Salamanca Statement and IDEA 2004: possibilities of practice for inclusive education

This article offers a comparative analysis of the Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, within a critically discursive framework. The author creates the notion of possibilities of practice, and analyses each policy document as to how these are created, by means of interdiscursive, intertextual and recontextual analyses. In turn, the author demonstrates how each policy differs in the textual dimensions that represent themes of social representation/construction, such as: how pupils are constructed; how schooling is constructed; how inclusion/exclusion is constructed; how teacher preparation is constructed; and how resource allocation is constructed (or constricted). Finally, the author discusses the policy that best allows for possibilities of practice that promote the inclusion of ALL children.     

From special to inclusive education in Macau (SAR)

The education for learners with special education needs (SEN) in Macau (SAR), China, has gradually transitioned over the past 30 years from a completely segregated approach to a more inclusive one. Following a review of the development of special education and the transition towards inclusion in Macau, consideration is given to the enactment of inclusive education in mainstream schools. Interviews with the leaders in a primary and secondary mainstream government school in Macau outline the ways in which learners with SEN are included in mainstream schools. The discussion focuses on a range of issues regarding the inclusion movement in Macau, including management, schooling and the inclusive model that is applied.     

Insights into inclusive education through a small Finnish case study of an inclusive school context

This study seeks to present data and discussion arising from a case study of a school in Finland renowned for its practice in the inclusion of learners with additional support requirements due to cognitive and physical disabilities. It aims to establish how the school staff understand their practice with inclusion through day-to-day professional experiences. The process of reflexive dialogue has enabled authors to reconceptualise our understanding of inclusive education through gaining deep contextual insight. The case study emerges as an inspiring effort to reduce exclusion and isolation through skilful manipulation of physical, institutional and communicative contexts, from which we may draw valuable lessons. The case study demonstrated high levels of personal motivation in teachers and assistants, used as a force for participation in inclusive education – bottom-up, via dialogue, consultation, voluntary involvement and transformation by exposure. This democratic approach was evident in and supported through leadership and management, teaching and learning, and the involvement of the wider community.     

Special and inclusive education in the Eastern Caribbean: policy practice and provision

The countries of the Eastern Caribbean have for more than a decade been committed to the implementation of a common educational reform strategy. At the heart of this strategy has been the policy of 'education for all', which includes establishing educational support services for children with special educational needs. In the past, many disabled children and children with learning difficulties have been excluded from the education system in these countries. For many more children, attendance at school has not given meaningful access to educational opportunities. This article discusses research carried out by the authors and reports on the implementation of the Reform Strategy and on the barriers to inclusive education that persist in the region.     

Moving forward in inclusive education research

This paper aims to address conceptual and methodological challenges of doing research in the field of inclusive education and revisit school effectiveness research literature to inform future research. First, we present the rationale for inclusive education and briefly review the evolution of special needs education. Then, we discuss limitations of current research on inclusive education. Next, we present school- and classroom-level findings of school effectiveness research to highlight how it can influence the inclusive education research agenda. We conclude by presenting future directions for research.     

Affordances and limitations of a special school practicum as a means to prepare pre-service teachers for inclusive education

As education systems worldwide embrace inclusive education in some form, pre-service teachers need to be prepared to be pedagogically responsive to diverse students and learning needs. While much learning for inclusion takes place in course work in higher education institutions, field experiences, including practicum placements, can complement this learning. Using Loreman's [2010a. “Essential Inclusive Education-Related Outcomes for Alberta Preservice Teachers.” The Alberta Journal of Educational Research 56 (2): 124–142] seven areas of essential learning for inclusion, with the addition of Waitoller and Kozleski's [2010. “Inclusive Professional Learning Schools.” In Teacher Education for Inclusion, edited by C. Forlin, 65–73. London: Routledge] idea of ‘critical sensibilities’, this article considers the extent to which a practicum experience in a special school might contribute to learning for inclusion. The main findings of a small-scale qualitative study with 15 South African pre-service teachers suggest that the practicum placement exposes them to children with disabilities and learning difficulties, resulting in a growth of understanding of their learning needs. It also enhances pre-service teachers' ability to plan lessons and draw on a range of instructional strategies to enable learning for all. For some pre-service teachers, however, the practicum convinced them of the benefits of separate special education and the unfeasibility of inclusion. We conclude that a special school practicum has value for pre-service teachers, provided that opportunities are made available for critical engagement with the potential for both inclusion and exclusion of students with special educational needs in different types of school.     

Solomon Islands school leaders readiness for inclusive education

In this paper, I critically examine the discourse surrounding response to intervention (RTI), a US-based education reform that has garnered a considerable amount of attention (as well as controversy) in a very short amount of time. A multi-pronged reform effort, RTI is a tiered approach to delivering instructional intervention to students at risk, an on-going and systematic model of monitoring student performance, as well as an alternative to the ability/achievement discrepancy model for identifying learning disabilities. In this paper, I argue, however, that RTI is not so much a reform but a tactic, aimed at returning to the status quo of segregated special education and reinvigorating many of the foundational assumptions of traditional special education practice.     

Inclusive special education: development of a new theory for the education of children with special educational needs and disabilities

Inclusive education and special education are based on different philosophies and provide alternative views of education for children with special educational needs and disabilities. They are increasingly regarded as diametrically opposed in their approaches. This article presents a theory of inclusive special education that comprises a synthesis of the philosophy, values and practices of inclusive education with the interventions, strategies and procedures of special education. Development of inclusive special education aims to provide a vision and guidelines for policies, procedures and teaching strategies that will facilitate the provision of effective education for all children with special educational needs and disabilities.     

Parent perspectives on inclusive education in Budapest

The purpose of this study was to better understand parents’ perspectives of education in Budapest, particularly parents of children with disabilities or children who struggle with learning. Nine parents were interviewed. Parents found schools for their child with a disability to be lacking in terms of updated materials, methods and service provision for students; relationships with families and the burden placed on families to advocate for their child or find alternatives were also problematic. Changes are required at all levels of the educational system, including parent involvement and teacher preparation programmes.     

Statistical trends and developments within inclusive education in Turkey

The education of students with special needs in an inclusive environment is becoming more widespread throughout the world. Similarly, in Turkey, the inclusion of students with disabilities has also improved. However, current statistical trends and developments within inclusive education are not well known. The purpose of this study is to provide a statistical analysis of special education data, which were obtained from the Ministry of National Education of Turkey. The findings indicate that some statistical components of special education are missing from most official publications of educational statistics and the number of students and the proportions of special education categories in inclusive education vary from year to year. However, in Turkey, the percentage of students in inclusive education, of all students with special needs, is higher than many European countries. The results show that the number of students with special needs, as well as students in inclusive education, has rapidly increased. Turkey needs to focus on improving the schooling rate of students with special needs, and the quality and variety of special education services within inclusive education.     

The evolution of special education in Malaysia

This article traces the evolution of special education in Malaysia across four chronological stages: before and during the early colonial period (before 1900), pre‐independence (1900–1957), post‐independence (1957–1990) and modern Malaysia (1990 to the present), through document analysis. By placing current issues and trends within a historical perspective, we can provide a context for understanding current practices in relation to shifts in policy paradigms. The effects of policy changes throughout the years are discussed in the context of issues facing special education today. Identifiable areas of improvements are organised into eight themes: (1) provision of education for students with special needs and the degree to which they are inclusive; (2) encouragement of diversity within highly structured education systems; (3) the importance of funding; (4) restructuring pre‐service teacher preparation; (5) multidisciplinary support and collaboration; (6) programme outcomes; (7) provision of related services; and (8) epidemiological data.     

The scope for using international indicators of inclusive education in Kuwait and GCC countries: A preliminary study involving special education teachers

In both the literature on inclusive education and in international policy development, there has been considerable interest in the use of sets of indicators for the implementation of inclusive education at national and local levels. Drawing on sets of indicators developed in Europe and the Pacific Islands, this study proposes a set of such indicators for Kuwait. These indicators are then presented in a survey of 161 special education teachers working in public elementary mainstream schools across Kuwait. Analysis of the results is used to explore how such indicators could play a role in promoting policy implementation for inclusive education in Kuwait and more widely in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.     

Reforming special education in Scotland: tensions between discourses of professionalism and rights

In 2001, the (then) Scottish Executive embarked on a process of reform of the SEN framework in Scotland. This paper analyses negotiations between different social actors, principally local authority staff and parents, in the formation of the legislation and its subsequent enactment. Data are drawn from an analysis of responses to consultations, official statistics and parent and local authority staff perceptions of the reforms as revealed in questionnaire surveys. It is argued that policy frameworks based on professionalism and bureaucracy have tended to dominate in Scotland, with a rights framework emerging much more recently. The legislation attempts to strike a balance between the different actors, although, in implementing the legislation, local authorities have sought to neutralise aspects which they felt tipped the balance of power too far in favour of parents. Parents have responded by campaigning as citizen‐consumers, and appear to be having a growing influence on Government.     

Educational justice for all: the capability approach and inclusive education leadership

Leaders within education must weigh a number of fundamentals as they engage the needs of the stakeholders they represent within the political, social and economic context they operate within. Leaders must consider the unique needs and capabilities of individuals who might not possess similar abilities or talents to those of the majority. In this paper, we explore the capability approach as a frame to consider such contextual fundamentals in inclusive education leadership. In order to examine how educational leaders address the diverse needs of the groups they serve, we interviewed five central office educational administrators in the USA with the responsibility for leading programming for students with special needs. Using a human capabilities frame, we developed targeted questions to determine whether school leaders uphold the tenets of this theoretical foundation within their district's practices in an era of tight fiscal management and accountability. Findings indicate that those leaders whose districts had the highest level of inclusion for most students, including students with significant disabilities, most closely align with the capability approach. Recommendations for continued research and implications for both practice and policy are included.     

Interdisciplinary collaboration as a prerequisite for inclusive education

This article reports on findings from a research project on interdisciplinary collaboration between mainstream school teachers and special school teachers. The aim of the research project has been to examine the knowledge of special school teachers and how this knowledge can contribute to the development of an inclusive learning environment in mainstream schools. Not as a simple task of transferring knowledge, but as a process of transforming knowledge through interdisciplinary collaboration and co-teaching. The design of the study is inspired by the notion of participation within action research as a research approach. Thus the thick data generated from reflective activities in the study design are analysed within a narrative and practice directed strategy of analysis.     

Beyond the far too incessant schism: special education and the social model of disability

Special education critics' vigorous appraisals of the social model of disability, along with their analysis of its implications for special education, provide a valuable forum for meaningful dialogue about how educators are to understand the nature of disability. In this article, we offer our response to their recent articles. As advocates of the social model, we find their critiques intriguing, at moments a bit provocative, but more importantly we find in their work an opportunity to advance beyond the far too incessant schism between those who support the medical model of disability and those who endorse its alternatives.     

Looking in the mirror: reflecting on 25 years of inclusive education in Australia

ABSTRACT

Australia was an early signatory to the Salamanca Statement, and it espouses inclusive education (IE) as the overarching philosophy of education for all. A 2015 critique of IE in Australia [Anderson and Boyle 2015. “Inclusive Education in Australia: Rhetoric, Reality and the Road Ahead.” Support for Learning 30 (1): 4–22. doi:10.1111/1467-9604.12074] found that while some gains had been made, particularly in the recognition of the needs of some of the nation's minority groups, the lack of a nationally accepted understanding of IE meant that it was transpiring in fundamentally distinctive ways across the eight education jurisdictions, with different outcomes for different groups of students. This paper reflects upon why Australia has struggled to enact the recommendations outlined in the Salamanca Statement a quarter of a century ago. The impacts of current education reforms, including the current model of educational provision, the understanding of disability and educational need, and the neo-liberal concepts of standardisation, measurement, and choice are explored. It challenges the idea that IE is the work of schools, and instead argues the need for a national approach to IE. Governments must acknowledge the barriers that their current policies and structures erect and shift towards a more inclusive model of educational delivery – for the benefit of all children and young people in Australia.     

The attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education in Vojvodina

The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes of preschool, primary, secondary and high school teachers towards inclusive education of children with special educational needs. In addition, the study established the correlation between these attitudes and gender, education level, teaching experience, formal training in the special education field, and the duration and quality of work experience with children with special education needs. The sample comprised 322 teachers from the Serbian province of Vojvodina. The My Thinking about Inclusion Scale (Stoiber, K. C., M. Gettinger, and D. Goetz. 1998. “Exploring Factors Influencing Parents' and Early Childhood Practitioners Beliefs about Inclusion.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 13 (1): 107–131) was used. The results show that, in general, the participants held neutral attitudes towards inclusive education and more positive expectations regarding the outcomes of inclusion. This study also emphasised teaching performance in an inclusive class as a subject of great concern. The high school and preschool teachers as well as the teachers with previous positive experience with working in an inclusive environment reported more positive attitudes towards inclusive education than those from primary and secondary schools and those with negative experiences with the implementation of inclusive practices.     

An analysis of the discourses on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in US special education textbooks,with implications for inclusive education

The purpose of this paper is to examine the discourses on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) found in textbooks used in pre-service special education programmes in the USA. Five textbooks are examined with the intent of discovering how ADHD is portrayed to future teachers. A discourse analysis framework is utilised, revealing five categories that structure the discourses of textbooks: definition, causes, symptoms, characteristics, and treatment. Examples of each are provided, followed by a critical analysis of the underlying meanings and assumptions. The analysis reveals an overwhelmingly medicalised narrative in which children diagnosed with ADHD are presented as inherently dysfunctional and devoid of positive characteristics. Two implications of this analysis are suggested: (1) teachers are likely to limit their pedagogical responses to these children in favour of relying upon medical knowledge and (2) teachers are apt to construct policy that is inconsistent with the goal of inclusive education to embrace diversity in the classroom. Lastly, the importance of exposing pre-service teachers to an alternative discourse on ADHD is discussed.     

Attitudes of parents towards inclusive education: a review of the literature

The aim of this study is to review literature about parents’ attitudes towards inclusive education. Special attention is paid to parents’ attitudes and to the effect of these on the social participation of children with special needs in regular schools. A review of the literature resulted in 10 studies showing that the majority of parents hold positive attitudes. However, parents of children with special needs reported various concerns, including the availability of services in regular schools and individualised instruction. Several variables were found which relate to parents’ attitudes, such as social‐economic status, education level, experience with inclusion and type of disability. No studies examined the effects of parental attitudes on the social participation of children with special needs. The importance of positive parental attitudes is elaborated in the discussion.