Over the past 40 years the role and identity of the special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo) in England has changed significantly from the remedial teacher pre 1980s to specialist teacher and then to SENCo. This role was given formal status in 1994, followed by the introduction of National SENCo Standards in 1998. In 2009, it became mandatory for every new SENCo in a mainstream school in England to gain a postgraduate qualification in special educational needs coordination within three years of taking up the post.
Thereafter, numerous policies redefined provision linked to special educational needs and disability (SEN/D) which influenced and broadened the role of the SENCo to lead on inclusion as well as identifying and meeting the needs of children and young people with SEN/D. Internationally the evidence highlights that while disabilities or diagnoses might be an indicator of the types of needs a student has (Kärnä, 2015), the identification of those needs is more likely to be dependent on how those needs affect an individual in a particular learning environment. The World Health Organization suggests that this contextual or social approach to interventions requires a much wider and evidence-informed approach to ‘correct’ the socially created problems in the environment ‘brought about by attitudes and other features of the social environment’ (WHO, 2002, p. 9).
Leaders of inclusive practice need to be able to think critically, reflect on a range of evidence, and develop strategic approaches to ensure that needs are identified early and accurately. This allows for timely and appropriate support for those additional needs and is more likely to result in better outcomes for children, young people and their families. This evidence-based approach also has the potential to have long-term, cost-effective impact on opportunities for these young people to lead healthy and productive lives. In his analysis of inclusion in educational settings globally, Ainscow (2020, p. 7) states that including all children in schools has become more challenging and argues that inclusion is about whole setting approaches, rather than ‘simply involving attempts to integrate vulnerable groups of students into existing arrangements’. This requires a strategic and evidence-based approach.
