Seizing the Moment: Reflections on Play Opportunities for Disabled Children in the Early Years

Current policy in relation to special needs prioritises early intervention and inclusive education, at least as 'good intentions' This article argues for a paradigmatic shift away from individualist models of learning and disability. The social context of play is emphasised as the crucial arena for realising such good intentions, as long as it is geared to responding to, and developing, the self-determination, control, and identity of young disabled children becoming disabled adults in a disabling society.     

Implementing the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs

Abstract

This article explores the provenance and features of the new Code of Practice for special educational needs and then reports on research on the implementation of the Code in one Local Education Authority. It is argued that the Code has managerial, curricular and consumer dimensions, all of which have a number of implications for policy and practice, for both LEAs and schools. In particular, the Code can be seen as a mechanism for controlling and targeting resource allocation as well as a means of increasing accountability in relation to provision and partnership with parents. The Code is also closely linked to the changing role of LEAs and is therefore likely to affect the relationship between LEAs and schools.     

Managing support for newly qualified teachers in primary schools

This article considers some of the management issues involved in effective induction, drawing on data collected during evaluation of a project concerned with the induction of NQTs in primary schools.     

Disability and education: The longest road to inclusion

Children with disabilities are one of the many groups of children still not enrolled in primary education in developing countries. However, their educational exclusion and right to education are now receiving more policy attention. This paper reviews some of the key issues and challenges in relation to disability, education and development: definitions and data, policies, service delivery and finance, and capacity development. Drawing on a review of education sector planning and provision in 28 developing countries and other literature, the paper makes comparative reference to policy and practice in a number of developed and developing country contexts.     

Psychosocial Factors and Sex Differences in High Academic Attainment at Cambridge University

This paper discusses current trends in government policy for special educational needs. It reviews both the legacy of previous reforms and key elements of current approaches, namely raising educational standards and increasing inclusion. It is suggested that although the incorporation of SEN into mainstream policymaking is to be welcomed, there are a number of features of policy and practice which may undermine intentions to enhance provision and outcomes.     

Curriculum Change: the case of special education

Special education has been somewhat neglected in the sociological study of curriculum change, despite the value of sociological perspectives on policy and provision for special educational needs. This article considers the redefinition of special education over the last decade, in both mainstream and special schools, drawing on other sociological analyses of curriculum redefinition and realisation. Particular attention is given to the professional interests involved and the contexts within which change has taken place. The article concludes with a review of the implications of recent legislation for the redefinition of special education. It is suggested that the increasing convergence of policy and curriculum frameworks for both special and mainstream education requires an integrated approach to future research and analysis.     

Education sector reform: The Ugandan experience

In 1998 the Government of Uganda (GoU) began implementing an ambitious reform programme called the Education Strategic Investment Plan (ESIP) in order to effect Universal Primary Education (UPE). This paper offers a perspective on how the GoU has met the challenge of financing education reform, addressed the need to improve the quality of basic education and increased access and equity while improving efficiency at primary and post-primary levels of education. The development model described in this paper privileges good governance and donor co-operation within a Sector Wide Approach. Important lessons have been learned in Uganda including the need for political commitment to universal primary education within a clear conception of whole sector reform. However, the discourse of SWAPs tends to function primarily in the formal sphere and not at the level of the experience of most teachers, pupils and their families, yet it is at this level that national education policies have to be mediated in practice. More attention needs to be given in education sector reform to the processes as well as the context of change.