Chapter 38: What Do Teachers Need to Know about Meeting Special Educational Needs?

Ruth Kershner

What do teachers need to know about meeting special educational needs? This chapter focuses on the knowledge teachers use in teaching children with special educational needs (SEN), the knowledge that develops through that teaching, and the ways in which teachers' pedagogical practice may be influenced by and contribute to wider professional and public knowledge in the field. The means by which certain pupils come to be identified as having SEN and the strategies available for meeting these needs form part of the knowledge base for teachers in different national contexts. In England and other countries, current policies on inclusion call for all teachers to develop skills and confidence in teaching all pupils successfully without the assumption of specialist training, but making use of specialist services where necessary (DfES, 2004, p. 50). However the knowledge teachers require for the effective use of specialist services is both cumulative and con-textualised. It builds ...

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