Module 2 – The History and Evolution of SEN

Estimated Time: 20 minutes

Student Aims:

 

• To understand the legal definition of special educational needs and disability
• To learn how SEN education has evolved since the 19th century
• To learn about the importance of inclusion

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2.1 Introduction

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The history of SEN education in Britain is as long as the history of formal education itself.From the time formal education was established in the UK, people have questioned how to teach pupils who have needs that lie outside the mainstream. Much of this comes down to inclusive teaching in a mainstream school as opposed to special schools that cater specifically for children with SEN.Children with special educational needs have a right to as much learning as any child, but the means and methods provided to achieve this goal vary greatly.

2.2 Definitions of SEN

Before diving into the history of special educational needs legislation, it is important to understand a few important terms:

Special Educational Needs (SEN)/Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

SEN and SEND refer to children who have difficulties or disabilities that make learning more challenging for them compared to other pupils of the same age, and they require additional support with their education.

The law in the UK does not classify children who speak English as a second language as SEN pupils. However, second language children may also have learning difficulties and, in the case of hidden conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia or autism, these can sometimes be difficult to identify.

It is important to look at all aspects of the child’s learning and development to establish if a delay in progress is due to SEN or whether it is solely due to limitations in their understanding of the English language.

To have some difficulties with aspects of the curriculum is common in younger children. If they do not persist and children progress in line with their peers, these cannot be classed as special educational needs. Many children will struggle in some area at some point in their education. Schools, colleges and early education providers in the UK are designed to help pupils overcome these challenges by making adaptive changes or providing additional support. However, some pupils will require this support throughout their whole education.

According to SEND regulations, a child with SEN may need help in one or more of the following areas:

Communication and interaction

Some children may have difficulties with communication, language or speech that make it hard for them to grasp a fuller understanding of language. Receptive language difficulties, the ability to understand what is being said, can make it difficult to understand key concepts. It may also mean that they have difficulties communicating effectively or communicating appropriately with other pupils or with teachers.

Cognition and learning

SEN children may have difficulty with understanding, and they may learn at a slower pace than their peers. This can occur with pupils who have moderate or severe learning difficulties. They may also have poor working memory and problems with organisation. Some children may struggle in one particular area of learning, such as numeracy or literacy. It is important to break learning activities down into small chunks and use repetition and visualisation to help the pupil with their learning.

Social, emotional and mental health difficulties

A wide range of social and emotional difficulties can affect children in different ways, including showing demanding, disruptive or upsetting behaviour as well as withdrawing or isolating themselves. These actions could be an indication of underlying mental health issues like depression, anxiety, self-harming, drug or alcohol abuse, eating disorders, or undiagnosed physical ailments.

When pupils are struggling in their relationships with other pupils or adults, this can have a profound effect on their ability to learn and even affect the learning of other pupils.

Sensory and/or physical needs

In most pupils, this often translates to a visual or hearing difficulty that makes classroom life more difficult. However, it also covers a wide variety of physical needs that may require the support of the school.

It is important to provide the necessary specialist equipment for these pupils.

Disability

The Equality Act 2010 defines a disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term (a year or more) adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.’

A disability may include sight impairments, hearing impairments, learning disabilities (such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism) and long-term health issues like epilepsy, diabetes or severe asthma.

Fact

Most children with special educational needs (SEN) go to mainstream
schools, with less than 10% attending special schools in the UK 

Source: mencap, 2020

2.3 The History of SEN

Until the end of the 19th century, most children in the United Kingdom did not have the opportunity to go to school at all.

Before 1870, there were only a small number of schools in Britain and these were run not by the government, but by organised bodies such as the Church of England. However, these schools were available only to children whose families could afford them.

There had been a few schools available for deaf and blind children from the 1790s. These schools were dedicated solely to educating children with these impairments; however, the focus was not on education as it is known today, but rather on training.

About 70 years later, there were around two dozen schools for blind or deaf children and adults across the country. Yet rather than being inclusive environments designed to help people overcome obstacles, these remained insular and protective places which afforded pupils little access to the outside world.

Around this time, children with serious mental health conditions were referred to as ‘mentally defective.’ These children did not go to school at all but instead were sent away to infirmaries or workhouses.

 

Some of these children ended up in the now-infamous Victorian asylums; however, these places were reserved for those that were deemed to be educable in some form. The children who resided in these asylums received formal teaching and training.

The Beginning of Formal Education

In 1870, parliament passed the Elementary Education Act of 1870 (also known as the Forster Education Act). A similar act, the Education Act of 1872, was passed in Scotland. The Elementary Education Act was the first of several acts passed by the government between 1870 and 1893 which created a foundation for compulsory education for children in England and Wales.

The 1870 act established local education boards across the country. These boards were designed to inspect schools to make sure the establishments were sufficient for education. The schools were also regularly inspected to maintain high standards.

The act stated that elementary education was required for all children between ages five and 13. Attendance was to be compulsory for all children.

The act also created public funds for the schools. However, parents were required to pay tuition unless they could not afford it. The religious teaching in the schools was also required to be non-denominational. Parents had the ability to remove their children from religious education.

Encountering Issues

The law saw a few opponents to these regulations. Some people wanted to be able to send their children to schools that promoted a specific denominational education. The Church of England was also concerned because it had previously run some schools and it did not want to lose its control over the education in these schools.

Some people also rejected the idea of mass education. Others did not think that the government should have to pay for pupils whose parents couldn’t afford to.

Although these facets of the law encountered opposition, most of the law was retained as previously written.

The Beginning of SEN Education

Once government-run schools were established, education in the UK was finally taking off. However, the classes had large numbers of students in them. Teachers were paid by the results of the children’s memory tests and had to employ rote learning to keep their jobs. Although the children were in the classroom, there were still a large number of pupils who made little progress in learning. At this moment, the complexity of learning became apparent for the first time.

SEN was never addressed in the Elementary Education Act of 1870. However, teachers began to realise that there were a variety of impairments that could prevent a pupil from learning successfully in this type of classroom setting. To combat this issue, specialist spaces for blind and deaf pupils were attached to government-run schools. Still, it was not until 1893 in England and Wales and 1890 in Scotland that all deaf children between ages seven and 16, and all blind children between ages five and 16, had the right to go to school.

It would still be another 20+ years before rights were granted and provisions made for a wider group of SEN pupils to attend school.

Elementary Education Act 1899

The Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act 1899 was created to protect ‘children who by reason of mental or physical defect are incapable of receiving benefit from the instruction in ordinary schools but are not incapable by reason of such defect of receiving benefit from instruction in special classes or schools.’

Essentially, this was the first Act in Britain that provided for the education of SEN children. However, someone had to decide which children were suffering from which disabilities.

Earlier that decade, Dr Francis Warner investigated the district’s poor law schools and the London School Boards. He reached the conclusion that approximately 1% of the children needed care and training that should be given in special schools. He made this judgement based on their mental and/or physical conditions.

Dr Warner suggested that schools appoint a doctor who could carry out physical examinations on the children. He believed that these physical exams could serve as a basis for a judgement regarding whether a child would succeed in an ordinary school or in a special school. In some cases, he said the child might be found incapable of succeeding in school at all.

At this point, doctors began to take a role in education, particularly the education of SEN pupils. Although the methods used changed over time, these examinations remained for a long time a cornerstone regarding which school a child attended.

It was not until the 1910s that education for ‘mentally defective’ (1914) and ‘physically defective’ (1918) children became mandatory. Even then, there was still pressure to remove children with mental disabilities from education and instead train them within separate institutions. However, the government refrained from doing so.

Around this time, the Local Education Authorities also became required to certify which children in their area were ‘defective’ under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913. A local doctor would examine them to search for signs of ‘mental defects’ in physical symptoms, which was a common medical practice at the time. Hidden disabilities were not yet understood at that time.

The children who were judged to be incapable of learning in special schools were then passed on to a local mental deficiency committee. Many of these children ended up in Victorian-era asylums.

The Education Act 1944

In 1944, parliament passed the Education Act which was the first Act that guaranteed secondary education for all Britons. A new selection process was developed.

The Local Education Authorities were required to make arrangements for any children in the district that were deemed to have impairments. The system created 11 categories based on different impairments.

The categories are:

• Blind
• Partially blind
• Deaf
• Partially deaf
• Delicate
• Diabetic
• Educationally sub-normal
• Epileptic
• Maladjusted
• Having speech defects

Children with physical handicaps were labelled ‘seriously disabled’ and were always educated in separate, special schools. The local boards hoped that the other categories of children would be able to go to regular schools. However, this did not happen due to overcrowded classrooms, prejudices, incorrect interpretations of the law and widespread teacher resistance.

 

Rather than integrating students, a number of new schools were opened to house them between the 1950s and 1970s. By 1970, there were still 70,000 children who were deemed uneducable under the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913. To deal with this, the government granted them the right to education under a new category and then opened another 400 special schools, most of which previously housed old training centres.

The Education Act 1976

This Act was created to remove the need for special schools. It instead created comprehensive schools designed to house children of all abilities. It was the first time disabled students were legally required and allowed to go to a mainstream school. However, the Act was poorly planned and those involved were afraid of a decline in standards as well as economic cuts. Even though SEN students were permitted to go to mainstream schools, they were not catered for in the classroom.

Margaret Thatcher repealed the Education Act 1976 and replaced it with the Education Act 1979, which was two pages long. The new Act reinstated selection and allowed the local authorities the right to select pupils for secondary education. However, this legislation did not work as planned. There was a lack of understanding regarding how popular comprehensive schools were. Parents wanted to send their children to schools that catered to several abilities.

The Education Act 1980 was then introduced which stated that parents were allowed to choose a school and were able to appeal the decision if they did not get the chosen school. School governing bodies were also required to include a minimum of two parents.

The Education Act 1981

The Education Act 1981 served as a basis for increasing integration in schools, and more schools reported introducing higher standards when admitting ‘special needs’ students.

The 1981 Act (influenced by the Warnock report) also granted parents even more power over their children’s education. Local authorities were required to do more than identify pupils with disabilities. They were required to identify what their needs were and to create statements of special educational needs for each child.

The Education Reform Act 1988

The 1988 Act was the most important Act since the Education Act of 1944. It took power away from local authorities and schools and instead introduced the nationalised system that remains in place today. This was the Act that created the National Curriculum, local management of schools, technology colleges and grant-maintained schools.

British Schools in the 1990s

Selection was removed and then brought back again during the 1970s. However, it was rebranded ‘specialisation’ in the 1990s. Rather than dealing with the stigma that went along with selection, the government used the term ‘specialisation’ to encourage selection with the rationale that students excel in different areas and that ignoring that fact was irresponsible. However, the global tide was beginning to change. The 1994 UN special report on integration in education compelled Britain to focus on more inclusive education that did not just send pupils to the same school but to a school that catered for all pupils.

British Schools Today

In 2001, the UK Government and the Department of Education created the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice, further revised in 2015. The code of practice was created to ensure that children had alternatives if they were not making progress in school. It created room for school staff, teachers, SEN coordinators, parents and the child to create a plan for achieving key learning objectives.

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 refers to Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and related regulations.

The goal of the code is to create the right conditions for consistency in education. To do this, it focuses on identifying needs early so that key problems can be identified. Most importantly, it includes the input of the children in school, attempting to keep their voices at the heart of the decision-making process.

The Code of Practice replaced statements of special educational need with Educational and Health Care (EHC) Plans, designed to meet both health and educational needs through co-ordination provision with the student at the centre.

You will learn more about the SEN Code of Practice in Module 4. 

Conclusion

How to teach students who have additional needs has been a topic of debate ever since formal education was created in the UK.

A number of laws and regulations are designed to help people with SEN and disabilities. These include the Equality Act 2010, to ensure people are treated equally; the Education Act 1944, which guaranteed secondary education for all; the Education Act 1981, which served as a basis for increasing integration in schools and granted parents even more power over their children’s education; and the Education Reform Act 1988 which introduced the National Curriculum.

The SEN Code of Practice was introduced in 2001 to ensure that children had alternatives if they were not making progress in school. This was revised in 2015 to bring in changes made to the Children and Families Act 2014.

In Module 3, we discuss the theory of constructivism and how it can be applied in the classroom.

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