National Special Education Research Articles

Autism and the right to education in the EU: Policy mapping and scoping review of the United Kingdom, France, Poland and Spain.

IntroductionAutistic people may have different educational needs that need to be met to allow them to develop their full potential. Education and disability policies remain within the competence of EU Member States, with current educational standards and provisions for autistic people implemented locally. This scoping review aims to map EU and national special education policies with the goal of scoping the level of fulfilment of the right to education of autistic people.MethodsFour EU countries (United Kingdom, France, Poland and Spain) were included in this scoping review study. Governmental policies in the field of education, special education needs and disability law were included. Path dependency framework was used for data analysis; a net of inter-dependencies between international, EU and national policies was created.Results and discussionEach country created policies where the right to free education without discrimination is provided. Poland does not have an autism specific strategy, whereas the United Kingdom, France and Spain have policies specifically designed for autistic individuals. Within the United Kingdom, all countries created different autism plans, nevertheless all aim to reach the same goal—inclusive education for autistic children that leads to the development of their full potential.ConclusionPolicy-making across Europe in the field of education has been changing through the years in favour of autistic people. Today their rights are noticed and considered, but there is still room for improvement. Results showed that approaches and policies vastly differ between countries, more Member States should be analysed in a similar manner to gain a broader and clearer view with a special focus on disability rights in Central and Eastern Europe.

Conceitos e relações entre educação inclusiva e educação especial nas legislações educacionais do Brasil, Santa Catarina e Blumenau

Esta pesquisa teve por finalidade analisar os conceitos e as relações estabelecidas entre educação especial e educação inclusiva nas políticas educacionais em esfera nacional, em Santa Catarina e de Blumenau. Considera-se que a compreensão de tais conceitos é necessária para a superação das dicotomias, historicamente construídas, entre educação regular e educação especial que dificultam o estabelecimento de uma perspectiva de educação inclusiva que garanta, nos diversos espaços e tempos escolares, uma educação de qualidade para todas as pessoas. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa em que foram analisados documentos oficiais produzidos entre os anos de 2008 e 2012, a saber: a Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva (2008), o Programa Pedagógico da Fundação Catarinense de Educação Especial – FCEE (2009), a Política de Educação Especial do Estado de Santa Catarina (2009) e as Diretrizes Curriculares Municipais para a Educação Básica de Blumenau (2012). Os resultados indicam que, de acordo com os documentos analisados, a educação especial tende a assumir um caráter transversal e dialógico em relação ao sistema educacional como um todo e garantir a entrada, permanência, aprendizagem e participação das pessoas com necessidades educacionais especiais, por meio dos serviços de Atendimento Educacional Especializado. Por outro lado, notam-se particularidades das políticas estadual e municipal, sobretudo em relação aos serviços oferecidos e público atendido. Como conclusão, constatou-se que a educação inclusiva é uma perspectiva para a atuação na educação especial, cujo objetivo é incluir os estudantes com deficiência na escola regular.

Academic achievements, behavioral problems, and loneliness as predictors of social skills among students with and without learning disorders

This study aimed to examine to what extent academic achievements, learning disorders, behavior problems and loneliness explain the variance of students’ social skills. The differences between students diagnosed with learning disorders and students without learning disorders in all four variables were examined. Participants were 733 elementary students (642 without LD; 91 with LD). Homeroom teachers assessed students’ academic achievements, behavior problems, and social skills. Students completed questionnaires regarding their loneliness feelings. Regression analysis showed that academic achievement and behavior problems explained approximately 70% of the students’ social skills variance, whereas LD did not, and loneliness explained social skills variance only among boys. These unexpected but encouraging findings are discussed in terms of the positive process of change that occurred since the announcement of the Israeli National Special Education Law of 1988, which made it possible for students with LD to be integrated in regular classes.

Educação Especial, Educação Inclusiva e Pedagogia da Diversidade: Celebrar a diversidade! Exaltar a tolerância! Notabilizar o respeito! Proclamar a solidariedade!

Na articulação da Educação Especial com a Educação Inclusiva, este artigo objetiva problematizar como a Pedagogia da Diversidade tem perpassado a formação continuada das professoras e as práticas curriculares ditas inclusivas na escola contemporânea. A partir dos Estudos Foucaultianos em Educação e dos Estudos Culturais, a materialidade analítica constitui-se por relatos da obra “Atendimento Educacional Especializado no Brasil: relatos da experiência profissional de professores e sua formação”, derivada do Curso de Aperfeiçoamento/Extensão em Atendimento Educacional Especializado, ofertado por uma universidade pública do sul do país, na Rede Nacional de Formação Continuada de Professores na Educação Especial. Nessa materialidade analítica, o direito à educação reveste-se como direito à educação da diversidade, e este direito potencializa as operações do Atendimento Educacional Especializado na escola dita inclusiva. Nesse contexto, a Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva aciona o preparo para o acolhimento e o trato da diversidade, de modo a intensificar a formação continuada das professoras, em detrimento da formação inicial, e produzir a informação, a opinião, a generalização, a rapidez e o pragmatismo do atual serviço da Educação Especial nesses cursos de aperfeiçoamento/extensão. Celebrar a diversidade! Exaltar a tolerância! Notabilizar o respeito! Proclamar a solidariedade! Por meio da tríade da tolerância, do respeito e da solidariedade, essa formação continuada e as práticas curriculares na escola dita inclusiva produzem modos de sociabilidade plurais, inclusivos no registro da governamentalidade neoliberal.

Local implementation of disability policies for “high incidence” disabilities at public schools in Japan and the U.S.

This study examines educators' responses to the local implementation of national special education policy changes for children with “high-incidence,” (mild cognitive and behavioral) disabilities. Sensitized by a sociocultural, developmental perspective, we examined Japanese and U.S. national educational policies for the support of children with high incidence disabilities and their implementation in local public schools. Twenty-six Japanese and 18 U.S. elementary school educators participated in individual interviews and discussed their experiences and perceptions of special education policies and their local implementation. Educators in both countries expressed common challenges, specifically, balancing legal requirements with everyday practices, adjusting to policy shifts, and negotiating support for children within and outside of their classrooms. Yet their experiences were culturally nuanced reflecting 1) relatively flexible (Japan) or fixed (U.S.) legal requirements, 2) shifts to more specialized (Japan) or more classroom-based (U.S.) support, and 3) established practices of classroom-based support (Japan) or pull-out support (U.S.). These cultural differences are examined in historical and sociocultural contexts, and implications are discussed for educators, social work practitioners, and policy makers in both Japan and the U.S.

Taiwan's National Policies for Children in Special Education: Comparison with UNCRPD, Core Concepts, and the American IDEA

The goals for special education policy in Taiwan are to enable students with disabilities to develop their capacities to the fullest, have equal opportunity to access an effective education, live independently, fully participate in their communities, and become economically as self-sufficient as possible, thereby contributing to their communities in various ways. The authors compare these policies to three conceptual models, one international and two national, and ask: (1) to what extent do these policies have congruence with the recently promulgated United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (a document that declares rights in an arguably culturally neutral way)? (2) to what extent are they congruent with the core concepts of U.S. disability policy? and (3) to what extent do these goals, adopted by a democratic government that is significantly different in culture from the United States, reflect U.S. policy as set out in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? The authors also ask: To what extent might Taiwan policy be improved as a consequence of a comparison of it with U.S. and United Nations policy? In reflection, the authors conclude that in general, Taiwan's national special education policy coheres with IDEA, the core concepts, and UNCRPD. The differences between Taiwan's policy and those of IDEA and the core concepts occur mainly because of Taiwan's traditional values and beliefs toward disability. The authors propose more sophisticated elaborations of Taiwan's policies related to family participation, rights of privacy, and appropriate evaluation procedures.

O desafio de ensinar modelos atômicos a alunos cegos e o processo de formação de professores

http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/1984686X4384 A partir das orientações contidas na Política Nacional de Educação Especial na Perspectiva da Educação Inclusiva (2007), os alunos com necessidades educacionais especiais passaram a ser matriculados nas escolas regulares. Especificamente com relação à inclusão de alunos cegos, devido às suas características peculiares, são necessários recursos e materiais adequados que possam suprir a falta da visualização dos objetos. Nesse contexto, a Química, disciplina que utiliza grande apelo visual, oferece um enorme desafio para a aquisição dos seus conceitos pelos deficientes visuais. Com o intuito de tentar suprir algumas lacunas em conteúdos de Química com grande apelo visual, este trabalho propõe a discussão sobre a importância de se aplicar recursos pedagógicos alternativos que possibilitem aos deficientes visuais a compreensão e a construção do imaginário desta ciência, trabalhando-se para isso com protótipos sobre os Modelos Atômicos. Com este trabalho pretende-se não apenas colaborar para o processo de ensino-aprendizagem como também para a formação de licenciandos mais aptos a trabalhar na perspectiva da inclusão.

Gestão democrática e luta por reconhecimento na educação de surdos

Este trabalho busca na gestão democrática algumas possibilidades para o entendimento da luta por reconhecimento da educação de surdos. A gestão das escolas, com a redemocratização brasileira e sua Constituição de 1988, alterou-se de princípios de administração escolar à gestão democrática. Com a mudança de políticas públicas da educação especial para a perspectiva inclusiva, muitas são as lutas dos surdos para manter a escolas de surdos em pleno funcionamento. Diante deste contexto o problema de pesquisa questiona, partir do Projeto Experimental do Magistério para Surdos da Escola Estadual de Educação Especial Dr. Reinaldo Fernando Cóser, a contribuição da gestão democrática para o reconhecimento da comunidade surda. Em largos traços, busca-se analisar como a gestão democrática possibilita o reconhecimento social da alteridade surda; observar os conflitos inerentes ao processo de educação inclusiva, referenciada na Política Nacional de Educação Especial, bem como sua viabilidade junto às práticas do cotidiano educacional; e, finalmente, identificar o processo de gestão democrática neste magistério. Apoiou-se na abordagem metodológica da hermenêutica filosófica, para assim, interpretar e compreender como os conceitos de gestão democrática e diferença são entendidos por este curso de magistério. Entre as reflexões que se fizeram presentes evidenciaram-se que a escola de surdos de Santa Maria, por já ter emergido num contexto de gestão democrática, parece superar alguns princípios de fechamento de sua cultura a partir dos compromissos assumidos de sua gestão na perspectiva democrática. A gestão democrática aparece como o médium necessário da escola de surdos em interação com a comunidade ouvinte e, permite assim, uma nova possibilidade para o entendimento reinterpretado da luta por reconhecimento da educação de surdos.Palavras-chave: gestão democrática, educação de surdos, diferença, luta por reconhecimento.

Cross-National Differences in Special Education Coverage

This study investigated the role of educational and socioeconomic factors in explaining differences in national special education coverage. Data were derived from several international and governmental sources, targeting the year 2008 and covering 143 countries. Descriptive statistics revealed huge disparities in access to special education among countries. Using a theoretical model linking socioeconomic and educational variables to differences in how many students receive special education at a national level and structural equation modeling, the authors evaluated the relationships among the variables. The structural equation model showed that gross national income per capita, adult literacy rate, educational variables, and expected years of formal schooling accounted for 77.3% of the variance in special education coverage, and that the contributions of gross national income per capita and adult literacy were unique and significantly important. The implications for special education and inclusion policy and research are discussed.

Inquiry of Korean implication based on Educational delivery system and National Special Education Curriculum for Children with Health Impairment in Japan

Inquiry of Korean implication based on Educational delivery system and National Special Education Curriculum for Children with Health Impairment in Japan

Finding a VOICE for UK clinical pharmacology

At a James Black Conference held in Oxford on 20-22 June 2011, a group of senior clinical pharmacologists and their junior colleagues, other medical specialists, and pharmacists discussed an agenda for UK clinical pharmacology for the next 5 years, addressing the following broad questions. How should UK clinical pharmacology be further developed and delivered as a discipline in universities, the NHS, pharmaceutical companies, and regulatory authorities? How should teaching and training in UK clinical pharmacology and therapeutics be delivered and assessed? What topics should be priorities for research in UK academic clinical pharmacology? How should clinical pharmacology contribute to UK drugs policy? How should pharmacology and clinical pharmacology be further integrated, to the benefit of both? Numerous recommendations emerged, under the collective acronym VOICE, standing for Visibility, Outreach, Integration, Coverage and Emissaries. VISIBILITY: The visibility of the discipline needs to be increased. This could be done, for example, by increased activities in acute general medicine/toxicology, through activities of Medicines and Therapeutics Committees, participation in grand rounds, teaching and training, and monitoring therapeutic interventions, and by offering bolt-on training for other specialists (for example, short courses, MSc courses, and training programmes). OUTREACH: Methods of increasing outreach include roadshows in schools/medical schools, national special study modules, public education, press coverage, and social marketing. INTEGRATION: Closer collaborations with pharmacologists, clinical pharmacists, other prescribers, and pharmaceutical companies (e.g. through joint training programmes) are desirable. COVERAGE: Attention to neglected areas, such as general practice, paediatrics, obstetrics, geriatrics, anaesthetics, cancer, and immunology. EMISSARIES: Trainees to spread the word.

Inquiry of Korean implication and Analysis of National Special Education Curriculum for Severe and Multiple handicapped students in Japan

Inquiry of Korean implication and Analysis of National Special Education Curriculum for Severe and Multiple handicapped students in Japan

Inclusive education in Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina: policy and practice

This paper examines developments in inclusive education in Bulgaria (BG) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in the context of actual and desired accession to the European Union respectively. It seeks to provide insights into the national special education traditions in these countries and aims to establish how these have influenced current developments in inclusive education together with and alongside powerful external change agents. This research focuses on policy makers’ perspectives on changes associated with inclusion. There are significant similarities in the way inclusive education reforms are being perceived and implemented in both countries, and analysis suggests there is a strong need for regional co‐operation with shifts in both policy and practice.

Stories of Hope and Decline

This study analyzes parent and professional organizations' effectiveness in national special education policy from 1975 to the present. Of specific interest are the relationships between groups' policy victories, how groups construct their political messages, and organizational characteristics. The research is significant in that it is one of the first major studies of education client groups that examines group effectiveness over several decades. Drawing from coded Congressional testimonies and elite interviews with policy makers and organizational leaders, the major findings indicate that problem definition—how groups frame their interests, portray students with disabilities, and narrate their policy stories—is a significant determinant of effectiveness overriding group resources. The implications for policy formulation are discussed.

Stepping out of the classroom: involving teachers in the evaluation of national special education policy

Since Richard Rose relaunched BJSE's Research Section as a forum for the discussion of practitioner research, BJSE has published a series of very successful accounts of individual teacher enquiry and action research. In this article from New Zealand, Roseanna Bourke, now working at the Ministry of Education in Wellington, and her two colleagues, Alison Kearney and Jill Bevan‐Brown, both from the Department of Learning and Teaching at Massey University, present an alternative view of the involvement of teachers in research.In 1999, the Ministry of Education asked a team of researchers from Massey University to evaluate the introduction of New Zealand's first national policy for special education, known as Special Education 2000. The 16‐member research team was contracted to provide a three‐year, multi‐method, longitudinal evaluation incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This article looks specifically at one aspect of the approach used in the evaluation – the use of teachers as fieldworkers. Teachers across the country were trained as fieldworkers to assist in the collection of data in schools and early childhood centres. Training was given to all teachers on the research aims, methods, ethics, including cultural sensitivity, and rationale for the evaluation. By participating in large‐scale research and acting as ‘fieldworkers’, 68 teachers had the opportunity to develop their skills as researchers, while learning about other schools' perceptions and experiences of the special education policy. The experience provided a means for teachers to become apprenticed into a research culture, and to talk with principals and other teachers about common areas of interest. It also ensured that the research had knowledgeable and credible fieldworkers to collect data in schools.

Special Education Research Agenda in the United States: Sources of Influence

This short article broadly characterizes the complex forces that shape the special education research agenda in the United States. Special education research is described as a national project involving a loosely linked community of researchers working under the umbrella of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, the national special education mandate. The momentum of normal science, changes in social values, public policy, imports from other disciplines, the power of advocacy groups, and changing methodologies all contribute to the creation of what appears roughly as a research agenda. Special education research, as a mission-directed endeavor, has been effective in generating a new knowledge base but has been less successful in influencing public school personnel to use validated methods. The need to move from instructional research to more systemic analyses also is discussed briefly.

Jamaican Children with Special Needs: Concerns, realities and possibilities

ABSTRACT Official documentation on Jamaican children with special needs attending mainstream schools is limited. Consequently, the extent to which 'education for all' is a reality cannot be assessed. The absence of a national special education policy adds to the concern. To ascertain the presence and status of children with special needs attending mainstream secondary schools, individual interviews were conducted with guidance counsellors from 24 secondary schools and 102 children attending those schools. Information was also obtained from the national census data-base. There was evidence that children with a variety of special needs were present in these schools. Concerns of both students and teachers including inappropriate teaching methods and large classes were highlighted, and suggestions for improvement made. The researchers made recommendations including the better utilisation of existing services.

Identification and Placement of Students with Serious Emotional Disturbance. Part I

Research on students with serious emotional disturbances (SED) suggests that these children are significantly underidentified. National special education data bear out this conclusion to a large extent. However, the rate at which U.S. public schools identify children as SED varies considerably across states. The relationships between those rates of identification and a set of demographic and economic variables that have been found to be important in earlier work were examined in this research. Significant correlations were found between SED identification and several state economic variables. A regression analysis indicated that variation in per pupil revenue explains about one fourth of the variance in identification rates. Significant differences were found among groups of states based on region, elementary and secondary expenditure, per pupil revenue, and per capita income. Regional differences were maintained, even when the effects of per pupil revenue were removed. The implications of these findings for public policy and special education planning and service delivery are discussed.

From Teachers of Backward Children to Agents for Educational Change Within Schools

This paper examines special education teacher education in Sweden from 1921 to 1981. In 1962, national one-year special education teacher education was established. Prior to that time, special education teacher education consisted of one term of courses, mainly for what then were called "backward pupils. " The rationale for these changes is discussed, with special attention given to a change in the view of the relationship of special education and the whole school system. Trends and goals since 1981 in the preparation of new special educators also are commented upon.

Special Education in South Korea

The development and current status of special education in South Korea are described and contrasted to that of the United States. South Korean special education was initiated in the 1890s by U.S. missionaries. Later, Japanese influence was considerable, especially on its regular educational programs. Special programs are available for five classifications of disabilities. Its major national special education legislation contains numerous provisions similar to P.L. 94-142. However, various conditions may impede the further development of services, including a high teacher-pupil ratio, the reliance on self-contained programs, negative attitudes toward people with disabilities, and lack of advocacy groups. Further initiatives require considerable research and policy debate among South Koreans.