Martians in the playground: researching special educational needs

Abstract

This article offers a critique of what has become known as ‘inclusive education’ under the New Labour administration. The initial impetus for the article was a research project designed to ascertain the impact of the ‘presumption of mainstreaming’ contained in Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000. This stipulates that the needs of disabled children and others with ‘additional support needs’ should be met in mainstream schools. The authors reflect on the implications of this change in terminology, and examine the consequences of the attendant ‘disappearance of disability’. They also explore how ‘inclusion’ became a largely self‐referential concept that has generally failed to attract critical scrutiny. The authors argue that a highly politicised and ideologically‐charged ‘mission inclusion’ has had the unfortunate effect of tightening the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’. This, they argue, is demonstrated by the emergence of a significant new ‘‐ism’—disabilism—at a time when inclusion was already firmly embedded in New Labour policy.

Take me to the station

And put me on a train

I’ve got no expectation

To pass through here again.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 1968, from the album Beggars Banquet

Acknowledgements

We should like to thank Ernst Thoutenhoofd of the University of Edinburgh and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.

Notes

1. According to the legislation, a decision may be made to educate a child in a special school in the followings circumstances: when education in a school other than a special school would not be suited to the ability or the aptitude of the child; would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for the children with whom the child is being educated; or would result in unreasonable public expenditure.

2. http://inclusion.uwe.ac.uk/csie/indexlaunch.htm

3. These are available on http://www.drc.gb.org/law/codes.asp

4. As Wilson (2002) points out, ‘whether someone has a special need is not a matter of empirical fact: it calls rather for a judgement of value’ (p 64).

5. Further details can be found on the project’s website: http://orgs.man.ac.uk/projects/include/indexmain.htm