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Scottish Council of Deans of Education submission of 25 November 2021

PE1870/J - Ensure teachers of autistic pupils are appropriately qualified

On behalf of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education, which represents Scotland’s eleven teacher education higher education institutions, thank-you for this opportunity to respond to this petition (PE1870).

The Scottish Council of Deans of Education is focused upon meeting the needs of all children and young people. Member higher education institutions support the education of the teaching workforce in the area of Autism and Inclusive Practice through, for example, the teacher professional learning that we offer at Masters level. As key partners in the education of student teachers within Scotland, we also play a significant role in supporting learning around autism in Initial Teacher Education.

In June 2021, Autism course material for Initial Teacher Education was launched at our online Self-Evaluation of Initial Teacher Education symposium (https://media.ed.ac.uk/media/1_u8ahjt2v). The Initial Teacher Education Autism Course Materials: ‘We were expecting you!’ were co-created by an Initial Teacher Education sub-group comprising, in addition to the Scottish Council of Deans of Education: Scottish Government; National Autism Implementation Team (NAI); Education Scotland; GTC Scotland; COSLA; Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES); Autism Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh (AMASE); Scottish Autism; and National Autistic Society Scotland. The material was piloted at the University of Strathclyde in 2020 (http://gtcsnew.gtcs.org.uk/web/FILES/teaching-scotland/teaching-scotland-issue-89-august-2021.pdf).

The Scottish Universities Inclusion Group, a sub-group of the Scottish Council of Deans of Education, is currently overseeing the embedding of the Autism Course Materials within Initial Teacher Education. The use of the Materials across all Scottish Teacher Education Institutions will, we suggest, support student teachers to be further appropriately informed about autism in their initial stage of professional formation as a teacher, as they take on professional responsibility.

Within Initial Teacher Education, the emphasis is upon being informed to an appropriate level. The refreshed GTC Scotland Standard for Provisional Registration (2 August 2021) locates Professional Actions around Additional Support Needs within Knowledge and Understanding as informed practice, drawing on relevant theory (2.2.1), taking account of and assessing individual needs (2.1.3 and 3.1.4) and planning for all learners’ needs and participation (3.1.1 and 3.2.2); including, working in partnership as needed (3.1.3). From the perspective of Initial Teacher Education, informed Professional Action is embedded through a values-based approach which seeks to meet the needs of all learners; autism being an important, yet not exclusive, consideration. From our perspective, the Standards that all teachers must meet, and continue to meet, throughout their career already embed the ‘appropriate’ commitment to an informed needs-based understanding and to collaborative working.

The heterogeneity in pupils’ profiles (including those associated with the autism spectrum) means that a thorough understanding of each pupil’s strengths is required to develop an individualised set of strategies for each pupil within the classroom context. Pupils, including those on the autism spectrum, require good teaching and effective teaching practices. Initial Teacher Education focuses on pedagogy and on inclusive practice, and it develops student teachers’ understanding and critical thinking skills; so that they can make good decisions around adjustments, by using a range of instructional materials, and by identifying barriers to pupils’ learning.

Considering the requirement for a specialist qualification where teachers are working with autistic learners who have complex needs, or where teachers are in a specialist advisory teaching role, is worthy of consideration. However, this contrasts with the requirement that all teachers should have a specific qualification in Autism. As higher education institutions who are committed to improving educational outcomes for autistic pupils, we do not consider that legislation is currently required.