The influence of the SENCo role on SENCo teacher identity in the New Zealand context

Abstract

To create and maintain an inclusive educational environment in which all learners can fully engage in school activities and achieve their best learning outcomes, New Zealand, like many countries, has incorporated the role of special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) into mainstream schools. Being a SENCo means a (re)construction of one’s teacher identity as a SENCo. However, SENCos may face potential challenges in shaping their professional identity as the interpretation and enactment of the role is varied between individual schools. This is the case even in countries where the role is formalised through legislation and policy initiatives, for example in the UK. Particularly, SENCos in New Zealand might confront more identity challenges as the role of SENCo is not yet formally recognised or funded by the Ministry of Education (MoE). No national guidelines or job descriptions exist for the role of SENCo in New Zealand. Given this situation, surprisingly there are very few SENCo studies in the New Zealand context, none of which focuses on SENCo identity. Hence, the aim of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of how the role of SENCo influences SENCo teacher identities in the New Zealand context. Adopting a case study research strategy, multiple sources of data were collected through focus group discussions, semi-structured individual interviews and work shadowing with five SENCo teachers from five primary schools in Auckland, New Zealand. Documents including school policies and job descriptions were also analysed. Using Gee’s theory of discourse and identity, and his approach to discourse analysis, the findings revealed that the role of SENCo brought about three noticeable aspects of teacher identity in the participants: a) a strong sense of SENCo teacher agency resulting from time and flexibility, freedom and autonomy, accessibility to resources and services, and a growth of teacher expertise related to special educational needs; b) a high level of self-fulfilment, job satisfaction, passion, commitment and confidence and the feeling of being supported on the one hand, and frustration, stress and tiredness on the other, as a result of the large amount of emotional labour; and c) a perception that their expertise and value were not sufficiently recognised by others, including teacher colleagues, senior management teams, other school staff and the MoE. This study contributes to the limited international literature on SENCo identity. It reveals that SENCo identity is both a product and process of the interconnectedness between agency, emotional labour and role recognition. The findings also contribute to the existing knowledge about teacher identity as shaped by an interaction between personal, professional and contextual influences. Specifically, the research presented identifies a tension between a strong identification with the SENCo role and instability/uncertainty in SENCo identity. Moreover, the findings suggest that the essence of a strong SENCo identity is the high level of agency SENCos achieve in concrete school settings. Thus, it is of importance to enable SENCo agency in specific school environments rather than relying on promoting SENCos as part of the senior management team, which many SENCo studies have called for. In addition, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of Gee’s approach to discourse analysis in the exploration of SENCo teacher identity. Suggestions for supporting and strengthening SENCo identity in the New Zealand context are given, such as the MoE funding the SENCo role, releasing SENCos from classroom teaching, adopting multiple SENCos particularly in larger schools and establishing SENCo affinity groups across schools. Future research on SENCo identity is anticipated/advised with larger sample sizes, using different methods, or in other countries to gain a fuller insight into the influence of the SENCo role on SENCo teacher identity.