HOW DO I IMPROVE MY
PRACTICE AS AN INCLUSION
OFFICER WORKING IN A
CHILDREN’S SERVICE
Christine Jones
MA Professional Learning
(Professional Practice)
This dissertation is submitted in part
fulfilment of the regulations for the MA in
Professional Learning
Bath Spa University
2008
COPYRIGHT
The copyright of this dissertation rests with the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it may be used, except for the purpose of private study, without the prior written consent of the author.
Signed:
CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT ii
CONTENTS iii
LIST OF PLATES vi
CONTENTS OF CD ROM – VIDEO CLIPS vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix
ABSTRACT x
INTRODUCTION xii
CHAPTER 1 - BACKGROUND 1
Impact of Incidents in My Childhood 1
Impact of Early Experiences in my Teaching Career 8
CHAPTER 2 – INCLUSION, INCLUSIONALITY AND MY ROLE AS AN INCLUSION OFFICER 15
What is Inclusion? 15
What is Inclusionality? 21
My Role as an Inclusion Officer 25
The Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark 31
CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 35
Methodology 35
Methods 40
Action Reflection Cycles 40
Narrative Inquiry and Action Reflection Cycles 41
Video 44
Reflective Journal 45
Validity 45
Validation Group and Critical Friends 48
Other forms of data 50
Analysis of Data 50
Ethical Issues 51
CHAPTER 4 - NARRATIVES OF LIVING MY PRACTICE AS AN INCLUSION OFFICER 54
Development of a Course for New Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). A Summary 55
Creativity Workshop, SENCO Forum, Bath and North East Somerset, June 2006. A Summary 56
Emotional Literacy Workshop, Emotional Literacy Conference, Bath and North East Somerset, October 2006. A Summary 58
The Pilot of the Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark. 60
The Role of Mentors and Assessors in the Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark 62
The Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark Recognition Ceremony 71
CHAPTER 5 - MY EDUCATIONAL NARRATIVE OF MY LEARNING 81
Reflection on My Narratives as an Inclusion Officer 81
Reflection on the Development of My Dissertation 82
Reflection on the Use of Video 87
Reflection on Conversation Café 88
CHAPTER 6 - CONCLUSION 91
REFERENCES 94
APPENDICES 102
Appendix A - Summary of Work of Inclusion Officer, July, 2004 103
Appendix B - Research Brief and Consent Form 106
Appendix C - Full Narrative of ‘Development of a Course for New Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs)’ including still image and video clip 108
Appendix D - Full Narrative of ‘Creativity Workshop, SENCO Forum, Bath and North East Somerset, June 2006’ including still images and video clips 116
Appendix E - Full Narrative of ‘Emotional Literacy Workshop, Emotional Literacy Conference, Bath and North East Somerset, October 2006’ including still images and video clips 124
Appendix F - Transcript of Validation Meeting, 17 July, 2008 131
Appendix G (i) - Programme of IQM Recognition Ceremony- front and back pages 138
Appendix G (ii) - Programme of IQM Recognition Ceremony – middle pages 139
Appendix H - Newspaper Article and Photograph of IQM Recognition Ceremony, 2007 140
Appendix I - Collation of my Standards of Judgement Derived from the Values I Hold as Demonstrated in My Narratives in My Role as an Inclusion Officer 141
Appendix J - Account by Sandra Harris 144
Appendix K - Account by Nigel Harrisson 147
LIST OF PLATES
Plate 1: Chris speaking to colleagues……………………………………….3
Plate 2: Alan Rayner…………………………………………………………...24
Plate 3: Chris at the BERA Conference, 2006…………………………….64
Plate 4: Antony at the Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark Presentation, 2008………………………………………………………67
Plate 5: School at Recognition Ceremony, 2008…………………………74
Plate 6: School at Recognition Ceremony, 2008…………………………75
Plate 7: Chris at Recognition Ceremony, 2008…………………………...77
Plate 8: Chris speaking to colleagues…………………....Appendix C…108
Plate 9: Marie and Chris, Creativity Workshop, 2006….Appendix D…118
Plate 10: Chris and Marie, Creativity Workshop, 2006...Appendix D…119
Plate 11: Chris and Marie, Creativity Workshop, 2006...Appendix D…120
Plate 12: Winnie the Pooh…………………………………..Appendix E…125
Plate 13: Participant at Emotional Literacy Workshop, 2006……………………………………………………………..Appendix E…126
Plate 14: Jet at Emotional Literacy Conference, 2006…Appendix E…127
Plate 15: Chris at Emotional Literacy Conference, 2006……………………………………………………………..Appendix E…128
CONTENTS OF CD ROM – VIDEO CLIPS
(The video clips can be found on the CD ROM included with the dissertation. The video clips can also be accessed by clicking on the links under each of the plates in the text.
Video clip 1 CD 1. Chrisschool.mov …………………….3
Chris speaking to colleagues about a childhood memory
Video clip 2 CD 2. Rayner.mov …………………...24
Alan Rayner demonstrating his Paper Dance of inclusionality
Video clip 3 CD 3. Chrisbera06.mov (move cursor to 2.04mins and stop at 3.35 mins) ...... ……….64
Chris explaining to delegates at the BERA Conference 2006 about the quality of relationships mentors and assessors look for when going into a school
Video clip 4 CD 4. IQMAntonymentor2008.mov …………………...67
Antony describing the role of mentor
Video clip 5 CD 5. PschoolIQM08.mov …………………...74
School at Recognition Ceremony 2008 singing, ‘We Can Live as One’.
Video clip 6 CD 6. Smtschool08.mov …………………...75
School at Recognition Ceremony 2008 singing, ‘You’ve Got a Friend’.
Video clip 7 CD 7. Chrisrec040707.mov …………………...77
Chris giving her presentation at the Recognition Ceremony, 2007
Video clip 8 CD 8. Chrissenco.mov Appendix C……108
Chris speaking to colleagues about the connection she feels with SENCOs
Video clip 9 CD 9. ChrisandMarie1.mov Appendix D……118
Chris and Marie with participants at the Creativity Workshop, 2006
Video clip 10 CD 10. ChrisandMarieegg.mov Appendix D……118
Chris and Marie participating in ‘egg activity’ at the Creativity Workshop, 2006
Video clip 11 CD 11. ChrisandMarie3.mov Appendix D……119
Chris and Marie after the ‘egg activity’ at the Creativity Workshop, 2006
Video clip 12 CD 12. ELworkshopwarmingup.mov Appendix E……125
Participants responding to jokes at Emotional Literacy Workshop, 2006
Video clip 13 CD 13. C.mov Appendix E……126
Participant describing an emotionally literate moment in her classroom at the Emotional Literacy Workshop, 2006
Video clip 14 CD 14. Jet.mov Appendix E……127
Jet describing an emotionally literate moment in her classroom at the Emotional Literacy Workshop, 2006
Video clip 15 CD 15. ChrisendEL.mov Appendix E……128
Chris explaining to participants that what they have described are their living standards of judgement of emotional literacy at the Emotional Literacy Workshop, 2006
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank a number of people who have worked with me and supported and influenced me throughout the development of my inquiry.
The teachers with whom I have worked in a variety of workshops.
The Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) with whom I have worked on the SENCO courses during the last four years.
The schools which have worked towards the Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark.
The mentors and assessors involved in the Bath and North East Somerset Inclusion Quality Mark.
Jack Whitehead, who has been a constant support and inspiration.
My friend and colleague, Marie Huxtable, for her support and time.
Nigel Harrisson and Sandra Harris for their contributions.
My colleagues at Conversation Café who have been my critical friends.
All those who have given their permission for video clips, still images and quotations to be used.
My supervisor, Mim Hutchings, for her advice and support
My husband, Brendan, for his constant support.
My mother and two boys, Adam and Michael, for their constant interest.
ABSTRACT
This dissertation examines my embodied knowledge and development as an Inclusion Officer working in a Children’s Service as I focus on making a contribution to educational knowledge. In making this contribution, I have used visual narratives. This dissertation focuses on my personal knowledge and experience as an Inclusion Officer as I inquire into my question, ‘How do I improve my practice as an Inclusion Officer?’ In making my personal knowledge public, I believe that I am contributing to educational knowledge by using a living theory methodology for exploring the implications of questions such as, ‘How do I improve my practice?’ and by clarifying the meanings of inclusional standards of judgement from a perspective of inclusionality. Inclusionality (Rayner, 2004) may be described as a relationally dynamic and responsive awareness of others which flows with a desire to live values of care, compassion, love, justice and democracy. I explicate the inclusional way in which I like to work with others, how my practice is based on the values I hold and how this is reflected in my relationship with other educators working in a Children’s Service and schools.
In undertaking my inquiry, I have adopted a living theory methodology (Whitehead, 2008a) in the sense that I am bringing my embodied knowledge into the public domain as an explanation of my educational influences in my own learning, in the learning of others and in the learning of social formations. Using video, I clarify the meanings of my inclusional values and how they are formed into living standards of judgement, whereby I and others can judge the validity of my claim to knowledge.
INTRODUCTION
This dissertation will focus on the kind of research that can bring into the public domain my personal knowledge and personal experience as an Inclusion Officer employed by a Local Authority. My main research question is, ‘How do I improve my practice as an Inclusion Officer working in a Children’s Service?’ In addressing this question, I intend to make a contribution to educational knowledge. I intend to do this by clarifying the nature of the values and energy that form the explanatory principles in my living theory of my practice. Vasilyuk (1991) has pointed to the weakness of social science explanations of human actions that do not include flows of energy in explanatory principles.
Through the analysis of video clips of my professional practice, I shall be clarifying my meanings of a flow of life-affirming energy with the values I use to give meaning and purpose to my life in education. I want to clarify that I am not using any existing analytic framework in the analysis of the video clips. I am exercising what Dadds and Hart (2001) refer to as methodological inventiveness. In their description of methodological inventiveness, they point out that how practitioners choose to research, and their control over this, could be equally important to their motivation, their sense of identity within the research and their research outcomes.
In using a living theory methodology (Whitehead, 2008a), I engage in a process of reflection that includes an analysis of experience that leads to new knowledge and understanding. By this, I mean that I clarify, through reflections on my experience of existing as a living contradiction, the meanings of the values I use to give meaning and purpose to my life as an Inclusion Officer. This involves an awareness of tensions and living contradictions as I explore the implications of my question, ‘How do I improve my practice as an Inclusion Officer?’ My living theory methodology includes analysing video records of my practice. The analysis focuses on the expression, clarification and communication of the meanings of my values as these emerge in the course of my exploration of my question. My values distinguish what I understand as an improvement in my practice. Using digital video data, I explicate meanings of life-affirming energy and the meanings of my embodied values that distinguish my practice as educational.
Because of the dominating use of analytic frameworks in explanations of educational influence, I want to stress the difference between my relationally dynamic analysis of what I do and the application of a pre-existing framework to what I do. In the relationally dynamic analysis, I am generating meanings as I respond to what I can be seen to be doing on the video. In particular, I am generating, clarifying and communicating the meanings of the energy-flowing values of inclusionality that distinguish my practice as inclusional. Rayner (2004) has pointed to the relationally dynamic awareness of space and boundaries that is needed to produce inclusional explanations of educational influence.
I believe that there is something original in the way in which I have used video to presence myself to myself in terms of the values I express in giving meaning and purpose to my life in education. The originality lies in acknowledging to myself, through the video, the life-affirming energy and values I express in my inclusional practices. It also lies in my use of video to communicate the meanings of these flows of energy with values to others in the explanation of my educational influence as I generate my living educational theory.
My rationale for this research-based approach to improving my professional practice is the belief that there is little public knowledge of what Inclusion Officers do in terms of their educational influences in learning. The rationale for making public my embodied knowledge is the one expressed by Catherine Snow:
The…challenge is to enhance the value of personal knowledge and personal experience for practice. Good teachers possess a wealth of knowledge about teaching that cannot be currently drawn upon effectively in the preparation of novice teachers or in debates about practice. The challenge here is not to ignore or downplay this personal knowledge, but to elevate it.
(Snow, 2001:9)
Snow further explains that the reason that the knowledge of teachers is untapped is because there are no procedures for systematizing it. She feels that this systematized knowledge would certainly enhance research-based knowledge which is already being introduced into teacher training programmes. Furlong and Oancea (2005) highlight some of the issues about judging the quality of practice-based research, but state that whilst improving practice, can also contribute to theoretical knowledge.
I agree with those researchers who believe that it is important to distinguish education research from educational research. Whitty (2006) believes that ‘education research’ should characterise the whole field whilst ‘educational research’ should refer to the narrower field of work specifically geared to the improvement of policy and practice. I also agree with Whitehead (2008a) in that it is important to distinguish education theories generated by researchers in the philosophy, psychology, sociology, history, economics, leadership, administration, politics and theology of education from educational theories generated to explain the educational influences of individuals in their own learning, in the learning of others and in the learning of social formations. I am submitting my dissertation as a contribution to educational knowledge within this view of educational theory. In particular, I believe that I am making an original contribution to a living theory methodology in explicating meanings of energy-flowing standards of inclusionality through the use of visual narrative.