Search results

This chapter provides a discussion of Roger Slee and Julie Allan’s 2001 article “Excluding the included: A reconsideration of inclusive education” published in International Studies in Sociology of Education. “Excluding the included” is a salient example of the influential work of these two scholars, threads of which can be found throughout their prior and following work, and in the work of other scholars in the area. The importance of the work and its ongoing impact on the field of inclusive education is discussed.

This chapter discusses the significance of Sally Tomlinson’s article, The Irresistible Rise of Special Education and of her sociological thinking more generally. The paradox highlighted in the Tomlinson’s article, that is, the constantly evolving expansion, globally, of special education, alongside a simultaneous growth in support for the idea of inclusive education, is discussed in this chapter. Tomlinson’s influence on the sociological direction of Julie Allan’s work is traced and exemplified, and the continuing tensions in inclusive education are explored.

This chapter examines the relative absence of critique in inclusive education research, policy and practice, and in education more generally – and consider the consequences of doing without critique. It responds to Bruno Latour's (2004, p. 243) urgent call for progress towards “a fair position” and for the development of “new critical tools” to work positively and constructively towards social change. The potential for criticality is explored in relation to disability studies, disability arts and children's perspectives. Each of these sources is evaluated in terms of their affordance of criticality and for their potential to mobilise political action. They are also considered in relation to the epistemological shifts and altered power relations that are necessary to create an inclusive educational environment.

Considerable progress has been made in the inclusion of children with special educational needs within mainstream schools over the last 25 years but inclusion remains a major source of concern and confusion for policy makers and practitioners and of dissatisfaction for children and their parents. This paper explores some of the conceptual confusion surrounding inclusion and examines the impact of policy and legislative developments on support for children with special needs in mainstream schools. The paper draws on findings from a recent Scottish Parliamentary Inquiry into special educational needs, to which the author was Adviser, and on recent research.

This study investigates whether public accountants in the United States and Taiwan perceive the motivational factors (risks and benefits) surrounding unethical business practices differently because of national culture. The study was based on the general proposition that perceptions would differ because of the closeness of the in‐group being harmed or benefited. Subjects provided perceptions of legal, loss‐of‐face, and reputational risk and of psychic and financial gain for eight unethical business practice scenarios. The findings supported the general proposition in terms of risk perceptions, but not in terms of gain perceptions.

This chapter traces the shift of many progressive educators from a general faith in special education to the more recent push for democratic and ethical inclusive education. This chapter examines the critical scholarship that propelled many educators away from systems of special education and into the inclusive education movement. Two phases in the development of inclusive education are described, an initial failed attempt often described by researchers as “integration,” and the current social movement building toward a more genuine social transformation of classrooms and schools.

This study examines the positive and negative effects on mental health of three types of network members — friends, relatives and partners. It focuses on how the mental health impact of these relationships changes among young adults who are single, cohabiting, married, or divorced. We test the hypotheses that the negative impact on mental health of problematic relationships varies inversely with the degree to which they are voluntary while the positive impact on mental health of supportive relationships varies directly with the degree to which they are voluntary. Data come from a sample of 1257 young adults who were 25–31 years-old in 1992–1994. Mental health status is controlled through the use of a depression measure obtained from the same persons seven years earlier. In general, the findings support both hypotheses. Problems with partners and relatives have the strongest direct relationships with depression while support from friends has the strongest inverse relationship with depression. For this sample of young adults, relationships with friends have a stronger relationship to mental health than relationships with relatives. However, the results vary across marital statuses: friendships are especially important for the mental health of single and divorced people while problems with partners have a greater impact on depression for married than cohabiting people. The implications of the findings for the functions of network members on mental health are discussed.

The situating of pimatisiwin as a framework for spatial justice and self-determination aids educators in strengthening their understandings of Indigenous knowledges to support an authentic inclusion of Indigenous students with disabilities. Through the sharing of Canada’s colonial history, and by critically examining the principles of care within special education, the author exposes its relationship with ableism, normalcy, eugenics, and white privilege to show how Indigenous peoples continue to be marginalized in the twenty-first century. This justice work asks educators to shift their perspectives of inclusion and wellness through the insertion of an Indigenous lens, one to help them see and hear the faces and voices of disabled Aboriginal children and their kinships. The chapter discusses the social model of disability, the psychology of Gentle Teaching, Indigenous ethics, and principles of natural laws through the voices of Nehiyawak and other knowledge keepers, in order to suggest an agenda for educators to come to an understanding of an emancipatory and gentle education. Spatial justice and Indigenous epistemologies merge as synergistic, inclusive, and holistic entities, to support Aboriginal children and youth as both they and those who teach learn to celebrate disabled ontologies. The chapter concludes by presenting how Gentle Teaching and Indigenous ways of knowing should be honored in this quest of creating an equitable, caring, and inclusive society for all disabled Indigenous children and youth.