ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a situation which has seldom elicited sociological interest: namely, the special school and the nature of special school teaching. It focuses upon the relationships between teachers and classroom assistants within a special school for children with severe learning disabilities, or as it is termed, a severe learning disabilities (SLD) school. The chapter explores how special school teachers manage their occupational identity in relation to the teaching and non-teaching community. The teachers in Afton Lodge confront ambiguities concerning the position of teachers and teaching. The convergence of occupational interests and structural imperatives increases the probability of such change. Special school teachers have tended to be located at its outer margins, making problematic their relationships with other teachers and occupational outsiders. In marking teachers occupational identity the type of knowledge transmitted to pupils was less important than were the style and means of its transmission.
