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The project described in this thesis explores teachers' emotional involvement with their day-to-day work in "special" schools. To understand their emotional involvement, the research examines the discursive practices that define and regulate emotionalality across three groups of teachers in "special" education. The analysis of their emotional involvement moreover, gives cause to consider the contribution emotional discourses make to the construction of a teachers' identity in "special" schools. This thesis considers the researcher's subjective experience as a starting point and is inspired by the postmodem turn that redirects the use of qualitative methods into finding new forms of representation, partial and always incomplete understandings of those complex experiences. Through the review of literature, a detailed account of the constitution of emotional discourses in education is presented and different views of, and approaches to emotion are explained genealogically, recognising the different shifts taken in the move to establish contemporary discourses around emotion. A combination of different research methods are put to work in three special schools: emotional diaries, participant observations, individual interviews, focus group interviews, micro ethnography and fiction narrative/writing. The decision to draw on such a range of methods was intended to provoke a variety of stories that illustrate the different twists and turns of teachers' emotional discourses as they emerge in different contexts within the field of "special" education. This research concludes with the idea that teachers' emotional involvement with their work in "special" education has a considerable influence on the construction and performance of their emerging identities, whereby emotions are perceived as a constitutive force of identity and subjectivity. For that reason, this study reaches the conclusion that the emotional subjectification of these educators can be understood through the emotional discourses that circulate in "special" educational spaces, taking into account how these spaces support the articulation of educators' emotional performances. Therefore the main contribution of this research is to provoke discussions about teachers' emotional involvement with their work within the field of "special" education, presenting an innovative theoretical and methodological framework.

Introduction: LD-dyslexic children experience more social isolation, social exclusion, loneliness less access to social goods -i. e. in education, employment, welfare, etc. (Bryan & Bryan, 1990). Students with learning disorders view themselves as more lonely and report lower levels of the sense of coherence than the average achieving pupils. (Wiener, 1998). Their reading and other learning problems are likely to continue into adulthood, with destructive effects on their feelings of self worth, personal relationships and job opportunities. Last but not least, learning disabilities have been associated with juvenile delinquency. A variety of theories concerning this purported causal relationship have been proposed. Although the assumption that learning disability plays a primary role in a delinquent outcome, remains open to question. Aim: This study examined whether: 1) There is a significant correlation between the socio-psycho-educational- environmental problems and learning disabilities. 2) They can be differentiated from their normal controls on the basis of their psycho-socio-educational profile. Material: The parents of normal controls participating in the study were individually given a questionnaire to complete about their children's reactions and social behaviour. The dyslexic children's parents had already filled in an extended questionnaire that was especially developed by Professor G. Pavlidis for students with Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia. Subiects: Two hundred and twenty seven (227 - 122 boys and 104 girls) children and their parents, took part in this research. The children attended grades 3 through 6. The sample consisted of a hundred and thirty six (136) normal controls -57 boys and 78 girls, and ninety one (91) dyslexics and learning disabled children -65 boys and 26 girls-drawn from the Dyslexia and I. Q. Center, where they were diagnosed by Prof. Pavlidis. The controls were indentified according to their parents answers who had filled in the Pavlidis Questionnaire that was mentioned above. (LD children had similar characteristics as the dyslexics, however they did not fulfil all the criteria to be classified as dyslexics. For instance, for a child to be diagnosed as dyslexic it is necessary to fall significantly behind in reading. Our LD child had similar problems with dyslexic and ADHD in their written expression etc but their reading was not as bad). The subjects' selection as well as their testing took place according to standard ethics and after the necessary permissions were received and the appropriate informed consents were filled out. Results: The LD-dyslexic children's psycho-socio-educational characteristics were found to be significantly different worse than those of the normal controls of the same age. In fact, the two groups different so much that on the basis of their psycho-socio-educational profile the Discriminant Analysis (DA) successfully classified the two groups with accuracy of 94,6%. The LD-dyslexic group was correctly identified with 97,6% while the normal controls were classified with 93,7% accuracy. Conclusions: The very high discrimination accuracy between the two groups raises the possibility to use the Pavlidis Questionnaire as a quick, easy to administer, inexpensive and highly accurate screening tool for children with suspected LD-dyslexia. This potential will be of particular importance to countries like Greece, where only few and very limited possibilities exist within the educational system for the diagnosis of the LD-dyslexic children. However, one has to be cautions to the strong possibility not to be able to discriminate between specific LD-dyslexics and children with general learning retardation, whichQ may have very different etiology, e.g. due to low IQ.

A systematic literature review was conducted to report on outcomes for young people identified as showing social emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). The review focused on studies conducted in the United Kingdom due to variation in international definitions of SEBD. Complexities surrounding the terms associated with SEBD are highlighted. Qualitative and quantitative papers included in this review were located through systematic searches of electronic databases and grey literature. I used an integrative synthesis method (Dixon-Woods et al, 2005) to amalgamate data from the papers included in the review into a textual narrative synthesis. A number of recurring themes were identified. Themes suggest relatively poor outcomes for these young people in terms of education, employment and crime. A salient theme was poor transitions from education to adult life and the need for further support during this time. Implications for research and limitations of the review are discussed.

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It has long been acknowledged that the main problem associated with deaf education is one of language. To remedy this issue, education polices and methods have focused on the children's inability to communicate effectively in the majority language and have imposed strict regimes within schools aimed at enabling deaf children to talk. This thesis offers a critical examination of such methods and also of the relevant discourses influencing deaf children within education. This thesis argues that the problems associated with deaf children’s experience within education starts, not at their point of entry into formal education, but at birth. My research highlights the fact that deafness is not primarily the deprivation of sound; it is the deprivation of a functional language. The arbitrary imposition of particular language policies within schools be it sign or spoken languages do not really address the underlying issues. This thesis is primarily a critique of the relevant discourses which are complemented by the experiences of the deaf children highlighted in my sample. This thesis show that without the consideration of deaf children’s views and experiences the problems inherent within deaf education will not be addressed adequately

This study investigates Sign Bilingual Education experimental projects introduced by Non Governmental Organizations for deaf children in their early childhood in six sites in five cities in Mainland China from 1996 to 2004. It focuses on the ways in which those involved – above all those in the NGOs – discussed and debated the principles and issues on the one hand and the practices and intended outcomes on the other. Three guiding research questions were formulated after the study of existing related literature: 1) What were the perspectives and claims of the advocators and the opponents of Chinese Sign Bilingual Education (SBE)? 2) What was the reality of the models of SBE seen through the eyes of those responsible? 3) What were the characteristics of the models? Ethnographic methods were used in all six experimental sites including interviews, classrooms observations, and archive studies, during a period from autumn 2003 to summer 2008. Data were analysed using a continuous question and comparison method to establish themes and issues which were common to the many participants and different experiments and sites in this China Case. The findings are presented in a taxonomy format on the basis of what the Sign Bilingual Education insiders perceived and presented. This taxonomy covers 1) the aims, the perspectives, the claims and the common propositions of Chinese Sign Bilingual Education organizers; 2) the characteristics of Chinese Sign Bilingual Education models; 3) the common claims of successful outcomes of the Sign Bilingual Education models; 4) the two types of Sign Bilingual Education models: Two-plus-two model for rural area and Two-plus-four model for urban area. The data suggest Sign Bilingual Education models in mainland China in the period under consideration, are rights-oriented models, developmental models, and tools for the reform of deaf education. A ‘Two-plus-four model’ has been developed which is referred to as a strong bilingual/ weak bicultural Sign Bilingual Education model.

This Thesis is a case study of Luton Local Authority (LA) and its approach to delivering special educational needs (SEN) support services to Luton schools. The study concentrates on the delivery of behaviour support to schools and pupils and explores how pupils with social emotional and behavioural difficulties may be included or excluded from school as a result of this support. The case study incorporates a multi-method research strategy, which sought to gain an LA perspective of service delivery by involving all Luton's special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) in a questionnaire about behaviour support service delivery to their schools. The case study approach also involved using semi-structured interviews with thirteen Luton SENCOs. In Luton the delivery mechanism for SEN support services is through termly meetings with schools. These school consultation meetings (SCMs) are the strategy used by the LA to deliver support services. The study involved observing eight SCMs so that first hand knowledge of the delivery process could be investigated. The data collected is presented in three layers. Layer one Presents the questionnaire data, layer two presents the inter-view data and layer three presents the observation data. All three data sets are presented under the key research questions. The three key research questions are: 1) How do schools use School Consultation Meetings to access Behaviour Support? 2) Who from the LA carries out the Behaviour Support work with the Schools? 3) Why have SEN support services, which focus on pupil deficits instead of pupil strengths? The case study found that the concept of SEN is a contentious and complex issue, which is subject to redefinition over time. The English education system is viewed as being segregationist and the concept of inclusion is found to apply to different pupils along class, ethnic and gender dimensions.

Set within an interpretive paradigm and influenced by the work of Ball (1990, 1994 & 2008), this study aims to critically examine how national “special educational needs” and “inclusion” policies in the United Kingdom are understood and translated from policy into practice, for a range of pre-school providers across one local authority. The research seeks to explore some of the benefits, challenges and key tensions surrounding “pre-school inclusion”; investigating current and potential training needs for practitioners working within pre-school settings. Research into this area is timely, due to increasing national and local policy commitments towards improving the quality of early years provision for children and families; aiming to provide more professional development opportunities for early years practitioners, and facilitating the inclusion of a greater number of children into mainstream early educational and childcare settings. Though several studies have examined inclusion of statutory school-aged children of five years and over, very little research appears to have been undertaken into pre-school inclusion with three and four year-olds. Studies at the pre-school phase have all identified a need for further research. Employing a case study approach, this research looks particularly at national and local policy surrounding early years training and pre-school inclusion for 3 and 4 year old children who have been identified as having special educational needs at 'Early Years Action Plus' (Code of Practice, DFES, 2001). The study examines parental experiences and views of childcare provision for their children with SEN. It then surveys the current and potential training needs of a range of pre-school and childcare providers, across a county with contrasting socio-economic features. The research reveals some of the complexities and dilemmas encountered when trying to achieve “effective” inclusion, leading to the construction and presentation of a research model to illustrate key findings; the reality being that there is much more to including a child with SEN than having “a coat peg with his name on it”.