An explorative study considering the process of change at school and local authority level as a result of implementation of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 and The Additional Support for Learning (Changes in School Education) (Scotland) Regulations 2005, with its support document: Supporting children's learning - code of practice 2006.

This research evaluates the process of change at school and local authority level,
as a result of the implementation of the Education (Additional Support for
Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004. Five research questions investigate the
perceptions of those school staff taking part in the process of change, in that they
query: the properties staff attach to the process of change; the conditions they
believe may foster or inhibit the process of change; the skills they feel are
important to facilitating a process of change; what changes there may be for
children with Additional Support Needs; and, importantly, what meaning they
infer from taking part in the process of change.
This research pursues a flexible qualitative design, marrying Grounded Theory
and a Constructivist philosophical perspective. The method utilised to address
these questions involved administering initial Quality Indicator Schedules,
followed by twelve semi-structured interviews in three phases (A, B & C) with
staff in two schools. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the transcribed
interviews took place at the end of phases A, B and C.
The research findings suggested that those staff taking part attached the following
properties to the process of change: change in school practice; good
understanding; and an understanding and attitudinal shift. In addition, staff were
able to depict the conditions, from their own perspective, that either fostered or
inhibited the process of change, to the extent that, during phase C, they had
conceptualised their thinking into a framework: the Bottom-Up Model/Approach
which offered them a preferred framework to help support future processes of
change. The meaning inferred, from the perspective of those staff taking part in
the process of change, focused on self and school improvement better to support
children with Additional Support Needs.

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