Special schools at the crossroads of inclusion: do they have a value, purpose, and educational responsibility in an inclusive education system?

Abstract

A philosophy of inclusion, based on the fundamental principles of human rights and equal opportunities for all, has become central to the education of students with special educational needs (SEN) in an inclusive education system, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (UN, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html, 2006). However, the role of the special school, in terms of its value and purpose in an inclusive education system, is currently challenged in international policy, which fundamentally supports the practice of inclusion in mainstream school settings. This paper is based on a study which sought to capture the voice of the special school principal in the dialogue on inclusive education in Ireland. In considering a definition of inclusive education as ‘a process of strengthening the capacity of the education system to reach out to all learners’ (UNESCO, Policy Guidelines on Inclusion in Education. Paris: UNESCO, 2009, 8), the key finding of this study is that inclusive education must firstly acknowledge and be defined as the response of the entire education system, including the special school sector, in reaching out to all learners. The voice of the special school sector must be included in the dialogue on inclusive education, in order to challenge the conceptual misinterpretation and architectural symbolism of inclusion.