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AS SCHOOLS OPEN up across Ireland this week, it is business as usual for most students.
They will be taught by the same teacher, in the same way, with the same curriculum and supports that were always in place. Indeed, after a day or two, it will probably feel like the Christmas break never happened and routine will reign once more.
While the idea of returning to school probably sends shivers down many students’ backs, only a minority are facing a new reality.
As bells signal the start of the school day this week, they will ring in a harsh, unsupportive reality for second level students with disabilities for the first time.
Just as people were winding down for Christmas and most of us weren’t paying as much attention to ‘needs’ as we focused on our festive ‘wants’, Ireland’s largest second-level teacher union cried ‘bah humbug’.
Individual Plans
On the 19th December, the Association of Secondary School Teachers in Ireland issued advice to its members informing them that they should no longer participate in formulating or implementing Individual Education Plans or Student Support Files as they are not legally required.
This followed a similar call from the Teachers’ Union of Ireland in its most recent members’ magazine.
Individualised planning is essential for students with disabilities. It is something schools have been doing successfully for many years and which, effective this month, school inspectors will be ensuring is in place for students who are in receipt of additional supports.
It recognises that small changes may need to be made to enable a student to reach their potential – this could vary from a student who needs to be given movement breaks throughout the day to a student who may require extra processing time when asked a question.
They ensure that everyone involved in a student’s education is on the same page and working towards the same goals. Critically they recognise that the voices of the student, and his/her parents, should be central to this process.
Individual Education Plans were put on a statutory footing by the Education for Peoples with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act, 2004. That act describes a detailed, legally binding process which needs to be followed in putting in place such plans.
The unions are correct to say this particular process is not presently obligatory as it has yet to be commenced. However make no mistake about it – individualised planning is required now and it is already part of a teacher’s job.
Both the Education Act and the EPSEN Act guarantees a student’s right to an “appropriate education” and it is internationally recognised, and has been upheld in Irish courts, that this involves putting in place plans to meet the needs of specific students with disabilities.
Union Action
So what is this union action really about? If this is something schools are already doing – why is this action being taken now?
We note both unions cited the need for additional resources to support students effectively. As an autism advocate and someone who knows first hand the difference access to support can make, I will be the first to agree with this.
We need to invest more in supporting schools to enable students to reach their potential. That does not mean we don’t use the resources already in place to help the students enrolled now who went back to school this week.
If either of the teachers’ unions had contacted our organisation, we would have pointed out the countless teachers we meet around the country who are fully committed to supporting our students and would never stop doing so.
We would have pointed out that 20% of the teacher allocation is Special Education Teaching hours and surely these teachers could lead on the development and implementation of these support plans. (Second level teachers teach 22 hours per week during term time and this is to allow time for planning and administration.)
Another main point made by the unions is that teachers require training in supporting students with special needs.
Had the unions contacted us before taking this action we would have pointed out that there are numerous training opportunities already available to teachers free of charge and indeed we would have offered our training services.
We would have pointed out that at a minimum their members could not ethically refuse to meet the needs of a student if they had a plan in front of them.
Finally, we would have gladly stood shoulder to shoulder with the unions in recognising the good work many teachers in our schools are doing and demand that they are further supported in doing it.
However, I suspect that this action is not really about any of those issues.
Industrial Action
I realise teachers feel under pressure presently. After a decade of austerity, pay disparity continues to exist. There is also a sense of ‘initiative overdrive’ with the Department of Education developing new programmes, plans and circulars left, right and centre.
As a result, there is a certain resistance to anything ‘additional’ – anything above and beyond what they are already contracted to do.
Herein lies the problem. It appears to still be the perception of the teachers’ unions, as well as a minority of their members, that teaching students with additional needs is a new requirement or something above and beyond their existing contractual obligations.
Teachers sign up to teach students – all students. No diagnosis or condition makes any child less deserving of the right to access education. No diagnosis or condition changes the obligations that a teacher already has to differentiate their teaching to meet the needs of a student sitting in front of them.
We are keen to discuss ‘how’ we can best support students with disabilities in the education system. Indeed, we have some wonderful partnerships already in this regard however we cannot and we will not entertain a discussion on ‘can we’ or ‘will we’ support students with disabilities.
The right to access mainstream education has been enshrined in both the EPSEN Act and the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities and no union can be allowed to interfere with that for their own purposes.
Targeting industrial action at a minority group sets a worrying precedent for all minority groups. It goes totally against the culture and traditions on which the Trade Union Movement was formed. Most importantly, it is not characteristic of the majority of members these unions claim to represent.
Let’s hope that the union leaders can make a new year’s resolution to leave students with disabilities out of their industrial disputes and leveraging tactics and that such students can rest easy that they can still access the appropriate education they are entitled to and deserve.
Adam Harris is an autism advocate and the Founder and CEO of AsIAm, a national autism charity.
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Adam, it is a pity that you dont fully understand the Union stance on IEP’s and have failed to educate yourself before writing such an obviously short sighted piece.
I am teaching 21 years. I have NEVER failed to go the extra mile for ANY student in my class, either with or without a diagnosed disability.
The issue is that I am not qualified to compose, construct or prescribe a learning plan based on a diagnosed disability (many of which can be very complex). I will of course adhere to any plan designed for a student.
Your post is divisive, misleading and blatantly misinformed.
@Michael Purcell: Is this Simon Harris brother Adam. If it is he has autism & should have knowledge on whart goes into IEP’s.
@Michael Purcell: That’s why your school has Special Education Teachers, one of whom is your SEN Co-ordinator. You also have guidance counsellors. You also have support from the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) as well as NCSE Support services such as the Special Education Support Service (SESS), and the National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS) and others. You are qualified to teach all students. Supports are in place to help with your teaching of those with additional needs. Use them, and stop making excuses.
@Michael Purcell: I agree totally and as Adam is the brother of Simon Harris I’m not surprised at this stance. My son is on the spectrum and I am an SNA I see first hand how difficult it is to access supports particularly in second level for students with a disability and don’t even start me on what goes on in 3rd level. The department despite all the talk about inclusion and increased SNA numbers etc does not support these students sufficiently and does not give training and support to the teachers working with them.
@Seánie Merrily On High: you have no idea Seanie
@Seánie Merrily On High: thanks for tge advice! I do use them & they are extremely beneficial. The issue, however, is that I – as a teacher with none of those extra qualifications – am expected to write these very technical, complex and nuanced plans, which I am not qualified to do!
@bings: knowledge of what is in an IEP, yes. Knowledge of who is expected to write them, not necessarily.
@Michael Purcell: There are less F/T SNA’s in schools regardless of whether they are primary or secondary schools. In the long run the dept of ed just give lip service to parents & staff regarding all types of support regarding special needs. As for IEP’s there should be an IEP for every child in the school especially children with special needs. I as an SNA was doing up games etc in my own house last night so the children I work with would have it for today. These educational games were some both myself & the teachers I work with in 2 different classes were talking about during the hols. I don’t get time to do it during the day as 1 of the children I work with has some serious behaviour issues. I shouldn’t have to do this but it has to be done. I like other SNA’s work over my 72 hrs just so this child day will be easier which makes it easier for everyone in the long run. I wish the SENO when she came in would really get her finger out & give this child a F/T sna not just access to an SNA. My rant for today. I will not apologise as it’s not really on this topic but don’t really care. We need to start supporting the SNA in all schools. If the dept stay going the way it’s going there will be less SNA’s in schools in 5 yrs time. Just my opinion.
@Michael Purcell: very true Michael. Anyone who has a child in the system with special needs will know that the schools were arguing that the department of education support files.. Which can be viewed online.. were too prescriptive, too bureacratic and lacking in supports from outside professionals. There certainly should be plans, and efficient schools want to use their own designed practical plans in cooperation with parents, which makes far more sense in the current climate. Disappointing from Harris.
@bings: it is his brother but the fact remains we are not qualified to complete IEPs. That is the job of a psychologist. Teachers will of course follow those plans but it is not for us to complete these forms. The letter did not say we shouldn’t stick to them simply that we shouldn’t put them in place. While I have great time for Adam and his opinions, in this instance I think he’s wrong and has given a biased stance here.
When is this site going to focus on the lack of job security & support from the union for SNA’s. We work with children & teenagers but are never spoken about in any media or report. How about some reporting regarding how SNA’s are treated by the dept of education. Now that is a story worth reporting. Dare you to do it.
@bings: like child care workers it’s evident that nobody cares about SNAs, both do hard work and are expected to have high qualifications but they have next to no job security and get paid crap.
They are seen as babysitters by many including many teachers.
@bings: the problem is a lot of SNA’s aren’t unionised
@Breandán O Conchúir: Regardless of whether sna’s are in unions or not the dept of ed don’t really care about us. We have to do 72 hrs & teachers have to do 36 hrs under the croke park agreement. SNA’s loose their jobs depending on how the SENO reads a report or how they make a decision after spending 10 min in a class. The union & dept don’t really give a flying fiddlers about SNA’s & secretaries in schools. The dept & media are all about talking about how teachers are paid, work conditions etc but seem to have forgotten that there are more staff in schools. Will be interesting to see if this media site will write a report on how SNA’s are treated by the dept of ed
@bings: almost entirely agree. Why not write the article yourself? In best position to do so and I’d be surprised if journal wouldnt run it
@Breandán O Conchúir: I disagree with you there. I am a member of Fórsa. I brought my case to them in May 2018. I’ve had one official phone call from since then. My countless calls & emails to them are left unanswered. The problem is our union and the lack of support they give to us.
This is a very misinformed article. The fact is that teachers are not given adequate training or resources to provide the best teaching and learning outcomes for SEN students. Perhaps Adam Harris should question his brother’s party as to why they are pushing increasing reforms in education, but failing to take SEN students’ wellbeing into consideration?
@P Quinn: in fairness, I think the L2LP, L1LP, junior cycle reform in general, the new teacher allocation model, the continuum of support, the wellbeing guidelines, and the increase in numbers of ASD Units could all be considered positive in terms of the wellbeing of students with SEN, no?
@Seánie Merrily On High: You obviously have some knowledge of the changes going on in teaching, but no idea of how they’re actually impacting students and teachers in reality. For example well-being is a JOKE. We have had our school well-being day and not a single teacher came away with an iota of how this was to be implemented for SEN students – they weren’t even mentioned during an ENTIRE DAY! When asked, the persons presenting simply said “Look at the guidelines”.
On my cluster day when I specifically asked about what allowances are made for SEN students, I got a blank face and was told that they were “unsure” and presumed “it’s the same as before”.
In other words, no one can actually tell teachers for definite how SEN students are to be accommodated. You are trying to justify reforms with jargon, when concrete, evidenced based and practical guidelines and strategies are needed, instead of throwing teachers into the deep end and tell them to figure it out – that does no good for students.
If you want a prime example, there are students with social and behavioural issues who are expected to participate in group work, when this is not possible for them, at least without enormous stress. In my view, SEN students have been lost in all these reforms. It’s a disgrace. Adam Harris has simply written an ill-informed opinion piece in my view.
Teachers will continue to teach all students, they will differ their lessons to help students with disabilities, that will not change. Teachers have decided that they will no longer write specific Individual plans they are not trained to do.
wait so you want teachers to do work they aren’t trained to do? How is that any help for students with disabilities
@Breandán O Conchúir: they are trained though. And if they feel they need additional training, that’s available too.
@Seánie Merrily On High: most aren’t trained but to be honest my ability to write effective IEPs has come from experience than any training I’ve received. Exemplars and a few broad strokes aside knowing my students, their strengths & needs and engaging both them (if appropriate) and their parents has been far more important.
So, let me get this straight, we are condemning the teachers for engaging in industrial action that impacts upon some of the vulnerable in society, disabled students, but we are supporting nurses who are engaging in industrial action that impacts upon some of the vulnerable in society, the sick. Yet the teachers aren’t looking for more pay, they want resources and training to take on the new roles, but nurses want more money?
Nope, still not making sense to me!
With regard to the pay and conditions of SNA’s it appears obvious that they require quality union representation. Any notion that a job in either the public or private sector will be renumerated at a satisfactory level without such organised labour movements is fanciful at best.
In jobs like these with a civic benefit leaving pay and conditions to the whim of the labour market is wrong. In the same way as leaving the housing needs of our population to the open market is wrong.
The open market cannot support civic responsability. It is simply not designed for that.
Firstly, I don’t know what him being the brother of Simon Harris has to do with anything? Seems a bit pointless to bring it up.
Secondly, you can not call the article misinformed purely because you don’t agree with it. The article is clearly and fairly written in response to damaging advice given by teacher unions. The article is not anti-teacher, it’s anti-union advice.
Thirdly, It’s also far too easy to say you are not trained. A teacher’s core job is to teach ALL students, the IEP itself is written by the SEN teacher, all individual teachers have to do is follow the IEP… something that the Unions very clearly advised their members not to do. By following this advice, SEN students suffer. That’s just a fact. The advice given is to lobby for progress at the expense of protections and safeguards given to SEN students. That seems at best, counter productive and at worst, spiteful.
Fourthly, you can’t hide behind the argument that you’re not trained enough when there are ample training opportunities out there (as noted in the actual article).
Fifthly, we all know the system isn’t perfect, but you can’t go on the offensive and spin the same argument that the profession is just misunderstood because you don’t like what you’re hearing. Of course there’s lots that could change or be better, but this is just part of the core job and completely wrong to think otherwise. SEN students should not be used as bargaining tools in Union matters with the Department or anything else.
P.s. I am a second level teacher before that argument of not getting it is also flung at me by those who don’t like hearing the reality of things.
@Daniel: if teachers are adequately trained to cater for SEN students then why do we have SNAs in the classroom? By your logic if teachers can do this as part of core skills by your logic we could cut SNAs and use the funding elsewhere, perhaps to satisfy both the teachers and the nurses current demands?
And before the attacks start, I’m not actually advocating we remove SNAs, merely highlighting the contradictions in the logic
@Vocal Outrage: That is not my argument at all, SNAs are not there to make up for the teacher or the lack of a teacher’s training, they’re another layer of support for students, their role is very different from that of the teacher.
Core skills are to teach all students in their care, strategies and methodologies outlined in an IEP are there to help them to do this, if they follow union advice then they are choosing off their own back to ignore this and not do what is in the best interest of the child.
And again, the training is out there and readily available.
@Daniel: spot on Daniel. It is the job of the teacher to teach the student. The SNA is only there for care needs. If the unions have an issue with their teachers not feeling adequately trained to teach students with SEN, they should be pushing for reform of their teacher training, not punishing the very students they are employed to teach.
@Daniel: ‘A teacher’s core job is to teach ALL students’. Hmmmmm…………So, irrespective of student ability, the teacher has to teach ‘all’ students? Even if a child has failed JC Science and then is put into a LC Chemistry class? Or a functionally illiterate child in 1st year where the History text has a reading age of 15? Aspirations are great, but in reality all a teacher can do is conduct his/her class in such a way that the majority get on with the subject at hand. If a student can’t cope at that level or speed what is a typical teacher meant to do? Ignore the progress of the majority and concentrate on the minority?
@Daniel: in my School the teachers have been told to create them… iv no idea what the sen coordinator is doing cos they ain’t making these plans!
We were told we would have to create these for all students…. I teach about 270 different kids. Ludicrous stuff! Iv no no bothers follow and plan. I, like most, differentiate anyways. Why create bureaucracy for the sake of it?
My son would not be able to access any education at all if it wasn’t for the special education plan set up by the amazing teachers at st Joseph’s primary school in Newtownmountkennedy Co Wicklow. Please do not discriminate against my son. He has a right as a citizen of ireland to an education which is appropriate for him. Allison Gibbons
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