While many books explore the possibilities for developing inclusive practices in schools, and ‘inclusion’ is widely regarded as a desirable goal, much of the literature on the subject has been narrowly concerned with the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. This book however, takes the view that marginalisation, exclusion and underachievement take many forms and affect many different kinds of child. As such, a definition of inclusion should also touch upon issues of equity, participation, community, entitlement, compassion, respect for diversity and sustainability. Here the highly regarded authors focus on: barriers to participation and learning experienced by pupils the practices that can overcome these barriers the extent to which such practices facilitate improved learning outcomes how such practices can be encouraged and sustained within schools and LEAs. The book is part of the Improving Learning series, published in partnership with the Teaching and Learning Research Project.
Despite consistent improvements in the school systems of over recent years, there are still too many children who miss out. It is not only children from disadvantaged backgrounds attending hard-pressed urban schools that the system is failing - even in the most successful schools there are often groups of learners whose experience of schooling is less than equitable. As a result of their close involvement with a group of schools serving a predominantly working-class community over five years, the authors of this book offer an analysis of how marginalisation within schools can arise, and provide suggestions for responding to this crucial policy agenda. They propose a teacher-led inquiry strategy that has proved to be effective in moving forward thinking and practice within individual schools. However, their research has shown that using the same strategy for system change is problematic within a policy context that emphasises competition and choice. Learning from this experience, the authors analyse the factors that inhibit the collaborative approach needed to reduce inequities that exist between the schools, in order to formulate proposals that can move the system as a whole towards more equitable provision. In Developing Equitable Education Systems, the authors focus on the way teachers’ sense of ‘fairness’ can become a powerful starting point, helping individual schools to inquire into and develop their own practice and provision. They provide practical suggestions for practitioners about ways of working that can create a greater sense of equity within particular school contexts, and highlight the barriers to a wider strategy for reducing system inequities that reside in local and national policies and traditions. At a time when government policies in many countries move to extend the diversity of educational provision - for example, through the introduction of charter schools in the USA, free schools in Sweden and academies in England - the authors also include a set of recommendations that offer a timely warning against the fragmentation of school systems in the misguided belief that competition benefits all children. They suggest that a more sensible approach would be to avoid situations whereby the improvement of one school leads to a decline in the resources available to, and subsequently the performance of, others.
In England, as in countries across the world, shrinking public funding, growing localism, and increased school autonomy make tackling the link between education, disadvantage and place more important than ever. Challenging current thinking, this important book is the first to focus on the role of area-based initiatives in this struggle. It brings together a wide range of evidence to review the effectiveness of past initiatives, identify promising recent developments, and outline innovative ways forward for the future. It shows how local policymakers and practitioners can actively respond to the complexities of place and is aimed at all those actively seeking to tackle disadvantage, including policymakers, practitioners, academics and students, across education and the social sciences.
Shortlisted for the Standing Conference on Studies in Education (SCSE) book awards for 2001 In Schools and Special Needs, the authors provide a critical perspective on the dominant `inclusion′ model of special needs education, in terms of implementation in schools and effectiveness of pupil learning outcomes. They take issue with the major advocates of the inclusion model and argue that a different way of understanding special educational needs in mainstream schools is both possible and necessary. The authors, who are eminent in the special needs field, use up-to-date material to develop a new model for special- education in schools.
This book, for the first time ever, critically examines the role of full service and extended schools. The authors draw on their extensive international evaluations of this radical new phenomenon to ask: What do extended or full service schools hope to achieve, and why should services based on schools be any more effective than services operating from other community bases? What pattern of services and activities is most effective? What does extended schooling mean for children and families who are not highly disadvantaged, or for schools outside the most disadvantaged areas? How can schools lead extended services at the same time as doing their ‘day job’ of teaching children? Why should schools be concerned with family and community issues? Beyond the advocacy of ‘extended provision’, what real evidence is there that schools of this kind make a difference, and how can school leaders evaluate the impact of their work? This book will be of interest to anyone involved in extended and full service school provision, as a practitioner, policy-maker, or researcher.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.