The Value of Improving SEN Provision

Welcome to Module 3 of your SEN toolkit!

In this module we look at the practical benefits of improving SEN provision for all
stakeholders.

Aims
By the end of this module, I will be able to:

recognise the practical benefits of improving SEN provision for all stakeholders
apply the core principles of the SEN Manifesto to my own context
understand the values of improving SEN provision as outlined in the SEN
Manifesto

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 Introduction

Understanding the value of inclusion

When understanding the importance of improving SEN provision in our education

contexts, it’s key that we understand the core values that underpin our actions.
Engaging with, and revisiting these core values can help us focus on those things that
can help us make change focused, child-centred, and consistent.

1. Without looking at our SEN Toolkit Manifesto, try playing this matching exercise!
Match the headline with the statements to see if you can align the core values of
the Manifesto with the principles they represent.

1) We Value Everybody We know that:

a) we must express our different needs and identities openly to live and work
well together.
2) We Accept Ourselves
b) the task of inclusion is not up to just a few people. We all gain a lot when
we all contribute a little.
3) We Find Ways to Communicate c) every individual has strengths and skills to contribute to a group. Nobody is
better or "super"

d) early intervention can make a huge difference to one's sense of belonging

4) We Get it Right From the Start
and self-worth.

e) nobody is perfect, and this is okay. We know our own strengths and or own
(5) We All Share Responsibility weaknesses.

Now check your answers with The SEN Manifesto!

Answers
(https://sentoolkit.com/manifesto/five-core-values/)
1c, 2e, 3a, 4d, 5b.

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 Case-Study

Being the change-makers

what is called “adventure” ever approaches the flavor of the street.

It can be easy to feel that “doing this alone” is a daunting task, but every movement
The boys you worshiped when you first came down into the street remain with you
begins with an individual.

all yourlife. They are the only real heroes. Napoleon, Lenin, Capone-all fiction.
You’re about to read some very short accounts of those who have affected great change Napoleon is nothing to me in comparison with Eddie Carney, who gave me my first
for the better. black eye. No man I have ever met seems as princely, as regal, as noble, as Lester
Reardon who, by the mere act of walking down the street, inspired fear and
2. Read the stories, and then match the statements you sorted in the previous
admiration. Jules Verne never led me to the places that Stanley Borowski had up
exercise to them.
his sleeve when it came dark. Robinson Crusoe lacked imagination in comparison
with Johnny Paul.

Story 1 All these boys of the Fourteenth Ward have a flavor about them still. They were not
invented or imagined: they were real. Their names ring out like gold coins: Tom
We know that: nobody is perfect, and this is okay. We know our own strengths
Fowler, Jim Buckley, Matt Owen, Rob Ramsay, Harry Martin, Johnny Dunne, to say
and or own weaknesses.

nothing of Eddie Carney or the great Lester Reardon. Why, even now when I say
There is the family life and there is the life you live when you are out in the Johnny Paul the names of the saints leave a bad taste in my mouth. JohnnyPaul
street.
was the living Odyssey of the Fourteenth Ward; that he later became a
truck driver is an irrelevant fact.“
Yes, there are the people out there and none of them is the same. Unto
Henry Miller, ’The Black Spring“
themselves and unto your life as well, they are all different. What a wealth to
explore and tuck yourself in.
Henry Miller, ’The Black Spring“

“To be born in the street means to wander all your life, to be free. It means Looking back and going out to meet a new day, I cherish encounters, shared
accident and incident, drama, movement. It means above all dream. A harmony of moments and this simple and magnificent life lived in the company of others. I
irrelevant facts which gives toyour wandering a metaphysical certitude. In the look at children and I admire the ease with which they enjoy each other’s
street you learn what human beings really are; otherwise, or afterwards, you company.

invent them.
Yes, nobody is perfect but that is the perfection of the miracle of life we live
together. Out there in the street, nothing is ever the same, no one is ever the
What is not in the open street is false, derived, that is to say, literature. Nothing of same. What a beauty to wake up to.

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 Case-Study

Story 2 self-esteem, low motivation and persistence. Growing with this trauma in her
psyche, she experienced failure after failure. She did not enjoy the support or
There’s an interesting story that coyotes and badgers often travel together.
understanding of those around her. She experienced continuous feelings of
These two unlikely companions share very little in common, but it turns out
helplessness. BUT the support came exactly where she never hoped. The
that they have a mutually-beneficial relationship that helps them both. While
leader of a team of volunteers noticed the situation in which Ioana was then
the coyote is fast, and can run after sources of food, the badger is skilled at
and knew that she will reach depression and isolation if she does not
digging, and can dig out these sources of food from under the ground. Alone,
overcome this trauma. So there was a first sign of an early intervention: Ioana
neither would be very successful; but together, they form a formidable
received one of the most special tasks. She was going to organize an event for
partnership and can provide enough food for both of them. It’s not about their
children with disabilities in the park. But helplessness made her feel like she
individual strengths, it’s in the act of sharing the workload that they become
can’t get anything done. Continuous encouragement has been another sign of
most effective.
early intervention. So at one point she stopped, took a deep breath, reset her
body and calmed her nervous system. Then things started to ‘’come to life’’. She
made a step-by-step plan for organizing the event. It was one of the most
Story 3 important moments in her ‘’early career in belonging to a group’’.
Healthy communication habits are the basis of any lasting and honest
relationship. It's important that, as teachers, we learn to communicate not only
with those who are, behave or think similar to us. We also have to Story 5
communicate with those who have different views and come from different
As a teacher and mentor I have worked making sure that I value all students
perspectives. Powerful communication habits will strengthen our relationship
as individuals, as not a just mere number. This has helped me a lot to look at
with our students, their families, our peers and the whole education
students as persons and deal with their parents in an individualised way,
community.
making a real difference in real life situations and coming up with solutions to
issues and problems in a meaningful way and not as one glove fits all!

Story 4
Answers
Ioana (name chosen random to exemplify the walk of life) experienced
repeated traumatic events such as childhood neglect. This led to a lack of Story 1: We Accept Ourselves; Story 2: We All Share Responsibility; Story 3: We Find Ways to
Communicate; Story 4: We Get it Right from the Start; Story 5: We Value Everybody

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 Case-Study

3. Then note down the crucial action that instantiated the core value of each of the 4. Now look at the image: “The Ripple Effect of Values”. Where it says “My Actions”,
short stories. And note down one positive outcome you believe came from that think of one action you can take in your context which manifests one of the five
action. core values of the SEN Toolkit. Then fill in the rest of the diagram (with one effect
that action might have, an effect that effect might have, and an effect that that
effect might have; and with two other people you believe your actions might
effect; and with two actions you think those people might take as a consequence
of your actions).

People my actions affect

How he might react How she might react

My actions’ My actions’ effects

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 Theory

Engagement deepening
In this section, you will read the stories again, and engage with them in a far deeper
way, considering how they can be made more relevant in your own context.

Look at the five short stories again.

5. What was most inspiring about them? Write down one thing about each story
that inspired you.

7. Short “comprehension” exercise. In your own SEN-specific context

What does “we value everybody” mean
6. Can you apply these stories to your own context?
What does “we accept ourselves” mean
What does “we find ways to communicate” mean
6.1 Take the two most inspiring stories, and re-write them so that the people, What does “we get it right from the start” mean
environments, and actions fit your own context. You are, effectively, telling a new What does “we all share responsibility” mean?
story about your own future.

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 Theory

7.1 Now take these values, and complete two of the spider diagrams provided. 7.2 Now you have worked out what these values mean in your context, do you think
your context currently manifests those values as well as it might?

Core value of the manifesto:

7.3 What changes do you think you need before your context can fully manifest
those values?

8. Look at the values again. Which ones do you instantiate most frequently? Which
ones could you instantiate more?

Core value of the manifesto:

8.1 When you have instantiated the values, how did it make you feel?

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 Theory

9. Manifesting each of the values individually is a positive start. But combining two
or more of them in our behaviour will produce even better results.

9.1 Take the “Core Value Statements” again from page 3. Now spend a couple of
minutes mixing and matching, and note down some ways that combining the
values can yield stronger results than acting them out individually. How can, for
instance, Accepting Ourselves and Finding Ways to Communicate give better
results combined in your context?

10. What do the six steps of the “Six Step Vision” in the Manifesto mean to you?

If you’re on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or any other social media platform, post
your answer with the hashtag #SENToolkit! (and please, remember to post updates
as you go through the SEN Toolkit modules – this will help others connect with you
and share your experiences)

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 Practice

Planning for Change 13. Now try to plan out a detailed forecast for how you can effect change in your
context. Use the image: “Ripple Effect Plan” as a guide.
Change can be hard, for all of us - especially if we are hoping to make positive
changes in the lives of others - and even more so if we are in contexts where
others might not be as willing to make change happen as we are!

You are about to create a plan for the kind of change that will be possible to make,
and which will make a real difference to the lives of the SEN children you come
across.

12. Now think of any change you have made in your life. Try to think of a small
change (such as quitting taking sugar in your coffee, getting out of bed an hour
earlier than you used to, or taking a different route to work every morning). Ripple Effect Plan

12.1 Now draw your own “ripple effect” diagram, and work out what effects this one
small change has had on your (or others’) life.

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 Practice

Then fill in the template: “Planning for Change”.

Begin with one small action you would like to take regarding SEN. Then predict
whom this action might affect. Then work out how you can measure the change.
Then predict whom these changes might affect. Finally, work out how you can
measure those changes. Then decide when you want to implement this change.

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 Checklist

Five ways I can bring five core values to life

In this section, think about what you have learnt in this module, and how it could
impact on your own teaching practice. Read through the five-point checklist, reflecting
on how the values are manifested in practice.

1. I value everybody by: 4. I try to get it right from the start by:
a)
a)

b)
b)

c) c)

2. I encourage myself and those around me to accept ourselves by: 5. I encourage everybody to share responsibility for this by…
a)
a)

b)
b)

c) c)

3. I find effective ways to communicate by:

a)

b)

c)

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