[senco-forum] Training for all teachers

Sharon -- the parental role is my primary concern -- I work as a parental

I object to the tone of Brendan's email (below), whether or not I agree
with the comments he makes. As it happens, I think that parental issues
are of great importance and do cover the topic on initial teacher training
programmes I am involved with. The main reason for this is that specific
learning difficulties are often considered an educational issue by new
teachers (which they obviously are), but they also have a significant
impact on the emotive domain. Understanding that parents are often dealing
with both the failure of academic progress along with the emotional fall
out of their child(ren)'s progress helps when teachers are developing ILPs
and differentiated programmes of work which they are hoping parents will
support. Mnay parents do not understand what dyslexia etc is (one exercise
we cover is how to explain dyslexia to a parent - a very different skill
to that of explaining it to another professional); many bring poor
experiences of their own education into their dealings with school; many
parents try to be teachers at home without any understanding of
paired-reading, study strategies, working memory overload; the importance
of developing confidence in areas outside the academic curriculum etc,
struggling to deliver academic support to their own child who often
displays a resistance the teacher doesn't witness in the classroom.

Being a parent is very different to being a teacher. Parents need support
and training that teachers are in the position to provide but only if they
have an understanding of the emotive issues involved. 'Parental
involvement' does not just mean encouraging parents to be part of a
school-based programme of education. Furthermore, the damage that teachers
can do if they don't appreciate the needs of parents is huge.

I appreciate my comments are just part of a wider discussion. That, after
all, is the point of this forum.

Best wishes,
Sally (Plymouth)

> Sharon -- the parental role is my primary concern -- I work as a parental
> advisor! Sheila has made the point that parents were also a priority for
> her.
> But this point, as made, was a fatuous red herring. Whenever the hard work
> of
> professional training in terms of what has to be done in schools and
> classrooms  in order to effectively teach and provide for SEN children is
> raised  --
> someone comes up with woolly comments about having "good relationships"
> with
> parents -- setting aside the need for very well trained specialist
> teachers/therapists to be available for direct 1:1 tuition and therapy,
> etc. LAs  love
> the confusion caused when we -- on this forum -- argue about parental
> involvement as opposed to (as if it were an oppositional argument) high
> levels  of
> professional provision. LAs are the experts at talking parents to death in
> meetings rather than providing urgently required specialist tuition  and
> high levels
> of classroom support which is what is usually required. Sheila  quite
> sensibly set out a short list of required aspects of SEN knowledge  for
> all teachers
> -- and then was rubbished for not listing parental invovelment  at the top
> of
> her list. For Gods Sake! Parental involvement is a "given". It is  not,
> however, the basis of a sensible curriculum for SEN aspects of initial
> teacher
> training -- grow up please!! Brendan
>
>