"It’s sometimes a bit towering”: a discursive approach to exploring how young people understand and interpret the term ‘Special Education Needs’

This is especially timely given the growing knowledge and awareness of the various factors that can affect learning and the increasing number of CYP requiring SEN provisions. This study aimed to explore how Young People (YP) who do not access SEN provisions construct their understanding and interpretation of the term ‘SEN’, with the intention to shed light on the social environment experienced by YP who access SEN provisions.

This insight may further inform how to foster an inclusive educational environment. This research takes a Critical Discursive Psychology (CDP) approach to examine the diverse ways YP use and portray language across six focus groups drawn from students in two post-primary schools in Northern Ireland. The analysis focuses on how language reflects power dynamics and aims to explore the various functions of talk and the ways in which YP position and identify themselves and their peers with SEN.