This article traces the evolution of special education in Malaysia across four chronological stages: before and during the early colonial period (before 1900), pre-independence (1900-1957), post-independence (1957-1990) and modern Malaysia (1990 to the present), through document analysis. By placing current issues and trends within a historical…

Oral narrative is a critical skill for school achievement, for personal relationships and for social participation. However, it is downgraded in current and proposed National Curriculum frameworks, which fail to recognise its significance in development. Schools have flexibility to address the issue, which is of particular importance to pupils…

Special Education 2000 (SE2000), New Zealand's first official special education policy, declared the aim of achieving a "world class inclusive education system". It would seem that, by implication at least, the intention of the policy was to achieve full inclusion of all disabled children in mainstream educational settings and thus,…

Although professional standards for Australian teachers were developed several years ago, this country is yet to develop such standards for special education teachers. The lack of standards for the special education profession is associated with the absence of a consistent process of accreditation in Australia and a lack of clarity in the pathways…

This study uses the "Index for Inclusion", developed by Booth and Ainscow, as a framework for investigating inclusive provision in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), introduced through the "School for All" initiative. The study, by Nadera Emran Alborno of the American University in Dubai and Eman Gaad of the British University in…

Despite the paradigm shift globally regarding the adoption of inclusive education, teachers still have varying preconceived misconceptions about its successful implementation and practices in the general education classroom. This qualitative study focused on teachers' perception of adapting inclusive education policies and procedures in The…

It is now 15 years since the signing of the 1998 Belfast (or "Good Friday") Peace Agreement which committed all participants to exclusively democratic and peaceful means of resolving differences, and towards a shared and inclusive society defined by the principles of respect for diversity, equality and the interdependence of people. In…

This article, by Sheila Riddell and Elisabet Weedon of the Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity, University of Edinburgh, analyses recent policy developments and outcomes in the field of additional support needs in Scotland in the context of devolution and austerity, drawing on a critical analysis of policy and administrative…

This article, by Brahm Norwich of the Graduate School of Education, University of Exeter, sets the recent legislative changes in the special education system in England, the Children and Families Act (2014), in the context of wider changes in the school system, such as changes in curriculum-assessment, the governance of schools and inspection…

This article, by Jean Ware of Bangor University School of Education, examines policy developments in education in Wales since devolution, and their implications for inclusive and special education. This is set in the context of the demographics of Wales, which, it is argued, have a significant influence on policy and on the nature of educational…

In the context of rapid policy transformation from segregation to inclusion in the education of children with special educational needs in Ireland, a study was conducted to investigate the interplay between policy and principles of inclusion, resource teachers' and class teachers' interpretations of this and the manner in which policy…

This study examined the concerns of regular secondary school teachers in Delhi, India in order to work with students with disabilities in inclusive education settings. A total of 470 teachers responded to a two-part questionnaire. Part-one of the questionnaire collected information related to personal and professional characteristics of the…

The year 2014 marks an important milestone for the SENCo role. It is the 20-year anniversary of the requirement for schools to have a named person as lead for special educational needs. This article, by Catherine Tissot from the University of Reading, explores the vision of the role as seen in Government guidance and documents and compares this…

The curriculum policies for students with special needs across Australia have been reviewed. The Curriculum Framework in the Australian Capital Territory is used to inform their school based curriculum. The Northern Territory Curriculum Framework describes what learners are expected to achieve and what learners have achieved. The New South Wales…

This article examines the emergence and evolution of New Labour's landmark educational policy; namely that of inclusion. The author, Alan Hodkinson, associate professor at the Centre for Cultural and Disability Studies at Liverpool Hope University, illuminates his conceptual difficulties in attempting to define what inclusion was and what…