Disabled teachers share their experiences

published:09 Jun 2009

On 26 March 2009, the GTC hosted the seminar Disability and Teaching: Sharing Your Experiences on behalf of the Disabled Teacher Taskforce.

The purpose of the event was for teachers with disabilities to share their experiences of initial teacher education (ITE) and school, and to discuss the implications of the proposed Single Equalities Bill.

There were opportunities for teachers to explore the effective practice schools were taking forward and what was working well, as well as the challenges and issues they faced. There were also questions about the non-disclosure of disability data and the impact of the ‘Fitness to Teach’ guidance produced by the DCSF.

Purpose and role of the Disabled Teacher Taskforce

Barry Carpenter, chair of the taskforce, welcomed attendees, outlined the purposes of the taskforce and gave a brief overview of the day.

The aims of the Disabled Teacher Taskforce are to: 

• highlight the inequality of opportunity for disabled individuals in entering the teaching profession
• raise awareness of the current policies and practices that cause difficulties for disabled students to access teacher training
• encourage national organisations to act on removing barriers and promoting opportunities for disabled people entering the teaching profession, either unilaterally or through collaborative projects
• develop a programme of action, which ensures that national partners are able to make progress leading to fewer barriers and more opportunities for people with disabilities entering the profession. 

A teacher’s experience

Barbara Waters, Chief Executive of Skill (the National Bureau for Students with Disabilities) introduced a presentation by Stuart Newton.

Stuart is an economics and politics teacher at a secondary school in Essex, and a teacher ambassador for Skill’s Into Teaching publication. He previously worked in the City, where he contracted a neurological condition that impairs his mobility. He subsequently left to pursue a career in teaching.

Stuart presented his own experience to the seminar. Stuart decided to pursue a career in teaching, having previously enjoyed mentoring trainees and undergraduates during his studies. He felt that teaching was sufficiently flexible to fit his required working pattern: short, sharp periods of intensive work interspersed with breaks.

His training provider was not used to working with disabled teacher trainees, but made great efforts to meet his needs. However, some of the placement schools found it difficult to make the necessary adjustments.

Stuart took a proactive approach to finding work, writing to schools and outlining his own circumstances. This led to a number of interviews, where he was proactive in setting out the kind of support he needed.

‘Access to Work’ funding has helped pay for equipment and transport to and from school. The school has also made adjustments to Stuart’s teaching timetable, enabling him to teach virtually all his lessons in one room and complete paperwork at home.

His own experiences have influenced his practice in many ways:

• exploring ethical questions around the rights of disabled people in society
• examining economic issues around the inflexibility of the City in meeting his needs, which has led to a market failure; and
• using himself as a role model for pupils who may be faced by difficult circumstances.

Group discussion

The teachers were formed into small groups, together with taskforce members, to discuss their own experiences of ITE and school. Discussions varied from table to table, but some common themes emerged, as below.

The importance of school leadership

A supportive, well-informed and proactive school leadership team is crucial; in particular, they must be aware of the funding available and willing to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate an individual’s needs and circumstances. Teachers often spoke of the importance of the pupils’ reaction to their disability, which is generally very positive.

The use of disability equality policies was seen as crucial to bringing disability issues to the fore in the school, and enabling compliance with the disability equality duty. There was also discussion around the potential for the development of a new ‘disabilities officer’ role.

Signposting of information and support

Teachers discussed the sporadic signposting of additional funding and support, particularly the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) for teacher trainees, the ‘Access to Work’ scheme through Job Centre Plus for serving teachers, and access to occupational health. Some teachers were aware of these resources, but many were not. An enhanced role for the local authority in helping schools to promote access to further support was also highlighted.

The provision of more visible disabled teacher advocates and role models would also help promote the profession to those with disabilities.

Impact on teaching and learning

Teachers felt that their disability had strengthened certain personal attributes  that are valued in teaching, notably determination and resilience. This has enabled them to overcome the challenges they faced.

Teachers with disabilities were considered to be attuned to the needs of children with special educational needs (SEN) and able to identify signs and implement interventions. Their own experiences had helped to develop creativity in their practice, and a variety of teaching and learning methods.

Teachers identified additional workload issues related to their disability, for which reasonable adjustments are sometimes not made because they are not recognised. For example, it takes longer for dyslexic teachers to write school reports but there is some reluctance to raise the issue with senior staff, for fear of being a burden or limiting career opportunities.

Teachers highlighted a particular issue around parental engagement. Some teachers are not open with parents about their disability because they feel that some parents have negative attitudes towards it. Those teachers who have had negative experiences thought that lack of knowledge about disability was the main problem.

Non-disclosure of disability data

The high level of non-disclosure of disability data is an issue. Teachers were concerned that disclosure could damage their future career prospects, or might not lead to useful follow-up by the school. Some teachers felt that while those who disclose a disability are subject to the requirements of Fitness to Teach, those who do not are not subject and are of greater concern.

Forthcoming Single Equalities Duty

Owen Neal, Policy Analyst (GTC) presented an outline of the proposals for the Single Equalities Bill/Duty. This included the uniting of the current race, gender and disability equality legislation; and its extension to cover sexual orientation, age, religion/belief; and gender reassignment.

Other key developments are likely to include:

• a move away from a process model to an outcomes model
• the banning of age discrimination
• the simplifying of the definition of disability discrimination; and
• the extension of positive action so employers can take into account, when selecting between two equally qualified candidates, under-representation of disadvantaged groups, for example, those with disabilities.

Teachers expressed concern that the issue of practice was more important than the legislation; and that there was a dissonance between policy and practice.

There was some antipathy towards the extension of positive action. Teachers felt that they should be valued for what they could bring to the school; not because their disability could be used to select them ahead of an equally qualified candidate.

Any proposals should not dilute the disability equality duty, particularly the requirement to make reasonable adjustments. An ‘equalities officer’ appointed in each school might help to strengthen schools’ engagement with, and implementation of, the new duty.

 
Next steps

Barry Carpenter thanked participants for their contributions and acknowledged how productive the event had been in raising areas of effective practice, and identifying key issues that need to be addressed.

Barry commented that the outcomes from the seminar will be fully discussed and follow-up actions agreed at the next meeting of the Disabled Teacher Taskforce.

Evaluation

Feedback on the seminar from participants was very positive. They were asked to respond to two questions:

• Did you think the aims of the day were addressed?
• Overall did you find the seminar useful?

For both questions, 70% of respondents said ‘Yes, very much’ while the remainder said ‘Yes’.

In addition, the following comments were received from some of the teachers who attended:

• ‘Ideally I would like to have seen a set of points for further action come out of the conference so that the extremely useful discussion points do not disappear in the abyss.’
• ‘An opportunity to rotate and hear different perspectives would have been welcomed. Nevertheless, the seminar was well communicated and effective.’
• ‘I was impressed with the number of external agencies who were represented and found the day much more beneficial than I thought it would be.’

Other comments from teachers noted how useful the seminar was for expressing concerns, sharing experiences and networking with other teachers. The seminar signalled positive steps towards promoting disability equality.