THE STATUTORY ASSESSMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS: A BOURDIEUSIAN ANALYSIS

Abstract

Research since the Children and Families Act (2014) and the SEND Code of Practice 0-25 (DfE & DoH, 2015) has focused upon new processes for statutory assessment, the quality of Education, Health and Care plans and the success and/or failures of the bureaucratic systems put in place to administer these. This research uses the thinking tools of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1930 - 2002), to consider how statutory assessment is perceived within the field of SEND. A conceptual framework, influenced by Bourdieu’s field theory (1984) and Crossley’s social movement fields (2003), is employed to examine participants responses to questions about Education, Health and Care plans. Data is analysed to investigate the field of SEND; who the agents of the field are, what language is used about statutory assessment, where there are alliances and conflicts, and the cross-field effects. A Bourdieusian analysis is employed to carry out research which studies the values perceived in a statutory assessment and consider some reasons for the ever-increasing number of children and young people receiving EHCPs. Theories about the field of SEND and statutory assessment are discussed by illustrating the common-sense views surrounding Education, Health and Care plans, their metaphoric symbolism and perceived symbolic capital.