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EDU020L013S
The issue of inclusion within the world of education is one that continues to be
at the centre of many debates into how children and young people with a
diverse range of needs can best have their educational needs met. There
have been many milestones over the past half a century in the ongoing quest
to define policy and ensure that it is transferred into practice. It has been
argued that guidance from government in the United Kingdom has been
practice and pressures (Macbeath et al, 2006). Policy has been shaped and
revisited to try to support inclusion and the aims set out and agreed on an
writing, political change, in terms of the first coalition government to come into
power in over half a century may well complicate the matter further, due to the
pledge within the programme for government to“remove the bias towards
inclusion” (Cameron & Clegg, 2010:29). In order to explore the issue fully, the
assignment will first seek to unpick the definition of inclusion before focussing
compare this with the more recent experience of a position within a local
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be used to widen the area for discussion and to bring an added perspective to
the study.
The author entered into work within education in 2002, undertaking a fairly
new role that was first introduced in 1999 by the Labour governments
specifically tailored to meet the challenges faced by inner city schools. Within
the EIC strategy, the role of the learning mentor was to work with pupils to
attainment and reduce exclusion. This was further developed within the
focus on working with identified secondary schools and their main feeder
primaries. The nature and requirements of the role brought the author into
this role, the author was initially seconded, and then employed, by the local
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pupils as they transferred from primary to secondary school. After leading the
work of the transition learning mentors for three years, the author was
colleagues were almost unanimous in their concerns that they face enormous
challenges to convert the ideals of inclusion, particularly for pupils with SEBD,
into day to day practice. It has therefore been possible to look at the issue of
policy and practice in the area being explored both from an in school and local
education and that this can add to the ambiguity that appears to exist in this
called for the government to work harder to define exactly what it means when
members of the group and values them for the contribution that they
make”
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level by those who have been successful for a long time. The newcomers,
coaching to access the game at all, are likely to struggle to master all aspects
of the game, thereby leading to frustration and failure affecting all players,
both established and new. Therefore, the challenge should be for those in
charge to create a new and exciting game that involves all players
outcome. Ainscow et al (2006) also allude to this ideal by suggesting the need
values, to address the notion that there must be a tension between the
It is also useful, at this point, to make the distinction between inclusion and
communities to ensure that all members are equally valued and this, by
diverse range of needs. Integration, by its own definition, implies that the
pupil will be expected to ‘fit in’ with existing structures. UK policy has moved
through the practice of integration referred to by Warnock (1978) and into the
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There have been various key policies that refer to inclusion over the past few
decades in the United Kingdom following the Warnock report (1978) that is
widely recognised as putting the issue on the national agenda. There followed
a world stage via the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
(UNCRC, 1989) and then referred to once again within the United Nations
for all children. The Statement takes the human rights approach, viewing
inclusion that followed the Salamanca agreement include the Education Act of
1996, the Green Papers of 1997 and 2003, the SEN and Disability Act 2001
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a tension between policy and practice and would be a useful starting point
Perhaps the most striking argument that appears, in the first instance, to
question inclusive policy and practice, is that provided by the person who is
widely believed to have been a major player in promoting it, some 32 years
“possibly the most disastrous legacy of the 1978 report, the concept of
Warnock, 2005
Although Warnock’s ‘new look’ has been criticised as lacking substance upon
which to make such statements and has also been described as arrogant and
(2002) suggests that arguments against inclusion usually centre around the
detail and level of inclusive practice and the perceived difficulties that full
educationalists against inclusion per se but the sense of what is ideal against
what can be achieved is often the centre of the debate. Following concerns
raised by members about issues relating to inclusion and SEN, the National
regarding the inclusion of pupils with SEBD. The author has experienced
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tension at local authority level, with a sense of pressure to ensure that a group
school. Within the group, a number of pupils had previously been excluded
from primary school and were educated in the special provision for pupils with
SEBD whilst others had a difficult final year at primary school with prolonged
periods of time placed in the Primary Pupil Referral Unit. Whilst clear that the
consensus from colleagues within the local authority supported the aim of
educating the pupils within the mainstream setting, the challenge faced by
school staff to be able to meet their needs was clearly felt, both by the
inclusion. This can be particularly true in relation to pupils with SEBD and, for
a variety of reasons, the majority of the pupils mentioned were due to attend
‘ratings’. Whilst supporters of full inclusion, such as the Centre for Inclusive
needs of some young people with SEBD and the latter do not feel
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The very issue of identifying pupils and placing them into a ‘group’ is, in itself,
statement of SEN are classified by. Pupils are therefore ‘labelled’ according
to their needs and this can be interpreted as a form of deficit model, with
that the aim of inclusive education is to ensure that all learners are valued
raised, however, as to how a school can ensure that individual needs are met
if these needs are not identified and recognised. Norwich (2008) refers to the
treated the same with a focus on what they have in common, at the risk of not
choice and the market forces in operation within education in the UK today
(2000, cited in Frederickson and Cline, 2002:22) refers to the issue of pupils
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environment that schools appear to operate within. The tension between the
2002).
dilemmas arise even before the issue of day to day classroom practice is
undertaken in 2005, stated that as part of the wider impact of BIP, inclusive
initiatives such as EIC and BIP have been criticised as approaches that
practice due to a number of factors including a lack of high quality training and
working with pupils with a high level of need and, once again, tensions can
use their experience and knowledge as the basis for actions and to analyse
such actions with a critical mindset to inform future practice. Schon (1983)
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describes the key skills of the practitioner who is able to think ‘on their feet’
young people with SEBD, the author would argue that this is an essential skill
to develop. The very nature of SEBD can make the actual behaviours that are
displayed highly unpredictable and, in many cases, dangerous for the pupil,
his / her peers and for staff members and the way in which the practitioner
impact upon the outcomes for the young person involved. Reflection in action
and refer to knowledge gained in order to manage the issue with a view to
practical review of how a situation was handled and the outcomes that
resulted. It is also clear that working closely with, in some cases, young
his / her own feelings in relation to supporting the pupil to promote well being
practitioner is one who understands the heart of their practice and this is not
something that can be achieved without taking the time and space to explore
experiences (Pollard et al, 2008). The author would argue that in an area of
practice to develop. However, the issue of policy and practice raises its head
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again here as it is questionable as to how the time for this level of personal
world of education that appears to look at all forms of strategies for evidence
of impact, there is a risk that reflective practice could be described as soft and
and how this has underpinned development in the UK, it is useful to look at
how another country has taken up the challenge of moving in this direction.
One of the criticisms previously highlighted was that progress in this area is
change of government was also raised. So how is a country that has had
occupation by the Soviet Union during World War II. Post-1990, a shift from
the well established policy of segregation for pupils with disabilities and SEN
led to a ten year plan declaring a commitment to focus on turning the ideals of
adapt their systems and programmes to meet the needs of all pupils and to
provide additional support for those with SEN. What is most interesting about
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along with Estonia, has the highest percentage of pupils in the compulsory
Interestingly, when looking at the data relating to the percentage of pupils with
SEN being educated in segregated settings, England and Lithuania fall into
the same group, between 1.01% - 2.0%, whilst Ireland and Spain are in the
inclusion and not a direct comparison. Clearly, the number of pupils that
these figures refer to vary immensely from one country to another and no
exist elsewhere. It is, however, interesting to note that despite the move from
concept in Lithuania, there has been a very clear and steady rise in the
number of pupils with SEN being educated in the mainstream, with varying
In conclusion, the author would concur with the arguments presented in the
text that there is a tension between policy and practice in the area of inclusive
all areas – from the fundamental issue of what inclusion actually means, to
the identification and ‘labelling’ of pupils with SEN, the arguments for and
of the issues of market forces, the standards agenda and parental choice.
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The importance of reflection within the context of the quest to transfer policy
into practice was explored. The international perspective of the issue has
been explored through the policies and agreements that have underpinned
policy and practice in the UK, and then developed further by way of an
completely different light on the issue and is highly likely to add further fuel to
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References
Ainscow, M., Booth, T. and Dyson, A. (2006) Inclusion and the Standards
Institute of Education
London Sage
DfEE (1997) Excellence for All Children: Meeting Special Educational Needs
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Dyson, A. (2001) Special Needs in the twenty- first century: where we’ve
Hallam, S., Castle, F., Rogers, L. with Creech, A., Rhamie, J. and Kokotsaki,
HMSO
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MacBeath, J., Galton, M., Steward, S., Macbeath, A. and Page, C. (2006)
50:4, 482-502
OFSTED Publications
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Pollard, A., Collins, J., Maddock, M., Simco, N., Swaffield, S., Warin, J. and
Regan, P. (2008) Reflective Practice: how far, how deep? Reflective Practice
9:2, 219-229
Jossey-Bass
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=26
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