A New Era for Special Educational Needs?

Abstract

As noted in a previous review article in this journal (Vol. 15, No. 2, 1989), special education has undergone considerable change in the last decade. These changes include: a broader and more flexible definition of special educational needs, involving up to one in five of the school population; a recognition of the responsibility of all teachers and not just special educators to make policy and provision; developments in the role of special schools, including enrichment of the traditional special curriculum and involvement in integration programmes; links between special needs and other equal opportunities policies, particularly in relation to curriculum entitlement and integration; and the adoption of a 'whole school', cross-curricular, advisory and support role for special needs teachers and schools. The majority of publications on special needs are now very much concerned with this new model of 'good practice'. However, as noted in the previous review, although many writers have commented on the potential implications of the 1988 Education Reform Act, few are yet able to consider in detail its likely impact on special needs policy and provision. Writing a review two years on, this situation remains largely unchanged. It is partly due to the inevitable delay between finishing a manuscript or research project and actual publication. Some books, of course, are also not particularly concerned with current policy, focusing instead on broad historical or comparative issues and trends outside the immediate policy arena, or on teaching approaches for particular needs, subject areas or phases within the classroom rather than the wider context. It is also still extremely difficult to predict with any real accuracy either the short or long-term