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This thesis examines the contribution of local authorities in England to the development of educational inclusion for children with special educational needs (SEN). The literature review traces the development of the concept of inclusion over the last three decades and assesses the status of national government policy. It examines the assertion that progress toward greater inclusion must typically be 'school-led', through an analysis of the literature on school effectiveness and improvement and the suggested linkages with the development of inclusive practice. It then considers the evidence of local authority influence. Following an overview of methodological issues, it describes a multi-method research study, comprising three elements. The first two involved a formal re-analysis of data obtained by the author as part of a national survey of SEN support services in English LEAs commissioned by the DfEE and NASEN (Gray 2001). Quantitative data from the national questionnaire were used as an indicator of the priority given by a range of stakeholders (officers, support services, parent and schools) to the role of support services in promoting greater inclusion. Ratings given by each Authority were compared to national statistics on the percentage of pupils in special schools for a similar period (1997-2001). This comparison was supplemented by a qualitative analysis of field notes taken during visits to three local authorities, as part of the earlier survey. The analysis of this secondary data was supplemented by an in-depth single case-study of an urban Authority where there had been a significant decrease in the percentage of pupils educated in special schools, which had been sustained over time. The findings from the different elements are used to help understand the degree and nature of local authority influence and a conceptual model is proposed, building on earlier work by Ainscow et al (2003) and Croll & Moses (2000). Broader policy factors are proposed, which are consistent with the model but which may limit the direct application of the case-study findings to other local authorities in the current and future context.

This study is concerned with those pupils registered as having 'special educational needs' within mainstream schools and also those who attend special schools of non normative designations and seeks to explain the over - representation of white working class boys amongst such populations. The processes of identification and subsequent allocation to non normative special categories are argued to be both class and gender biased and to represent the placement of pupils so identified along a continuum of exclusion, being an indication of their failure in conventional terms. An approach is developed which attempts to make the link between such failure and wider social and educational processes, viewing schooling as a form of cultural politics and seeing such politics as being intimately linked to wider structural relations. To this end the work of Pierre Bourdieu is employed. The aim of the research is to test and also to develop Bourdieu's theories of social and cultural reproduction and particularly his concept of habitus and its gendered embodied nature, as a means of illuminating the processes involved in the generation of these differential outcomes. The study takes the form of qualitative in-depth semi structured interviews with teachers from eight schools, five special and three mainstream, in order to generate detailed contextualised knowledge of the processes by which pupils may have been identified as having special educational needs within mainstream schools and then possibly allocated to special schools and of the assumptions perceptions and understandings of those teachers in special schools at the 'receiving end' of these processes. The resultant data is analysed using a conceptual framework provided by Bourdieu's theories. The study is placed within the context of the recent history I politics of special educational practices through a consideration of legislative and other developments of the past twenty years or so which are argued to have led to an increase in exclusionary pressures despite the rhetori~al emphases throughout most of this time firstly on Integration and latterly on inclusion.

I vårt examensarbete har vi valt att undersöka hur lärare i idrott och hälsa arbetar för att inkludera elever med funktionsnedsättning. Teoretiska studier och kvalitativa intervjuer av lärare i idrott och hälsa, är det vi använt oss av för att undersöka hur lärare arbetar med elever i behov av särskilt stöd. Vi har lyft begreppen inkludering och funktionsnedsättning för att lyfta fram en definition, som arbetet sedan har utgått ifrån. Vi har valt att belysa specialpedagogik, idrottslärarens kompetens, bemötande, skolans anda, organisation, miljön och materialets inverkan på lärarens möjligheter att inkludera elever med funktionsnedsättning. Vi redovisar resultatet av intervjuerna och gör sen en analys utifrån resultatet och ställer detta mot litteraturen. I slutet av arbetet förs en slutdiskussion där vi lyfter en del tankar om det vi har kommit fram till, bland annat angående inkluderingsbegreppets betydelse samt hur idrottslärarens kompetens för att möta elever i behov av särskilt stöd påverkar graden av inkludering av dessa elever.

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Integration of children with special needs into schools of general education is characterized in literature as a process of alteration, motivating a modern look towards entire upbringing process: a student, an educator, means of upbringing and its content. Integration is realized as a natural and irreversible phenomenon in democratic society. Although integrated education obtains different views and assessments. Integration is usually understood as a formal replacement of children with special needs from one office into another without giving them any qualified help. To find out the influence of integration conditions there were performed various surveys in Lithuania. The aim was to find out the attitude of society, classmates, parents and teachers to children having disabilities and their integration. The attitude on various aspects was examined by Ambrukaitis, Gudonis, Ruškus, Kaffemanienė, Ališauskas and others. Despite a lot of surveys, analyses and researches made, it is not still clear about the attitude of future teachers to children having disabilities. To find out their attitude a survey was prepared in Vilnius Pedagogical University in 2005-2006. Students of different specialities participated in the survey. Students who study pedagogics have no possibility to work with children with special needs during their practice. Some students have never communicated with the disabled. That is why it is very important to find out their opinion about the integration of... [to full text]

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Schools are one of the major services present in many rural communities in South Africa. Whole school development requires a broad set of participants, and a shared vision of what the school should be like in the future, looking at the whole system and not just the parts and the interaction between all parts. The shift in school development is from a deficiency-based model to a capacity building model. The research question is: What are the educational needs and assets of a primary school in a rural community in the Greater Sekhukhune District? The study is action research, a qualitative ethnographic study using a descriptive case study. Within the Emancipatory Action Research Model, the community action planning workshops were implemented for data collection using semi-structured interviews, silent observations and note-taking (all data were audiotaped). Data were analysed inductively which implied that data were transcribed, coded, categorised, and analysed. Findings reflect the educational needs and assets, and the community education programme. Twelve indicators of effective school-family-community partnership were identified and served as guidelines to develop the community education programme. A Logic Model of programme development was applied to design the identified school-family-community partnership programme. / Dissertation (M.Ed (Education for Community Building))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

As the mean age of the population continues to rise, increasing attention is being given to how and where the elderly will live. Since health of this age group varies considerably, living arrangements which offer a full spectrum of services and attend to a continuum of needs have arisen over the past few decades. Called Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), these places offer three levels of living: individual apartments, assisted living and the nursing center. Residents can move freely among these three levels as the need arises. While the educational needs of the elderly have been discussed theoretically and explored in a variety of practical contexts, no research to the author's knowledge has investigated the context of CCRCs and the population within. This study filled that gap in the literature. Framed by the seminal research of McClusky which identified five categories of educational needs of the elderly (coping, expressive, contributing, influencing and transcending), the purpose of this study was to investigate the educational needs of the residents as perceived by residents and to determine if selected demographic variables differentiated among responses; a corollary aim was to learn more about the residents' learning formats used, and current satisfaction as well as future interest in educational activities. Results of a questionnaire distributed to residents of two not-for-profit CCRCs in northern Virginia served as a data base, with a response rate of 68% for residents. The questionnaire, designed by the researcher, was validated through multiple iterations by content and process experts and piloted with a CCRC not in the study. Data were appropriately coded and analyzed using SPSS. Confidentiality of the respondents was maintained at all times. The results indicated that residents were highly educated, financially secure, and in good health. Ages range from 67 to 100 years old. Both current participation as well as future interest in educational activities was high, but only a few demographic variables seemed to differentiate responses. Educational activities dealing with coping and transcending needs seemed to take priority, involvement in self-directed learning activities was high, and when involved in programmatically organized and structured activities, the format of small groups preferred. These findings could be significant for any practical intervention implication. Implication for future research include inquiry into this growing special population; for example, the why and how of their self-directed learning projects. / Ed. D.

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