Special education needs in the UK - Essay Example

Special education needs (SEN) in the UK It is an incontestable reality that students possess different capabilities to learn, diverse emotional behaviors, various social skills and dissimilar physical endowments. This prompts the necessity to adopt a curriculum and an educational system with programs that care for students who may not cope well in the mainstream education system and programs. The inclusion of students with special needs in mainstream education system, in the UK, continues to gain dominance with legislation in place to provide special education needs (SEN). Poon-McBrayer and Lian define SEN students as a group that need special services to achieve and attain their full learning capabilities (2002, p.3). The Warnock report initiated the debate of inclusion of mainstream and special education, a move that saw the development of special education assume an all-encompassing approach. It is doubtless that the extent of reforms in sociological viewpoints, about the provision of education to students with SENs in the UK, has evolved tremendously since the 1978 Warnock Report and remains highly appreciable. Social transformations have continued to transform special education in the UK. Before the turning point, marked by the Warnock Report, segregation and exclusion of SEN students had been a dominant practice. In the past, the perception of disabled students was undesirable and non-inclusive. Segregation of non-disabled students featured serious cases of abandonment, neglect and rejection (Koster et al. 2005, p.59). Social viewpoints rendered students with SENs, not as part of the mainstream system but with high dismissal. Before the emergence of movements that advocated for the rights of SENs students, there was separate provision of opportunities for the two categories of students in the education system. Inequalities lead to incompetence among SENs students. Segregation featured the failure of societal social structures to embrace SEN students and a notable deliberate lack of consideration of their rights to education. There was less dedication towards identifying the needs of students with disability than it is, apparently. Besides denying SEN students their educational rights (Mangal 2007, p.66), they received serious disregards while interaction with society members, in the social phase. Social exclusion among students, as Anabel (2010) identifies, was a complex challenge to tackle as a means of promoting equal opportunities for all learners, disabled and non-disabled. Exclusion did not exist in one form or kind, a challenge that rendered it a great challenge to achieve inclusion. It is noteworthy that there are varied degrees of segregation as McDonald (2008, p.28) identifies. The social processes that define exclusion of the disabled, in most learning environments, are contentious and should attract ardent considerations from educators and policy makers. Exclusion of the disabled, in the education system, involved the denial and limiting of very fundamental rights. The multidimensional character of factors that promote social exclusionism rendered it a demanding endeavor to promote inclusion. Noteworthy is the fact factors that escalate exclusion of SEN students were structural as opposed to circumstantial. That is, exclusion emanated from the set up, and sociological viewpoints held by the very society whose students with SEN experience the exclusion. Social exclusion promotes educational exclusion and the later cannot end when the former still prevails. Such is the complexity entailed in finding an insight into social exclusion in the education system over the past. The UK had experiences of exclusion of SEN students for a long time before the concern led to the formation of the committee that came up with the Warnock Report. Inclusion is necessary to avoid possible exclusion of society members with special needs. Inclusion involves cooperative learning that engages all students from the mainstream schools and their counterpart with SENs (Clauss-Ehlers 2010, p.539). Inclusion is a platform to encourage positive interactions among students (Ainscow 2005, p.109). Such interactions are not only evident among students in the learning environment but also outside during social interactions. An inclusive environment promotes awareness and acceptance of the differences in capabilities, physical orientation and moral behavior among students, both non-disabled and those with SENs (Dash 2006, p.21). Inclusive education presents equal opportunity to students with SENs as that offered to the non-disabled. Students with SEN, therefore, stand a chance to compete, favorably, against those who are non-disabled. There is an improvement in recognition of the importance of engaging in inclusive education for learners with special needs. Educators continue to adopt inclusive education by integrating the unique demands of special needs students in the curriculum as identified by Ross-Hill (2007). The learning environment adopted continues to be less restrictive for students with special needs to learn and socialize with their counterparts (Reynolds 2007, p.2070). The conviction that handicapped students can achieve their potential strength, in an integrated learning environment, continues to inform several decisions made by educators. Apparently, most educators have the devotion to eliminating segregation of challenged students that was a core barrier and a limiting factor to inclusive learning. Implementing inclusive teaching that promotes education for special needs students require curriculum reforms of education curriculum. It is noteworthy that most countries appreciate the reforms of curriculum through their policies, legislation and laws. The understanding that integrating inclusive education would be socially beneficial to the society as educating regular students continues to promote inclusive education. High segregation of disabled student in the UK education system was the central basis of the decision to create the committee granted the mandate draft the Warnock Report in 1978. The report was of high importance since it initiated the necessity to identify students who require attention because of their special needs (Tassoni 2003, p.37). According to James (2008, p.35), parents also play a role in the early identification of children in need of attention. The report highlighted that an estimated twenty percent of students, at every stage in the education system, require special attention (Cox 1985, p.31). The committee mandated to deliver the report also noted the relatively long period that a section of special needs students might require. The report also identified that some special needs students need permanent attention to address their needs. According to the report, in any class with an approximate number of thirty students, six of the students can be in need of special requirements such as technology for the visually impaired (Wong & Cohen 2012, p.1) or approach to learning. This applies even in any ordinary school setting and environment. The committee’s report expanded the perception and definition of special needs students. Besides setting the range of needs, the report also set the scale of needs that SEN students have. According to the report, special needs students are of varied groups. There are groups of SEN students whose concerns are temporary. Another category refers to the group of students with brutal handicaps. There are those with permanent disabilities. The interest of all these groups should be a factor of consideration as a way of promoting inclusive education. Local education authorities, according to the report, bear the obligation of ensuring that these groups of students should not experience any form of limitation that may compromise their access to education. The fourth section of the Education Act 1981, according to the report, enforces the need to identify the various groups of students in need of special attention or materials in all educational institutions (Cox 1985, p.31). The act grants the students the right to access to any learning material that is important to ensure their well-being. The Warnock Report was a remarkable development in promoting inclusion in the education sector regarding the recognition of the need of students with special orientation. The report was the basis of the act enacted in 1981, according to Spooner (2010, p.7). The impression of special education needs, for instance, received a great boost with the drafting of the report. It proposed that the category of difficulty should be a disregarded concept. Instead, it recommended the necessity of attending to individual students as opposed to that of attending to them as a category with nearly similar special need of complication. If two students in a class have poor sight that do not entirely make them of a similar special need. Is one is active in class, and the other is a reserved student, then they definitely attract different levels of attention, for instance. The reserved student needs decisive observance and long time to get motivated, contrary to the participative student. This informed the decision to abolish student categorization and encouraging the need to attend to students on an individual level. Such was the importance of the report in transforming special needs education. According to Reynolds and Fletcher-Janzen (2004, p.973), every SEN student should have the attention that is most appropriate to him or her. The focus of every student’s educational needs works better than to attend to students as a group yet they have diverse educational demands. The transformation of the concept of special needs stands as the greatest success of the report. This initiated other activities as modification of the curriculum to suit the educational demands of every student. The report recognized the need to ensure perfect partnership with parents as a discourse to offer quality education to students with special needs. Teacher education is a central requirement recognized by the report. Enlightened staff on special needs education can satisfactorily attend to students in need of special education (Meijer 2010, p.1). The inclusion of the role of other professionals in educating students with special needs formed one of the core recommendations of the report. Support services from professional as social workers are important in special needs education as identified in the report. Health care professionals should also play a role in attending to students of special needs, as well. The report highlighted the importance of setting up special needs institutions near mainstream schools where SENs students would have full support required. Setting up special schools, as recommended in the report, would form a good platform to provide inclusive education to students who need special attention (Warnock 1978, p.1). Locational integration featured as a key recommendation of the report. Children with special needs, for instance, would receive their education at the same place and situation of the mainstream school. This could create social integration, a factor that reduces the extent of exclusion of students in need of special attention (Franklin, Harris &Allen-Meares 2006, p.230). Social integration and locational integration are complementary concepts. If the special needs student shares social moments with his or her counterparts learning in the mainstream school, they gain the feeling of inclusion. This also brings in the concept of functional integration that features the two groups of students undertake activities alongside each other. This motivates those with special needs (Spooner 2010, p.9). In other instances, learning and education of students with special attention can take place at home. As Spooner (2010) identifies, there were several developments pertaining to special needs education that occurred after the Warnock Report and the enactment of the law relating to education in 1981. There are several laws that enhance the integration of special education that followed the 1981 Act. In 1988, the Education Reform Act was very instrumental in bringing transitions to the curriculum. The act encouraged the integration of a curriculum that is inclusive of students in need of special attention. The passing of the education reforms act boosted efforts to offer an inclusive special education program. In 1989, a further development in recognition of the need to provide inclusive education to special needs students came with the passing of the Children Act. It promoted the protection of children including those with special needs. As part of children protection, ensuring social integration of this group of students plays a central role in protecting children rights. The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act is one of the greatest contributions towards the protection of the rights of special needs members of the society. This entails the provision of education to society members with special needs as students. In 1996, the Education Act passed recognized the vitality of strategies aimed at an inclusive system of education that is considerate of the needs of special students. This further boosted the efforts to promote inclusive special education in the country. In 2001, the enactment of SENDA, was central in recognizing the demands of students who need special attention in the education system. The 2004 Children Act recognized the role of every child in the society. According to the law, every child needs care regardless of whether the child has special needs. The fourth section of the Disability Discrimination Act, enacted in 2005, advocates for the full integration of students with SEN into the mainstream schools. The various laws that promote inclusive learning are central in the elimination of segregation and promoting integration. As provided by the various legislation set since the Warnock Report, institutions have the obligation to implement the various recommendations through institutional adjustments to promote inclusion. Among the proposals of the report was the inclusion of other professionals in the provision of education to SEN students including social workers and health care specialists. This brings in the role of medical and social models in promoting inclusive learning. Young children of SEN need medical attention, as stated by Gargiulo and Kilgo (2004, p.246). Physical education is equally important for the development of SEN students (Thomas, Lee &Thomas 2008, p.311) Widening special education to be inclusive of the role of medical and social professionals is a key move to improving the quality of education and inclusion. The report also acknowledges that SEN students can be educated from home. This is majorly the mandate of social workers. Special school curriculum should propose the involvement of social workers (Tomlinson 2012, p.8) in addressing cases that mainstream school instructors may not handle well. Health care professionals’ role in the well-being of SEN students is inevitable. The acceptance of SEN students in the UK and their inclusion, in the learning system has been a long struggle initiated by activists in support of rights of the disabled. This group of advocates for inclusion shunned away the past injustices of segregation of disabled students in the UK education system. Promoting inclusive education for SEN students is tantamount to human rights consideration and a decision to embrace diversity (Atherton 2007, p. 139). There is a great extent of transformation of sociological point of view and reforms, in the UK, that promote inclusion. The Warnock Report remains pivotal in the move to end SEN students’ segregations and adoption of inclusive systems of education in the country. The subsequent developments and legislation are plausible, as well. As confirmed by Hegarty and Alur (2002), the assertion that special education in the UK is a reform from segregation to inclusion, therefore, is convincing. References Ainscow, M 2005, Developing inclusive education systems: what are the levers for change?, Journal of Educational Change, vol. 6, no.2, pp. 109-124. Retrieved from: http://www.mcgill.ca/humanrights/sites/mcgill.ca.humanrights/files/2013-02-18_developing_inclusive_education_systems.pdf Anabel M 2010, School memories of young people with disabilities: an analysis of barriers and aids to inclusion, Disability & Society, vol. 25, no.2, pp.163-175. 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