Since the passing of the Education Act (1989) special education policies and documents have promoted partnership as a key component of establishing relevant and inclusive school practices. Professionals and families have been encouraged to work together to resolve issues for children with disabilities. However, little information is available to families and professionals about how to negotiate and achieve authentic partnerships. This thesis makes an important contribution to current knowledge about partnerships by investigating how a group of people (a parent, teacher, paraprofessional and teacher/researcher) make sense of working together to support the inclusion of a student with ASD in his regular school. It is hoped that our descriptions of how we have worked together may help other professionals and families in similar situations. In saying this, the lessons we have learned are ours and are peculiar to the context in which we worked. In New Zealand partnership between professionals and families of children with disabilities is usually enacted through the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process. This study utilises an alternative partnership model, the Quality Learning Circle (QLC). The participants’ learning journeys are described and the experience of partnership for the participants is discussed. Data are drawn from a range of sources to identify those strategies that support, and barriers that hinder, the development of authentic partnerships. Findings identify those conditions that were essential for the partnership in this study to work effectively. Within this research I contrast the key dimensions of the IEP and QLC, showing the IEP process to be wanting. I suggest a partnership model that embraces a dual focus on both the student and those supporting him/her is a more effective tool for supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities. It is argued that there is a lack of recognition in current funding criteria for the difference an effective partnership can make in supporting the inclusion of students ii with severe behavioural challenges. Consideration needs to be given to the costs and issues of ineffective partnerships, with a particular focus on current Ministry of Education practices.

New Zealand education policies and documents (Ministry of Education, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011a, 2014a) situate students at the centre of assessment processes that are underpinned by the New Zealand Curriculum. They identify building student assessment capability as crucial to achieving improvement in learning. Documents recognize the impact of quality interactions and relationships on effective assessment. However these core beliefs about assessment are not observed to guide teaching practices for all students. Disabled students remain invisible in assessment data and practices within New Zealand secondary schools. There appears to be little or no assessment data about learning outcomes for this group of students. This thesis investigates possible ways to recognize the diversity of student capability and learning through the use of narrative assessment. It challenges the absence of disabled students in assessment landscapes as educator roles and responsibilities within assessment, teaching and learning are framed within an inclusive pedagogy. This research project focuses on how a team of adults and two students labeled as disabled make sense of assessment and learning within the context of narrative assessment in the students’ regular high school. The project examines the consequences of narrative assessment on student identity, wellbeing and participation within learning. The study offers opportunities to observe how specialists from outside of the school respond to the use of narrative as they work with the two student research participants. This study undertakes a critical inquiry that recognises the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi – partnership, protection and participation – as pivotal to inclusive practice where all students are valued as learners. It investigates how narrative assessment can honour these principles in everyday teaching practice. The project aims to inform education policy and practice, with a view to enriching learning outcomes and opportunities for disabled students who are frequently marginalized by inequitable assessment processes. It is argued that narrative assessment can support the construction of student identity and wellbeing. It can support the recognition of disabled students as partners in their learning. However the value of narrative assessment can be undermined by the responses of educators and other professionals who continue to work within deficit models of assessment, teaching and learning. Within this thesis adult participants from family and education contexts have clear ideas about the value and validity of assessment practices and processes that do not respect a presumption of competence or a need to establish a relationship with a student being assessed. Their views challenge everyday practices that fulfill assessment contracts, but ignore Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand Curriculum commitments. Their views can inform better ways of working between specialists and schools supporting disabled students.

This study explores the physical features in the urban setting that give rise to inequitable outcomes for people with disabilities (PWDs), in particular, those with mobility impairments. The objective is to identify the dynamic elements of local active mobility networks that act as barriers to PWDs. A review of the principles and metrics of contemporary urban and transportation planning theory and practice is undertaken. This is contrasted against studies that define the heterogeneous needs and preferences of the disabled population. From this, a new framework is introduced - social topography. This model visualizes the community as a network of opportunities embedded into the physical and socio-economic fabric of the community. It is used as a tool for assessing active mobility networks of three neighbourhoods centered on transportation hubs in southern British Columbia, Canada. The audits reveal that accessibility is a complex and dynamic concept that should inform urban and transportation planning policy and practice. The nuances of absolute and relative access challenges are revealed when the social topography framework is applied. In order to reduce the inequitable outcomes that exist, urban and transportation planning will need to reconsider the underlying principles implicitly and explicitly employed as well as the measures and tools deployed. In the end, individuals and communities will benefit from this more inclusive urban planning paradigm.

Syfte: Det centrala med studiens syfte är att analysera hur arbetet med barns inflytande vid val av temaarbete ser ut på en Reggio Emilia-inspirerad förskola. Studien kommer även att analysera barns syn på hur inflytande fördelas mellan de olika parterna under det tematiska arbetets gång. Frågeställningar: De frågeställningar studien utgår från är hur barn beskriver sin möjlighet till inflytande vid val av temaarbete på en Reggio Emilia-inspirerad förskola. Hur barn beskriver att alla involveras vid val av temaarbete på en Reggio Emilia-inspirerad förskola samt vad det uppkommer för utmaningar som förskollärare kan ställas inför när det gäller barns inflytande vid val av temaarbete på en Reggio Emilia-inspirerad förskola, utifrån vad barn säger. Metod: Metoden som används är kvalitativa intervjuer med förskolebarn och med hjälp av fokusgruppsintervjuer samlas data in till studien. Undersöknigen görs på en Reggio Emilia-inspirerad förskola i södra Sverige som vi har kommit i kontakt med under vår utbildning. Resultat: Studiens resultat visar att det finns intresse hos barnen att vara delaktiga vid val av temaarbete samt att ha inflytande i vardagsprocesser som rör detta temaarbete. Resultatet tyder även på att barnen inte är så delaktiga som de skulle önska samt att denna brist på inflytande vid valet av tema och dess genomförande inte beror på att barnen är ointresserade, utan snarare på grund av tidsbrist eller för stora barngrupper i verksamheten.

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In this study the overall aim is to find conditions for greater inclusion of pupils with SEN in X county by investigating teachers' attitudes and views on inclusion. What are the variables that may affect teachers' attitudes towards inclusion. The variables that will be studied include gender, workexperience, what age of students teachers work with and teachers' subjectknowledge. It is based on a system theory perspective with a pragmatic approach to explore how groups of activities involving or affecting each other. It is a quantitative study with a surveys selected as the method. Since I want to see how teachers might be influenced by their context and the variables above I use a system theory perspective. Before the questionnaire study was sent out to respondents, a little pilot study before was done.The overall results indicate that a majority of the teachers are positive towards inclusion, but when it comes to the will and desire to work inclusive they are more negative. The different variables affect teachers' attitudes to some extent, some affecting teachers in a positive direction and some in a negative direction.

People with disabilities have been marginalized and excluded from the mainstream of life, including leisure contexts (Datillo, 2002, Lord & Hutchinson, 1979, Schleien et al ., 1997). As a result, this causes major barriers to social inclusion (Bedini, 2000 ; Devine & Datillo, 2001; Devine, 2004). While inclusion may be appealing on theoretical and policy levels, it remains a confusing, complicated, and fragmented term (Shakir, 2005). The purpose of this study was to conduct a case study of an adventure therapy organization that delivers outdoor programs for people with disabilities . I specifically focused on an adaptive kayaking program offered to people with disabilities and interviewed or conducted focus groups with clients, staff, and volunteers (n=30) . I examined how they view the meanings and experiences of inclusion as well as the inclusion strategies employed by the organization. I also examined what contributes to the constraints to inclusion and ideas for improvement. The interviews were augmented by document analysis and participant observations. The meanings of inclusion that were voiced included : the integration of people with and without disabilities, treating people uniquely, participating in activities that able bodied people do, being with others like me, and inclusion is mutually understood. The clients' experiences with inclusion encompassed: enjoying friendships with others, experiencing barriers, benefiting from participating in the outdoors, and challenging oneself. The constraints that were evident were feeling belittled when receiving help, dealing with the limitations of disability, not including clients in decision making , over protectiveness from family, and liability in the outdoors. The strategies identified as fostering inclusion included: using the outdoors, the use of adaptations, encouraging clients to take responsibility, and convenient facilities. Promoting the adventure therapy program better, create additional choices for clients, and increasing opportunities for them to take responsibilities were identified as desired improvements. Exploring the various understandings of inclusion through the voices of people with disabilities within a recreation program is rare and contributes to the literature by identifying what the term means to them and how it can be implemented to increase the benefits derived. The implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are provided.

Increasing numbers of students with disabilities are being educated in mainstream schools in response to the international call for inclusive education. This study investigated the experiences of five students diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with challenging behaviours, and those who support them including parents, class and special education teachers, regarding inclusive education. At the time of the study, the five male students were all of upper primary school age, and attended state schools in Queensland, Australia. A multi-case study approach was adopted to better understand the nature of inclusion through engaging participants (students, class teacher, parents, and special education teachers) in "conversations" about their experiences of inclusion by means of semi-structured interviews. Students diagnosed ASD with challenging behaviours are testing the educational system as it attempts to meet their individual needs. This is due in part to the complexities associated with the disability of ASD and the many factors required in the delivery of effective inclusive practices. The findings of the research study reflected significant variance in the nature of inclusive schooling practices. Data collected from participants involved in a focus group interview and five case studies were used to describe the practices adopted in response to meeting the educational needs of individual students diagnosed ASD with challenging behaviours. There were five key findings that emerged from this study. Firstly, a range of practices was identified for each of the five children and these were posited along the continuum from inclusive to exclusive. Secondly, inclusive practices emerged from a number of interconnected processes including training, stakeholder collaboration, a school culture pursuing educational inclusion, and educator efficacy. Thirdly, educator efficacy appears to be the most crucial factor in the establishment of inclusive practices, without it exclusionary practices prevail. Fourthly, legislation and policy alone do not appear to result in the universal adoption of inclusive educational practices. Lastly, while all students had unique educational programming needs, this thesis found that there is a need for an appropriate model to be implemented to offer a foundation level of appropriate education interventions. Implications for educational policy and practice relevant to inclusive education were discussed.

Towards the end of the twentieth century academic debates in social policy have increasingly focused on social exclusion. Housing, especially housing tenure, has become of central concern to policymakers, planners and academics alike when contemplating mechanisms for the alleviation of social exclusion at the local level. In particular, the development of multi-tenure housing estates have been seen as strategy for tackling the detachment of local neighbourhoods from the mainstream by the current Labour Administration and its advisors (see Urban Task Force Report, 1999).The research, using both quantitative and qualitative methods, undertaken in this thesis predates the current enthusiasm for such developments and attempts to trace the evolution of the multi-tenure housing estate in the British housing system. It highlights both the potential possibilities and limitations of multi-tenure estates, and housing tenure, as a tool for aiding social inclusion. It finds that these estates marginally influence the social networks and behaviour of its residents, but fail to significantly alter the stigma attached to social housing. Therefore, indicating that the geographical proximity of different tenures does not necessarily lead to integration. It cautions against the belief that these estates will 'solve' the problem of social exclusion, but rather should be seen as one of many measures at the Government's disposal.

Celebrity endorsement is a multi-million dollar industry, with corporations spending large sums of money to hire sports celebrities to endorse their products and services. The existing literature shows that celebrity endorsers positively affect consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. Although much research effort has focused on various types of celebrities, little attention has been devoted to understanding the influence of Paralympian endorsement (PE) on consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. This research therefore aimed to investigate the characteristics of Paralympian endorsers that influence consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions, and to develop a theoretical framework relating the determinants of Paralympian endorsers to consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions in the UK. A theoretical framework was developed based on the integration of the theories of source attractiveness, source credibility and components of the theory of reasoned action. The proposed Paralympian Endorsement Framework (PEF) was examined in two phases, using a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design. During the first phase, an exploratory study was performed using 30 semi-structured interviews. The second phase used a quantitative survey involving 316 questionnaires. Consumers exhibited high levels of acceptance and positive attitudes towards Paralympians endorsing products and services. Attractiveness, expertise, familiarity, trustworthiness and respect were found to positively influence consumers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. Consumers also perceived corporations employing Paralympian endorsers as socially responsible, which further encouraged them to support and purchase from these companies. This is the first study using mixed methods to investigate consumers’ perceptions, attitudes and purchase intentions towards Paralympic endorsement. It is also one of the first to introduce the theory of reasoned action into the celebrity endorsement literature. The PEF provides a valuable foundation for future work, since it is the first such model of Paralympian endorsement. It is shown to be both robust and appropriate, implying that the theories on which it is based are indispensable for future research in this area. This research has several limitations, since the framework was tested solely on consumers in the UK who had expressed an interest in sport. To verify the generalisability of the results and to control for cultural differences, future work is needed which tests the model on sports retailers and consumers from other developed countries. The framework presented here is likely to be of importance to both academics and marketing professionals, in terms of both theoretical development and corporate practice.