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Changing policy, legislation and its effects on inclusive and special education: a perspective from W ales
Author(s) -
Ware Jean
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 - 10.1111/1467-8578.12082
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , special education , legislation , devolution (biology) , perspective (graphical) , special educational needs , pedagogy , inclusion (mineral) , political science , sociology , public administration , law , social science , paleontology , artificial intelligence , anthropology , computer science , biology , human evolution
This article, by J ean W are of B angor University School of Education, examines policy developments in education in W ales since devolution, and their implications for inclusive and special education. This is set in the context of the demographics of W ales, which, it is argued, have a significant influence on policy and on the nature of educational provision as a whole. The discussion initially focuses on issues related to the W elsh language. The article then discusses four policy initiatives (the F oundation P hase, the L iteracy and N umeracy F ramework, the M asters in E ducational P ractice and the proposed reform of initial teacher education and training), intended to respond to W ales's poor performance in the P rogramme for I nternational S tudent A ssessment, and their potential impact, as well as the W hite P aper on reforming the special educational needs system in W ales. It is too soon to discuss the impact of these special educational needs‐specific reforms, but the differences from the E nglish special educational needs reforms highlight the inherent tensions in special educational needs systems. It is argued that the T abberer R eport's critique of the teacher education system in W ales, which emphasises the need for teacher education to be strongly connected to relevant research, provides an opportunity to improve the quality of education in W ales for all children; but that considerable investment, and a willingness to address the potential tensions between the different initiatives, is necessary to achieve such an outcome.