Education: Children with Learning Difficulties

Overall Theme: Segregation, integration or inclusion?

Considerations:

- History of special needs in the UK

- Conceptualisation of special needs

- Definitions of integration

- Definitions of inclusion

- Definitions of segregation

- Who should be taught what? Why?

- Purposes of education

- Personal EXP

Within the United Kingdom over the past few decades, the matter of the way in which children with learning difficulties go about being educated has been a significant issue. Essentially, there are three ways in which these children can be provided an education Ð'- through segregation, integration or inclusion.

Segregation essentially means that the children who are Ð''disabled' are placed in Ð''special needs' schools that can supposedly be Ð''better suited' for them than Ð''normal' schools. Integration for the disabled is quite possibly best described as: Ð''a thousand things. It means the absence of segregation. It means social acceptance. It means being able to be treated like everybody elseÐ'... to be educated up to university level with one's unhandicapped peers' (Snowdon, 1976). However, whilst this description of integration sounds positive, it could be seen that Ð''Integration implies a separate population that we are seeking to bring inÐ'... Inclusion is based on a planning assumption that everyone is "in" to start with' (Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists) Integration, therefore, is all to do with Ð''Maximising the participation of all children in mainstream schools and removing environmental, structural and attitudinal barriers to their participation' (Scottish Executive).

In England, the Warnock Report (1978) and the Education Act (1981) recommended that children with learning difficulties should be integrated into mainstream schools when possible. However, note that it was merely Ð''recommended' and not made compulsory. Therefore, Local Education Authorities (LEAs) were encouraged, but not legally required, to implement integration within schools even though the government did not provide them with any extra revenue or resources to achieve this goal. In 2000, almost 100,000 children were still in English special schools, proving that segregation was still an issue then and still is now.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) passed a new Special Educational Needs Code of Practice in 2001, containing advice on methods for allowing children with these special educational needs to reach their full potential within the educational system by being fully included within their school communities. This code stated that Ð''the special educational needs of children will normally be met in mainstream schools', Ð''the views of the child should be sought and taken into account', Ð''those responsible for special educational provision should take into account the wishes of the child concerned, in the light of their age and understanding' and that Ð''there is close cooperation between all the agencies concerned and a multi-disciplinary approach