What is the role of a SEN teacher in leading a team? Structuring classroom teams to boost staff wellbeing 

Why is the role of a SEN teacher in leading a team important? Why I began this research What are the viewpoints of those in a class team regarding a teacher’s role? What is leadership? Why is it important to understand our (teachers’) leadership role in the classroom?

Components for effective teamwork: Teamwork-Stages of group development that teams go through- (Tuckman) Research has found ensure student effectiveness in these teams, instructors must assume a facilitator role to nurture team process and progress’ Leadership styles- Shared vision.. 3 leadership styles looked in depth: 1. Transactional- reward system. 2. Transformational leadership is based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, where those in your team need to be engaged and committed because their leader has appealed to their self-esteem and self- actualisation needs. 3. Distributed leadership: It challenges the power of one and looks for shared leadership Models of leadership/leadership qualities Belbin (1985) regards a team as people who carry out jobs that are most suited to them and their role is understood by the other members of the team. Goleman (2005) suggests that someone can have all the knowledge in the world but without emotional intelligence they will not make good leaders. Deployment of teaching assistants/support staff: SEN Code of Practice 2015 informs teachers that they are both ‘responsible and accountable for the progress and development of the pupils in their class, including where pupils access support from teaching assistants’.

Themes following qualitative research: Roles within a team/group Shared vision- working for the best for the children Working collaboratively Sub theme: Empathy and Understanding Fairness Subtheme: Communication/ ability to listen Barrier- Time Subtheme: Barrier- Staffing issues Without empathy one does not know how someone else might be feeling and therefore might not react in the right manner. A teacher summed the ability to communicate in one sentence: ‘gives clear direction and… shares information and explanations Teacher-TA communication time (Lack of)

What I found: My research found that class teachers are depended upon as classroom leaders for a small group of adults in their SEN classroom. It found that teachers understand their role as a team leader as; decision makers in the classroom, a support for their staff and the whole class and as having the ability to work together with staff members for the best for the children. The research also distinctly highlighted the fact that without a team leader in a SEN classroom there is a lack of stability and teamwork is affected as there is no one at the helm to lead it.

Thank you for listening 