A special issue of the "British Journal of Sociology of Education" has been devoted to an examination of Disability and Inclusive Education. The authors of the papers in this issue have all made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in these fields of study. Overall, they have provided a comprehensive, valuable…

This article constitutes a short personal tribute to Len Barton in honour of his work and our collegial relationship going back over 30 years. It covers how Len saw his intellectual project of providing critical sociological and political perspectives on special education, disability and inclusion, and his own radical political perspectives. Len's…

This paper raises issues relating to disability and citizenship, especially those concerned with difference, discrimination, power, and the politics of identity. It adopts a social model of disability that is critical of individualized, homogenized, deficit views of people with disabilities and urges an equal opportunities approach in which the…

This monograph on international disability issues offers three main papers giving English, Australian, and New Zealand viewpoints. The first paper is by Len Barton from England and is titled "Disability and the Necessity for a Socio-Political Perspective." Barton attacks the medical model of disability and argues that people with…

The authors trace and critique various thrusts operative in British educational sociology since its beginnings in the 1950s: structural functionalism, school-level analysis, the interactionalist "New Directions" approach, and the Neo-Marxist perspective. They also comment on the place of educational sociology in teacher training. (SJL)

Two university academic administrators discuss tensions between their values and constraints under which they work, suggesting that universities develop a clear understanding of higher education's social purposes in a changing world (commitment to establishing a culture of collegiality that welcomes difference and awareness of the "bigger picture"…

Curriculum differentiation for students with special educational needs is examined in the context of Great Britain's move toward a market system for education and its impact on policy and practice. Issues considered include the vulnerability of particular groups, the ideals of entitlement and empowerment, values inherent in governmental policies,…

Perceptions and attitudes of a group of British primary school teachers toward educational changes and the inclusion of students with disabilities are examined. Teacher frustrations with widespread changes in demands made on them and with increased responsibilities for students with disabilities are noted. (DB)