This study is located within the Faculty of Education of the University of Cumbria, the largest training provider of teachers in Primary Education in England. Following a debate based on human rights principles, embodied within a legislative framework, the UK has committed itself to a programme of inclusion. The most common manifestation of this commitment has been a substantial rise in the number of students with significant barriers to learning being educated within ‘regular’ classrooms, rather than in segregated provision. This has resulted in a perceived need for altered training opportunities for students in initial teacher education, particularly in the areas of attitudes, perception and skills. Research has suggested that ‘permeation’ models of introducing students to issues such as inclusion/ SEN is ineffectual: as Mittler states ‘permeation is by its very nature invisible and therefore difficult to monitor’ (1992). In agreeing, the Department for Education and Science note that permeation has an ‘insufficient foundation by way of specific course content’ (DES, 1990). More recently, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) has questioned the way in which the researched University has linked course modules to the school placements that students undertake in their course; a further linkage to the Standards required for the attainment of Qualified Teacher Status is also suggested. (unpublished inspection feedback, 2008) In the researched University, the introduction of a number of courses has sought to address the lack of specific training. This has included the introduction on a Specialism in Inclusion/ SEN, the introduction of a required module on Inclusion for all trainees, and elective modules dealing with specific SEN issues to supplement the permeation model. However, there has been little overt discussion, analysis, or reflection about how well compulsory school based training opportunities address specific inclusion issues, with no changes to previous practice. This will change in Autumn 2008 with the introduction of a new four year degree structure. The second year will have an Inclusion theme, with students being expected to link their learning throughout the year to their practice in the end of year school placement. The University of Cumbria is well placed to introduce this change; since 2000, students at the University have been offered the opportunity to link inclusive theories to practice by undertaking an elective placement in Specialist Schools. The introduction of this opportunity was based on research findings, in particular the work of Garner, (1996a, 1996b, 2000), Shimman (1990), and Avrimidis et al, (2000). This material suggests that the key to successful inclusive practice is to provide experiential opportunities for trainees in specialist provision, leading to changes in the perspectives of practitioners about their ability to cope with pupils experiencing barriers to learning. To further our knowledge base about this area, it was decided to engage in a case study examination of some aspects of the perceptions of students about school experience. Two groups were selected; final year students prior to their final, assessed placement, and third year students, who were about to go into an unassessed placement in specialist provision. The research sought to elicit information about the expectations of students, with a particular focus on the relationship between the practice and the required Standards for Qualified Teacher Status. This was of particular interest, as it is a requirement that all Standards are met by the end of the final block, whilst it was felt that students going into specialist provision might have different concerns about the placement, without immediately seeing the relevance of the placement to the Standards.

This research adopted a case study approach (Yin, 1994; Stake, 1995). A survey consisting of open-ended questions (Robson, 2002) was completed by a group of 30 students from each of two cohorts prior to school placement; the first of these were fourth year students on their final, assessed block, the second were third year students on an unassessed specialist placement. The group were selected to maximise variation, as the specialist placement attracts a high percentage of students from the Inclusion/ SEN Specialism, and balance was sought with the more varied final block cohort The questionnaires were interrogated to establish themes within the answers. A focus group from each of the cohorts will be convened shortly to explore these themes, to ensure that the researchers are fully understanding of the issues, perceptions and attitudes within the groups, prior to the placement. The focus group procedure will be repeated after the placement; similar issues will be explored, with a particular focus on issues surrounding the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status. Further information will be gathered from the post placement evaluations, completed by all students in the placement debrief. Resulting material will be subjected to thematic analysis, to develop emerging hypotheses. These hypotheses will be interrogated for alignment with policy and practice in the University under study, and in particular will consider ways in which themes might illuminate the linkages between taught modules and school placement in the Inclusion themed year of the new four year programme in the University.

Whilst it would be unsafe to make recommendations on the basis of research material that is incomplete, some tentative thoughts can be suggested. There is a need to ensure that course modules are linked to requirements and outcomes of block placements. Without questioning the validity of approaches currently used to assess teaching competence on placements, there is a need to more explicitly link the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status to the placements in which they can be most competently demonstrated; this might entail focussed placements in specialist schools, or resourced provision, to best explicate the Standards with an Inclusion/ SEN focus. The experience of previous specialist placements, which will be compared to material emerging from this research, is that participants embark on the experience with considerable trepidation, based largely on fears about their ability to deal with what they perceive to be the particular demands of the pupils within those settings. After placement, the overwhelming sense is of a sharpening of practice, that is directly applicable both to future placements, and to their understanding of how competence in the Standards can be demonstrated in a much broader way than previously conceptualised. Finally, it is anticipated that examination of the data will encourage the emergence of a theoretical understanding of the value of school placements in general, and any elicited advantages of placements in specialist settings in particular.