Transcript The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

The Disabled Student
Perspective
Skill: National Bureau for Students with
Disabilities
UCET Seminar 09 July 2008
Skill: National Bureau for
Students with Disabilities
• Skill: a national charity promoting opportunities for
young people and adults with any kind of impairment
in post-16 education, training and employment.
• Works to raise awareness of disabled people’s ability
to enter the teaching profession:
– Provides information and advice.
– Raise aspirations: Into Teaching 2008
– Raise awareness of legislation e.g. the Disability
Discrimination Act and the Human Rights Act
– Support education institutions in implementing legislation
– Influence policy making
The Disabled Student
Perspective
• What motivates individuals to teach is the
same for disabled people as non disabled
people.
• For many disabled trainee teachers their
impairment is an additional positive attribute:
“…I feel my disability and life experiences will
actually act as a positive influence upon
some of the young people in our society”
(Stuart Newton, Into Teaching 2008)
Perceptions on Disability and
Teaching
• Potential disabled applicants to ITT can often be
deterred from applying by other people’s concern about
their ability to cope with the barriers that they may face
e.g. the attitudes of pupils and parents, inaccessible
buildings.
For example, the perceptions of the teaching
professionals that they encounter and careers advisors
in relation to fitness to teach can be inaccurate.
• People’s perceptions about the ability of teachers who
develop an impairment during their career can often be
different to the perceptions they hold about disabled
trainee teachers.
Disabled Student Perspective:
The Reality of ITT
• Some disabled ITT applicants may struggle to get
through the fitness to teach assessment.
• Despite the Disability Discrimination Act and the
guidance such as ‘Able to Teach’ some disabled
trainees do experience barriers to progression
e.g. discriminatory attitudes, the availability of
suitable placements.
• Some disabled trainees impairments may require
them to work harder than their non disabled peers
to qualify.
Disabled Student Perspective:
The Reality of ITT
The majority of disabled entrants
are able to fulfil their ambition of
becoming a teacher if they are on a
suitable ITT programme and have
the right equipment and support.
“…. I think what impacted on me
most was that, for the first time in my
life, I had people who believed in me
and my abilities, and they thought
that I would make a great teacher”
(Becky Newman, Into Teaching 2008)
As a wheelchair user it was a particular
challenge to find accessible schools nearby for
my practical training. I arranged at least one
placement myself to ensure that I wasn’t
disadvantaged. I also advised on equipment to
enable me to teach… and a slim line wheelchair
for getting around the classroom. These were
paid for by the university and through my
Disabled Students’ Allowance. (Stuart Newton,
Into Teaching 2008)
The Disability Discrimination Act
• The DDA has had a positive impact on the
ability of disabled people to enter and
progress in teaching.
– Involvement of disabled people
– Tackling discriminatory practices
– Requiring educational institutions to impact assess
their policies, procedures and practices.
– The requirement to make anticipatory reasonable
adjustments.
– The selection of people based on competency
standards.
The Disability Discrimination Act,
continued
• For disabled students there is still
progress to be made in areas including:
– Information provided to prospective
students
– Preventing discrimination in selection
– Assessing fitness to teach
– Placements
Information for
Prospective Students
• Potential disabled students may think or have
been told that the requirement to be
physically and mentally fit excludes them from
teaching.
• Potential disabled students can be daunted
by ITT providers expectation that applicants
will have spent time in a school.
• Not all students associate with the terms
disabled or disability.
Discrimination in Selection
Disabled ITT applicants do report instances of
discrimination in the selection process. For
example:
– Admissions tutors they have contact with lack of
awareness of the DDA and ITT requirements.
– Made to undertake additional forms of assessment
that non-disabled students are not required to
undertake.
– Failure to make reasonable adjustments during
the selection process.
Assessing Fitness to Teach:
The Student Perspective
“The main hiccup came when I did not
pass a medical examination because I
could not repeat a list of numbers said
to my back from the other side of the
room with my eyes shut (a situation that
happens all the time to teachers in the
classroom – not!)” (Karen Williamson,
d/Deaf Teacher, Into Teaching 2003)
Assessing Fitness to Teach:
The Student Perspective
• Disabled students/applicants to ITT are not always
aware of what occupational health advisors are
considering when they are assessed. As a result
applicants are not as prepared as they could be when
they are referred to an OHA e.g. they could find and
gain support of a practicing teacher with similar
impairment.
• OHA’s are not always aware of the full range of
reasonable adjustments available to disabled
students.
• Disabled applicants/students often feel discriminated
against (and can be) during the medical assessment
process.
The Student Perspective:
Placements
“Things were going well until I found out that
my first school placement was in another
city…. I was spending nearly 3 hours
travelling. The school itself wasn’t for me. I
found there was a lot of prejudice but I was
supported through it by my family and the
disability advisors in the university, as well as
my course mates.”
(Kirsten Edmondson, blind PGCE student,
Into Teaching 2008)
The Student Perspective:
Placements
The majority of ITT students that Skill
interacts have experienced placement
problems.
– Distance required to travel
– Training providers failure to effectively
communicate the reasonable adjustments
required
– Failure of the placement to implement reasonable
adjustments
– Attitudes of staff on the placement
Skill’s Information Service
• For disabled people, their friends and families
and members of Skill
• Open:
Tuesdays 11.30am-1.30pm
Thursdays 1.30pm-3.30pm
Tel
Text
Fax
Email
Website
Address
0800 328 5050
0800 068 2422
020 7450 0650
[email protected]
www.skill.org.uk
Chapter House, 18-20 Crucifix
Lane, London SE1 3JW