An ethical audit of the SEND CoP 2015: professional partnership working and the division of ethical labour

Abstract

This exploratory qualitative interview study addresses some of the ethical challenges encountered by professionals in response to demands made by the special educational needs and disability (SEND) Code of Practice 2015 and considers how this may impact on partnership working. I identify two problems associated with the 2015 Code. One is a pre-occupation with implementation demands which obscures deeper unease and leaves moral doubt habitually unexplored. The second is the construction of the ‘good’ SEND professional as someone who conceals complexity, trades in professional certainties and can offer ‘straightforward’ advice. An ethical audit employing the conceptual lenses of goals, obligations and dispositions makes explicit ethical effects arising from SEND policy innovation and considers their defensibility. My study highlights how the new SEND framework can tempt professionals to equate ethics with conformity to the regulations of a statutory code, offering standardisation and the lure of following ‘straightforward’ rules as a way out for professionals who are caught in contradictory demands. In considering the division of ethical labour, which many participants employ as a means of coping with professional demands, I identify particular roles where this division appears no longer possible.