Inclusion and diversity: Policy & Practice What do you understand by ‘inclusion’ within education

Inclusion and diversity: Policy & Practice What do you understand by ‘inclusion’ within education The emphasis needs to be on the word community- on creating schools where all people have a sense of belonging and can actively contribute so that education is a dynamic meaningful and relevant process. This is the challenge for schools in the twenty-first century. Carnie, F. (2003) P.14 The aims and objectives of inclusive education, policy and research are caught up in political and cultural processes. There is a need to move forward in these aims, to genuinely listen to the voices of those currently being silenced but to do so in a way which acknowledges the tensions and complexities involved. Gibson, S. (2006) Gibson & Haynes p.17 June Bianchi

National Curriculum requirements: • Schools have a responsibility to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils. The statutory inclusion statement sets out three principles for developing an inclusive curriculum which provides all pupils with relevant and challenging learning. • Schools must: • set suitable learning challenges • respond to pupils’ diverse learning needs • overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils • http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/inclusion/statutory-inclusion-statement/index.aspx June Bianchi

Consider your own experiences of education – to what extent did you feel your needs were catered for as a learner? What circumstances made you feel your needs were being addressed? • Consider your own experiences of education as a teenager and young adult – what were your most effective learning experiences? What made them successful? • Have you experienced/observed teaching/learning situations where exclusion was potentially an issue - what circumstances caused this? • Consider your experiences during school placements- what made inclusive learning possible? June Bianchi

Focus on attendance and individual support generates improvements • Year 6 pupils are encouraged to aim higher • Multi-agency approach addresses urban deprivation. • Mobile skate park helps to bridge the gender attainment gap. http://www.teachers.tv/video/23015 • What inclusion issues can you identify in the video • How are they being addressed? • How successful are the strategies taken? • Are there other areas of inclusion which could be addressed? June Bianchi

What do you understand by ‘diversity’ of needs? Teachers should set high expectations and provide opportunities for all pupils to achieve, including: • boys and girls • pupils with special educational needs • pupils from all social and cultural backgrounds • pupils from different ethnic groups including travellers, refugees and asylum seekers, and those from diverse linguistic backgrounds. http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/inclusion/statutory-inclusion-statement/index.aspx June Bianchi

Ethnic Minority Achievement Service provides support to bridge the attainment gap. • Bilingual Community Officers and an annual international evening help to improve parental engagement • Football helps to boost standards in literacy http://www.teachers.tv/video/23024 • What inclusion issues can you identify in the video • How are they being addressed? • How successful are the strategies taken? • Are there other areas of inclusion which could be addressed? June Bianchi

What do you understand by ‘Special Educational Needs’? • Special Educational Needs Code of Practice November 2001 • Children have special educational needs if they have a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for them. • Children have a learning difficulty if they: • have a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of children of the same age • have a disability which prevents or hinders them from making use of educational facilities of a kind generally provided for children of the same age in schools within the area of the local education authority • http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/DfES%200581%20200MIG2228.pdf • A person has a disability for the purposes of this Act if he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry out normal day-to day activities. Section 1(1), Disability Discrimination Act 1995 June Bianchi

Teachers need to be aware that pupils bring to school different experiences, interests and strengths which will influence the way in which they learn. • Teachers should plan their approaches to teaching and learning so that all pupils can fully take part in lessons • To ensure that they meet the full range of pupils’ needs, teachers should be aware of the requirements of the equal opportunities legislation that covers race, gender and disability. • http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-1-and-2/inclusion/statutory-inclusion-statement/index.aspx June Bianchi

Teachers should take specific action to respond to pupils’ diverse needs by: • creating effective learning environments • securing their motivation and concentration • providing equality of opportunity through teaching approaches • using appropriate assessment approaches • setting targets for learning. http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/organising-your-curriculum/inclusion/statutory_inclusion_statement/index.aspx June Bianchi

Consider experiences of educational practice which you have observed within schools • What factors enable successful inclusive teaching/learning to take place and what could prevent this happening? • To what extent do you feel individual needs are addressed and provided for – how could this be improved? June Bianchi

http://www.teachers.tv/video/12069 http://www.teachers.tv/video/23111 • What inclusion issues can you identify in the videos • How are they being addressed? • How successful are the strategies taken? • Are there other aspects of inclusion which could be addressed? June Bianchi

What kind of agendas operate within inclusive educational policy & practice? If we want education to be participatory and accessible to all debate about what freedom means and the kind of pedagogy that provides learners and teachers with experiences of freedom is to be expected. For those concerned with inclusion in education the focus is on working to remove barriers and obstacles that interfere with freedom to learn. Such barriers can be practical, social, political or psychological. ….The idea of participation in education is a political one and necessarily engages us with relationships between knowledge and power and discourses of plurality and difference. …commitment to an evolving egalitarian and deliberative form of democracy: a society that refuses to accept inequality and that is open to the dialogue provoked by ongoing social change. Gibson & Haynes (2009) page 77 June Bianchi

Why might families prefer to opt out of the mainstream state system of education? It is argued that diversity and choice in the UK are defensible, drawing from both left and right libertarian positions. …Whether there should be more diversity of educational provision and whether this improves educational quality and student achievement becomes partly a matter of debate on philosophical and political values and partly a matter of evidence about the effects in terms of benefits and costs. David H. Hargreaves in Carnie, Lange, Tasker (1996) page 10-11 June Bianchi

What different educational options are available within UK? • Mainstream state schools: pupils between 5-18 years • Community schools : run by the local authority • Foundation and Trust schools : run by their own governing body, which employs the staff and sets the admissions criteria. • http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/foi/disclosuresaboutschools/a00342/foundation-schools • Voluntary-aided schools : maintained schools often, but not always, have a religious character - eligible for capital funding by grant from the Department & run by their own governing body http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/schoolscapital/a0010919/voluntary-aided-va-schools • Voluntary-controlled schools : similar to voluntary aided schools, but are run by the local authority. • Free Schools : all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to parental demand. http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/leadership/typesofschools/freeschools June Bianchi

Specialist schools : pupils between 5-18 years • Academies : sponsors from business • City Technology Colleges : emphasis on science, technology and the world of work • Community and foundation special schools : cater for children with specific special educational needs • Faith schools : may be reflected in their religious education curriculum, admissions criteria and staffing policies • Maintained boarding schools • Maintained boarding schools offer free tuition, but charge fees for board and lodging. June Bianchi

Non-State options: Independent schools: set their own curriculum and admissions policies. They are funded by fees paid by parents and investments. Alternative Schools : • Small Schools • Steiner Waldorf system • Montessori system • Democratic schools e.g. Summerhill • Forest Schools • Home-based education June Bianchi

http://www.steinerwaldorf.org/ June Bianchi

http://www.smallschools.org.uk/ http://www.forestschools.com/ June Bianchi

http://www.hse.org.uk/ http://www.education-otherwise.org/ June Bianchi

http://www.teachers.tv/video/5095 In this hour-long debate, Jonathan Dimbleby and his panel of experts explore the topics of selection, schools admissions and parental choice. We're told that schools cannot select their pupils, but that parents have a free choice of school for children. Is this true? With the help of an invited audience, the panel ask: Will the new Education Act eradicate selection? Do academies, faith schools and foundation schools add to the confusion? What real choice do you have over who educates your kids, and does it all just come down to whether you're rich enough to move? June Bianchi

Inclusion and diversity: Policy & Practice What do you understand by ‘inclusion’ within education