Maab, aged five-years-old, sometimes cries as she comes through the school gates in the mornings. She finds the experience of going to her mainstream school an overwhelming one, but her mother, Maryam, finds it hard to understand exactly why. Mrs James, Maabâs teacher, doesnât understand either and feels rather helpless about the situation. She is usually able to form good relationships with the children in her class, but Maab doesnât seem to respond well to her friendly approach. Mrs James had an autistic pupil in her class once before. She remembered at the time being told to introduce a quiet activity at the start of the day since this child had also found it hard to make the transition from home to school. Mrs James knows that Maab likes to draw so she sets up a small table in one corner of the classroom where she knows Maab will not be disturbed. Each morning she or her classroom assistant meet Maab with her mother and invite her to sit at the table to draw. Maab loves to draw and feels much happier when she can sit quietly doing this for a while, undisturbed by anyone during that time.
As a teacher, Mrs James believes firmly that children are capable as learners, though she knows from experience that some need support to be able to make progress. Mrs James believes strongly in supporting children and doing her best for all the children in her class. She believes that taking an interest in children as individuals is really important. She often asks children about their ideas and pastimes and takes very seriously any concerns they bring to her. Mrs James can see that drawing is something that is important to Maab. Maab likes to draw little characters that look like rabbits. Her drawings are very inventive and often depict the homes, shops and playgrounds of these creatures. Mrs James is curious about them and asks Maab to explain, listening attentively to what she has to say.
Mrs James tries hard to think about Maabâs experience of her classroom. She takes time to observe Maab as she goes about different learning activities and tries to imagine what Maabâs experience might be. She often talks to other people who know Maab well, including Maryam, Maabâs mother, and Mrs Williams who taught Maab when she was in Reception class. Mrs James also talks to the teaching assistant, Lucy Bassett, who supports Maab for literacy and numeracy lessons in the mornings and to Nicola James, the teacher who co-ordinates extra support for children. Everyone realises that something is upsetting Maab during lesson-time, but they are not exactly sure what it is. Mrs James wonders if it might be the digital timer she puts up on the whiteboard to tell children how much time they have left to finish their task. The timer is a large animated cartoon of a globe-shaped bomb with a slow-burning fuse that eventually explodes. Maab finds that the animation makes her feel panicked and doesnât know what to do about it. She puts her fingers in her ears and tries to look away when the animation is put up on the whiteboard. Mrs James notices this and decides that she is going to stop using this timer. Though some of the children in her class enjoy it, Mrs James finds another animation that everyone likes and uses this instead.
Mrs James believes that as a teacher it is very important for her to find out about how children in her class are making sense of learning and about any questions they have. This, she believes, allows her to support them in moving forward in their thinking. Mrs James likes to talk to children and ask them what they think about something. She always encourages them to explain some aspect of their learning and say more about their ideas. Some children in her class are weaker in their ability to express themselves, but Mrs James does not see this as a barrier to their participation in talk about their learning. She tries to be open and respectful in her communication with her pupils, building relationships where children feel they are listened to. Mrs James believes it is important to try to tune into the different ways that children communicate. For example, with Maab, she notices that just listening to her and not interrupting too much is a good way of interacting.
As the academic year progresses, Mrs James notices that Maab seems more settled in school. Maryam, Maabâs mother, and Miss Bassett agree with her about this. Maab doesnât cry now when she comes into school, though she knows that Mrs James has kept her desk for her drawing set to one side. She also has a friend, Oona, who she loves to play with. Oona likes to do the things that Maab likes, such as make mud cakes in the playground. They have lots of fun together and really enjoy each otherâs company. The two girls are described as inseparable, but Mrs James and many of the other staff member donât worry about that and see it as something positive. Sometimes, Maab gets very tired at the end of the school day and likes time to herself. Mrs James is happy for her to do this since she can see that Maab is engaging in more and more learning activities during the day. She trusts that Maab knows when she wants be involved and when she needs time out and lets Maab make this decision for herself.
In thinking about Maabâs experiences at school, it is possible to see that she is doing well and is able to make progress. Though some difficulties are evident, it is apparent that these are being addressed effectively. It is not simply the case, however, that a support strategy is put in place and this alone makes the difference to Maabâs experience. By focusing on her relationship with her teacher, Mrs James, one can see that support for Maab exists in a number of ways. Taking the arrangement that supports Maabâs transition to school in the mornings as an example, it is possible to see that other factors besides the activity of drawing are in play. Maab is fortunate enough to have a teacher who cares about her and thinks carefully about her needs, one who intuitively understands that uninterrupted time is important for her, particularly as she comes into school. Mrs James has not been put off by her initial difficulties in establishing a relationship with Maab and persists in trying to find ways of providing positive experiences of being together. Mrs James draws on different sources of knowledge, including what she has done under similar circumstances in the past as well as other peopleâs ideas, particularly those who know Maab well. An especially important source of knowledge for Mrs James are her ongoing interactions with Maab. She tries to âtune inâ to Maab by focusing on her priorities and concerns and understanding her point of view. Mrs James finds this hard at times, but perseveres anyway. The fact that she focuses on Maabâs interests and strengths is probably important. Mrs James has enough confidence in herself as a teacher to believe that she is capable of teaching Maab and can find solutions to any problems that arise.
What Mrs James believes is a critical aspect of her practice. It is apparent that she does not see Maab herself as the problem and believes that different features of the learning environment require careful consideration. Some of the actions she takes are significant, but the general ethos of her classroom and her attitude towards children are also key. She believes that childrenâs activity in her classroom is fundamentally purposeful and in search of meaning. Finding out about how children make sense of learning situations is critically important to her role as teacher, she believes, since it allows her to know how to help them and extend their thinking. She does not see Maab as different in this respect and does not see her autism as a barrier to her learning in this way. She is supported in this, moreover, by a general culture of acceptance of difference in the school. Though Mrs James is uncertain about how to support Maab at times, she sees this as an ordinary part of teaching and something that happens in her interactions with other children too. Learning interactions for Mrs James are about sometimes not knowing exactly what to say or do. Mrs James understands that interaction is an ongoing accomplishment and something she needs to pay close attention to. She continually tries to find effective ways to respond to her pupils and experiments with different ways to support them. She believes firmly in the experience of positive interactions to support children as active learners. It seems important too that Mrs James is prepared to make an adjustment for one pupil without seeing this as spoiling the experience of others. She clearly has a sense of responsibility to all the members of her class group and does not see any pupil as different in this respect.
One further feature of Maabâs story we might notice is that she makes progress, but it is not possible to pinpoint precisely what brings this about. Many helpful influences and affirmative opportunities appear to be present, but few of them can be easily measured as entities that operate discretely. Rather, Maabâs progress is based on an accumulation of positive experiences that are intricately linked to form a supportive learning environment. Maab benefits from a favourable interactional ecology, as Olga Solomon (2015) has described it, where she is seen as competent and where social processes are in place that allow her the opportunity to participate. Mrs Jamesâs recognition of her as a psychological agent and respect for her equal rights within communication seems crucially important in this respect. This is something that many autistic people say makes all the difference in their educational experience and what supports good outcomes. It is apparent that Maabâs development reflects developments in her environment and the way in which her teacher is developing too. The growing confidence of her teacher in knowing how to support her mirrors Maabâs increasing sense of safety at school and growing confidence as a learner. Maabâs progress does not mean that she becomes less autistic. Rather it is the case that she is allowed to thrive in circumstances that value her as she is.
Of course, Maabâs educational experience does not reflect that of many autistic pupils. It is well-documented that autistic pupils face some of the most difficult experiences in schools today. Research shows that autistic children and young people are much more likely to be excluded from school, even when compared to others with additional learning needs for whom exclusion rates are already high. Research illustrates the degree of social exclusion that exists for autistic pupils in schools and the extremely high risk of victimisation and bullying. In their systematic review of research into bullying, Neil Humphrey and Judith Hebron (2015) found that almost 90% of autistic young people in secondary schools in the UK reported being bullied at least once a week and that, in the US, 65% reported being bullied in the past year. Unsurprisingly, fewer than half of autistic pupils say they are happy in school and many say they feel they are neither understood nor adequately supported by their teachers (All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism 2017). Research finds that teachers lack confidence in their ability to support autistic pupils and experience more stress and feelings of negativity in relation to this group (Cappe et al. 2017; Roberts and Simpson 2016).
Any discussion of autism and education needs to be set against this backdrop of exclusion and unhappiness. Yet it is possible to see that the educational experience of some autistic children and young people is a good one. Though problems exist in the positivist approaches frequently used to research educational outcomes, systematic review of academic achievement suggests a high level of variability. Some children and young people are able to achieve beyond expectations, for example, and there are clear patterns of strengths in some areas (Keen et al. 2016). Similarly, achievement in a broader sense, including the attainment of qualification, employment and desired social outcomes, is found to be highly variable, with some individuals achieving good outcomes, though many falling short of this (Levy and Perry 2011). The perspectives of autistic people on their education supports this idea of variation. Many autistic writers describe positive as well as negative experiences of school, describing varied feelings about learning, teacher support, social inclusion and friendship. Very often, positive experiences of school are associated with a particularly understanding teacher who is able to establish a good relationship with the individual. William Hadcroft, in his autobiography, The Feelingâs Unmutual, describes a mixed experience of school, with more positive experiences connected to being in the classes of teachers who he had a liking for and who in turn appreciated him as a person. He describes one such teacher, Mrs Skinner, in the following way:
I liked her a lot too. She encouraged creativity. We all had to bring egg boxes in over a few weeks, and I marvelled as they were slowly constructed into the form of a large dragon. I thought ...