Special educational needs and inclusion,moving forward but standing still? A critical reframing of some key issues

This article draws together my thinking in relation to special educational needs and inclusion that have dominated my practice. The article, through the concept of embodiment, revisits, reviews and reframes the key issues of the construction of special educational needs, inclusion and the ideology that binds them together. Through this exploration, I argue we often seem to move forward with policy while in reality standing still in ensuring the ‘success’ of all of our pupils. By critiquing and reframing taken‐for‐granted assumptions and the sacred words ‘success’ and ‘achievement’, this article maps out the future directions of inclusive education. It concludes with a reflection on my first days as a ‘teacher of special educational needs’ and my work to support Kenny, a student with cerebral palsy. This personal reflection maps out a different form of educational success that perhaps could provide a forward momentum to develop more successful inclusive education policy and practice.     

‘They think that if you're a teacher here … you're not clever enough to be a proper teacher’: the courtesy stigma experienced by teachers employed at schools for pupils with behavioural,emotional and social difficulties (BESD)

A wealth of literature has identified that children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) and their families are frequently stigmatised due to the perceived controllable and ‘invisible’ nature of this special educational need (SEN). Yet little research has considered the impact of this stigma on another group of individuals, educational practitioners employed in BESD schools. This is despite these professionals working in close contact with pupils with BESD, a heavily stigmatised group, on a regular basis. This paper therefore, details a study which explored perceptions of stigma specifically with educational professionals employed in schools for pupils with BESD. Semi‐structured interviews with nine practitioners (including head teachers and class teachers with additional responsibilities) were conducted, all of whom had worked within the BESD sector for at least 10 years, with data being analysed via Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings revealed how educational practitioners employed in BESD schools experienced courtesy stigma, with many not being perceived as ‘proper’ teachers due to a discourse of care surrounding BESD. Other professionals reported much confusion from their mainstream colleagues and other individuals about how they could want to work with such ‘challenging’ pupils. This courtesy stigma was linked to the wider stigma surrounding BESD schools, which were often ignorantly perceived to be full of ‘bad boys’ or ‘absolute horrors’. This paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings for policy and practice, and provides recommendations for addressing the identified stigma towards practitioners employed in BESD schools.     

‘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’.     

Change management and the SENCo role: developing key performance indicators in the strategic development of inclusivity

This article follows an earlier publication highlighting the changing role of special educational needs co‐ordinators (SENCos) in England. SENCos are now required to manage change strategically and deliver inclusive school cultures. School‐based action research undertaken by a teacher studying for the postgraduate National Award for SEN Co‐ordination (NASENCO) is featured in the article; a strategic review of resource allocation increased the availability and quality of interventions for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The commentary which frames the study acknowledges that many SENCos are not yet members of a senior school management team (SMT) despite their mandated strategic whole‐school remit. Featuring the process through which one SENCo has strived to enhance SEND provision and develop context‐specific key performance indicators brings official guidance on the SENCo's role in strategic change management into sharp focus, raising questions that should concern both SMTs and non‐SMT SENCos.     

To Unclog the Arcane with the Technical

No abstract available for this article.     

Assessment in special schools: national early assessment procedures and pupils attending special schools in England

An implicit assumption that fostering inclusion means having shared systems encompassing the needs of all children is evident in many aspects of policy development over the past decade. Reflecting this, the implementation of ‘baseline assessment’ schemes (i.e. testing at around age 5 years) is a statutory requirement on all state-maintained special and mainstream schools in England since 1998. Our argument is that the enthusiasm for commonality has obscured the need to question the value and validity of baseline assessment schemes for children with special educational needs (and possibly some others such as children having English as an additional language). We illustrate this position with reference to data from our recent study on baseline assessment in England. The study encompassed survey data from a national sample of 982 schools, of which 107 were special schools. Between them, these special schools used 42 different baseline assessment schemes. Comparisons between our mainstream and special school respondents indicated that there were similarities in the nature and perceived value of the schemes used. However, special schools were less satisfied with their schemes. We suggest that a reappraisal of the nature and purpose of baseline assessment for pupils with special educational needs warrants greater critical debate. Without this, there is a danger that a stress on commonality, veiling an inclusion orthodoxy, will ultimately be counterproductive.     

少数民族传统体育文化资源开发利用的保障机制——以桂滇黔地区为例

由于少数民族传统体育文化保护起步晚和对其保护的公共投入不足,经济发展相对滞后、但传统体育文化资源占优的桂滇黔地区对通过开发传统体育文化具有的经济价值来弥补其保护资金不足有着更为迫切的需求。然少数民族传统体育文化资源的开发利用涉及诸多方面的利益,要实现其开发利用的可持续性,需从法律法规、资金支持、人才培养、规划评估、区域合作等方面建立起一整套有效的保障机制,使其开发利用的综合效益得到充分发挥。     

谈专升本高校图书馆的建设

我国高等教育发展迅速，一大批专科院校升格为本科，图书馆工作人员素质、馆藏图书量等方面都存在着不相适应的问题，应根据本科学校建立现代网络化、数字化、开放化图书馆的要求，采取相应对策，搞好这类高校的图书馆建设。     

高校图书馆建设地方特色文献数据库的思考

论述了高校图书馆创建地方特色献数据库的意义、必要性、可行性及及创建方法。     

Overqualified: Changing the Culture of Hiring Practices in a Public Library Special Collections Department

All too often, applicants for low level paraprofessional positions in libraries are passed over or rejected, not because they are not qualified, but because they have professional experience or advanced degrees. The rationale behind these decisions is that the overqualified staff member in a low level position will continue to look for a better position more aligned with their skills, experience, and education; and when they find another job they will leave and their positions will have to be filled again. This essay argues that this reasoning is flawed and, regardless of the perceived inconvenience, library managers and administrators should want the best and the brightest working in all levels of their library.