Factors associated with the effective inclusion of primary-aged pupils with Down's syndrome

It is increasingly common for pupils with Down's syndrome to be offered places in mainstream primary schools. However, there is still much to learn about the impact of these placements upon children and classrooms. Recently the Nuffield Foundation funded a two-year research project exploring the inclusion of primary-aged pupils with Down's syndrome. The research focused on the inclusion of 18 pupils with Down's syndrome who attended mainstream primary schools in six local education authorities (LEAs) in the north-west of England. The research team investigated the ways in which schools manage the inclusion of pupils with Down's syndrome and the factors that contribute to the success of mainstream placements. In this article, Sam Fox, Peter Farrell and Pauline Davis from the University of Manchester discuss some of the findings from the study. These concern the support in place for the child and the attitudes of staff, other pupils and the parents of peers towards the inclusion of the child with Down's syndrome. Evidence from the 18 case studies suggests that there is no single way to guarantee effective inclusion. The extent to which a child is effectively included in a mainstream class is likely to be influenced by a number of key factors, including the way in which the teaching assistant (TA) works with the class teacher. Inclusion is more likely to be successful when the class teacher takes a central role in the management of support and the organisation of a child's daily educational experiences.     

Drifting Towards Segregation

Information collected in Sheffield during the last 10 years indicates that the growing number of children with Down's syndrome who begin their school life in the mainstream drift towards special schools as they grow older. At every change of school some children move from ordinary schools into schools for children with varying degrees of learning difficulty. While all six pupils receiving education at pre-school stage were integrated only one child in the 13–16 years age range was still in the mainstream. Why should this be? Dr Phil Budgell, educational psychologist with Sheffield School Psychological Service, suggests some possible answers.     

The School Placement of Pupils with Down's Syndrome in England and Wales

Data on the placements of over 3,000 children with Down's syndrome (born between 1980 and 1992) were collected from 94 areas around the country, over the 12 year period studied. Analysis showed an increase in the proportion of children attending mainstream schools, with wide local variations. Very small numbers of children had mixed placements (part-time mainstream/special school) and placements in specially resourced units. Changes in school type occurred from mainstream to special school, typically at around 8 or 9 and again at 11 to 12 years. There was a disproportionate number of boys with Down's syndrome in special schools, apparently because more boys than girls entered special schools at 5 or 6 years old.     

A study on the inclusion of deafblind young people in mainstream schools: key findings and implications for research and practice

This article, written by Leda Kamenopoulou of Roehampton University, reports a research project on deafblindness and inclusion in education. Deafblindness is a rare and therefore significantly under‐explored disability. Even less systematic research has focused on deafblind young people enrolled in mainstream schools. The study presented here used a multiple case study and mixed methods design to explore the social inclusion and participation of four deafblind pupils in mainstream placements. Interviews were conducted with the pupils, their parents and selected teachers regarding their peer interactions and relationships. Semi‐structured observations of peer interactions during school breaks were also conducted to complement interview data, but due to space constraints, these are not discussed here. Findings from the interviews suggest that the young people were socially present in their schools, but all faced certain issues in terms of being fully included. Both barriers to and facilitators of social inclusion and participation are discussed with reference to implications for research and practice.     

Alternative education and social justice: considering issues of affective and contributive justice

This article considers the ways in which three alternative education sites in Australia support socially just education for their students and how injustice is addressed within these schools. The article begins with recognition of the importance of Nancy Fraser’s work to understandings of social justice. It then goes on to argue that her framework is insufficient for understanding the particularly complex set of injustices that are faced by many highly marginalised young people who have rejected or been rejected by mainstream education systems. We argue here for the need to consider the importance of ‘affective’ and ‘contributive’ aspects of justice in schools. Using interview data from the alternative schools, we highlight issues of affective justice raised by students in relation to their educational journeys, as well as foregrounding teachers’ affective work in schools. We also consider curricular choices and pedagogical practices in respect of matters of contributive justice. Our contention is that the affective and contributive fields are central to the achievement of social justice for the young people attending these sites. Whilst mainstream schools are not the focus of this article, we suggest that the lessons here have salience for all forms of schooling.     

Towards equality: the voices of young disabled people in Disability Rights Commission research

Increased participation and success in education for disabled people will improve their social inclusion and benefit society in general. In this article Louca‐Mai Wilson discusses Disability Rights Commission research on education and its implications for policy and practice. Research findings are considered in relation to the need for the voices of young disabled people to be heard in research, policy and planning. A key finding was that young disabled people want to be regarded and treated as equal to their peers, with the same rights of access and educational opportunity. But schools and educational establishments vary in their willingness and capacity to address and remove existing access barriers. Inclusion is a key issue for many young disabled people; many feel isolated at school and college and often have lower expectations about their future than their non‐disabled peers. Inclusive practice and participation are key to ensuring that disability equality in education is achieved.     

Understanding of epilepsy by children and young people with epilepsy

There is a striking dearth of studies focusing sensitively and in depth on the mainstream educational experiences of children with epilepsy, as viewed by those children themselves. The one‐year project (2006–7) reported here addresses that gap. Children’s perceptions about mainstream teachers’ understanding of epilepsy and school‐based needs are particularly interesting and this work breaks new ground in that connection. The authors report findings from two complementary qualitative methods of data collection: (1) an e‐survey of 44 self‐selected children and young people with epilepsy, and (2) interviews (mainly individual) in mainstream schools with 22 children/young people with epilepsy. Overall, the children and young people (aged 7–18) were clear about the nature of their condition, including seizures. For many, there was an implicit reluctance in accepting epilepsy as a “part of them”; self‐reported feelings of secrecy, stigma and shame abounded. This had repercussions for how schools were seen to need to respond with sensitivity and knowledge‐based understanding. Taking a qualitative methodological approach revealed important insights into complex concepts like stigma in the school context. This was illustrated in children and young people’s readiness to talk about their feelings of “difference” in relation to others when given the opportunity to do so sensitively. The findings have important implications for how schools and services work in a genuinely fully inclusive way with children and young people who have epilepsy.     

Re-engaged students’ perceptions of mainstream and flexible learning environments – a ‘semi-quantitative’ approach

ABSTRACT

Flexible Learning Options (FLOs) attempt to enable secondary school completion by young people for whom ‘mainstream’ schooling has not worked well. Despite their proliferation and the increased research attention to understanding the mechanisms at work within such programmes, quantitative methods have not been utilised to compare participants’ perceptions of the learning environments of FLOs and mainstream schools. This study describes the development and application of a quantitative instrument to assess re-engaged Australian students’ perceptions of an FLO relative to their previous (mainstream) schools. Findings indicate that, on average, young people rate the learning environment more highly at the FLO than at the mainstream school from which they disengaged, indicating that the learning environment of the FLO aligns more closely with the needs of its student cohort. However, bimodal results for some instrument items highlight that the learning environment is influential, but not necessarily a precondition of school disengagement or re-engagement. Implications of this study are considered, with attention to the complexities that mainstream schools and FLOs negotiate in creating effective learning environments for diverse young people.     

Voices and choices: how education influences the career choices of young disabled people

The changing British society with new commitments to educational inclusion for disabled people should mean increased individual freedom of choice and greater chance of participation. However, juggling this with the continuing emphasis on education for the economy brings the danger of new forms of social exclusion of those who do have different needs and require additional support to take advantage of opportunities and make informed decisions about their professional futures. This contradiction encourages the deteriorating academic and career-oriented foresight of special schools and the inclusion of all disabled students in mainstream education, without providing enough support to cater for the diversity and differentiation it generates. This paper adds to this debate by reporting on the work in progress of a project funded by the European Social Fund, concerning the educational experiences of a group of young disabled people still in full-time mainstream or special education. It presents some personal accounts of the young people's perceptions of how their educational environment influences their personal aspirations for future careers and post-school choices. This research strives to give a voice to young disabled people, informing policy concerned with young people, education and transitions to work.     

Disabled and successful: education in the life stories of disabled high achievers

There has been much debate concerning the pros and cons of special and mainstream education for young people with a disability. This paper adds data to this debate by reporting the educational experiences of 20 high-achievers with congenital disabilities who live in the United Kingdom and were born between 1950 and 1970. It presents personal accounts of the high-achievers' perceptions of how their education, which was either purely in special schools, in mainstream schools or a combination of both, had influenced their transition to adulthood. While those who attended special school considered it to provide a supportive environment that permitted the cultivation of their personalities without the constraints of non-disabled barriers, many others thought it prevented them as disabled children from interacting with non-disabled peers, thus inhibiting social integration between the disabled and non-disabled world. This was the main perceived advantage of mainstream education although problems of physical access meant that some choices were out of reach. The findings highlight how both special and mainstream education can be compatible with career success of individual disabled people. The paper implies that a combination of the two systems may be needed to facilitate disabled students to develop psychologically, socially and cognitively at the rate of their non-disabled peers, and proposes that link schools and partial integration could contribute to the achievement of such goals.     

The importance of awareness and communication for the inclusion of young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in mainstream schools and colleges

Anthea Asprey and Tricia Nash both belong to the Children's Hospice South West Research Group, based at the University of Exeter. In this article, they report one aspect of a research project designed to determine the adequacy of support for young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions in the education system. They describe here a set of findings drawn from interviews with parents whose children attended LEA-maintained mainstream schools and colleges of further education. They focus particularly on parents' perceptions of the levels of awareness of their children's needs and concerns and the consequent impact upon their successful inclusion in mainstream education. The findings show clearly that awareness of the needs and difficulties of these young people was seriously lacking. The issue of poor communication, both between school and home and between education and health agencies, was a central concern. Anthea Asprey and Tricia Nash discuss the influence of two models of disability (the medical model and the social model) upon educational practice with regard to these young people. Despite the difficulties reported here, some encouraging and helpful reports of good practice also emerged from the interviews, indicating that inclusion for these young people is not an impossible goal.     

Exploring the social inclusion of deaf young people in mainstream schools,using their lived experience

Research suggests that children with hearing loss face a number of difficulties in the education system, including socially. Although there has been much research with the severe to profound deaf population there has been little research into the life experiences of children with moderate hearing loss who attend mainstream secondary schools. This research sought to examine the experiences of social inclusion for five young people with moderate hearing loss. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews in the young person’s school setting and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Although each participant had distinctive experiences, there were a number of common themes that emerged indicating the factors that support social inclusion and those which create barriers for deaf children in schools. Implications for educational psychologists are considered and the limitations of the research are outlined.     

'Inclusion is more than a place': exploring pupil views and voice in Belfast schools through visual narrative

The research reported in this article by David Ryan, an adviser for special educational needs and inclusion in Belfast, was based on a participatory approach in which young people in a number of schools were encouraged to develop their ideas about inclusion. The project set out to explore any differences in perceptions between pupils with special educational needs and those without. The young people were equipped with cameras and were encouraged to generate 'visual narratives' expressing their views about the 'reasonable adjustments' that mainstream schools might make in order to become more inclusive. David Ryan concludes that education must be personalised so that schools take account of the perspectives of individual pupils in their endeavours to become more inclusive. He also notes that young people appear to have strongly-held views about some of the sensory aspects of the school environment.     

You Talk Like a Monkey: Reflections on a Teacher's Personal Study of Growing Up with a Cleft Palate

As teacher confidence in helping children with speech impairments is reported as being low, mainstream teachers may welcome the introduction of specialist speech therapist support in schools through the National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services (NSF). This reflexive account is offered to develop awareness and understanding of the psycho-social effects of cleft palate and to encourage mainstream teachers and careers of young people who have speech difficulties and disorders to develop individual and classroom-based strategies that facilitate the young person's personal, social and emotional development alongside the parallel, more technical work of specialist speech therapists.
This article reviews the literature related to the nature and treatment of cleft palates, parental coping, adolescent social development and adult coping. This is interwoven with personal stories from the life course of the author, a former teacher who herself has cleft palate speech. Current clinical focus is critiqued for being overly focused on the functional effects of speech disorder in childhood and this leaves a significant gap in the adolescent's social development and ill prepares them for the possibility of speech impairments persisting into adulthood.
Some supportive factors are identified to facilitate and encourage cooperation between teachers and other professionals involved in the care and treatment of young people with cleft palates.     

How do we create ASD‐friendly schools? A dilemma of placement

Scope exists within the Northern Ireland (NI) education system to transform mainstream schools into autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)‐friendly environments. The efficacy of mainstream inclusion is discussed prior to discussing the creation of ASD‐friendly schools. The transformation of mainstream school environments is underpinned by concepts such as inclusive pedagogical approach, universal design for learning and learning without limits. These are discussed alongside strategies to enact core inclusive principles of equity, participation and belonging. However, the need for ASD‐specific approaches and schools is also recognised. Our perspectives as educators influence pedagogy, attitudes and approaches to educating autistic children. A social constructivist consciousness is fundamental to moving from deficit SEN rhetoric to creating enabling education for autistic young people. The question of how to achieve this is answered within this article. The use of identity‐first language is preferred by a large proportion of the autism community; therefore the term ‘autistic child’, rather than ‘child with autism’, is adopted throughout.     

Northern Ireland head teachers’ perceptions of inclusion

Inclusion has been a central educational issue for well over a quarter of a century, with continuing emphasis worldwide on initiatives by governments, Higher Education Institutions and schools that respond to the needs of children and young people with learning difficulties, disabilities or other disadvantage. This paper reports how Northern Ireland head teachers interpret inclusion in the nursery, primary, post‐primary and special sectors. Those in mainstream schools showed whole‐hearted commitment to the philosophy and practice of inclusion, and could critically examine what they have achieved so far. However, they recognized persistent and varied constraints both within and beyond their schools. Head teachers in the special sector perceived their schools to have a multiple role in providing for pupils with the greatest need, reintegrating those on placement into their regular schools, and offering outreach support to mainstream colleagues. The implications for all aspects of teacher education were identified, for beginning teachers, for more experienced practitioners and for the head teachers themselves. A number of key factors were suggested to make inclusion work.     

Perceptions of Social Adjustment of Hearing-Impaired Pupils in an Integrated Secondary School Unit

The aim of this case study was to investigate issues surrounding the social inclusion of hearing-impaired pupils within a mainstream comprehensive school in a large northern city. The study focused on the four hearing-impaired pupils in Years 8 and 10. Year 7, Year 9 and Year 11 pupils, were omitted on the grounds that they were relatively new to the school (Year 7) or were involved in external examinations (Years 9 and 11). Sociometric questionnaires were completed by the hearing-impaired pupils and their form-group peers. Interviews were carried out with the hearing-impaired pupils, with their form-group peers identified as popular (sociometrically), and with those identified as having few friends. Form tutors and mainstream subject teachers of the hearing-impaired pupils were also interviewed. The data collected suggested that these hearing-impaired pupils were not particularly well integrated socially with their hearing peers. The sociometric data showed the hearing-impaired pupils to be of low status within friendship groups. Interview data from pupils suggested that the hearing-impaired young people's social experience was very akin to that of those children with very low sociometric status, and very unlike that of the 'popular' pupils, those with the highest sociometric status. Of note was the belief of popular pupils that the role of friendship--and the role of communication in establishing and maintaining friendship--was crucial to their happiness in school. Interview data from mainstream teachers suggested that they had little relevant knowledge of the personal concepts and social experiences of hearing-impaired pupils. Recommendations are made to improve the social skills of the hearing-impaired young people, and to foster a greater degree of peer-group support, with some adaptations to their curriculum to stress social learning and communication skills.     

中学生的学校人际关系特点及其与社会适应的关系

采用问卷法研究了1791名不同年级、性别、学校类型中学生师生关系与友谊质量的特点,结合同伴特征和问题行为分析了学校氛围对中学生学校人际关系的影响,并探讨了中学生学校人际关系与社会适应的关系。结果发现：（1）中学生的师生关系总体上重点校好于非重点校,初一、高一好于高二,在亲密性和支持性维度上,年级与学校类型、年级与性别的交互作用显著;（2）中学生的友谊质量总体上重点校好于非重点校,高一、初一略好于初二,女生好于男生,学校类型与年级的交互作用显著;（3）重点校拥有不良同伴的学生和问题行为较多的学生比例均显著少于非重点校;（4）师生关系与友谊质量各维度可以预测中学生社会适应过程中的自我肯定、自我烦扰和社会疏离感。     

Fostering positive attitudes: reactions of mainstream pupils to contact with their counterparts who have severe/profound intellectual disabilities

This paper is concerned with the impact of an Irish schools link programme on the attitudes of able-bodied young people towards their severely/profoundly intellectually disabled peers. Eradicating the misconceptions and stereotypes often associated with severely/profoundly intellectually disabled young people can be particularly difficult in an Irish context as these young people attend Developmental Day Centres under the auspices of the Department of Health rather than a regular school. Within the remit of this paper, it is proposed to focus on the effects of structured contact on the attitudes of mainstream pupils towards their counterparts who have severe/profound intellectual disabilities. Findings would suggest that involvement in the link programme had enabled the mainstream pupils to develop and retain over a two-year period positive pro-social attitudes towards their severely/profoundly intellectually disabled peers.     

Preparing for Contact Between Mainstream Pupils and their Counterparts Who Have Severe and Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities

Despite the increasing societal inclusion of young people with a disability in Ireland, there is very little evidence of any substantive improvement with regard to inclusion for young people with severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities (usually referred to, in educational settings in the UK, as pupils or students with severe and profound and multiple learning difficulties). As a result, these young people often remain isolated within their local communities and have minimal contact, if any, with their mainstream counterparts. One innovative schools link programme in Ireland offers structured curricular activities that include mainstream pupils and their peers who have severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities. A video programme was used in the pre-contact phase of the programme and this paper explores the effectiveness of the video programme in preparing the mainstream pupils to meet their counterparts who have severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities. Michael Shevlin, who teaches in the Education Department of Trinity College Dublin and has research interests in inclusion, argues that it was evident that the mainstream pupils reacted positively to the video programme and found it useful in overcoming their anxieties at the prospect of contact. He discusses the implications of these findings in relation to the further development of structured contact sessions in integrated classrooms and to the wider issue of societal inclusion for young people with severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities.