Defining student diversity: categorizing and processes of marginalization in Swedish schools

The article presents an analysis of how diversity is defined and attended to in Swedish schools. The research reported has been carried out as a case study of categorizing practices that concern the uses of neuropsychiatric diagnoses, notably ADHD. The data were collected as part of a larger study. The interaction over a two-year period between the parents of a boy (William, aged 5.5 years) and representatives of the school (school psychologist, principal, teacher etc.) has been analysed. It is shown that parents and professionals provide different accounts of William’s difficulties. The parents, while not denying that their son causes problems in class, argue that the boy will mature and that the problems will disappear. The representatives of the school try to convince the parents that a neuropsychiatric examination of the boy will be beneficial to all parties. The long process of negotiation can be understood as a rhetorical drama, where the category ‘ADHD’ serves as the resolution of a complex institutional problem in the modern welfare state.     

The education of children with special educational needs in England

In the last few years, the Warnock Report and the 1981 Education Act have had a major effect on the education of children with special educational needs in English schools. This paper discusses the main points of the Report and the subsequent legislation and then takes examples of three local educational authorities — Leicestershire, Coventry, and Barnsley — to illustrate the range of responses that have been made. Although there is obvious overlap, the three approaches are rather different in emphasis and illustrate the ways in which an educational system based on local autonomy can respond to proposals and legislation made at national level.

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Zusammenfassung Der Warnock Report und das Schulgesetz von 1981 haben an englischen Schulen erheblichen Einfluß auf die Erziehung von Kindern ausgeübt, die einer Sonderschulerziehung bedürfen. Der vorliegende Artikel behandelt die in dem Warnock Report hervorgehobenen Schwerpunkte und die daraus hervorgegangene Gesetzgebung. Um die Verschiedenartigkeit der Reaktionen aufzuzeigen, werden Beispiele von drei kommunalen Erziehungsbehörden (local education authorities) aus Leicestershire, Coventry und Barnsley angeführt. Trotz offensichtlicher Überschneidungen unterscheiden sich die drei o.a. Ansätze in ihrer Akzentuierung; sie zeigen, wie ein auf lokaler Autonomie basierendes Erziehungssystem auf Vorschläge und Gesetzgebung reagieren kann, die auf nationaler Ebene Gültigkeit haben sollen.

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Résumé Au cours des dernières années, le rapport Warnock et la Loi de 1981 sur l'Education ont eu une répercussion remarquable sur l'éducation des enfants ayant des besoins éducatifs spéciaux en Angleterre. Cet article traite les principaux points du rapport et de la législation subséquente et cite en exemples trois autorités éducatives locales — Leicestershire, Coventry et Barnsley — pour illustrer les différentes réponses qui ont été données. Bien que les trois approches se chevauchent clairement, elles se focalisent sur des points plutôt différents, et illustrent les façons dont un système éducatif basé sur une autonomie locale peut répondre aux propositions et à la législation émanant du niveau national.

     

Curriculum Lessons from Europe?

Next year Britain will enter the Single European Market. This may encourage greater alignment of special educational legislation here with the laws in other member countries. Roger Merry, senior lecturer in education, School of Education, Leicester University, asks what lesson can be learned from practice in Europe, especially in relation to the National Curriculum.