Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Author biographies
- Preface
- Foreword
- Introduction
- one Disability and education in historical perspective
- two Complex needs, divergent frameworks: challenges disabled children face in accessing appropriate support services and inclusive educational opportunities
- three From SEN to Sen: could the ‘capabilities’ approach transform the educational opportunities of disabled children?
- four Multi-agency working and disabled children and young people: from ‘what works’ to ‘active becoming’
- five Disabled children’s ‘voice’ and experience
- six Building brighter futures for all our children: education, disability, social policy and the family
- seven Access to higher education for disabled students: a policy success story?
- eight Meeting the standard but failing the test: children and young people with sensory impairments
- nine Heading for inclusion: a head teacher’s journey towards an inclusive school
- Suggested further reading
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Author biographies
- Preface
- Foreword
- Introduction
- one Disability and education in historical perspective
- two Complex needs, divergent frameworks: challenges disabled children face in accessing appropriate support services and inclusive educational opportunities
- three From SEN to Sen: could the ‘capabilities’ approach transform the educational opportunities of disabled children?
- four Multi-agency working and disabled children and young people: from ‘what works’ to ‘active becoming’
- five Disabled children’s ‘voice’ and experience
- six Building brighter futures for all our children: education, disability, social policy and the family
- seven Access to higher education for disabled students: a policy success story?
- eight Meeting the standard but failing the test: children and young people with sensory impairments
- nine Heading for inclusion: a head teacher’s journey towards an inclusive school
- Suggested further reading
Summary
This book is a major contribution to the debate about education, social policy and disability in the UK. It is a powerful reminder that we need to think far more expansively about the future of policy and provision as it impacts on children with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN). The Green Paper published by the Coalition government aims to show how government can respond to the diverse needs of pupils and parents, ensuring access to an educational setting of choice – whether it is a mainstream school, academy or special school.
The strong emphasis on empowerment and choice will be welcomed in many quarters. But it also raises significant dilemmas, most notably how to prevent a system of free choice from aggravating historically ingrained inequalities of outcome and opportunity for children with disabilities and SEN. This book lays bare such tensions and explores how policy can advance the cause of all children as the cornerstone of a fairer, more equal society.
Patrick Diamond, Senior Research Fellow, Policy Network and Former Group Director for Strategy at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, October 2010This book raises several fundamentally important issues and questions, not only in relation to disability, but also, importantly, in relation to the conceptual and practical concerns over inclusive values, ideas and practices. It is essential reading for all those who are concerned with the pursuit of effective change, which raises questions about the nature and purpose of education and the removal of all barriers to participation for all learners.
Given the global and national economic and political context, the question of disability needs to be understood in a broader context of inequalities, exclusions and discrimination. Thus, the struggle for a political economy of disability, in which the question and demands of human rights, social justice and entitlements under law have become increasingly urgent and necessary.
One of the disturbing aspects of the contemporary position with regard to policy and its implementation is the extent of the differences that are increasingly obvious between commendable rhetoric and actual reality. The extent of the struggle required for effective change to be established and maintained leaves no room for complacency.
Len Barton, Executive Director of IDRIS, Emeritus Professor of Inclusive Education,University of London October 2010- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2011