Tony Booth has fought for inclusive education all his life, arguing that the labelling of children as "having special educational needs" serves to devalue a group and obscure their diversity. It encourages educational difficulties to be seen primarily in terms of the deficiencies of children thus deflecting attention away from the contextual barriers to learning. In reflecting on the struggle for a democratic, participatory practice that values all students and staff equally he re-affirms not only the central importance of socialist values, but also of the language and legacy of the radical progressive tradition that invites us, once again, to understand the importance of "honesty" and "joy" as they "blink hesitantly under the shadow of managerialist absurdities."