again the PE teachers in school four seemed most familiar with the use of IEPs in PE. Particularly, Sam appeared to be very aware of IEPs as he also has the role as an ASD teacher within the school.
Yes I’ve prepared those (IEPs) for the ASD students and the main challenge I find is to identify goals that are achievable [Ed, interview1].
The IEP’s are prepared for the ASD students they would be prepared by the ASD teachers, and I’m one of those. The SEN IEP’s would be prepared by the SEN teachers. There’s a specific team and when both are complete IEPs for all those students have been prepared, they are bound and placed in the staffroom, so all the teachers then can access them, and become familiar with the goals [Sam, interview 1].
Interestingly, Noel from school one was familiar with the use of IEPs when he worked in the UK but stated that he did not use them here in his current school.
IEPs were a day to day occurrence in the UK. We were working with them on a daily basis; they were regularly reviewed and updated. I haven’t seen one in Ireland (laugh) although there are generic strategies readily available to help with specific needs [Noel, interview1].
Noel expressed a positive and worthwhile experience of IEP usage whilst working in the UK.
Any student (in the UK) with SEN had one (IEP) and all staff at the school had input to them and they were very, very valuable [Noel, interview 2].
Due to the lack of statutory requirement to utilise IEP’s currently, it does appear that teachers and schools vary enormously in their implementation and understanding. This finding concurs with Rose et al., (2012, p.110) study, which identified “inconsistency in their (IEP’s) use and in perceptions of their usefulness”. Mona expressed some frustration at the notion of IEP’s becoming statutory. Then again, the following comment from her suggests a lack of understanding around IEP’s, as she appears to imply that all students that she teaches would require them:
It (use of IEP’s) could be quite difficult in a secondary school in one way because how are you going to go through them all, like from my own perspective, I have ... there’s 300 kids in our school and I see, I would say 250 of them every week. So how am I going to be involved in the IEPs of 250 kids? [Mona, interview 2].
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The NCSE (2013, p. 3) recommend full implementation of the EPSEN Act (2004) as the “most effective route to the assessment and planning for students with SEN”. Likewise, the Government in a recent Programme for a Partnership Government have vowed to “progress sections of the EPSEN Act that were introduced on a non-statutory basis” (Department of Taoiseach 2016, p. 92). However, the reality is that we are now 14 years on from the