Inclusive pedagogy and knowledge in special education: addressing the tension

Abstract

There has been an increasing focus in policy and practice on adopting inclusive pedagogy as a way of reconceptualising how schools work with children with special educational needs (SEN). The paper considers the split between knowledge and pedagogy inherent in some dominant strains of inclusive pedagogy. Drawing on the 'knowledge turn' in curriculum studies, we argue that although an analytical distinction between knowledge and pedagogy may be useful, too strong a delineation between the two fails to best serve the needs of children with special needs. Specific implications for teacher education in relation to SEN in England are considered.

The politics of education policy in England

“…'Making a difference' is the cultural trope enabling modernization, where papers by Mills and Keddie examine this: Mills through looking at the possibilities of how the Co-operative Society might enable public values to be protected and deployed for inclusion, and Keddie through examining how CONNECT as an academy chain focuses on neoliberal values through principal leadership. Both papers give recognition to what has always been evident in the common school: values of caring and inclusivity, and a focus on achievement and aspiration, and these are also reflected in the analysis by Raffo et al (2015), Wilkins (2015), and Mintz and Wyse (2015). The relocation of public education into the market place and the impact this has on children, parents and the profession is running through as a core theme in this research.…”

“…radiate inequality through the cultural emphasis on individuality; for Wilkins (2015) there is only one Lifestyle for a teacher, and hence the neoliberal makeover is one of teacher proofing through best practice; and for Mintz and Wyse (2015) the issue to be confronted is about what happens when the perfect celebrity body and taste cannot even be mimicked by those who are additionally othered through special needs. 'Making a difference' is the cultural trope enabling modernization, where papers by Mills and Keddie examine this: Mills through looking at the possibilities of how the Co-operative Society might enable public values to be protected and deployed for inclusion, and Keddie through examining how CONNECT as an academy chain focuses on neoliberal values through principal leadership.…”

Reflective teaching, inclusive teaching and the teacher’s tasks in the inclusive classroom: a literary investigation

“…It is now a dominant pedagogical approach and a perennial and worldwide topic. Increasingly, inclusive teaching has become the dominant trend in efforts to address students' differences in the classroom (Florian & Linklater, 2010;Florian & Black-Hawkins, 2011;Florian & Spratt, 2013;Mintz & Wyse, 2015;de Boer et al, 2010;Ferguson, 2008).…”

Educational inclusion and critical neuroscience: friends or foes?

“…Le Doux suggests firstly that the world outside affects our inner world in a primary way and secondly that multiple possibilities are then created for the inter-connectedness and interpenetration of our thinking and feeling within -in a vast and complex re-configuration of the cognitive. Notwithstanding the conviction of the research, however, let alone the impressive technological resources involved in neuroscientific research, there is a danger that the knowledge of educators will once again be usurped (Mintz and Wyse 2015) for what teacher would not already have known that a child's learning and behaviour in the classroom are affected by a whole host of external factors? What teacher would not have known that the performance of any child (or adult for that matter) is affected by the way they are feeling in relation to their particular social, cultural or economic circumstances?…”