Seminal global summaries of inclusive practice have highlighted the need for both improvement and consistency of approach towards educational equity for young people with disabilities (Antoninis et al., 2020).  Students with Complex Additional Support Needs (CASN) are an exceptional group with multiple, overlapping and significant (dis)abilities. The heterogeneous nature of their presentation means that the question of labelling and definition is ambiguous (Anastasiou & Kauffman, 2012) and their educational experiences often contingent on the attitudes of education staff. Students with CASN have been historically marginalised in many ways including omission from policy, lack of participation in research and denial of access to certain educational subjects, as a result of such agentic restriction, both in the UK (Imray & Colley, 2018; Slee, 2018) and internationally (Male, 2015). 

This research aimed to illuminate the experiences of pupils with complex needs, and the factors that impacted on their educational experiences, within a Scottish ASN school. Using subject choice as a lens, consideration was given to the relationship between staff attitudes and pupil agency in decision making. The research questions were as follows: 

1. What are the experiences of students with CASN in relation to subject choices across the curriculum?

2. What are the views of teachers of students with CASN in relation to pupil choices across curricular subjects?

3. Do teachers’ views on educating students with CASN affect the agency of those students when making curriculum choices?

Attitudes of others are influential in restriction of agency because there has been a historical focus on remediating perceived deficits for this group (Adams, 1998), with adults often making decisions on behalf of pupils. Using pupil and staff interviews, my research aimed to uncover influences upon the educational experiences of pupils with CASN and illuminate ways forward to reduce marginalisation.  Furthermore, wider attitudes were sought through an online teacher questionnaire.  Data was analysed thematically. 

I found that there were many additional factors that influenced pupils’ experiences and impacted on their agency to make choices across the curriculum. These will be presented in a multiple cause diagram but include school ethos, policy at local and national level, teacher training and teacher commitment to inclusive pedagogy.

In the school studied, both pupil and teacher interview data highlighted that pupils could make choices, and a sense of agency was evident. However, this was based on pupil experiences in that particular setting hence, this research comes from a relativist position. This research was undertaken in the Scottish context, however, the findings are applicable globally.

 The fact remains that there can be variability across settings, staff, time, and country. A charter of 'educational rights' for young people with CASN, as well as standardised training for all staff, is proposed. This huge, unaddressed population of exceptional young people with CASN will go on to become exceptional adults whose lives could be improved through increased recognition of their capacity and ability to make decisions. This research gives students a voice and proposes how exclusion and restriction of agency can begin to be rectified. 

Six pupils from a large ASN school in Scotland took part in a semi-structured interview on their experiences. The exceptional nature of the young people meant that significant accommodations were made to the approaches and tools used. As an ASN teacher with 23 years of experience, I am well versed in communication supports. Adapted tools included symbolised consent forms, symbols familiar to the young people to assist with answering using eye point, gesture or vocalisation. A 'stop' symbol for withdrawal was available throughout. Careful observation of body language, gesture and vocalisation was also used and annotated. This was vital to the study due to the diversity of communication used by the young people participating. Using inclusive communication approaches such as symbols, eye-gaze technology and sign, meant that exceptional young people were able to have a voice in educational research. Significant consideration was given to ethical aspects of the study, as well as adapting the communication supports which were used. For example, a relationship with pupils was built upon in order to further gauge any potential discomfort and young people were interviewed in a familiar setting. Ten teachers from the CASN department of the same school also took part in a semi-structured interview to uncover their views on the education of pupils with CASN. In addition to the interviews, 124 teachers with CASN experience from across the UK, took part in an online questionnaire about their views and experiences. The questionnaire also generated narrative data. Interview data was transcribed verbatim and analysed from a qualitative perspective, using thematic analysis. Thematic analysis allows data to be more manageable, with separate sections or ideas being examined in more detail to give richness and depth to the research. Thematic analysis is purely a way of organising data and does not make any theoretical assumptions, this makes it flexible in order to suit the needs of the study. This approach was chosen because I sought to understand the lived experiences of both the young people and the teachers involved in their education, from their perspectives.

The key findings from the study were that pupils’ experiences are influenced by a variety of factors, including the attitudes of others. The ways that teachers think about education for pupils with CASN is influential. This research found that most teachers had views that tallied with Social and Capability models of education. In addition, teachers’ experience of and commitment to inclusive pedagogy (where the learning is tailored to each pupil as an individual), was clear. Lack of experienced staff in the field of CASN was an issue that teachers felt very strongly about. Newer staff benefitted from the expertise of more experienced staff, and little was available in terms of more formal training to meet the needs of this diverse group. Teachers indicated that awareness raising around CASN and of the issues and challenges within the field must be carried out in order to improve pupils’ experiences. Data from the online survey (open nationwide) indicated that teacher attitudes towards pupil curricular agency were variable. For example, some teachers indicated that they felt that life skills were more important than a broad curriculum, whilst others indicated that pupils with CASN should be provided with choice. This indicates that pupil experiences of curricular decision making are not consistent. In some settings, it is reasonable to assume, staff are the gatekeepers of pupils' experiences. I suggest that awareness raising in the form of a professional learning package for all staff, specific inclusion in policy and a charter of ‘educational rights’ could serve to improve the picture of education in Scotland for pupils with CASN. Additionally, the cohort of young people who communicate without the use of verbal methods of AAC has been ineffectively captured. I suggest that methods such as Intensive Interaction could be beneficial here and that further research is necessary.

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