Inclusion

The importance of the inclusion of students with learning disabilities in mainstream schools and colleges has been gaining momentum over the last quarter of a century.

While there has been encouraging research evidence on academic attainment, there is also proof that young people with special educational needs experience greater isolation and marginalisation than those without.

We have been involved in two projects set out to enhance students’ experience of mainstream school and college:

• What About Us? was an action research project carried out in collaboration with the Faculty of Education at Cambridge University. The project explored how students with learning disabilities/ difficulties could feel included in their educational settings by encouraging them to question aspects of their school and college life.

• The Inclusion Assistant was a partnership with the Alliance for Inclusive Education, which examined the role of non-teaching assistants in mainstream education. The project involved students describing their ideal assistant and comparing that to the level of support they currently received.