Preventing educational failure for students with educational fragilities: the key role of the SENCO’s middle management function

Abstract

The figure of the SEN Coordinator (SENCO) appears to be central to the implementation of comprehensive preventive measures aimed at reducing the risk of educational failure for students with educational fragilities. However, its effectiveness appears to be related to the possibility of acting in a middle management perspective. The research work, aimed at reconstructing an interpretative framework of the SENCO’s middle management functions, has been developed based on sequential qualitative
research design. Results highlight how the role and functions of SENCOs can be set within a distributed leadership model, which also includes a system of progressive delegation.