LESSONS IN DISABILITY
Disability campaigners have long insisted that disabled children are best educated alongside non-disabled kids within properly resourced, ‘inclusive’ mainstream schools. In the first of a series of articles, Paul F Cockburn asks why –like it or not – the UK’s “special” schools still have an important role to play in 21st century education.
All parents want the best for their children; to ensure that they will flourish as individuals, with the confidence and self-belief to achieve all that they can in life, and stay optimistic – not fearful – about what the future might hold. An important part of all our upbringings, of course, is our official education – and a desire for equality of opportunity has led many people to demand that all children – regardless of their abilities, special educational needs (SENs) and social, racial or cultural background – are able to prosper at their local school.
This is at the heart of the argument for ‘inclusive’ education, and has particular relevance to the education of disabled children. As the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE) points out, every child in the UK has a right to ‘appropriate and efficient’ education; the principles of inclusive education are explicitly stated in Article 24 of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which the UK Government finally ratified earlier this year.
In the real world, though, not all schools are equal – whether you’re talking about resources, academic achievement or organisation. Nor are so-called ‘mainstream’ (ie, state run) schools capable of dealing with the needs of all children, with some openly admitting to being inadequately equipped to provide for all learners sent to them. So what are parents to do if they see that their children are clearly being failed by their local schools? What if they feel that the only real option to ensure the best support and care for their disabled child is to send them to a specialist – or what inclusion campaigners are likely to call ‘segregated’ – school?
REAL WORLD CHOICES
Teaching disabled children in mainstream schools has been officially promoted as a good thing since at least the early 1980s, though successive governments of all political hues have been criticised for insufficiently resourcing inclusive education. Indeed, it’s arguable that a range of other policies – from increased parental choice to the ‘league tables’ approach to judging schools’ success – have actually made it more difficult for some learners to benefit from the principles of inclusive education. As the CSIE points out: “This is like issuing a ticket but keeping the door locked.”
Back in 2005, Baroness Mary Warnock – architect of the SEN system in England – concluded that the implementation of inclusive education had gone wrong, and that governments “must come to recognise that, even if inclusion is an ideal for society in general, it may not always be an ideal for school.” In response, Professor Gary Thomas, Professor of Inclusion and Diversity at the University of Birmingham, pointed out that even if special schools were “more convenient” for the education system, that didn’t mean they were the best choice for our children. “The real issue – if we believe that inclusion is the right thing to do – is about how to make it work,” he wrote. “Here, some brave decisions are needed from policy-makers about funding.”
Dr Graham Jowett is the former director of education at Treloar’s in Hampshire. “I think most people would recognise the value of inclusion for most young people with additional learning needs or special needs,” he told Able magazine, “but I believe there will always be some young people whose needs are so complex that most maintained schools, most local authorities, won’t have enough of those children to be able to focus on their needs in a way that’s really personalised and dedicated enough. So you might expect there will always need to be some sort of regional centres or partnerships for those young people; that’s one issue.”
INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE
Back in 2005 Warnock admitted that some special schools had a ‘patronising’ attitude that limited their value to children with the most severe and complex disabilities. Such a description, however, is difficult to apply to the likes of Treloar’s. With space for up to 110 residential students (and up to 40 day students) between the ages of seven and 19, it attracts pupils from across the UK and even further afield. Most of Treloar’s teachers have qualifications in special education, as well as their own specialisms, and work with a team of medical staff, therapists, psychologists and care staff. In terms of education, care and therapy, the school has been classed as “outstanding” by official education watchdog Ofsted.
In recent years Treloar’s has increasingly worked with other schools and colleges, supporting disabled children in mainstream environments. “It’s not that we’re the experts and everybody else should learn from us,” he insisted. “It’s that we do have children with very complex needs, and we problem solve – that’s where we get our experience and our expertise from.”
He recognises that, in the past, many special schools had low expectations of the young people in their care. “Most specialist providers have moved on from that,” Dr Jowett insisted. “In some senses, the young people that we have would say we’re actually harder on them. Because we are experienced at working with young disabled people, we have higher expectations of them than they might do in a mainstream provider.”
NOT JUST ABOUT THE MONEY
Campaigners for inclusive education believe that – at a time when personalised learning is increasingly the direction being taken by mainstream schooling – there is no reason to continue placing a relatively small number of students in entirely separate educational institutions. More, that – even assuming it’s an easier and sensible solution for the bean-counters – it’s no excuse to continue a system which, according to many disabled people, perpetuates stereotypes, disempowers and keeps disabled people at the margins of society.
“Research has shown that disabled children who attend mainstream schools have higher self-esteem and are more likely to fulfil their aspirations than their special school peers,” says Simone Aspis of the Alliance for Inclusive Education. “True equality and respect can only be achieved if disabled and non-disabled people play, learn and work together within inclusive mainstream settings.”
Yet counter arguments remain – that inclusive policies are no guarantee that disabled children will not feel alone in the midst of a mainstream school, and indeed could potentially deny them the additional support they might need to prepare them to live independently. The arguments will continue, of course; for, after all, everyone wants the best for their children.
MORE:
Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education
0117 328 4007, www.csie.org.uk
Alliance for Inclusive Education
020 7737 6030, www.allfie.org.uk
Treloar Trust
01420 526 526, www.treloar.org.uk