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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The main aim of this research is to offer a sociological analysis of Taiwanese headteachers’ views of the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. Taiwan is a country which combines Confucian and westernised traditions, and these are reflected in its education systems, including SEN provision. To date, there is little research on headteachers’ views of inclusion and most studies involve attitudinal surveys. By way of contrast, this qualitative research, which adopts a neo-marxist theoretical perspective, is based on twenty five in-depth interviews with school headteachers, who are regarded as having high social status in Taiwan. In addition, the research presents two case studies of schools implementing inclusive practices, based on interviews with headteachers, analysis of the school websites and media reports. Critical discourse analysis is used to analyse the twenty five interview texts and the case studies. Three major discourses of inclusion are identified: the managerialist discourse, the critical discourse and the school as social microcosm discourse. The extent to which headteachers employ these discourses appears to be influenced by various personal and social factors. Headteachers’ understanding of disabled students is the key personal factor influencing their views on inclusion. Further, their unfavourable attitudes towards the inclusion of disabled students may be influenced by the views of parents with non-disabled children, competitive credentialism and the government’s stance. With regard to the inclusion of gifted students, the discourses employed are he following: the school as social microcosm discourse, the privileged class discourse and the dilemmatic discourse. The first two discourses are articulated by headteachers holding favourable attitudes towards the inclusion of gifted students whilst the third discourse is articulated by those holding uncertain attitudes. Headteachers’ understanding of gifted students is the key personal factor influencing their views on inclusion. Competitive credentialism has a major influence on attitudes towards the inclusion of disabled students as well as gifted students. With regard to the two case studies of schools exemplifying inclusive practices, it is argued that the wider applicability of their approaches is questionable. Overall, the results highlight the Taiwanese government’s unclear stance on promoting inclusion. This research has also suggested that a clear operational definition of inclusion is necessary and urgent before the comprehensive implementation of inclusion in wider educational arenas.

This study about preschool education and care in four preschools, in Uganda, used a mixed-methods approach and a multiple-case study design. It investigated the preschools’ qualities, the resources available, the organisation, characteristics in regard to children with special educational needs and the preschools’ strengths, challenges and improvement needs. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory and the PPCT-model was used as theoretical framework in this study. The study was conducted at four preschools in Uganda, one in a high-income area, one in a low-income area, one in a special needs centre and one in a refugee camp. Data collection was conducted during 3-5 days at each preschool and included structured observations using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale®, Third Edition, open observations and interviews. The result depicted substantial differences among the preschools in all aspects investigated. The interviewed teacher in the high-income area considered they had the resources they needed, whilst the interviewed teachers in the refugee camp considered the limited resources being a challenge with 150 children in one class and no access to water during the time of observation. The education had an emphasis on teacher directed education in all preschools, where the teacher led the activities and chose the content. There was an uncertainty among the teachers about which child they should deem in need of special educational support. The support provided in the preschools varied, depending on the need the teachers perceived the children to have and the resources available. The overall quality in the preschool in the high-income area was found to be reasonably good in the ECERS-3 rating (score 4.40), but the rest of the preschools scored below minimum quality. Challenges to the preschools were limited resources, methods of caregiving and discipline, and educational practices based on teacher directed education.

Este trabalho consiste no estudo de propostas de atividades didáticas para alunos com necessidades educacionais especiais, particularmente daquelas que são recomendadas para as salas de aula das escolas públicas estaduais de São Paulo. Teve por objetivos, construir ou adaptar, conforme o caso, aplicar e analisar uma sequência didática, para promover uma aprendizagem adequada a dois alunos com necessidades educacionais especiais, inseridos em uma sala de aula comum, sendo ambos classificados como portadores de paralisia cerebral. Caracterizaremos algumas deficiências que aparecem em escolas comuns ou regulares. Baseando-nos na Proposta Curricular do Estado de São Paulo e também nas Diretrizes Curriculares da Prefeitura de Campinas, como produto deste trabalho, propusemos dois planos de ensino a serem aplicados no sexto e oitavo anos do ensino fundamental e estudamos quais deveriam ser as adaptações desses planos, para adequá-los a esses alunos, sendo um do oitavo e outro do sexto ano do ensino fundamental. Ambas as sequências didáticas foram aplicadas e analisadas, donde concluímos que foram adequadas à aprendizagem de todos os alunos presentes em classe. Porém, também constatamos que as deficiências que aparecem nas escolas, mesmo tendo a mesma classificação, não podem ser tratadas com igualdade, no sentido de que os planos de ensino devem ser adaptados para as necessidades específicas de cada aluno / This research studies proposals of didactic activities to students with special educational needs, particularly those recommended to public schools in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. We characterize some technical deficiencies which arise in regular schools, and specifically some of our case study. Our main aim was to propose, apply, and analyze a didactical sequence, in order to promote significant learning to students with special needs, inserted in regular classroom, both classified as cerebral palsy. Based on the Curricular Proposals of the State of São Paulo, and also in the curricular directions of the city of Campinas, as a production of this study, we have proposed two teaching plans to be applied to the sixth and eighth grades of basic school. We have studied which adaptations should be done in such plans to fit them to those students. We have applied both the didactical sequences, and concluded that they were appropriate to the learning of all students present in class. However, we also have seen that deficiencies that appear in regular schools, even when they have same classification, should not be treated as equals, in the sense that the educational plans need to be adapted to each student´s specific needs

This research focuses on Special Needs Education (SNE) in Kenyan Public Primary Schools: Exploring Government Policy and Teachers’ understandings. At a time when Kenya is introducing reforms with a view to addressing broad national objectives and providing universal primary education (UPE) after the massive enrolment increases arising from the free primary education declaration (FPE), it was important to establish teachers’ understandings on SEN. The study was undertaken in 27 primary schools in urban, municipal and rural parts of Kenya. A phenomenological qualitative approach was mainly used and data were collected from teachers through a survey comprising: (i) 159 self-administered questionnaires ii) Nine in-depth interviews. From the results of a pilot study, necessary adaptations were made for the main study. The data provided insights to teachers’ teaching strategies, impacts of mainstreaming, factors that prevent the participation of children said to have SEN, challenges in meeting the diverse needs in the classroom and the support they may require in providing more engaging and effective learning instructions. The findings show that many teachers lack a repertoire of learning and teaching strategies appropriate for addressing barriers to learning and providing individualized approaches in the classrooms. Some teachers were positive about teaching children said to have SEN but lacked the infrastructure of support and guidance, were confused by different terminologies and found the concept of SEN not to be enabling. What teachers are calling for is more training to help them develop strategies which are responsive to the identified learning difficulties. Through Documentary Analysis of the Kenya National Special Needs Education (SNE) Policy Framework, Ministry of Education (MoE, 2009), it was identified that the policy is difficult and ambiguous for teachers to implement. The policy fails to include salient definitions to facilitate a common way of addressing children said to have SEN which results in them being labelled. The recommendations of the research indicate that children’s unique needs be made transparent and addressed using effective individualized education plans to influence and maintain high expectations, positive and enriched ways of teaching in order to improve the children’s learning opportunities as well as other extracurricular activities. The national policy should be revised to include feasible targets in order to facilitate on-going evaluation and embed definitions of key words which are pivotal to planning, assessment, identification, provision and placement of children said to have SEN. Suggestions for further research have also been included.