Alongside the Ambition Institute, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) published a paper in July 2022 which had a profound impact on me. Entitled ‘A Good Life’ it talked about the need to work towards a greater dignity for people with a learning disability, so it’s very relevant to the organisation I lead.
CST is a national sector body representing the voice of organisations like Forward Education Trust. It is apolitical and works with the government of the day to advance education for the public benefit. The Ambition Institute seeks to help educators serve children from disadvantaged backgrounds to keep getting better.
‘A Good Life’ was authored by Ben Newmark and Tom Rees, both of whom have children with disabilities. It seeks to challenge current thinking around the SEND system and address the problem of deficit framing within a society built on meritocracy. The paper makes a couple of important assertions:
“People with learning disability are complete humans. They are not broken and do not need fixing. We can treat them with greater dignity, avoiding deficit language that suggests they are special cases or somehow worth less.”
“We need a broader and more ambitious vision of what a good life is. Human flourishing and dignity for all, requires us to have a wide set of success measures. Placing greater value on things such as contribution, difference, common values, and the process of learning and work itself, can provide a healthy balance to meritocratic values of academic credentials, occupational status and wealth.”
The paper goes on to suggest that the Green Paper published around SEND reform in 2022 could be expanded by bringing forward national standards for SEND to address the challenges of dignity and deficit framing within the SEND system. This could include:
- Affirmative language: the use of affirmative, respectful and dignified language and narratives, which avoid the unintended consequences of deficit framing that exist within the current SEND system.
- Dignity of process: an expectation that a process of accessing additional support should treat people with dignity and respect, rather than requiring them to demonstrate repeated failure.
- A broad view of success: the importance of recognising a broad range of success measures when working with children who have learning disabilities, rather than assuming that success looks the same for every child.
- Need vs. identity: a clear understanding of the difference between specific learning difficulties that can be overcome, as opposed to the variation in rates of learning that are part of who someone is.
As the new Government considers SEND reform, I urge them to adopt these recommendations and invest in a fairer system for children and young people with SEND. By prioritising dignity, inclusion, and a broader understanding of success, we can ensure that all students have the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential.