Inclusion and Human Rights for Special Educational Needs

What does Inclusion mean

Inclusion respects everyone and values them regardless of their backgrounds, identities, abilities, or characteristics. This encourages a mindset of acknowledging and embracing diversity. Everyone has equal access to opportunities, resources, and participation.

Inclusivity goes beyond mere representation or diversity. It fosters a sense of belonging, where people feel accepted for who they are and can contribute their unique perspectives and talents. By law, workplaces, educational institutions, and social settings must act on and support inclusion. By promoting equal rights and opportunities for everyone, inclusion helps to break down barriers, challenge biases and stereotypes, and create a more just and equitable society.

A bit of history

A significant movement established the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948. The UDHR covers 30 articles on basic dignity and liberty, including the right to life, the prohibition of slavery and torture, legal rights, the right to political freedom, and the rights to healthcare and education.

Before the war, the idea of 'Eugenics' became popular. The Germans pursued this with the Jews and other minority groups. In the 'T4 Aktion Program' or the 'T4 Euthanasia Program', those who were disabled and had Learning difficulties disappeared, and 300,000 were euthanised to make their race pure.  

Civil Rights Movement

In 1954, a landmark case, Brown v. the Board, stated that an African American student would go to the next town to school, not her local college. There were separate schools for white and African American students. The student won the U.S. Supreme Court, stating it was going against the 14th Amendment—the 'Equal Protection Clause.' The 'Separate but equal' did not work in the different schools. The inequality in the education system made the African American students feel inferior.

The Civil Rights movement grew in the 60s, showing many minority groups that they could ask for equal citizenship. In 1971, 14 students with disabilities used the Brown v. Board of Education verdict and the 14th Amendment to get an education placement in a mainstream school.

In England 

Education Act 1960This act created 11 categories of Impairment, and thousands of disabled children were placed in junior centres and institutions.

Children and Young Persons Act 1969The Local Education Authority (LEA) is responsible for children not receiving education or those needing care or control.

Education (Handicapped Children) Act 1970 and The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1971. Segregation. This pressed the LEA to improve services for Disabled persons.

The Disability Anti-Discriminatory Movement started.

Over the years, charities, foundations, and Associations have formed to support people with Disabilities and Mental Health. Disabled people took to the streets and made their issues visible. As the civil rights movement gained momentum, other minority groups started to see that they had legal rights and wanted to be supported.

1975 UPIAS - Union of the Physically Impaired against segregationThis group argued that the world was created for those who fitted in. Non-disabled people have excluded those who are disabled.

The Warnock Report

In 1978, a committee investigated the education of children and young people. This was in light of the public unrest concerning the Disability Movement and the transfer of services from hospitals to Local Education Authorities. Institutions and Asylums were outdated and needed to close. A new way of thinking was required to integrate disabled people into employment, which meant educating them. The inquiry aimed to eliminate educational differences between students and those without disabilities.

In 1973, Margaret Thatcher, the Secretary of Education, her counterparts in Scotland and Wales, and the Secretary of State for Social Services and Employment appointed Mary Warnock as Chairperson. 

Areas they looked at

Needs of Learning Difficulties (used to be Handicapped) children under 5 years old Education of Learning Difficulties children in ordinary schools

Day Special Schools and Boarding Provision

The educational and other requirements of school leavers

The summary of recommendations includes 220 items for implementing support and education for those with special educational needs in Mainstream and Special schools.

Many of the recommendations are still valid 40 years later. One suggestion was that the Initial Teacher Training must have a mandatory unit to prepare teachers to teach children with disabilities. Special Educational Needs were included in the Initial Teacher Training in 2016.

UNESCO's Salamanca Statement on Special Education Needs

In 1994, the international community developed a framework for inclusive education and raised awareness as more children with disabilities wanted to access their local schools. Many countries around the world have updated their policies and procedures. While this raised the profile of Special Education Needs, many policies and procedures were not clearly defined.

The Convention Article and accessibility. 

Article 24 of the CRPD

Education explicitly states the right to an inclusive education.

In 2016, the United Nations, via the CRPD committee, further defined Inclusion in education in article 24, stating the right to an education and the steps to achieve it.

In England 

Every Child Matters - 'Green paper' in 2003

Following the death of Victoria Climbie, the failure to protect a vulnerable child, a 'Green Paper' was set out by the Government—a proposal to reform care for vulnerable children. Services are needed to work together. Schools and education, Social Care, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services created a central database to share information. There were five aims.

Be healthy

Stay safe

Enjoy and achieve

Make a positive contribution

Achieve economic well-being.

The Coalition Government changed parts of Every Child Matters in 2010. The focus was said to have remained the same—' Helping the Children to achieve more' was their slogan—but the funding and resources changed.

Special Education Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2004

SEND extended the protection for disabled young people from discrimination in education in mainstream schools, colleges and Universities.

The Lamb Inquiry In 2009

Lord Lamb's inquiry called for 'a radical overhaul' within a report concerning Special Education Needs and parental confidence. The report addressed the low expectations of children and young people with SEND. There has been a failure to deliver what the children and families need. There needs to be 'greater ambition'. He made 51 recommendations.

Parental satisfaction: messages from the research. Main themes:

● Most parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) are satisfied with their child's current school, whether special or mainstream, and favour the current school over an alternative;1,2 

● 85% of parents of children with SEN are satisfied with the current school placement for their child;3 

● Parents of children with SEN are less satisfied with their child's school placement than parents of children who do not have SEN.4 

Where studies showed parents were not happy with either a particular aspect of provision or sometimes the overall type of provision, key factors were: 

● the extent to which the school, teachers and support staff understood the nature of their child's disability or learning difficulty; 

● the willingness of the school to listen to parents' views and respond flexibly to their child's needs.

Equality Act 2010

Many laws have been passed over the past 50 years covering discrimination. The Equality Act consolidated all these laws by defining nine protected characteristics against which one cannot be discriminated against. These are :

Under the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for any education provider, including a private or independent provider, to discriminate between pupils based on disability, race, sex, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, or sex. Discrimination on these grounds (known as “protected characteristics”) is unlawful in relation to prospective pupils (admissions arrangements), pupils at the school, including absent or temporarily excluded pupils, and former pupils who have a continuing relationship with the school.(csie.org.uk/inclusion/equality-act-2010)

Every child has the right to an education according to the Equality Act 2010

This Act requires allowances to accommodate differences with all disabilities, called 'Reasonable Adjustments.' These allow a child to learn to the best of his or her ability without discrimination.

What is a Reasonable Adjustment

The Equality Law sees a need to restructure or change how things are done to achieve equality for a person who is disabled.  By removing barriers or providing extra support, a disabled person can accomplish what needs to be

Children and Families Act 2014

Learning and physical disabilities have complex needs. This act hoped to support families and children and give them a voice. It made accessing care more easily and flexibly for young people and parents.

schools

The Children and Family Act

Children could stay in their foster families until they were 21. A legal duty to take better care of children with medical conditions within mainstream schools. All state schools needed to provide free school meals to Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children. Reforming residential care, improving care for vulnerable children and protecting children from cigarette smoke in cars.