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Changing legislation and its effects on inclusive and special education: S cotland
Author(s) -
Riddell Sheila,
Weedon Elisabet
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
british journal of special education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.349
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1467-8578
pISSN - 0952-3383
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8578.12080
Subject(s) - parallels , context (archaeology) , legislation , statutory law , devolution (biology) , austerity , corporate governance , special education , political science , field (mathematics) , social policy , sociology , public administration , politics , geography , law , economics , management , archaeology , anthropology , human evolution , operations management , mathematics , pure mathematics
This article, by S heila R iddell and E lisabet W eedon of the C entre for R esearch in E ducation I nclusion and D iversity, U niversity of E dinburgh, analyses recent policy developments and outcomes in the field of additional support needs in S cotland in the context of devolution and austerity, drawing on a critical analysis of policy and administrative data. While there is a growing tendency in S cottish policy discourse to ‘decentre’ E ngland as a main point of comparison, in the field of special and additional support needs policy there appear to be strong correspondences between the two jurisdictions. E ngland appears to be following S cotland's lead in producing new types of statutory support plans and placing greater emphasis on children's rights. At the same time, these policy changes are being implemented in different policy contexts, with homogenous governance arrangements characterising the S cottish school system, compared with increasing complexity within the E nglish system. In terms of the growth of the category of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties ( SEBD in S cotland, BESD in E ngland) there are strong cross‐border parallels. Children in these categories tend to live in deprived areas and are unlikely to have statutory support plans. Overall, this indicates the importance of analysing not just policy discourse, but also policy outcomes.