School autonomy and educational inclusion of children with special needs: Evidence from England

In the past few decades, several countries have introduced reforms aimed at increasing school autonomy. We evaluate the effect of the introduction of autonomous academies in England on the educational trajectories of children with special educational needs. This has been done using longitudinal data on all schoolchildren in state schools in England, from the National Pupil Database. The results show that the effects of school autonomy on educational inclusion are not uniform and depend on schools’ previous performance and socio-economic composition. Schools that obtained autonomy under the control of an external sponsor (sponsored academies) were more likely to decrease the proportion of pupils with special needs and remove additional support for them. We do not observe these effects in the schools that voluntarily applied for the more autonomous status (converter academies).     

Marginalisation,autism and school exclusion: caregivers' perspectives

The article presents findings from interviews with five caregivers of children with autism excluded from schools in England. Objectives : to determine the barriers and enablers to mainstream schooling for children with autism and to explore the emotional effect of the journey to school exclusion on the child and caregivers. Background : research has highlighted that some mainstream schools do not listen to caregivers concerns about their child's development, behaviours and mental health. Methods : interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to understand how participants made sense of their lived experiences, revealing four superordinate themes: inadequate special educational needs and disability (SEND) support, psychological impact, health-imposed barriers to diagnoses, and effective support. Findings : Theographs present the caregivers' journeys, illustrating that the onus fell on the caregivers to advocate for effective support from schools. A lack of prompt diagnose and effective school support is detrimental to the emotional and physical health of both children and caregivers. Training is needed to ensure thresholds for education, health and care needs assessments are understood, alongside evidence-based approaches to support children with SEND. There is a policy need to address barriers to prompt health assessments across services and the impact of decreased funding on schools.     

How inclusion became exclusion: policy,teachers and inclusive education

ABSTRACT

It is almost two decades since a concept of inclusion as selective segregation was proposed as an alternative to the concept of full inclusion and inclusive education was reconfigured as providing children with varied educational settings in order to meet their needs. A version of this model of inclusive education subsequently gained political traction in England where the issue of segregated or mainstream provision is now constructed as a matter of parental choice and child voice. Meanwhile, the implications of this latest model of inclusive education for teachers and schools in a rapidly changing wider educational landscape have largely been ignored or reduced to a question of training. This paper explores how the inclusive education landscape has changed in England in recent years, charting recent key developments in areas such as policy, statutory guidance and teacher training, with particular reference to teacher workload and the positioning of teachers within political and polemical educational discourse.     

‘Nowhere that fits’: the dilemmas of school choice for parents of children with Statements of special educational needs (SEN) in England

Giving parents a choice with regard to their children's education has been central to the political discourse of school reform at least since the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA). With regard to children with a Statement of special educational needs (SSEN), a plethora of policies and laws have given parents the right not only to choose a school, but also to appeal to decisions in the best interest of their children. Yet, despite the discourse of school choice, the implementation and practice of such reforms is neither assured nor simple. Participants in this study indicated that they have little choice of suitable provision and are having to compromise either the academic or the social aspects of their child's schooling. This article argues that for many parents whose children have a Statement of SEN, the choice of a school is often a dilemma, as ‘nowhere seems to fit’.     

The role of a sense of school belonging in understanding the effectiveness of inclusion of children with special educational needs

This review integrates theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence of a sense of school belonging (SOSB) to highlight its importance in understanding the inclusion efficacy research for pupils with special educational needs (SEN). Specifically, it examines the role of a SOSB on pupils' cognitive, affective, behavioural and social developmental outcomes. In addition, it considers the inclusion efficacy research regarding the outcome of mainstream and special education for pupils with SEN. In turn, the review synthesises the two areas of research on school belongingness and inclusion to suggest that a SOSB is important in understanding the relationship between school placement and developmental outcomes for pupils with SEN.     

Classroom behaviour management strategies in response to problematic behaviours of primary school children with special educational needs: views of special educational needs coordinators

Children identified with special educational needs (SEN) and behavioural difficulties present extra challenges to educators and require additional supports in school. This paper presents views from special educational needs coordinators (SENCos) on various strategies used by educators to support children identified with SEN and problematic behaviours. The data were collected from telephone interviews with six SENCos from the UK’s South West Peninsula. The SENCos were invited to participate because their school was participating in a cluster-randomised trial of a teacher classroom management course (Incredible Years). Using thematic analysis to analyse the data, this paper illustrates strategies deemed by SENCos to be successful in the support of children identified with SEN. The management strategies generated by participating SENCos were then mapped onto those taught as part of the classroom management course for comparison. Findings indicate that strategies from the training programme appear to be appropriate for children identified with both SEN and behavioural difficulties.     

Consultation,negotiation and compromise: the relationship between SENCos,parents and pupils with SEN

One outcome of the UK Government's commitment to inclusive educational policies was an increase in the number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) being taught in mainstream schools. From the perspective of SENCos, this article analyses whether parents and pupils are able and willing to influence the development of SEN provision and distribution of SEN resources, both of which aim to ensure that pupils have more meaningful experiences of mainstream education. The findings of the study cast light on the power and influence of parents when it comes to SEN provision and resources, the importance of consulting parents and the ways in which parents empower SENCos to make decisions on behalf of themselves and their children. The importance of negotiating and attempting to seek a compromise with pupils was another key issue identified in the article. Ultimately, however, the power to decide where resources go and what is done with them appears to reside with SENCos.     

Searching the literature on teaching strategies and approaches for pupils with special educational needs: knowledge production and synthesis

This paper considers the problems that were encountered in searching and using the literature (about practice) to answer questions about future directions for policy in teaching learners with special educational needs (SEN). It draws upon a recently completed scoping study on the effectiveness of different approaches and strategies used to teach pupils with a range of special educational needs ( Davis & Florian, 2004 ) which foregrounded issues of search strategy, knowledge organisation and synthesis. The paper argues that a literature review is historically, culturally and socially produced knowledge and is an important but limited piece of evidence. Guidance for undertaking a review of literature on teaching practice is offered.     

High school transition – an intervention that empowers children with special educational needs and improves school practice

This article discusses the process and results of a junior school initiative from a local authority in the East of England, to ensure that vulnerable pupils in the school experience a successful transition to high school. The resulting project is the consequence of an inter‐organisational collaboration between the junior school, a secondary school and the local educational psychology service. The transition intervention, which is the first product of this project, was borne from the ideas of year 7 students with special educational needs, which were analysed and presented visually into a transition booklet, later used in the intervention with year 6 pupils. At the end of the intervention, the year 6 pupils provided feedback, which informed first changes in the intervention. Overall, the intervention was successful and because of the interest drawn, it was decided to extend the initiative to other schools with year 6 pupils.     

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.     

论学校民族志的发展及在我国的应用

学校民族志是一种深入剖析和批判学校教学过程中文化现象的质的研究。西方教育研究者将其视为考察弱势群体教育问题的重要研究方法。在我国学校民族志仅局限于考察少数民族教育问题,极大地忽视了其他边缘群体的教育诉求。此研究从方法论层面探讨了学校民族志的本质、重要议题、理论建构功能,并针对西方理论本土化提出了建议。     

Students negotiating the borders between general and special education classes: an ethnographic and participatory research study

ABSTRACT

Although Finnish basic education is based on inclusion, 37% of students receiving special support still study in either separate schools or separate classes in comprehensive schools. In this study we explore how policies of inclusion are implemented in a school with separated special educational needs (SEN) and general education (GE) classes. More specifically we conducted a two-year ethnographic study focusing particularly on exclusion and the sense of belonging in a lower secondary school (students aged 13–16) in the capital region of Finland. During the fieldwork, several students attending the SEN-class expressed an interest in changing from the SEN-class to a GE-class, or in breaking the borders between SEN and GE classes in other ways. As part of the negotiations with the school, students who criticised the GE- and SEN-class division were offered an opportunity to transfer to GE-classes but in the end, all of them wanted to stay in the SEN-class. In this investigation, we focus on the students’ reasoning and the teachers’ reactions when students negotiate the borders between SEN and GE-classes. In this study we found a clash between integration and inclusive thinking.     

求是:普通学校教育研究的重要品格

普通学校的教育研究,不同程度地失落了实事求是的重要品格,出现超越文化基础、忽视中国特色、为研究而研究而不是为教育而研究的不良倾向。这与我们的教育研究评估失当、定位超前而不适度相关,也与我们的教育研究缺乏自信心和责任感相关。重视求是精神和品格,提倡自发而非模仿的、自然而非装饰的、有中国特色风格和气派而非泊来的普通学校教育研究,是改造与发展实践中的教育研究的求是策略。     

Blame,guilt and the need for ‘labels’; insights from parents of children with special educational needs and educational practitioners

Previous research on home–school relationships and blame has concentrated on the experiences of parents with children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD). This has led to the voices of educational practitioners, as well as parents of children with other special educational needs, being neglected. This article, by Karen Broomhead of Lancaster University, details part of a larger study examining socio‐emotional aspects of home–school relationships between parents of children with special educational needs and educational practitioners. The study reported in this article explored perceptions of blame via semi‐structured interviews with 15 educational professionals and 22 parents of children with various special educational needs. The findings reveal that parental experiences of blame and guilt were influenced by the nature of their children's special educational needs, which consequently influenced parental focus on obtaining ‘labels’ of special educational needs for their children. The implications of these findings for educational practitioners are discussed.     

Professional roles and responsibilities in meeting the needs of children with speech,language and communication needs: joint working between educational psychologists and speech and language therapists

There is a large population of children with speech, language and communication needs who have additional special educational needs (SEN). Whilst professional collaboration between education and health professionals is recommended to ensure an integrated delivery of statutory services for this population of children, formal frameworks should be developed for the exchange of information during identification and assessment of needs and planning of intervention strategies. In this study an audit was carried out to examine practical and conceptual issues which might arise in a piloted communication system between educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. Whilst it was found that 62.8% of newly referred children with SEN had some history of co‐existing communication and education needs, it was shown that duplication of work exists and communication is onerous. It was also shown that schools were not fully informed about children’s needs. Joint commissioning of services is required to facilitate individual practitioners in collaborating to serve the needs of these children.     

Caregivers of school children with epilepsy: findings of a phenomenological study

Epilepsy is one of the most frequently diagnosed neurological disorders among children. Epilepsy is continuously linked with academic underachievement and social challenges. Despite the implications that these difficulties have for a child's educational success, little is known of how children with epilepsy experience school. Understanding how to best support and accommodate these children can contribute to their positive adaptation and quality of life. The purpose of this phenomenological study by Jillian Roberts and Cheryl Whiting of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, is to understand the school experiences of children with epilepsy. Data was gathered through open‐ended, semi‐structured interviews. The caregivers' narratives were transcribed and analysed to elicit the essential experiences of school children with epilepsy. Five categories were elicited from the families' narratives: (1) health‐related issues, (2) family coping, (3) academic experience, (4) social belonging, and (5) awareness. This information will be particularly useful for teachers and allied professionals serving the needs of children with epilepsy – as well as those with other chronic health conditions.     

RESEARCH SECTION: Between a rock and a hard place: parents' attitudes to the inclusion of children with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools

In this paper, Katherine Runswick‐Cole, a researcher at the Research Institute for Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University, engages with parents' attitudes to the placement of their children with special educational needs in mainstream and special schools. She sets her review of parents' views within the current policy and legislative context. She then moves on to explore parents' attitudes to inclusion by drawing on the social model of disability as an analytical tool and developing a typology of parental school choices. The study reported in this paper involved 24 parents who were contacted through voluntary organisations and interviewed, either in their own homes or on the telephone. The views of seven professionals were also gathered. The findings reveal that parents' attitudes to mainstream and special schooling are influenced by their engagement with models of disability. The parents' experiences suggest that, despite the shifts in policy we have seen since 1997, the process of inclusive education continues to be fragile.     

The Hare and the Tortoise: a comparative review of the drive towards inclusive education policies in England and Cyprus

This paper explores the process of policy formulation and implementation in relation to children commonly described as having ‘special educational needs’ and disability (SEND), in Cyprus and in England. Drawing on qualitative research evidence from key primary documentary sources including legislation, statutory and non-statutory guidance and reports, it provides a comparative analysis of the content and the spirit of policy in both countries over the cycle of a century. The findings indicate that Cypriot policymakers have engaged in a process of ‘policy snatching’ from England, following four phases: charitable segregation and categorisation; enlightened legitimisation and categorisation; integration, ‘special educational needs’ and categorisation; inclusion, SEND and categorisation. Using the analogy of Aesop’s well-known fable ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’, the paper concludes that England, symbolically characterised as the hare, appears, overtly at least, to have moved ahead; while Cyprus, characterised as the tortoise, has been following slowly behind. However, progress has been slow in both countries, and the hare may well have fallen asleep. It is argued that whilst some common ground exists between the two countries, there is an inherent danger in transplanting selected elements of policy texts from one socio-cultural historical context to another.     

加拿大融合学校标准建设:结构与内容——以阿尔伯塔省为例

围绕普通学校转型与融合学校建设,形成一系列标准来推进融合教育的深入实施,成为了加拿大新世纪之后教育改革的重要方向之一。其中,阿尔伯塔省的融合学校标准建设颇具特色。迄今,阿尔伯塔省已通过持续的政策推进,基本形成了由融合学校建设标准、融合学校专业人员标准、融合学校实践标准组成的三维融合学校标准体系结构。这个三维标准体系又是一系列标准或指标构成的集合体。加拿大阿尔伯塔省的融合学校标准建设经验对于推动我国融合教育改革与普通学校转型具有重要的启示意义。