Abstract

The ability of the Special Needs Teacher to put thoughts in motion –

an unused resource in the collegiate learning

The work takes the form of a scientific essay from a phenomenological hermeneutical perspective. Based on my research questions – “How do headmasters view the role of the Special Needs Teachers (SNT) in relation to Lead Teachers (LT) when it comes to school development and collegial learning?”, “What has shaped their views?” and “What are the consequences of this in regards to how the school handles students who do not achieve the goals?” – I have tried to create a trialogue between the empirical results of some qualitative research interviews with high school principals, texts I've read within this field as well as my own experiences and reflections. In my conclusion I note that although the headmasters seem to regard the competences of the SNT respective LT as complementary, it is difficult to see how cooperation between the two roles would actually manifest itself concretely in a school where the SNT´s tasks still tend to end up in individual remedial work. I speculate as to what may have formed the headmasters´ view and claim that the history of the SNT may be of significance. The fact that our profession is still referred to as SNT may further make it difficult to break the ingrained thought that some students need a special kind of education – ie. “Special Needs Education”. The fact that we have both the National Agency for Education and the Special Needs Education Authority certainly contributes to the view that SNTs should concern themselves with something different to the mainstream education.  The role of the Headmasters’ training must not be neglected as it seems to have a big focus on the jurisprudence, and the role of the SNTs is virtually invisible in the Education Act and other regulatory documents. The texts that I have read on the subject of the LT reform, collegial learning and school development in general give me the impression that the LTs and the SNTs do not exist in the same universe. When SNTs are considered key figures, the focus is to increase the accessibility and allow more students to get the help that they need, in their actual classroom and in such cases the LTs are not even mentioned. In texts on the subject of collegial learning, however, the role of the LTs is practically the only one focused on. If the practical knowledge of the SNTs – to make colleagues develop their own practical judgment without providing given solutions – does not receive a more prominent position, there is a risk that the collegial learning turns into nothing but collegial sharing, where the more expressive teachers get an arena for telling about their most successful projects. Another danger is for the categorical perspective to once again gain ground and for the democratically included thought of a school - for- all to be further and further away, which, in today´s society would be most unfortunate. The voice of the SNT needs to be heard in order to put thoughts in motion.       

Key words: Special Needs Teacher, Lead Teacher, Headmaster´s educational leadership, collegial learning, practical knowledge, phronesis