The notion of inclusion has gained momentum worldwide, with most countries around the world embracing inclusive policies in their educational systems. However, there is still an ongoing debate as to what is inclusion and hence, the consequent challenge of coming up with an agreed definition, which could then be used to plan for and subsequently,…

Teachers and parents often find special education law complex and confusing. As one step for a basic foundation in special education law, a previous "TEACHING Exceptional Children" article (Zirkel, 2005) provided a snapshot of the "top five case concepts" based on 10 decisions from the Supreme Court. Each of these decisions…

Education may be considered as a number of processes, actions and effects affecting human being, as the state or level of the results of these processes or as the modification of the functions, institutions and social practices roles, which in the result of inclusion become new, integrated system. Thus this is very complex process. Nowadays the…

The passage of landmark federal legislation in 1975 guaranteed students with disabilities (SWDs) a free appropriate public education. Over time, reauthorization of this legislation has highlighted the importance of educating SWDs in the general education environment where appropriate, and significant interaction with general education peers who…

The purpose of the current investigation is to examine the attitudes and knowledge of principals toward least restrictive environment (LRE) as it relates to students with disabilities in four counties in Northeast Ohio. The research was conducted using a web-based modified survey that included questions from "The Principals' and Inclusion…

Student voice has become increasingly important in educational research at an international level. Research in Italy on school integration of students with disabilities has almost entirely left behind student voice. The very few researches based on student voice suggest that there is a mismatch between student and teacher voices when faced with…

The number of teaching assistants (TAs) in schools in the UK has risen in recent years, but there remains a lack of clarity about the roles being undertaken by these support staff. This article reports findings from a study investigating how the TA role is understood both by the pupils being supported and by TAs themselves. Eleven students with…

Before there were children with disabilities in typical schools in North America, there was only hope and need. Before the creation of highly specialized plans of education, individualized instruction techniques, methods of differentiating group instruction or regulations mandating the adherence to government regulations, there were only families,…

Over the last 30 years, controversy has reigned over the rights of children with learning disabilities to be educated alongside their peers in a mainstream classroom. Whether this is called integration or inclusion has been another hotly debated discussion among professionals. There have been calls for the abolition of special schools. This paper…

In 1989, The Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education (CSIE) published its inclusion charter which was subsequently revised in 2002. This charter sought an end to all segregated education on the grounds of disability or learning difficulty. The vision was that all children would be educated in mainstream classrooms with benefits for disabled and…

Teachers' beliefs are crucial to the success of inclusion programmes and reform efforts for children with special educational needs (SEN). Based on this evidence, one hundred and thirty-nine primary pre-service teachers from one training institution in the Netherlands completed an adapted version of a measure of beliefs towards inclusive…

Environmental education in K-12 and initial teacher education contexts appears to be at a cross-roads despite UNESCO's declaration of its importance in educating future generations about the global challenges we face and our resistance to change the behaviours that create these conditions. This paper argues for the interdisciplinary status of…

Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia are similar in many ways. Both were colonised by English-speaking British settlers, and English is a national language in each country. In recent years, both countries have become destinations for immigrants speaking languages other than English and international fee-paying students. Both have a chequered history…

This paper describes the findings of research into children's interactions with educators who were of the same or different culture from that of the children. The research investigated the effect of cultural context on the children's communication and the quality of their interactions in one mainstream early childhood setting. Aboriginal and…

A narrative therapeutic group intervention, Tree of Life, was carried out with groups of ethnic minority parents of children with special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) in a mainstream primary school. A participatory research approach was used, involving collaboration with the group of parents and involvement of a parent co-researcher.…