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Inclusive Education (inclusive + education)
Selected AbstractsInclusive Education , Readings and ReflectionsBRITISH JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES, Issue 1 2006Jonathan Rix No abstract is available for this article. [source] Book Reviews: Implementing Inclusive Education: a Commonwealth guide to implementing Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities , By Richard RieserBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2009Peter Mittler No abstract is available for this article. [source] MENTAL HEALTH AND SEN: Mental health and special educational needs: exploring a complex relationshipBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2009Richard Rose The relationship between mental health and special educational needs is both complex and misunderstood. In this article, Richard Rose, Professor of Special and Inclusive Education, Marie Howley, Senior Lecturer, Ann Fergusson, Senior Lecturer, and Johnson Jament, a PhD student, all from the Centre for Special Needs Education and Research directed by Richard Rose at the University of Northampton, discuss findings from a national research project which explored the perceptions of pupil mental health needs by staff working in residential special schools. Teachers and other professional colleagues often feel ill-prepared to address mental health difficulties experienced by their pupils. This is, at times, exacerbated by a wider confusion when atypical behaviours are attributed to a diagnosed learning difficulty rather than being recognised as symptomatic of a mental health problem. The article suggests a need for clarification of the relationship between complex special educational needs and mental health and for increases in training opportunities and the development of resources for teaching about and supporting mental health and emotional well-being. [source] Inclusive education: a critical perspectiveBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2003Geoff Lindsay The Gulliford Lecture 2002 was given by Professor Geoff Lindsay, Director of the Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR) at the University of Warwick. Professor Lindsay's lecture, on which this paper is based, addressed a number of key topics, including the development of inclusion and inclusive practices; models of special educational needs and disability; and the values that underpin our thinking about these matters. Basing his argument on the research evidence, Professor Lindsay provides a searching critique of prevailing notions about inclusion and of current approaches to research. His conclusions will be of interest to everyone concerned with the education of children and young people with special educational needs. [source] Learning from Difference: Considerations for Schools as CommunitiesCURRICULUM INQUIRY, Issue 3 2000Carolyn M. Shields In today's highly complex and heterogeneous public schools, the current notion of schools as homogeneous communities with shared beliefs, norms, and alues is inadequate. Drawing on Barth's (1990) question of how to use ifference as a resource, I take up ideas from feminism, multiculturalism, and inclusive education to consider the development of community in schools. I argue that despite the valuable contributions of these theoretical perspectives, each lso includes the potential for increased fragmentation and polarization. As we consider how to use differences as a foundation for community, it is important ot to reify any particular perspective, thus marginalizing others and erecting new barriers. Explicitly embracing the need to identify and respect difference, being open to new ideas without taking an exclusionary position, and committing to ongoing participation in dialogical processes may help schools to develop as more authentic communities of difference. Among the dominant issues identified in today's climate of turbulent educational reform are concerns about how to restructure schools to ensure equality of student opportunity and excellence of instruction (Elmore, 1990; Lieberman, 1992; Murphy, 1991). Many proposals include modifying present leadership and governance structures, overcoming the hegemony of existing power bases, developing mechanisms for accountability, enhancing professionalism, and co-ordinating community resources. One of the suggestions frequently made to address these issues is to change from a focus on schools as organizations to a recognition of schools as communities (Barth, 1990; Fullan, 1993; Lupart & Webber, 1996; Senge, 1990). However, despite the widespread use of the metaphor of community as an alternative to the generally accepted concept of schools as rational or functional organizations, there seems to be little clarity about the concept of community, what it might look like, how it might be implemented, or what policies might sustain it. Indeed, theories about schools as communities have often drawn from Tönnies (1887/1971) concept of gemeinschaft,a concept which perhaps evokes a more homogeneous and romanticized view of the past than one which could be helpful for improving education in today's dynamic, complex, and heterogeneous context (Beck & Kratzer, 1994; Sergiovanni, 1994a). More recently, several writers (Fine et al., 1997; Furman, 1998; Shields & Seltzer, 1997) have advanced the notion of communities of otherness or difference. These authors have suggested that rather than thinking of schools as communities that exist because of a common affiliation to an established school ethos or tradition, it might be more helpful to explore an alternative concept. A school community founded on difference would be one in which the common centre would not be taken as a given but would be co-constructed from the negotiation of disparate beliefs and values as participants learn to respect, and to listen to, each other. In this concept, bonds among members are not assumed, but forged, and boundaries are not imposed but negotiated. Over the past eight years, as I have visited and worked with a large number of schools trying earnestly to address the needs of their diverse student bodies, I have become increasingly aware of the limitations of the concept of community used in the gemeinschaft sense with its emphasis on shared values, norms, and beliefs, and have begun to reflect on the question framed by Barth (1990): ,How can we make conscious, deliberate use of differences in social class, gender, age, ability, race, and interest as resources for learning?' (p. 514). In this article, I consider how learning from three of these areas of difference: gender, race, and ability, may help us to a better understanding of educational community. This article begins with some illustrations and examples from practice, moves to consider how some theoretical perspectives may illuminate them, and concludes with reflections on how the implications of the combined reflections on practice and theory might actually help to reconceptualize and to improve practice. While it draws heavily on questions and impressions which have arisen out of much of my fieldwork, it is not intended to be an empirical paper, but a conceptual one,one which promotes reflection and discussion on the concept of schools as communities of difference. The examples of life in schools taken from longitudinal research studies in which I have been involved demonstrate several common ways in which difference is dealt with in today's schools and some of the problems inherent in these approaches. Some ideas drawn from alternative perspectives then begin to address Barth's question of how to make deliberate use of diversity as a way of thinking about community. Taken together, I hope that these ideas will be helpful in creating what I have elsewhere called ,schools as communities of difference' (Shields & Seltzer, 1997). [source] CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION, POLICY, AND THE EDUCATIONALIZATION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHEDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2008Naomi Hodgson Hodgson begins by analyzing educational researchers' response to the recent introduction of citizenship education in England, focusing specifically on a review of research, policy, and practice in this area commissioned by the British Educational Research Association (BERA). She argues that the BERA review exemplifies the field of education policy sociology in that it is conducted according to the concepts of its parent discipline of sociology but lacks critical theoretical engagement with them. Instead, such work operationalizes sociological concepts in service of educational policy solutions. Hodgson identifies three dominant discourses of citizenship education within the BERA review, the academic discourse of education policy sociology, contemporary political discourse, and the discourse of inclusive education , and draws attention to the relation of citizenship education to policy initiatives, and thus to educationalization. She then discusses Foucault's concept of normalization in terms of the demand on the contemporary subject to orient the self in a certain relation toward learning informed by the need for competitiveness in the European and global context. Ultimately, Hodgson concludes that the language and rhetoric of education policy sociology implicate such research in the process of educationalization itself. [source] Beyond the Dilemma of Difference: The Capability Approach to Disability and Special Educational NeedsJOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 3 2005Lorella Terzi In her recent pamphlet Special Educational Needs: a new look (2005) Mary Warnock has called for a radical review of special needs education and a substantial reconsideration of the assumptions upon which the current educational framework is based. The latter, she maintains, is hindered by a contradiction between the intention to treat all learners as the same and that of responding adequately to the needs arising from their individual differences. The tension highlighted by Warnock, which is central to the debate in special and inclusive education, is also referred to as the ,dilemma of difference'. This consists in the seemingly unavoidable choice between, on the one hand, identifying children's differences in order to provide for them differentially, with the risk of labelling and dividing, and, on the other, accentuating the ,sameness' and offering common provision, with the risk of not making available what is relevant to, and needed by, individual children. In this paper, I argue that the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen provides an innovative and important perspective for re-examining the dilemma of difference in significant ways. In particular, I maintain that reconceptualising disability and special needs through the capability approach makes possible the overcoming of the tension at the core of the dilemma of difference, whilst at the same time inscribing the debate within an ethical, normative framework based upon justice and equality. [source] INCLUSIVE AND SPECIAL EDUCATION: Inclusive and special education in the English educational system: historical perspectives, recent developments and future challengesBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2010Alan Hodkinson Special education in England has over the past 25 years been subject to rapid development, not least in relation to the emergence of inclusive education. Alan Hodkinson of the Faculty of Education, Community and Leisure, John Moore's University, critically examines the development of inclusion in England and the barriers that can stall the development of this important educational and societal initiative. He discusses the journey towards inclusion from educational segregation to integration and describes the current Government stance on this important subject. Alan Hodkinson suggests that many of the barriers to effective inclusion are in practice located within the loci of Government, local authorities as well as that of schools. He concludes that it is now time to develop a new vision for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities that is supported by straightforward, co-ordinated and well-resourced policies. If educational policy is to achieve an inclusive consciousness, it must ensure that the views of children, their families and educational professionals are listened to, and that inclusion is by the choice of the pupils and their parents and not by compulsion. [source] INCLUSION: Confusion about inclusion: patching up or system change?BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2008Klaus Wedell In this article, Klaus Wedell, Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London, looks back over 35 years of developments in the worlds of special and inclusive education. He engages directly with the complexities , for example, the tensions between the standards agenda and policy on inclusion , that have led some commentators to adopt controversial positions and that have engendered heated debate. Klaus Wedell also discusses a dilemma that is emerging as a key issue in the field , the relationships between ,difference', stigma, equality of opportunity and ,special' or separate provision. The response provided here takes, as a starting point, the notion of a flexible education system that could recognise diversity among learners while making provision for all. Klaus Wedell explores this possibility in terms of the curriculum, pedagogy, school structures and local authorities. He indicates points at which policies contradict one another and where practice has not evolved to address the challenges raised by innovative thinking. He provides evidence of the need for systemic change. He argues that all young people should be valued as individuals so that the differences between them can be acknowledged without prejudice. Only in this way, suggests Klaus Wedell, can the artificial separation of special educational needs policy and mainstream thinking be ended. [source] Learning from James: Lessons about Policy and Practice for Schools' Special Provision in the Area of Literacy DifficultiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2004Janice Wearmouth Janice Wearmouth is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education and Language Studies at the Open University in the UK. She has many years' experience of teaching and research in mainstream secondary schools and of developing and leading postgraduate development courses for teachers in the area of special and inclusive education. In this article, she argues that successive Governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have adopted policies in relation to special educational provision that are essentially technicist in character. These policies proceed from assumptions that are made about the clear and unproblematic nature of the issues and the responses that need to be made. In this model, difficulties in learning can be ,fixed' by selecting the most appropriate ,tool' in the most efficient and cost-effective way. The current focus on competency-based teacher education can be seen as a corollary of this approach. Drawing upon a personal account of the experience of having difficulties in literacy acquisition, this article presents a contrary view. Janice Wearmouth argues that the area of special educational needs in schools, including literacy difficulties, is fraught with uncertainty and conflicting viewpoints. Given this complex situation, the technicist responses of recent Governments in the UK seem inappropriate and inadequate, Janice Wearmouth suggests. She proposes that practice in relation to special educational needs in general, and literacy difficulties in particular, can be most effectively understood from the perspective of a reflective practitioner. Her article closes with a call for practitioner professional development to be reconceptualised in these terms. [source] The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same?BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2002A Response to the Audit Commission's Report on Statutory Assessment, Statements of SEN This article provides a response to some of the issues raised by Anne Pinney's summary, published in the September issue of BJSE, of the Audit Commission's report on statutory assessment and Statements of Special Educational Needs. In developing her critique, Lani Florian, lecturer in special and inclusive education at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education and Editor of the Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, asks a series of important and challenging questions. Can the broad notion of ,special educational needs' complement ideas about ,areas of need' or ,categories of handicap' and enable young people with severe, complex or long,term disabilities to have their needs met? Is SEN funding fairly distributed, among pupils with special educational needs in particular and across the education system in general? Should the relationship between the processes of formative and statutory assessment and Statements of Special Educational Needs be reconceptualised? Can the protection offered by the Statement be maintained in association with the development of good inclusive practices? And if there is to be a move away from provision designed to address children's individual difficulties, what forms of thinking, procedure and practice will enable staff to develop new ways of meeting the needs of all learners? I hope that the questions raised by this article will stimulate other commentators to contribute to the debate about our responses to special educational needs in the pages of BJSE [source] Leadership in inclusive education: a professional development agenda for special educationBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 3 2001Stephen Powers Leadership roles in special education have changed dramatically over recent years. Stephen Powers, Stephen Rayner and Helen Gunter, all of whom are lecturers and researchers in the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, conducted a questionnaire survey of the perceived professional development needs of heads, deputies and senior staff working in specialist contexts. The results reveal a significant concern with organisationally focused issues; support for school- and LEA-based courses and higher education provision; but a perceived lack of Government-funded training addressing the needs of those in leadership roles in special education. The authors conclude this article with a call for interested readers to become involved in further research in this important area. [source] Teaching approaches which support inclusive education: a connective pedagogyBRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 2 2001Jenny Corbett In this article, Jenny Corbett, a Reader in Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, considers the factors which can help to support effective inclusive learning. She uses her reading of the growing body of literature on inclusion in order to reflect upon her own enquiries into practice at an inclusive primary school in London. Drawing upon the three key elements in the Index for Inclusion, she presents findings about school culture, school policy and school practice. Her conclusions will help policy-makers and practitioners to reflect upon the relationships between effectiveness and inclusivity. [source] Current issues in special needs: Special education in the last twenty years: have things really got better?BRITISH JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2001Peter Farrell Professor Peter Farrell, Professor of Special Needs and Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education, University of Manchester, addresses three key themes related to the education of pupils with special educational needs: the role of categories in special education; the impact of legislation on assessment procedures; and developments in inclusive education. His considered view is that progress towards more inclusive practice and an enhanced role for parents have brought about positive developments. He is more cautious about the impact of the revised Code of Practice, which, he suggests, perpetuates some of the procedural and bureaucratic burdens associated with the past. [source] ,I Need Help on Mondays, It's Not My Day.CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009I'm OK'., Perspectives of Disabled Children on Inclusive Education, The Other Days This article examines the experience of inclusive education from the perspective of disabled children. We worked with the observations of, and interviews with, 15 children, aged 5,17 who go to a mainstream school. The study is set in the context of a 3-year research project exploring the practice of inclusive education in Flanders. Here, we report on the key findings from the children's accounts, focusing on what they had to say about themselves, what they think about school, friends, support and their future prospects. [source] | ||||||||||