The Future of Education

This paper will provide an overview of the key findings emerging from Phase One of this study’s data collection, involving a national survey investigating the wellbeing of Special Education Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in Irish primary schools.

In the past number of years, the Irish special education system has radically transformed, bringing about policy proliferation and a relentless pace of change. Engaging with timely professional learning and development for school leaders, teachers, and SENCOs to support enactment of change has been challenging. The introduction of a revised SET Allocation model, the lack of formal recognition of the SENCO role in policy,  well as the increase in the prevalence of special education in pupils, are all potential stressors negatively affecting the wellbeing of SENCOs. Despite the developments in wellbeing policy and practice in Irish schools, there appears to be a focus on the wellbeing of students, with a neglect for the wellbeing of teachers and school leaders. This research investigated school-based factors impacting the wellbeing of SENCOs in order to contribute a better understanding to both policy and practice.

This research study utilises an interpretivist, mixed-methods approach involving a two sequential phases of data collection, with the first phase informing the design of the second phase. This paper will focus on Phase One of the data collection process which involved a quantitative online national survey with over 320 SENCOs. The online survey included a wellbeing scale, as well as closed and open-ended questions exploring the wellbeing of the participants. The survey was analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. This paper will comprehensively discuss and explore the findings from Phase One of data collection. Data analysis was underway at the time of abstract submission.

Keywords: wellbeing, Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators (SENCOs), Special Educational Teachers (SETs), national survey

References

Creswell, J.W. and Plano Clark, V.L. (2011) Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research, 2^nd ed, Los Angelos: SAGE.

Department of Education and Skills (2024) Special Education Teacher Allocation Model from 2024/25.

Department of Education and Skills (2019) Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice 2018-2023.

Doyle Bradley, N. (2021) ‘Is Special Education Teaching in Ireland Stressful? Coping with Work-related Stress’, Student Teacher Educational Research e-Journal, 4, 8-21.

Fitzgerald, J. and Radford, J. (2017) ‘The SENCO role in post-primary schools in Ireland: victims or agents of change?’ European Journal of Special Needs Education, 32(3), 452–466. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2017.1295639

Keyes, C. L. M. (2009) ‘The Black–White paradox in health: Flourishing in the face of social inequality and discrimination’, Journal of Personality, 77(6), 1677-1706.