Critical literacy has been on the map of literacy pedagogy internationally since the time of Freire, and more commonplace in the United States in the last few decades. However, in this column the authors argue that the common practices of critical literacy are insufficient for critical engagement with texts. The tools of critical literacy are…

Len Barton has pioneered the sociological study of education in the areas of disability studies and inclusive education. This paper addresses an argument developed by Len Barton that social exclusion, of which disablism is one element, (1) has many compounding forms of differing exclusions, (2) is not a natural but a socially constructed process,…

Children and young people with disabilities educated in their local school may need services to get equal access to the curriculum. To ensure that any educationally-relevant services achieve the best outcomes, the students' own voices and perspectives should also be included. This paper introduces the School Setting Interview (SSI), an…

Teaching assistants (TAs) are part of a growing international trend toward paraprofessionals working in public services. There has been controversy over TAs' deployment and appropriate role when supporting the learning of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. Such debates have been transformed by findings from a large…

Provision for pupils with special educational needs in Ireland has undergone considerable change and review in the first decade of the twenty-first century. In response to international demands for a more equitable education system that recognises diversity and considers how schools might address the needs of pupils who have been previously…

Though research exists related to effective services in inclusive general education settings for students with significant disabilities, there are no longitudinal investigations of adult outcomes for persons with significant disabilities who received services in inclusive general education settings. This study uses qualitative methods to describe…

This is an ethnographic case study of the inclusion of a fifteen-year-old male with severe disabilities in general education classes in a four-year high school in a medium-sized Midwestern city. The study took place during the student's freshman and sophomore years. The investigator interviewed 17 of the participants in the student's inclusion;…

Teachers for the Future is a regional report that draws together and analyses research findings from a study commissioned by the European Training Foundation (ETF) in seven countries in the Western Balkan region, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. The overall…

Whilst in government, New Labour defined social exclusion as a state of "disadvantage" resulting from individual psychology: namely, low aspirations, a lack of self-confidence or moral deviancy. Engagement in lifelong learning was considered a means of promoting social inclusion and of overcoming such disadvantage. This policy review…

Preparing early childhood and early childhood special education preservice teachers for inclusive settings is the focus of this article. The need for all teachers to be prepared for inclusive settings has become evident with the growing diversity of children in every classroom. Integrating inclusive content throughout the teacher preparation…

This investigation addressed the use of problem-solving teams (PST) to support general education teachers working in inclusive classrooms. Eight teams in a high-poverty elementary school that had recently implemented an inclusive program were the focus of the study. Teachers noted several benefits of PSTs, including social support, learning new…

Because of recent changes in general and special education policies, special educators who previously worked with secondary students in self-contained academic classes, resource rooms, or cotaught classes find themselves assigned to new roles that demand different collaborative skills. Based on 2 years of interviews, field notes, and observations…

"Big Expectations" discusses the benefits of developing and using big ideas for a diverse set of learners in social studies. Experimenting with both honors and inclusion classrooms at the middle school level, I found that all students are capable of relating to and thinking deeply about the content through the use of big ideas. Although…

The Faculty of Engineering in an Australian university collaborated with a central academic/educational development unit to design and deliver a teaching development program for all engineering teaching assistants (TAs). This paper discusses the approach taken to promote inclusive education in engineering in a situation with competing priorities.…

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of experience for a special education director as she constructs her life in special education and the spaces that allow for the transformation of practices in the education of all students. A qualitative single case study design was utilized. Interviews with the participant and significant…