Book Release
Introducing Inclusive Education at the Crossroads:
Exploring Effective Special Needs Provision in Global Contexts. Gordon-Gould and Garry Hornby.
Inclusive Education at the Crossroads explores the short and long-term effectiveness of government plans to reform policy for special needs education, confronting difficult questions on policies about inclusion and suggesting alternative ways forward for achieving more effective education of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Inclusive Education
Inclusion has been a central concern for education systems globally for over three decades. However, has preoccupation with inclusion been at the expense of effective education for children with SEND? Where do policies for inclusion lead, and do they amount to the special education reform that is needed? What do the worldwide experiences of inclusion and special education reveal about how to improve the quality of education systems for all children in the future? How effective is provision for children with SEND today? Through this informative and topical book, Gordon-Gould and Hornby shine an interrogating spotlight on current provision for SEND and ask if current legislation and policy inadvertently reinforce problems; if they cause many children with SEND to fall short of their potential, as well as preventing many schools from improving their levels of overall academic attainment.
Inclusive Education at the Crossroads provides theory and research for teachers, school leaders, governors, policy makers, researchers, parents, post graduate students and anyone seeking practical solutions to meeting the needs of pupils with SEND in any global context. It will encourage open debate about the essence of educational inclusion in order to stimulate creative thinking among all stakeholders.
The contentious issue addressed is how to provide effective education for children with special educational needs and disabilities within the context of ever-increasing international pressure to implement full inclusion, whilst responding to national pressure to raise educational standards. The focus is on theory, research and practice in order to question whether schools are in a position to develop the potential of all children or whether current policies on inclusion could be holding some of them back. Hence, it is considered whether the issue of special needs is the ‘elephant in the classroom’ because of the inability of teachers to effectively provide for the high numbers, wide diversity and complexity of special needs that would be expected in mainstream classrooms under a full inclusion model. This would, without additional support from special education teachers and facilities, doom all attempts at effective inclusion and improvements in overall academic standards.
Book Reviews
A few words from those that have read the book:
So I am completely blown away by your book ! What an incredible amount of material assembled and analysed in such a thorough way! Its taking me some time to go through it, starting with no knowledge of the subject! I have found it easiest to digest all your recommendations and then go back to see the evidence base in each area Its one of those occasions when one is so proud to have such a talented friend!
Other Books of Interest:
Addressing Tensions and Dilemmas in Inclusive Education. Living with uncertainty. Brahm Norwich. (Routledge)
Changing Schools. Perspectives on five years of education reforms. Edited by Robert Peal. John Catt.
Celebrating the Special School. Michael Farrell. David Fulton.
Debating Special Education. Michael Farrell. Routledge.
Education in Britain 1944 to the Present. (Second Edition). Ken Jones. Polity.
Education Exposed. Leading a school in a time of uncertainty. Samuel Strickland. John Catt.
Education, Reform and the State. Twenty-Five Years of Politics, Policy and Practice. Ed. Robert Phillips and John Furlong. Routledge Falmer.
Enabling Inclusion Blue skies…dark clouds? Ed. Tim O’Brien.
ssential Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies: Ensuring Optimal Academic Achievement for Students. (2022) Garry Hornby & Deborah Greaves.
Handbook of Effective Inclusive Elementary Schools. Research and Practice. Ed. James Mcleskey, Fred Spooner, Bob Algozzine and Nancy L. Waldron. Routledge.
Inclusive Special Education. Evidence-Based Practices for Children with Special Needs and Disabilities. Garry Hornby and Deborah Greaves.
Promoting equitable access to education for children and young people with visual impairment: A route-map for a balanced curriculum. McLinden et al. (2022). Routledge.
Parental involvement in childhood education: Building effective school-family partnerships. Hornby, G. (2011). Springer
Special Educational Needs. A New Look. Baroness Mary Warnock and Brahm Norwich. Edited by Lorella Terzi. Continuum International Publishing Group.
Special Education. What It Is and Why We Need It. James M. Kauffman, Daniel P. Hallahan, Paige C. Pullen Jeanmarie Badar. Routledge.
The Perfect SENCO. Updated September 2014 to included the new SEND Code of Practice. Natalie Packer. Edited by Jackie Beere.
Transforming ADHD. Simple, Effective Attention & Action Regulation Skills To help you Focus & Succeed. Greg Crosby and Tonya K. Lippert.
Transforming Behaviour in the Classroom. A solution-focused guide for new teachers. Geoffrey James.
Special Needs and Legal Entitlement. The Essential Guide to Getting out of the Maze. Melinda Nettleton and John Friel.
