AN INCLUSION STORY(Exploring aspects of educational inclusion

in Birmingham 1996-2000)

GETHIN LLOYD DAVIES

A thesis presented to the Faculty of Educationof the University of Birmingham

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

School of EducationThe University of Birmingham

July 2001

Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the assistance of many people in a

number of very different settings and I thank them all sincerely for their advice,

wisdom and for bearing with my idiosyncrasies.

In the fieldwork part of the study I was indebted to the Headteachers and the staff of

all the schools I visited, whether this was for a single visit or as a participant

observer. Their ability to cope with the extra demands my questions imposed was

inspirational.

In the middle of the research I was particularly guided by the experiences of all the

young people who became part of the Second City Second Chance initiative as well

as the two individuals who I came to know as Danielle and Dana. All these young

people will remembered as having breathed life into my work.

Finally my most sincere thanks go to both my supervisor, for her advice and

leadership of our Research Group, and to Judith Davies for the onerous task of

editing this work and advising on the final presentation.

AN INCLUSION STORY

CONTENTS Page

Introduction 1

Chapter One The Scene 11

Chapter Two Madness in the Method 32Chapter Three A Beginning, a Middle and no End in Sight 50

Chapter Four Danielle and Dana 72

Chapter Five Courtly Green 92

Chapter Six St Edna’s and Lowlands High 116

Chapter Seven Five Houses 135

Chapter Eight Second City Action 157

Chapter Nine Endgame; Funnelling–In 186

Appendices

A; Appendices List, Synopses Compiled and Abbreviations Used 227

B; References (and Other Sources) Lists 233

C; Author's Curriculum Vitae and Values Statement 254

D; Maps and Tools (Materials and Instruments used including 261original Matched Study Plan and Initial Research Questions)

E; Sample Fieldwork Data and Audit Report 269

F; LEA and School Information 277

G; Other Background Materials 278

Footnotes Synopses are presented at the beginning of each chapter Footnotes are used (indicated thus; (4) and presented at the end of each Chapter). Field Note extracts are presented thus; A12, B77 Chapter Subheadings are presented at the beginning of each chapter

INTRODUCTION

This story-study is an exploration of the ways in which the practice of educational Inclusion, and the understanding surrounding it, developed in the Birmingham area from 1996 to 2000. The exploration is recounted as a narrative and starts with a dedication to some of the remarkable students whom the researcher met during a four-year attempt at understanding inclusionary changes in schools. I was lucky enough to be able to work in a number of such schools as they became more inclusive of a wider range of individuals.

Contents;

Dedication

The Evolution of the Research Questions

The Initial Methodology

Story as Research

What Sort of Knowledge?

An Accessible Writing System

Participant Storying

Validity

Dedication

Many school students helped and inspired me to complete this investigation. Dana, a

profoundly hearing-impaired young woman, and the (now hundreds) of students

working as Valued Youth Tutors in the Valued Youth Programme of Second City

Second Chance deserve unstinted admiration. These latter young people helped to

create part of this story as they allowed the exploration of the most difficult Inclusion

question; how do we include those students with behavioural and emotional

difficulties?

1

In terms of the struggle of challenged students everywhere I am deeply indebted to

the student referred to in Chapter Four as Danielle. Danielle suffered from Spina

Bifida and, tragically, died during a routine operation on 1.10.98- at the beginning of

her year 8 at the school known in this study as Five Houses. She was, at the time,

the only student in a wheelchair at the school and all those who came into contact

with her will always remember her vivacious approach to life and the ease with which

she faced very great difficulties. She was someone who simply wanted to be

regarded as an ordinary school student; different but equal.

The Evolution of the Research Questions;

The research started as an investigation of the meanings and operation of "Inclusion"

as a phrase and set of actions. I was interested in why the word was becoming used

and what it meant in action and I wished to develop my understanding in a rigorous

way, using the experience as a part of my personal development. I took advice and,

having completed an MPhil in educational research at an earlier stage in my career,

set out upon the PhD trail. After much consideration and discussion the starting

research question became;

“What interpretations and operations of Inclusion are to be found in Birmingham?”

Notably this question was more positivistic than the final range of questions which

this study covered by the time it was completed five (part-time) years later.

In terms of geographical location the study became focussed, under the influence of

a number of factors, on five schools in Birmingham whose interpretations and

explanations could be compared. In retrospect, the part-time nature of the study was

advantageous, in that it enabled changes over a five-year period to be observed.

2

During this period I initiated a charity with inclusionary aims (Second City Second

Chance; SCSC). Since both the research and SCSC were part of my personal

development, it became clear that an analysis of how my experience in the case

study schools influenced my work for SCSC would also be a part of the research

process. My thinking and personal development were themselves integral parts of the

research process and I felt that they were worth recording and analysing.

At the point in the whole journey when, for the sake of reporting, this account had to

be written, the central question had evolved to become several;

What understandings do the key operators have of the Inclusion process?

How are the lessons from one Inclusion experience transferred to another?

Why is this all happening at this time anyway?

How did all the above questions influence my development and the growth and

direction of SCSC?

This evolutionary process is described in more detail in Chapters One and Two, but it

should be noted that the research question evolved from one which concerned end

products to one of process and ethos. As a consequence the relevant research tools

changed; initial interviewing and collection of written evidence gave way to

ethnographic work in the schools and an introspective "storying" of all of the

developments, including the evolution of SCSC.

The Initial Methodology

The study began with an emphasis on investigation using a methodology that

included structured interviews with key LEA/school personnel and even

contemplation of a matched study of one initiative using a comparison school. Those

3

mechanisms, however relevant at the beginning of the period of investigation,

changed or evolved over time and the matched study was abandoned because of the

change in the nature of the research questions described above. As a result, the

obvious and congruent way of reporting the study also changed and the main vehicle

became a story of values and experiences that could analyse a very complex field. I

developed the belief, supported by contemporary research literature (1), that telling the

story was the most valid way of portraying the understandings that developed during

the study.

Story as Research

While I came to this view independently, it was interesting to discover the parallels in

other fields where understanding was the main focus. I began by wanting to know

Who/ What? and When? about Inclusion but arrived at Why? towards the end of my

study. At a philosophical level I became fascinated by the debate about the

differences between research in Natural Sciences and that in Social Science. I was

concerned to make clear my understandings as a researcher/writer after the

challenges of the field and to make my learnings useful in an accessible format. This

had been argued for by many others, for example Douglas Foley in Shacklock and

Smyth;

"…notions of an authoritative, formal, objective language, die hard. Many practitioners still believe that scientific narratives must be written in as abstract and formalistic a language as possible. Such narratives must be organised around a series of second order abstractions that characterise, compare and classify the lived experience being observed. More importantly, such texts must not drift into the vortex of ordinary connotative, personal, expressive language and its endless forms of linguistic play. As Michael Foucault (1972) notes, there really is no author in academic writing. There are only authoritative discourses and their discursive regimes. Many of these authoritative discourses emerge from new academic disciplines that form a vast new social surveillance apparatus. Moreover, if we adopt Bourdieu's view of academia as the site of bourgeois taste cultures, academics are the new professional middle class of cultural

4

workers (Ehrenreich 1989). Even allegedly 'radical scholars' who break with their ideological role as scientific surveillance expert do not necessarily eschew the academic culture and its preferred discourse style. Many such scholars continue to ply the aesthetics, language games, and form of literacy that they mastered as graduate students and untenured assistant professors. Despite recent experimentation, most academic writers still convey their lived experience in the vastly impoverished aesthetics and deferential forms of a bourgeois academic discourse."

(p.111)

What Sort of Knowledge?

Philosopher Anthony Flew in 1979 described three types of knowledge;

"Knowledge that…. Factual knowledge"

"Knowledge how… Practical knowledge"

"Knowledge of…….Knowledge of people and places"

My study began with an emphasis on the first two and ended with a concentration on

the last with an emphasis on the motives and understandings of the fascinating

people I met. I hope that the resulting story allows for the possibility that the

understanding and knowledge I gained will do more than stand on a shelf alongside

other PhDs. I wanted to make my research useful to others, believing with Barton and

others that there is a moral imperative so to do (2). I hope that the understanding that I

incorporated into SCSC (as it developed under the influence of my parallel research

work) will thereby also become accessible to other practitioners.

In making my work accessible as a story the following mechanisms seemed

congruent and appropriate;

5

An Accessible Writing System

Footnotes which did not interrupt the flow of the story seemed a "best fit” in terms of

the aim of the study (and the exhortations of Barton (op. cit.) and others). The use of

referencing with no detail in the text (e.g. Jones 1999, Beaver 2000 etc.) did not

seem helpful and I came to believe that references would be of most use if they

allowed the reader to interact directly with the work being quoted. Similarly, if

information from someone else was relevant, then it seemed appropriate to include it

either in the text or in the footnotes as far as possible. A separate Literature Review

was therefore felt to be an inappropriate mechanism. This ensured that all relevant

developments in the field were referred to, and that my discoveries in the literature

were available for direct scrutiny.

For ease of access to the whole story, each chapter is preceded by a synopsis and

all of these are collated in Appendix A. Sample extracts from Field Notes, Personal

Journal and school/LEA documentation are presented in Appendices E, F and G.

Participant Storying.

My active participation in a number of the situations in the study “gave life” to the

potential story that was unfolding. This was particularly the case when I analysed the

development of SCSC as it evolved from my research experiences; I later came to

describe this as "emergence", as I came to analyse it following my understanding of

Chaos Theory as applied to social situations.

As I moved from investigational study into action and application, via SCSC in

particular, my work in the schools began to stagnate, except where I was also

6

involved with a school in an SCSC initiative. As the study matured to this late stage, I

came to believe, like May (Shacklock and Smyth 1999) that;

"After all, an external researcher where time in the school is invariably limited cannot hope to shape the educational agenda in the same way as an ongoing participant"

(p.166)

I began the research with the intention of mapping out developments and had no

intention of intervention or assistance to the schools. Indeed, at that time, I would not

have known how I could possibly have been of use! I became, though, an "ongoing

participant" within the development of SCSC and was then able to contrast and

compare my experience there with that as a "external researcher" in schools. My

SCSC involvement was of a different intensity to that in the schools, even though I

became very well known, accepted and used in all of these. This challenged my

understanding of validity - was my intense study of a small number of cases going to

be reliable and useful as well as valid? It eventually became important to think of the

validity-reliability issue in the following ways;

Validity;

I was led to think, during the study, about different interpretations of validity. There

appeared, for example, to be a continuum from objective to subjective validity.

Carspecken and Macgillivray (1999) refer to the following useful definitions of the

extremes of the range. They see Objective Validity as structured by "multiple

access" (many cases, cross-checking possible) and Subjective Validity as about

privileged access and where cross-checking is either not possible or would not make

sense anyway. They also think that there is a;

7

"Normative/evaluative validity structured by the most rudimentary forms of inter-subjectivity".

(“Raising Consciousness about Reflection, Validity and Meaning” in Shacklock and Smyth 1999 p. 184).

Interestingly, I always felt pressured by the PhD process into reaching for "proof" of

objectivity. This was as if educational research had not escaped from the influence of

natural and physical science and moved to a situation where its most crucial

questions are best answered with congruent methodologies and appropriate

reporting systems (or, where appropriate, a mixed methodology as used to produce

this story).

Since my research question was about the values in Inclusion (who valued what and

why?), it was reassuring to be reminded by Bauman that we should not be swayed

from congruence. After all, as he put it, the pressure is always on for;

"…contemporary intellectuals …(to)…stick unswervingly to the Western injunction of keeping the poetry of values away from the prose of bureaucratically useful expertise".

(p. 16-17 quoted in Jarvis 1999 p. 167)

For me, the values espoused by the individuals and organisations that I encountered

were central; it appeared likely at the outset that it was these and not rhetoric or

governance that was furthering Inclusion.

The story told in the following chapters, then, unfolds from the learning process that I

went through, and reports the story from my own perspective. Triangulation and

referral to evidence collected from the friends I made in the process is made where

this is relevant and appropriate.

8

The story demonstrates, in particular through the Chapter ‘Second City Action’, that it

is the combination of the "Poetry of Values" with "What works" (the "bureaucratically

useful expertise") that can make a difference. The former would appear to be useless

without the latter and the latter sterile and potentially misleading without the former. It

would appear to be immoral not to act and Durkheim has a useful definition of

morality in this context (3).

The study incorporates action research, comparative case studies and ethnography,

at appropriate times and for different parts of the whole Inclusion question. However

it is Action Research that is at the heart of the methodology, with a fundamental aim

of this process being;

"…to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge. The production and utilisation of knowledge is subordinate to, and conditioned by, this fundamental aim".

(Elliott 1989 p.4.)

Chapters One and Two explore the methodological issues in depth, while the Case

Study Chapters describe Action Research findings. Elliott's "utilisation of knowledge"

is apparent in the Chapter ‘Second City Action’ in particular, although it will be clear

to the reader that my work was also part of the background to changes at the school

known as Five Houses. Subsequent to this research Five Houses and St Edna's

became very involved in the refinement of the inclusionary programmes developed

by SCSC.

Footnotes

1 In "On Writing Qualitative Research, Living by Words", Margaret Ely and collaborators detail a large number of studies where the story has been the appropriate way of conveying the message. In this Inclusion story, to parallel the words of Marshall McLuhan; "the medium is the message".

9

2 Len Barton argues the moral imperative for action in his book with Peter Clough (1995). He suggest three questions (in his Conclusion, entitled “Many Urgent Voices”);

"What responsibilities arise from the privileges I have as a result of my social position?""How can I use my knowledge and skills to challenge, for example, the forms of oppression disabled people experience?"

and "Does my writing and speaking reproduce a system of domination or challenge that system?"

He also talks of the following, each being of relevance in the current study; The Researcher as Learner The Researcher as Teacher The Researcher as Subject

3 Hargreaves (1982 p.107) quotes Durkheim (1933);

"Everything which is a source of solidarity is moral, everything which forces man to take account of other men is moral, everything which forces him to regulate his conduct through something other than the striving

of his own ego is moral, and morality is as solid as these ties are numerous and strong"

10

CHAPTER ONE

THE SCENE

Synopsis

This chapter examines in detail the setting in which the researcher operated and ways in which practitioners have interpreted "Inclusion" or operated to produce it. The research process is described as having much in common with non- "deliberation-mode" thinking (as in ‘Hare Brain Tortoise Mind’ by Guy Claxton, 1997). The latter process was aided by the fact that the study was carried out over a four-year period on a part-time basis, leaving scope for reflection and the opportunity to observe changes over a significant period of time.

The reasons for presenting the research as an accessible narrative of the struggle of the researcher are presented. The research is described as an effort to create an understanding of the Inclusion issue as it was experienced over the period of the study by a variety of actors. Because of the timescale I was able to examine how political and personal perspectives on the research question changed, and I have been able to gain a greater insight into the processes behind these changes. The thinking of Teilhard De Chardin, Guy Claxton, M. Mitchell Waldrop and Carol Taylor- FitzGibbon is used to develop the threads of theory that evolved in the process.

Writing in narrative form is used here as a way of harnessing the power of the story to create in the reader a picture that is bigger and more revealing than the sum of the parts. I argue that researchers who "story" follow in the wake of the well-accepted figures in English Literature whose vision is much the same; to explore and uncover understandings.

Contents;

The Research SceneThe Birmingham SceneThe Reporting SceneThe Definition SceneThe Fieldwork SceneThe Theory SceneThe Philosophical SceneThe Case Study SceneThe Final Scene

11

The Research Scene

In telling the story of this research into Inclusivity, I aim to convey the actualities of

the scene covered during five years part-time fieldwork in the city of Birmingham. The

narrative refers to appropriate sources, anecdotes and literature in footnotes so that

the flow is interrupted as little as possible. Through its external and internal validity, I

aimed to clarify the issues surrounding the idea and practice of Inclusion, giving a

number of “grounded” or practical references of which any reader can make use.

Just as in advertising, such research can argue that "The Medium is the Message"

(Marshall McLuhan); the research described in future chapters was always

interactive, even at the point of writing, as Garman suggests it should be (in

Shacklock and Smyth 1998 p.516, quoting Laurel Richardson 1994);

"Although we usually think about writing as a mode of "telling" about the social world, writing is not just a mopping-up activity at the end of a research project. Writing is also a way of "knowing" - a method of discovery and analysis. By writing in different ways, we discover new aspects of our topic and our relationship to it. Form and content are inseparable."

(p.130)

The research scene was, then, always fluid, but my “message” is in the way I have

written this snapshot of some valuable experiences during a stimulating research

journey.

The Birmingham Scene

The inclusion scene in Birmingham at the time of the start of this research was one

where;

a large number of specific, and usually small, special schools existed in remote

locations from the mainstream schools. These catered for a very large proportion

12

of students as a percentage of the population, giving Birmingham one of the

largest such populations among LEAs. (This is reflected in the fact that, in

Birmingham in the period in question, around 30% of those students with

Statements of SEN were in mainstream schools, while the national figure was

above 40%). (A54)

there were occasional campuses of special schools catering for a range of

different challenges.

a newly appointed Chief Education Officer (Professor Tim Brighouse) established

a commitment to review the above and espoused a personal vision of Inclusion,

a range of new officers were appointed in the context of the vision of the CEO.

the role of the LEA was diminishing and the proportion of LEA work which was

spent on SEN work (always retained at the LEA level by the government) was

therefore increasing.

in Birmingham, the Deputy CEO reported that there were 2.78 % of students with

a Statement (compared with 2.71% nationally). (A 54).

The political and social scene changed significantly over the period of the study, the

Code of Practice for SEN was substantially reviewed, the DfEE issued an Inclusion

Index and a CD ROM of good practice (1) and the word “Inclusion” became a

touchstone rather than a concept. The New Labour government which came to power

in the middle of the research process enshrined Inclusion within education policy,

even establishing a Social Exclusion Unit attached to the Office of the Prime Minister.

13

The Reporting Scene

The development of the ideas and strategies is reflected in the structure of this

dissertation, in the use of footnotes to expand the argument or to show the relevance

of the material. References are used in full within the footnotes, leaving aside simple

quotation of author and date, following Bassey (1999) who advises;

"…genuflection (ritualistic citing of the founding parents of theory), sandbagging (adding to a statement inert defences - in the form of unqualified literature citations - to make it look more secure) and kingmaking (giving undue authority to someone by citing unresearched utterances)".

(p.6)

My case work evolved from a personal interest in the ways in which schools were

individually, and sometimes collectively, moving towards a situation where students

of all abilities and needs could be catered for at their local school. This effectively

defines Inclusivity in one particular way, a definition which originally drove this

enquiry and led to this story. I moved gradually away from wanting to report on the

scene towards analysing why this was all happening.

The Definition Scene

The definition of Inclusion referred to in the preceding paragraph happens to be the

pragmatic definition adopted by the Birmingham LEA (2) and best describes the efforts

at Five Houses, one of four schools with which I was privileged to work. Danielle, a

student at Five Houses (FH), was accepted as the first wheelchair user at the school

and her story initiates this dissertation, identifying in the process many of the tensions

and problems in the field. I have referred to this definition of Inclusivity as the ‘Local

School Definition’. It worried me that, during the course of the study, there was an

increasing misunderstanding of the complexity of the issues involved in this sphere of

education, despite the rhetoric and the rise in the number of related publications at

14

the time. This misunderstanding is illustrated in the end-piece of an article by Gary

Hornby in the NASEN publication “Support for Learning” (Vol. 14 No. 4 1999);

"Therefore the conclusion of this analysis is that policies of working towards including all children with SEN in mainstream schools and classes should be abandoned. Instead, the level of inclusion, either locational, social or functional, should be decided on the needs of each individual child and the exigencies of each situation. Once the necessity for this is accepted, then the focus of special educators can return to that of meeting the individual needs of children with SEN rather than attempting to make "one size fits all"

(p.157).

As an educator, I felt this to be a disturbingly narrow vision of the scene and I wanted

to investigate to what extent the view espoused so vehemently by Hornby and others

(usually those who saw themselves as "Special Educators") was shared. I was also

interested in the extent to which the answer to the question posed by Hornby was

similar to that of John Moore in the same edition of Support For Learning;

"One view is that inclusive education starts with radical school reform, changing the existing system and rethinking the entire curriculum of the school in order to meet the needs of all children. It is also taken to mean education in an ordinary class in the neighbourhood school that a child would normally attend, with support as needed… In contrast integration does not necessarily assume such a radical process of school reform. Children may receive a modified or adapted curriculum but have to fit into existing structures"

(p.174)

This labelling of "SEN" pupils and a concentration on a "medical model" disturbed me

since it seemed obvious that Inclusion was surely a moral issue for all children; a real

part of what, later in the time of the study, became called Citizenship Education by

the government of the day.

Other, competing, definitions of Inclusivity include the “Integration Definition” and the

“Human Rights Definition”. While these dimensions of Inclusivity are explored in

Chapter Nine, it should be noted here that the latter definition refers to the need to

build an inclusive society and the rights and responsibilities involved therein. The

latter includes the right of students to be educated together with students of all

15

abilities and not to be educated in a false environment that will not equip them for real

life in the 21st century. Tony Booth referred to this in 1995;

"For me, integration (read "inclusion") is the process of increasing the participation in their school and communities of people subjected to exclusionary pressures and practices"

(p.101).

However, as late as 1999, there was still confusion among LEAs, as is clearly shown

in a DfEE Report commissioned from Ainscow and Farrell et al;

" …there remains confusion about what is meant by inclusion in relation to educational provision. Often this is seen as simply involving a move of students from special to mainstream schools, with the implication that they are "included" once they are there. However, the evidence suggest that when such students come into the mainstream from special schools they often remain relatively isolated."

(p.1.)

This last study goes on to recommend Inclusion;

" …as a never ending process…dependent upon continuous pedagogical and organisational development in response to pupil diversity."

(p.2)

The Integration definition, however, equates Inclusion with Integration. Integration

means the placing of a previously segregated person into the mainstream from which

he /she was previously excluded and in this analysis no really significant change is

envisaged in the systems of the receiving situation. This is, though, the major

definition used by parents who push for their offspring to be accepted within a

mainstream school. (Many parents who gain access to the Special Needs

Conference on the Internet make reference to this approach). I learned to expand this

range of definitions as my fieldwork progressed.

16

The Fieldwork Scene

The Integration definition of Inclusion probably best describes the situation in which

Dana from Courtly Green School (CG) found herself. As a profoundly deaf student

she was “integrated” into the secondary school via a Hearing-Impaired Resource

Base (HIRBY) which was one of only two in the city of Birmingham. Her story

complements that of Danielle in Chapter One and contributes to the picture of the

situation found at Courtly Green (CG), and described in Chapter Four. Danielle’s

story brings out clearly, particularly when amplified by that of Dana, the tensions in

this area of development; many of which do not have solutions and result in dynamic

equilibria between conflicting forces.

I came across many interpretations of Inclusion which I have I analysed as

"Dimensions" in Chapter Nine. However the fundamental issues appeared to be a

major gap between those who saw Inclusion as a new word for Integration (putting an

"excluded" person into an unchanged context but with specialist support), and those

who believed in the mantra "Excellence for All" (3). The latter position promotes the

necessity of changing educational practices so as to benefit all students. This supprts

the view that Inclusive education is really about all students and that all participants

gain by having a comprehensive range of people present in their educational settings

(though commentators vary on whether this means a comprehensive range of

student abilities in every single classroom). The whole debate around raising

standards of achievement moved to the absolute centre of educational thinking half

way through this study when a different government took office in the UK, declaring

as it's priorities; "Education, Education and Education".

17

The numbers of Special Schools continued to fall during the period of this study and

their apologists appeared to be refuting the Human Rights argument mainly because

they saw the whole segregated process as something "for the special child" (my

emphasis); they did not see Inclusion as an argument for the benefit of all pupils.

Those who saw that reconciling more inclusive educational settings with higher

academic standards would be very difficult even argued to replace the term

"mainstream inclusion" (although this term is not often used) with "educational

inclusion" (see for example Farrell in BJSE March 2000).

The very wide range of interpretations of Inclusion encountered over the years of the

study is reflected in the choice of schools to be the subject of an in-depth “snapshot”

illustrating the views of the main "players" therein. This allowed the analysis in my

final Chapter to be as comprehensive as possible. In this analysis I also looked at the

situation outside Birmingham and became aware of the continental differences

regarding Inclusion (see O'Hanlon 1995, Johnstone and Warwick 1999 Clark and

Dyson et al 1995). Johnstone and Warwick point out that the “Local School

Definition” implies major shifts in thinking and the involvement of many more

agencies than the school alone. O’Hanlon, in describing the far-sighted Danish

scene, restated their four guiding principles (outlined as early as 1959). These came

to have great resonance with me despite the fact that they were to found within the

anachronistically-named “Care of the Mentally Deficient” (sic) law;

Proximity; assistance should be offered as near to the students homes as possible

Minimum Interference; " A child should not receive any more help than absolutely necessary to overcome his/her handicap"

Efficiency; the preparation of efficient situations in which the structures for the child are worked out so that the handicap can be surmounted

Human Rights; the right is to full participation.

18

Two other schools; St Edna’s (SE) and Lowlands High (LH), were used in this study

in order to explore the range of explanations for the increase in Inclusivity, or at least

the talk about it and these are discussed in Chapter Five. The process by which I

worked could be described as a phenomenological stance since I shared the belief

that;

" …one of the goals of phenomenological research is to effectively communicate "the other's" way of seeing things" …

(Barritt, Beekman, Bleeker and Muldeij (1983) quoted by Jean McPhail 1995)

The fieldwork situation developed under the various influences of time, access and

hypotheses (see Chapters Eight and Nine for particular aspects of the history and

development of the fieldwork) and the tensions and problems in the work of schools

towards a more Inclusive approach, however defined, became ever clearer. The

study became as much an examination of these tensions as it was of the

development of myself as and of my ideas. My approach seemed to parallel that of

phenomenologists like Hesserl who believed that;

"..through the collection of carefully selected individual cases in which consciousness becomes revealed, a systematic knowing of the ways human beings construct meaning could be elaborated."

(Quoted by McPhail 1995 p.163.)

The Theory Scene

I came to the process of Case Study as a research tool from a background of a first

degree in Science and a MPhil in Educational Research. However, despite the latter,

it was still difficult at personal and practical levels, to ensure that the "cases" I

studied produced information relevant to my research questions.

19

The story is, then, about how I proceeded, using ideas from a number of disciplines

to assist me in my analysis. By building on a basis provided by Complexity Theory

and the thinking of FitzGibbon (4) and Waldrop (5), after four years of study in a great

variety of contexts I postulated that developments such as Inclusivity are “emergent

happenings”. These, argues Mitchell Waldrop (following Chaos Theory), are incidents

which occur when complex bounded systems are left to settle and there is feedback

between the “cells” of the system. The events I observed during my study appeared

not to be the product of design, but rather the accidental happenings typical of those

described in the Theory of Increasing Returns (6) associated with Emergence. Such

emergence, I came to believe, is a consequence of a fluid, post-modern, world where

schools and individuals act as the cells in a complex, interactive system. Emergent

“happenings” appear to run counter to the standard "regression to the mean" and the

repression of initiative by systematic forces.

The schools I studied, constrained in so many other ways in the current educational

world, seemed to influence one another to produce an effect which was greater than

the sum of their individual efforts. These efforts can be viewed as the “Butterflies” of

Chaos Theory (i.e. the “cells” involved in a complex system exhibiting emergent

behaviour) and, on the basis of my studies, it is argued that they have greater

influence than could be inferred from their size. I therefore hoped to be instrumental

in making the SEN Butterflies known to more schools and interested individuals and,

at the same time, to have fulfilled the personal and ethical goal of influencing practice

through research. In the same way I aimed to portray the extent to which my own

"fore-structures” influenced my thinking and action. Heidegger (1931/1962) and

others (particularly recent sociologists) have argued that our own consciousness

20

should, in itself, even become an area of enquiry and Heidegger suggested that out

"fore-structures" influence all our actions so much that;

"Entering into the hermeneutic circle of inquiry by making ourselves a study, as well as those we are engaged with, could infuse a freshness and honesty to the field of special education"

(quoted in McPhail 1995 p.165)

I hoped that, as well as being a collection of Butterflies in its own right, my study

might influence the direction of happenings in the educational world. I believed that,

while emergent/complex systems in general have no system of ethics, this study

does. In my study I was accepting that I had a set of values and beliefs that were

going to influence both my focus and my methodology; I wanted to see society move

Inclusion forward for “Human Rights” reasons. The resultant study-story therefore is

about how the schools and professionals I observed working in a "messy" world,

appear to be driving the development of the educational scene from within, ignoring

great internal, as well as external, exclusionary forces.

The Philosophical Scene

Another philosophical construct on which this study draws is Critical Theory. The AR

(Action Research) schools involved me to varying degrees in questioning their

developmental work and the dialogue and dialectic that occurred in each of the four

sites was the fulcrum of my work. This process was more than a simple exchange of

views, it was a two-way process, particularly at St. Edna's and at Five Houses, and it

involved synthesis and the building of understandings. The degree to which dialogue

leading to synthesis was possible varied enormously across the schools involved;

one site chose to engage with me at only a verbal level, while two involved me in

critical action which was crucial in developing their thinking as well as formulating the

ideas presented in this thesis. In this involvement I, as my own persona (as distinct

21

from a researcher), became pivotal to the last AR "site" of interest in this study; the

creation of what is now a major Birmingham charity (Second City Second Chance).

An unmissable opportunity was thereby created to utilise the understandings from the

rest of the research in the support of students traditionally "excluded"; those with

emotional and behavioural challenges or differences. The latter definition of “EBD”

students (with whom mainstream schools find it most difficult to cope) was

interestingly subverted during the latter stage of the fieldwork; I came to hear more

use of the term “Emotional and Behavioural Differences” and less use of “Emotional

and Behavioural Disorders”!

A classically written dissertation would offer the “answers", the “exploration”, the

“theory” and “worldviews” or explanatory theories in a strictly logical order. In

“storying” this current research I ask the reader to become invloved in developing and

exploring Inclusion, examining, as the story unfolds, the dialogue and/or the action

research, the understandings of the actors involved and possible areas for further

investigation. It is hoped the reader will become involved in the “complexity” of the

field situation through the narrative process and the way in which the chapters (or

mini-stories) evolve and are constructed. The story demonstrates the changes in the

thinking of the researcher as well as changes at the research sites and it culminates

in an analysis of the observed dimensions of Inclusion (see Chapter Nine; Endgame).

The Case Study Scene

Case Studies were chosen as the starting point for this study in the belief that this

gave scope for Action Research. As Chapter Four demonstrates, I was looking for

ways in which I could play a part in constructing a more inclusive educational world.

This led me, after taking the starting advice of a number of professionals in the field,

22

to explore the existing scene. At the beginning, I defined the work as an attempt to

"look at" and to describe the situation. Hopefully, the reader will see that, as I became

involved in the schools, this detached perspective became impossible and, indeed,

philosophically untenable. The work and ideas involved in the study led to a

significant “emergent” happening; the institution of an Organisation with inclusivity at

its heart and with myself as the instigator and Director. The Charitable Trust, Second

City Second Chance (SCSC) was designed during the period of this study and is

linked directly to the ideas involved herein. The history and development of this

organisation, which attempts to help schools reduce the exclusion rate of young

people with behavioural and emotional difficulties, is given in Chapter Seven and the

SCSC account forms part of the current story for two reasons. Firstly it represented

another "site", but as an organisation and not a physical institution, in which to recruit

data about Inclusion. Secondly, it demonstrated aptly the “emergence" hypothesis

because it was formed at a time of chaos in the educational world and was

constructed from “cells” (this time actors or people) which were interacting with one

another (feedback). It was, and still is, a unique organisation from both perspectives.

This development is "storied" in order to analyse how this happened and how I, as a

researcher, unpacked what was learnt from the school sites and, in dialectical

fashion, created something that "worked" to enhance Inclusion at two of the five

original schools.

While the “action" continues, including work with some of the AR schools and the

evolution of SCSC, the current document is necessarily, to some extent, a “snapshot”

of the inclusivity scene as it is perceived at the time of writing and it reflects,

particularly, the perspective of the participating schools and that of SCSC. In learning

from this research, SCSC has taken a stance which echoes what was written so

23

feelingly into the Salamanca Statement, of which we are often reminded by US

authors (for example Lipsky, and Gartner 1996);

"Inclusion and Participation are essential to human dignity and to the enjoyment and exercise of human rights. Within the field of education, this is reflected in the development of strategies that seek to bring about a genuine equalisation of opportunity"

(UNESCO 1994 p.11)

The issues central to Inclusivity remain fairly constant and constitute the part of the

story at the centre of the analysis in Chapter Nine. This analysis attempts to hold all

the issues and tensions together in one framework. It includes not only an overview

of the tensions and problems in Inclusivity, but also an analysis and discussion of the

research issues brought about by the choices involved in the present research style.

The author hoped that this style would be one that was genuinely investigative and

dialectic while proceeding from the moral position described in the Introduction. This

ethic means that the researcher has a moral obligation to be involved in constructive

change within the fieldwork whereas any pre-determined study would be bound to

ignore the fundamental moving forces behind societal change; the feelings and

ideologies of the actors in the field. For these reasons I therefore evolved a

continually reflexive study.

As a consequence, the interpretation of Inclusion to which I worked changed over the

period of fieldwork and my Action Research position varied within and between the

initial AR sites. The reasons for choosing those initial sites are described in later

chapters, as are the reasons behind the fact that one of the sites chose me! The

issue of Rights, for the "challenged" as well as for all pupils to be educated in realistic

settings, increased in prominence over the period of my research, as in the example

described in Lindsay 1997; "Values, Rights and Dilemmas". This therefore became a

difficult aspect of the study to report.

24

In describing and justifying a Critical Theory-based (or reflexive) methodology in this

work, I am aware that there are competing worldviews that might give different

analyses of the situations in the fieldwork schools. Indeed a classical Marxist

perspective might describe this investigation as simply compounding the problems of

disadvantaged populations, using valuable resources, time and effort with a very

small gain. Such an analysis would see the disadvantaged as no better off for a more

accurate description of their situation unless others applied resources in a positively

discriminating way as a direct result of the work. While I agree to some extent with

that analysis, the justification for the current Action Research is that it clearly assisted

schools in their work towards understanding what they were doing and, to differing

degrees, actually helped people to change the situation as the dialectic continued. No

“absolute” methodology could have allowed this to happen since within such an

approach the ground rules are fixed, by definition, at the outset and therefore a

determinist approach would have been incongruous, to say the least.

Final Scene

My study moved gradually away from thinking about subjects such as the changes in

numbers of pupils in special schools towards more in-depth analyses of cases. It was

interesting, however, to note that the CSIE (which changed its name to the Centre for

the Study of Inclusivity in Education during my study) demonstrated that the number

of statements of SEN allocated generally decreased over the period. I became less

interested in the reduction in the number of Special Schools themselves (TES 1999)

and more concerned about high levels of exclusion from school, because I came to

see the group of students usually excluded as the pivotal test case for a system with

real inclusionary aims. While there are current internal and external doubts about the

25

way CSIE data is collected - because of the differences in definition of schools and

SEN in different areas of the country - the trends were clear. The study culminates in

an investigation of specific schools and of SCSC, which sites were chosen to

illuminate for myself how teachers and managers in schools viewed these

developments, how they interpreted the word "Inclusion", and how all this affected my

own thinking and development (see Chapter Eight; Second City Action). In this

process I was affected by the arguments presented by O'Hanlon in her BERJ (1994)

article; "Reflection and Action in Research; is there a moral responsibility to act?" My

answer to her question was affirmative; there was no other moral alternative. I put my

understanding and learning of facts and skills to use in assisting the schools who had

been good enough to allow me to be a part of their development.

The narrative describes, and attempts to analyse, how I became (almost inextricably)

involved in depth in three of the sites, changing and acting alongside teachers and

managers in those sites. This personal dimension is well expressed by Bayliss in

1995 when he talked of the necessity of involving teachers in a real way in the

process of change; I hope I contributed to this “involvement” through my research

activities;

"…the involvement of teachers in educational change is vital to its success, especially if the change is complex and is to affect many settings over long periods of time (quoting Hargreaves 1994, p.11). The personal dimension is concerned with teacher's own understandings, desires and capacities for change. Unless teachers, as a group, adopt practices which sustain "effectiveness for all", they will have to be coerced or compelled to maintain a position which will become increasingly untenable. If the surface rhetoric of effectiveness for all fails to achieve a deeper, more fundamental level of change, effectiveness will remain a chimera.

(p.171)

Because of the methodological evolution in my study, where many more problems

and questions appeared as the work progressed, great uncertainty arose at the mid-

26

point of the research story. I was reassured, however, by remembering the views of

the great physicist Richard Feynman who is reported to have said on his deathbed

that he was unafraid of not knowing answers to great questions and who implied that

life is about the process towards greater understanding and that ultimate

understanding is, by definition, impossible;

“You see, one thing, I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything and there are many things I don’t know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here….“I don’t have to know an answer. I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without any purpose, which is the way it really is as far as I can tell. It doesn’t frighten me".

(Gleick 1992 p. 438)

The Inclusion debate, of which this story is a small part, is ultimately about power,

politics and competing "world views";

"The debate about inclusive education is both a battleground for and a reflection of the "dilemma of difference". Inclusive education in restructured schools both provides benefits for all students and serves as an exemplar for an inclusive society, one that is both diverse and democratic."

(Lipsky and Gartner p.792)

My small part in this development was predicated on personal values that are the

basis of my life (7). My study amplified and refined many of these and gave me

evidence to use in my day to day activities. The quality of my understanding of the

Inclusion scene was a gain for myself, and appears to have been of use to those

around me, particularly through the work of Second City Second Chance. My writing

and methodology were greatly influenced by the example of Stake, a prominent

exponent of the qualitative study (particularly in The Art of Case Study Research

1995) and who, in particular, emphasises that one of the;

27

"More or Less Special Characteristics of Qualitative Study is that it is holistic;

its contextuality is well developed; it is case oriented (a case is seen to be a bounded system) it resists reductionism and elementalism; and it is relatively noncomparative; seeking to understand its object more that

to understand how it differs from others. "(p.47)

I learned much from Stake’s practical examples of recording, and I often had

recourse, in constructing this story, to his “Defining Characteristics of a Good Case

Study” (8).

I also became aware that the issues of Differentiation and curriculum access were as

important to me as the structural questions. In a personal conversation with Alan

Dyson, he pointed out that there were different degrees of exclusion/inclusion even

within classrooms; this should have been no surprise but I had been approaching this

issue from a very different direction. Mel Ainscow in a Gulliford Memorial Lecture

(reported in Ainscow 2000) later echoed this point and put it at the heart of the

Inclusion debate.

So what would a truly inclusive school look like and how could I contribute to the

development of a system which contained such schools? My notes (B11) show an

early "map" which allowed for Inclusion at every level; differentiation by outcome,

differentiation in terms of Programmes suitable for different personalities and satellite

school provision across an LEA/ area. I sought a number of schools in which I could

observe how far away we were from such a vision, and where I could gauge how fast

we might be getting there. I was interested in comparing my experiences with those

of other researchers who believed that they could show that the Special School

environment was of most benefit for the quality of life for individuals with special

28

needs. I took part in debate, for example, at the International Special Education

Congress in Manchester 2000 where Anna Firkowska-Mankiewicz from Poland

presented a paper; "Does Exclusive Education Contribute to a Good Quality of Life?"

describing a longitudinal matched study over 23 years comparing educational

outcomes of those who had had a Special School education with a matched group of

those who had not. She claimed that, for the cohort which had started life in Special

Schools;

"…the indices of social adjustment and results on the Schalock's Quality of Life Questionnaire seem to imply at least their equal or even better psychological well-being than their mates who followed regular school curriculum"

(p. 1)

My contribution to the debate consisted of presenting the argument that she had

taken a narrow view on the outcome measures. She had only looked at measurable

benefit to the group themselves and not to their immediate peers or to society in

general; much harder questions to answer, but important in the context of the Human

Rights argument for inclusion.

I also looked forward with interest to meeting practitioners from across the country

with whom I could explore and refine my ideas; one Head in Nottinghamshire inspired

me at an early part of my work when he described his large, all-encompassing school

campus/site as dealing with everyone;

"This means that kids understand that such people (he meant the "disabled")are part of life's rich seam"

(C11)

29

Footnotes

1 The CD of good practice is available from the DfEE

2 The Birmingham LEA position and changes therein are presented in Appendix F. The newest document places the development of thinking in Birmingham as moving towards removal of Special Provision except as with a "Centre of Excellence" approach. The CEO was known to favour this and, since his appointment in 1994, had led the way in promoting this interpretation. However there was certainly a gap between the rhetoric of the CEO (sometimes incorrectly reported as wishing to "close all special schools"), and his Directors and Heads of schools who saw the deliberate construction of a number of inclusionary projects as a very different means to that same end.

3 “Excellence for All Children” was the title of a government Green Paper in 1997 (DfEE 1997a) which argued a greater role for Special Schools in the way that mainstream schools work to integrate ex Special Pupils. Mel Ainscow promoted this view in a number of contexts (e.g. at the North of England Conference at Bradford in 1998). He called for us to "Reach Out to all Learners" and argued that all pupils in a class were the responsibility of the teacher. He asks why we have not changed the context in which we expect learners to operate on over 130 years, despite our research.

4 Carol Taylor-FitzGibbon, in Monitoring Education (1996) looks at the features of a complex system and reminds us of the key concepts therein (quoting Mitchell Waldrop 1992 ); Unpredictability Feedback Local Organisation Emergence

The two key elements, non-linearity and feedback determine the emergence of patterns within such systems. The education system is ideally placed with respect to this analysis; it is unpredictable, non-linear in the main, includes feedback systems (of which this work might be considered to be a part) and has local organisation networks. According to this view it is not surprising to see unexplained, new patterns in such a situation as long as the conditions are maintained. This is a strong argument for the feedback on practice from researchers to practitioners, and an even stronger argument for researcher-practitioners. It can be argued that many of the educational "initiatives" of the 1990s were beginning to make this emergence of spectacular developments almost impossible by removing Feedback and making the system predictable with no room for manoeuvre; so stifling initiatives and progress.

5 M. Mitchell Waldrop in Complexity (1992) analyses major changes in fields as diverse as physics, artificial intelligence, and Economics. He throws light on such happenings as the Wall Street crash and the development of thinking machines by reference to what happens when complex systems are left to equilibrate. He refers in this to the Theory of Increasing Returns in which emergence of surprising (and, by definition, unpredictable) events or patterns are explainable. The IR Theory is based on such evidence as the dominance of the QWERTY typewriter keyboard and the VHS video system where inferior products (or by implication ideas) maintain their dominant position not on merit but simply because they are already ahead. In the field.

6 The Theory of Increasing Returns is linked to Chaos Theory and is, in essence, about the way in which an inferior product, or surprising element, can come to "the top of the pile" due to the cumulative effect of a range of forces. The most telling example is how VHS videotape came to prominence despite being technically inferior to the Betamax system.

7 Early in the research process I identified that those of my personal values which would inevitably influence the route of this study to a greater or lesser extent were;

That all human perspectives in a social situation are of equal importance even if they are of people or parties who find themselves in a less powerful situation than would be fair in an ideal world.

In unequal situations the researcher has a moral obligation to act to counter the inequality. Inaction by researchers will tend to favour the powerful, We therefore should act to counter inequality. "Influence Not Power" should be the motto of the social researcher. Action without empowering the other actors

would be indefensible, particularly at exit. Inclusion; The world is a better place for ALL therein if the whole spectrum of humankind is, as far as is possible,

able to interact at work and play. Integration is a "top-down" model and does not rework the power arrangements. Inclusion starts from ALL participants and enshrines a reworked set of goals which are continually redefined AFTER the actors have been involved in analysis.

In social science research the "human rights" agenda should be visible and not tokenistic / parenthetic. Young people are to be valued as the inheritors of our work (and mistakes) and therefore high value should be

placed on their education and their views. Social Science research is a "snapshot "activity that can become "voyeurism" unless change is involved.

(Reproduced here as written in 1998).

I also knew that I had to make my values explicit in the research; and noted that;

I constantly refer to the actors in the situation being studied. (Chapters on Five Houses and St Edna's and Lowlands High in particular).

My research will provide information and views for staff development (Chapter on the Scene for example). I deliberately cross-link between schools, exchanging interesting practices on a daily basis. I undertake to ensure that the learning is applied directly to the research situation (not awaiting the "final" writing

phase). I acknowledge that there is no "final point" except that determined by the PhD thesis presentation timing. I

therefore write up as a narrative, attempting to unravel meanings in the situations that I explore.

8 Stake outlines (p.47,48) the Defining Characteristics as;

30

It is holistic It is empirical It is interpretative It is empathic

He also argues that a "Good Study" should have the following extra characteristics;

Its observations and immediate interpretations re-validate It is non-hortatory, resisting exploitation of the specialist's platform It is sensitive to the risks of human subjects research Its researchers are not just methodologically competent and versed in some substantive discipline but versed in

the relevant disciplines.

31

CHAPTER TWO

MADNESS IN THE METHOD

(What method to choose, who decides?)

Synopsis

This Chapter continues the "storying" of how the research method unfolded under the influence of many factors; time, resources, access, peers and the writing process itself. It examines the links between the way the research evolved and the concept of Complexity. Writing in narrative form is explained as a way of using the power of the story to create with the reader a picture that is bigger and more revealing than the sum of the parts described. The narrative, which is deliberately not always linear, describes the “spiralling-in” process explored as the writer tried to understand the views of participants on some of the finer questions at the heart of the Inclusion debate.

Contents;PreambleFunnelling-InBecoming CriticalCase StudyMadness and the Soul of this Story

Preamble

This story began as an investigation or an examination of the potential of schools to

cope with the entire range of pupils presented by their surrounding community. The

starting position of the writer was a personal, political and philosophical commitment

to Inclusion (as I then interpreted it) and a desire to determine the extent to which

that Inclusion was a practical possibility in the schools of the day (see Values

Appendix C). While it was tempting to design complicated comparative case study

strategies, and to defend uncompromisingly a particular research paradigm, the

evolution of the research process described herein necessitated a variety of

approaches. The final account presented in this thesis is ultimately a description and

evocation of an interesting developmental journey. The research methodology altered

32

at significant stopping points along the way, according to the appropriateness of the

tools which were needed. It started with a city-wide exploration of interpretations with

a large number of taletellers, including the Head of Green Hall School which was

then a Grant Maintained school, distancing itself from the LEA, although needing to

link with it since the latter always retained responsibility for Special Educational

Needs pupils. This listening was closely followed by case studies of a number of

schools; initially these were about seven until it became important to focus more

directly on the inner workings of a smaller number. The journey also took in two pupil

case studies in order to understand how pupils perceived the inclusive education they

were said to be receiving. The views of the storytellers at the beginning of the spiral

influenced the focus of the research; for example one primary Head reminded me of

some alternative motivations for schools who were becoming more inclusive;

"…I decided to investigate whether at…… school, Inclusion was a way of putting "Bums on Seats"…..(The Head replied); as we got into it we decided that this was the right thing to do anyway and that we wouldn't gain students; we'd gain some and lose some (through misconceptions) and there would be zero net gain."

(C28)

Ultimately, at the centre of this spiralling story, there is an attempt to understand my

own personal situation as I attempted to put learning to use in the "cause" of

Inclusion (in my belief the test of external validity of educational research). A journey

such as I describe here is never, by definition, complete and the intentions of the

researcher/voyager change significantly as the journey and stories unfold.

The initial intention of writing up the experiences on my journey was to gain a useful

qualification during a post-retirement Consultancy. This developed into a belief that

there was an audience of practising teachers who might benefit from the findings,

particularly the methodological approach and the success stories of Inclusion at the

centre of the account. A bold hope was that the work, possibly in somewhat different

format, might support teachers and students such as those who supported me during

33

the research. It was clear that they were in need of encouragement to write up for

themselves the valid and valuable stories of their experiences, as well as deserving

of any praise that would be engendered by their efforts. My notes record that at one

point in my fieldwork I thought it was;

"…interesting that staff are now coming to me with things they think will "fit" my interest or that I can help with"

(C39)

But at the beginning I noticed a difference in the attitudes between the senior staff

and the others. This was also mentioned by other observers; for example I recorded

one Advisory Teacher as arguing that Senior Managers in school;

"…are scared….they know what they want to get through but know the resistance they'll meet."

(C3)

In this account, then, the motivation moved from an egocentric position to a wider

and more holistic one, while the methodology moved from investigating the general

inclusion scene to a more narrow, in-depth position. I was always tempted to adopt

the quasi-(natural) scientific methods of reportage, but found increasingly that the

appropriate method of reporting seemed to approach that of investigative journalism.

I therefore looked at other models of reportage of the social scene including, at the

extreme that in the novel of English literature in the nineteenth and twentieth

centuries which attempted to describe and "story" a particular range of events,

thereby to further the reader’s understanding of the social setting in which the events

take place. In his analysis of the difference between Literature and Journalism (1),

David Lodge looks to the artistic tools as a differentiating factor (describing the use of

“metonymy”, “synecdoche” and “metaphor” for example in Lodge 1977). I could not

imitate "literature" in the sense that Lodge describes, but I could write a story that

allowed readers to connect with the reality described and analysed, hoping to

influence their future actions. I would attempt to use more of “metonymy” (the use of

34

the singular or “quality” to allow the impression of the wider whole) than I would of

metaphor, but I would certainly agree with Newman and Wehlage (1995) that my

Case Studies were dialectically constructed.

My story became both a description (”journalism”) of the human efforts uncovered as

well as an (“investigative”) attempt to unpack the complexities of the efforts at

inclusion in these very different contexts. I sought for internal validity in the extent to

which my storying of the situation echoed the understanding of the practitioners I met

and who helped me to unravel very complicated situations. I also tried to follow the

exhortations of writers like Douglas Foley who, describing how he attempted to travel

beyond being a realist, came to the understanding that he was attempting, like;

"…bourgeois nineteenth century artists and novelists… … to reveal the driving forces of history which are invisible to actual consciousness"

(p.113)

I found support in his work for my feelings about narrative where he stated that;"Like autoethnographies, autobiographical ethnographies shift the basis of the researcher's authority to subjective and intersubjective experiences. Such a narrative move helps to convey that the author speaks from a partial, bounded position rather than an impartial god-like position. These richly textured, highly personal, more autobiographical books fulfil what feminist philosophers like Donna Haraway (1998) are advocating. They replace the objective knowledge claims of the omniscient, transcendent observer with the situated, partial knowledge claims of a historical observer."

(p.116).and asserted that;

"Using more familiar realist narrative forms should help to bridge the vast and growing cultural gulf between academics and ordinary people. I want social science writers to distance themselves from their emerging role as normalising, ideological sciences. I want academic ethnographers to write highly accessible, popular ethnographies in ordinary language that challenge the normalised consciousness of ordinary readers".

(p.126)

35

In my narrative of the research process, I use a mix of description and analysis. In

this way, I hope, case studies such as mine reflect the intention of the modern novel

where, as Lodge, in The Practice of Writing (1996) states;

"Narrative is concerned with process…with change in a given state of affairs; or it converts problems and contradictions in human experience into process in order to understand or cope with them. Narrative obtains and holds the interest of its audience by raising questions in their minds about the process it describes and delaying the answers to these questions."

(p.182)

Before describing the beginning of the journey and its "trajectory", it is worth noting

that although I began the study by looking at the "Special Needs” of a minority of

students, I soon came to see that even this, seemingly uncomplicated, phrase was a

grand simplification. As a pioneer in the field remarked;

"…the main reason for the newly apparent poverty of special needs is in its definition…or rather its lack of definition… the concept of special need carries a fake objectivity. For one of the main, indeed almost overwhelming, difficulties is to decide whose needs are special or what "special" means…"

(Warnock 1982 p.372)

In addition I was aware, and later to become acutely so, that there were times when

pupils were "included " in a local school but, were, in fact "internally excluded"; this

was usually as a result of a lack of internal restructuring to take account of the

change in pupil intake. (2)

Spiralling- in

I had developed the concept of “Spiralling-In“ during an earlier MPhil Study into

school-based Social Education (Davies 1986). This method proved very useful again

in the field of Inclusivity as I learned and interacted with the initial field sites and the

process of this journey is described pictorially in the figure below. Kemmis promotes

36

a similar research "spiral” and, indeed I discovered that the model is sometimes

referred to as the Kemmis/ Elliott/ Whitehead model (see Carr and Kemmis 1986 and

Kemmis and McTaggart 1981 as well as Elliott 1991). Although in the latter the

process is meant to be unending, in my case it was necessary to “ground” and centre

in on action or praxis as a result of the moral imperative described earlier and the

limits imposed by time.

Funnelling In

37

Survey;LEALiterature

Dana

Courtly Green

DanielleBeginning, No end…..

Interviews With Significant Participants

Five HousesSt.

Edna’s and LowlandsHigh

Story(FinalAccount) Second

City Action

End-game

Original Question

s

As the spiral narrowed, my level of understanding increased and the question of

external reliability became ever less important. Understandings and external validity

were explored by the extent to which the results of my work informed inclusive

practice in the case study institutions.

A robust and pro-active investigative approach seemed appropriate at the beginning

of the research period (see the description of proposed method in Appendix D).

Towards the centre of my spiral, however, I concentrated on three narrow

perspectives which allowed me to see how the ideas which had "emerged" from the

wider work were supported and could be transformed into action. Near the centre of

the spiral were the experiences of two very special students (referred to as Dana and

Danielle) which were complemented by my own experiences in SCSC and as a

researcher.

At the very centre of the spiral, I found myself caught up in the creation of an intricate

case study around my own actions as the instigator of a set of Programmes designed

to assist schools in their efforts to reduce exclusion. I had applied my learning and

understanding to the development of an organisation (SCSC) which aimed to support

schools as they tried to keep even the most difficult pupils in mainstream schools.

It can be argued that, at the centre of my spiral, the understanding is greater while

the external reliability is weaker. There are also at least as many questions generated

in the journey to that point as are answered by it. However, since practice has no

choice but to continue without the "ultimate" answer, it was at this point that the

understandings developed were applied. This is where the methodological “Madness”

had to stop and the leap of faith was taken (See Chapter Eight). I decided that, as

38

maintained by David Gray and Pam Denicolo, writing in the BJSE in 1998, it was the

appropriateness of methodology that was paramount. Gray and Denicolo quoted

Patton (1990);

"The issue then becomes not whether one has uniformly adhered to prescribed canons of either logical-positivism or phenomenology but whether one has made sensible methods decisions given the purpose of the enquiry, the questions being investigated, and the resources available."

(p.39)

I had originally decided, after interviews with key personnel and literature searches,

to use Case Study as the basic tool and narrative as the congruent reporting. I was

much influenced in this approach by Stake, Lodge, and my elemental understandings

of the work of anthropologists such as Margaret Mead (3). The research question that I

had set myself (see Chapter One; The Scene) could, I argued, best be answered

further by qualitative and not quantitative methods. I was becoming interested in

understandings within the cases, in addition to any inferences that I might be able to

draw. Bassey (1999), building on the work of Yin (e.g. 1993) calls the generalisations

that are possible from this sort of study “fuzzy generalisations”, a useful concept

which also follows writers such as Holligan (1997) and Fourali (1997), who talked of

“Using fuzzy logic in educational measurement”. It also agrees with the deliberations

of such philosophers as Bertrand Russell who have argued that every single event

has a finite probability of occurrence, about which we should be aware - even the old

chestnut of the probability of the rising of the sun tomorrow.

I could have reported my findings and attached appropriate commentary on the

conclusions that could be drawn from them, however because I was aware that;

“…qualitative research is difficult to define as it means different things at different times and in different contexts …”

(Bassey 1999 p.x)

and that, as Denzin and Lincoln describe;

39

“…qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of , or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials… that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings in individuals lives. Accordingly, qualitative researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected methods, hoping always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand.”

(p.2)

My major methodological touch-stone throughout the research was the work of Elliot

who reminds us that;

“The fundamental aim of action research is to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge.”

(The Fundamental Characteristics of Action Research in Elliott 1991 p.49).

Becoming Critical

Miles and Huberman (1984) have a simplified view of the qualitative paradigm; they

separate Qualitative and Quantitative research in terms of the use of words rather

than numbers. This might describe what I did but does not, except in coded form,

explain why I did it. I was concerned to become critical in the sense used by the

majority of contributors to Shacklock and Smyth (1998) which could be exemplified

by Cox (1980) who said that to be critical;

“…(is) to stand apart from the prevailing order of the world and ask how that order came about”.

(p.3 quoted in Shacklock and Smyth 1998 p.129 )

The approach is hardly new, but the exhortation is often ignored in the rush to

produce “results”. There is a need to deconstruct situations so that understanding is

maximised and in this respect, since I was looking for constructive dialectic

intervention in my case study schools, I was reminded that Paulo Freire, (in the

Pedagogy of the Oppressed in 1972) said;

“…true dialogue cannot exist unless it involved critical thinking.”(p.63-4)

40

A number of Special Needs commentators had also expressed the view that new

perspectives in this difficult part of the educational scene would be worthwhile. For

example, Anderson and Barrera (1995, quoting Ferguson 1993 p.42) hoped that;

“Interpretative approaches to inquiry, done well, have much to offer a field that is perhaps long overdue for some new and different perspectives….it promises to stretch our field’s imagination and knowledge base”

(p.148)

I was concerned to try and choose the foci for my study (two students, four schools

and my own “workings”) so that they allowed the maximum generalisation possible,

spiralling in as I went to greater and greater understandings. I constructed the school

cases carefully (so as to reflect a range interpretations of Inclusion) in the knowledge

that, although many case study researchers had rejected the importance of

generalisation, I was supported by such researchers as Atkinson and Delamont, who

argued that;

“…if studies are not explicitly developed into more general frameworks, then they will be doomed to remain isolated one-off affairs, with no sense of cumulative knowledge or developing theoretical insight.”

(p. 39 quoted by Bassey 1999 p.35)

Case Study

It was in this sense of cumulative knowledge, brought about by my “spiral”, that I feel

my research exercise became, as Kemmis (1980) famously observed in defining

Case Study;

“..the imagination of the case and the invention of the study” (p.119)

Or, as Stake (1995) put it;

“…the study of the particularity and complexity of a single case, coming to understand its activity within important circumstances” (p. xi)

In this process;

“the case study worker’s actions and his/her descriptions must be justified both in terms of the truth status of his/her findings and in terms of social

41

accountability. Social Science has the unique problem of treating others as objects for study; the unique problem in case study is in justifying to others why the researcher can be a knowledgeable observer-participant who tells what she/he sees”

(Kemmis 1980 p.119-20)

I feel that in my case the “justification” asked for here is demonstrated in my story

where, in a number of the case study schools, my presence became “valued”; and I

was even asked to stay on after my research had ended.

Jarvis (1999) reminds us that Guba and Lincoln (1981) recognised that the case

study can contain all the elements below which, taken together make it a strong tool;

“Thick description,” with details as complete and as literal as possible, Grounding - an experiential perspective, Holistic and realistic (lifelike) perspectives, A simplified range of data, without losing its integrity, Illuminated meaning, More in-depth communications than propositional language can provide.

(p.81)

I was also, where appropriate, able to generalise from what I observed, following

Stenhouse 1985, that;

“Generalisation and application are matters of judgement rather than calculation, and the task of case study is to produce ordered reports of experience which invite judgement and offer evidence top which judgement can appeal.”

(p.49)

The case study provided for me the opportunity to provide more than a technical

report, because it allows for the use of a number of different techniques in the ”case”

situations. It also made a “story” the best means of conveying my learning. As I

arrived at the centre of my research “spiral” and concentrated on the specific cases of

Dana, Danielle and myself, I found that these three central personal perspectives

were neatly complementary. The two pupils’ stories were those of a physically

disabled young person and the work of a school to include her as a normal student,

and a sixth–former (at a different case study school) who was profoundly deaf but

42

had been included via a “Base” approach. My own case study evolved as I developed

SCSC as a Charity using Mentoring and Cross-age Tutoring in an attempt to reduce

exclusions from school of those pupils said to be exhibiting Emotional and

Behavioural difficulties.

The spiralling approach evolved naturally, both as the most appropriate in the

circumstances and also as one that might be very useful to other workers in schools.

In balancing validity with reliability, I took the novelist’s stance, believing that a story

“works” as the reader tests the descriptions and analyses against his/her own

perceptions. I was committed to the idea that research should be linked with practice

(praxis). The only valid way in which to create such links was either on the spot,

moving between my sites (using the experiences in one to illuminate in another), or in

the final description, bringing evidence from more than one of my sites or case

studies to cross-validate a conclusion from another. Such praxis would then allow the

readers to see how the statements reverberated with their own professional position,

and challenge them to pit something new against a current belief or practice. The

resultant dialectical synthesis in this approach by readers could, I thought, produce

“grounded” but innovative practice and it might, if I could direct it to the right hands,

encourage the evolution, or “emergence”, of improved practice. Here, in reporting my

experiences, I think that my narrative reporting will assist, as argued by Foley, in

Shacklock and Smyth (1998);

“Using more familiar realist narrative forms should help bridge the vast and growing cultural gulf between academics and ordinary people. I want social science writers to distance themselves from their emerging role as normalising, ideological sciences. I want academic ethnographers to write highly accessible, popular ethnographies in ordinary language that challenge the normalised consciousness of ordinary readers”.

(p.126)

43

This approach was, though, always a risky business. There were many times during

interviews or visits to sites when I had to back off and re-phrase my questions or

change tack altogether. For example, at Lowlands High, during an enquiry involving

their move from a “Unit” structure to an integrated/ inclusionary whole school position,

I noted that;

“This is really going to be difficult to get all perspectives on…. I was warned off seeing Unit staff again! (“it’s personal and political” said the SENCO) .The IA said “Perry is very professional but there is always resentment isn’t there ! “. Here both the IA and the SENCO were arguing that I could easily upset a perilously balanced apple-cart.”

(B67)

As I continued, the internal dialectical synthesis of ideas informed my actions. In this

way the writing became both form and content;

“Although we usually think about writing as a mode of “telling” about the social world, writing is not just a “mopping- up” activity at the end of a research project. Writing is also a way of “knowing”- a method of discovery and analysis. By writing in different ways, we discover new aspects of our topic and our relationship to it. Form and content are inseparable”.

(Richardson p.516 quoted in Garman p.130)

A similar dialectic was useful in my PhD group where I became an active member,

discussing strategies and findings on a regular basis. The “critical friendship” of

supervisor and research student helped me to refresh my thinking and, through this

“critical friendship”, I eventually centred on analysis of the concurrent work of Second

City Second Chance as a reflective researcher. My peers reminded me that, in this

respect, development was an example of praxis and not accidental or even simply

parallel and, in this respect, this strategy “emerged” as the most appropriate. My

progress was assisted in the same way as that of members of the group described by

Bennett, Chapman et al (1997) in their article “Hearing Ourselves Learn; the

development of a critical friendship group for professional development”. Such

44

“Professional Community” dialectic development has also been described and

analysed by Newman and Wehlage (1995) and Kember et al (1997).

Dialectical synthesis can be seen as another expression of the concept of reflexivity,

although it should be seen as more pro-active, constructive and purposeful. However

it should also be remembered that many users of the phrase “reflexive” mean more

than being simply reactive to a situation; they often imply action as a result of

reflection, particularly as a result of post-modern complexity;

“The reflexivity of modern social life consists in the fact that social practices are constantly examined and reformed in the light of incoming information about those very practices, thus constitutively altering their character. We should be clear about the nature of this phenomenon. All forms of a social life are partly constituted by actors’ knowledge of those forms. Knowing “how to go on”…is intrinsic to the conventions which are drawn upon ad reproduced in human activity. In all cultures, social practices are routinely altered in the light of ongoing discoveries which feed into them. But only in the era of modernity is the revision of convention radicalised to apply (in principle) to all aspects of human life”.

(Giddens 1990 pp. 38-39 quoted in Jarvis 1999).

A highly regarded exemplar of this dialectical approach within a novel is “The Glass

Bead Game” (Hesse 1943) where two worlds are juxtaposed and contrasted. One

world represents the Platonic “ideal” world of thought as manifested in the intellectual

Glass Bead Game itself, and the other is the real and messy world of politics and

families. A more sublime world order evolves from the interplay of these worlds and

the reader is left with a greater understanding of the situation described. In The Glass

Bead Game, Hesse is interested in bringing his readers to a greater understanding of

the nature of reality. The novel involves the bouncing of ideas between the two

worlds and reaches its climax in a synthesis of a very final nature (suicide). The

model here for those attempting to move beyond description in Case Studies (for

example) propounds the continual opposition of explanatory hypotheses in order to

allow a more encompassing paradigm to emerge as the dialectic synthesis continues.

45

I decided to adopt this model particularly because it helped to evolve transferable

understanding out of the data being collected across the various sites. It also had a

philosophical congruence with the argument for Emergence made elsewhere in this

account. In the accounts of writers like Hesse and those researchers who “story” their

investigations, the total (sum) learning evinced, it is anticipated, is thus ”greater than

the sum of the parts” by this process.

It was this overall view of Emergence which came to underpin the whole study. It

reflected my own humanistic view that our human essence (or even “soul”) is an

emergent phenomenon arising initially from the interplay within neural networks. This

concept is related to the (religious) notion developed by Teilhard de Chardin, in that

case with the additional deification of the resultant whole (4).

My social argument, or parallel with these ideas, is that it is particularly through the

continued interaction of researcher and practitioner (sometimes being the same

person) that educational evolution and permanent change occurs. This change often

occurs through non-linear or emergent patterns that are, by definition, unpredictable.

This is where my study was, in essence, “illuminative evaluation” (6).

For myself as a researcher, then, the method arose from the “madness” and reliability

born of the juxtaposition of data from the Case Studies and the constant opposition of

ideas (and hypotheses) as the work progressed. This process of refinement can, of

course, continue ad infinitum and, as David Lodge (1996) reminds us;

“When you have finished the novel it is not that you have really finished it, but that you have decided to do no more work on it.”

(p.195)

46

The researcher-researched dialectic has often been referred to elsewhere, but there

appears to be little account still taken of this despite exhortations over a long period

for the “grounding” theory production (e.g. Glaser and Strauss 1967). Eminent natural

scientists such as Richard Feynman have long argued that, even within the “hard”

sciences, observation always influences the observed. Once observed the situation

can never be the same again, the physical interaction has produced a change. This

applies here and is an extension of the quantum physics understanding (5).

Unfortunately, it appears that this is often ignored in our description of methods in the

natural sciences; indeed researchers of all persuasions appear to want “findings”

rather than clearer “understandings” and while more questions were discovered than

answered during my research, especially as I applied any apparent insights within my

Consultancy work, I came to understand well why Feynman said that he was not

worried by “not knowing” (see Chapter One).

There are, of course, other interactions that promote the emergent phenomenon and

the influence of a “change agent” in this context is important. In the case of this study,

The CEO of Birmingham and his key Directors constructed a climate within which

much of the work I was studying could happen; I hoped to relate the relevant parts of

the accounts of such actors about how and why Inclusion was developing. I was also

interested in barriers that they, and other senior managers, perceived in the

processes involved. One Head, in explaining inclusionary developments in his

school said that this was happening;

“…because we are now working against previous best and want success for all our students”

(A18)

The emphasis in the above is mine but it identifies a phrase that was originally one

used by the CEO and is presented here to also show how the influence of the CEO

47

was “seeping” through to all; it was obviously assisting those Heads who had

inclusionary vision.

Madness and the Soul of this Story;

The parallels between the mechanisms in neural networks and the philosophical

developments referred to earlier do not, in themselves, justify my research model, but

they do give it strength through methodological congruence with the crucial concept

of “Emergence”. It is a construct that gives method to the apparent “madness” of the

case study and the conflicting interpretations that necessarily abound in the field. My

“madness” might, in research terms, be better labelled “paradox”; my story is full of

such. Chapter Nine (Endgame) attempts to gather these together to assess what

cumulative wisdom/ knowledge might emerge. Paradox is not necessary negative; it

is inevitable and, as put by Helen Simons;

“(we need to) embrace the paradoxes inherent in the people, events and sites we study and explore rather than try to resolve the tensions embedded in them…Paradox for me is the point of case study. Living with paradox is crucial to understanding. The tension between the study of the unique and the need to generalise is necessary to reveal both the unique and the universal and the unity of that understanding. To live with ambiguity, to challenge certainty, to creatively encounter, is to arrive, eventually, at “seeing anew”

(Simons 1996 p.237-238)

From the “madness” of my case studies came my work with and alongside the

schools on possible solutions to the problems as they worked to their various

Inclusion targets. There were breakthroughs, and setbacks, but we always seemed to

be taking Inclusion further forward in the knowledge that the process itself is a

journey and not a destination.

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Footnotes

1. David Lodge in The Practice of Writing (1996) describes the power of the novel/story in explicating understandings. In a similar way Doris Lessing is a strong defender of the similar power of the Autobiography. Anthropology has, of course, always proceeded on the explication of "the case" and known that extrapolation from the case to a generalisation was always a difficult issue.

2. Feiler and Gibson (1999) refer to the "Threats to the Inclusive Movement" in their BJSE article. They echo my "Local School Definition" and refer to Sebba and Ainscow in that regard. They point out that;

"…"internal exclusion" operates when, despite a pupil's entry to a local school, it goes hand in hand with exclusion within the school in terms of streaming or grouping of pupils.

(p.147)They also reiterate the political goals of the Salamanca Statement;

"…mainstream schools with inclusive practices are … the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all"

(p.148)

3 Margaret Mead created a special place for anthropology with her personal (some say inaccurate and false) depictions of remote peoples in Growing Up In New Guinea (1942) and Coming Of age In Samoa (1943).

4 The Phenomenon Of Man by Teilhard De Chardin (Collins, London 1959) was first published as "Le Phenomene Humain" by Editions du Seuil in 1955. He an anticipated the Complexity argument (although, as was natural for those times, especially for a Jesuit -despite operating as a palaeontologist) he took the argument one step further (without much logical argument) as a theist;

"…consciousness (defined experimentally as the specific effect of organised complexity, transcends by far the ridiculously narrow limits within which our eyes can directly perceive it" (p.329).

5 Danah Zohar (co- author with Ian Marshall of Who's Afraid of shrődinger's Cat? 1997) describes how, in the post -modern world;

"..the quantum observer stands inside what is being observed, the observer's own goals, consciousness, intentions and questions help to "make" what is being observed. This replaces the old objectivity with a new kind of "truth within the situation" or engaged truth."

(Times Educational Supplement May 9th 1997)

6 There is a parallel here with the exhortation of Hammersley and Atkinson (1993); "Rather than engaging in futile attempts to eliminate the effects of the researcher we should set about understanding them"

(p. 75)Hamilton, in Parlett and Hamilton 1977 placed such illuminative evaluation within the "social anthropology paradigm" and said that such activity aims to;

"…discover and document what it is like to be participating in the scheme, whether as teacher or pupil; and , in addition, to discern and discuss the innovation's most significant features, recurring concomitants and critical processes. In short, it seeks to address and to illuminate a complex array of questions”.

(p.10)

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CHAPTER THREEA BEGINNING, A MIDDLE AND NO END IN SIGHT

(In a complex field with conflicting demands, the researcher gets stuck, rescued by "emergent” happenings at some hardworking schools)

Synopsis;

This chapter describes the tentative beginnings of the research process and the initial methods used to select sites of interest. It emphasises how, after two years, the research process ground to a halt; no theory was evolving for me and I was wondering whether anyone would anyway ever read what I might write. Would my writings end up on a shelf or could parts be put to better use? This chapter concludes with a discussion of the tensions and difficulties at the heart of the Case Study Research process. It begins to show how the final research methodology “emerged”, revisiting the original aims and exploring how they were changing.

Contents;PreambleComplexity Integration or Inclusion?No end in Sight?

Preamble

M. Mitchell Waldrop, in "Complexity; the Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and

Chaos", (1) describes the exciting philosophical developments amongst a group of the

most prominent of the worlds scientists over the last three decades. As a description

of their collective journey towards a new vision of the organisational principles behind

the structure of the universe, it is illuminative, thought-provoking, useful to those

exploring similar areas, and (above all) captivating to the reader. It is a description of

a journey to an explanation, in Chaos Theory terms, of how patterns appear to

emerge in settings that are bounded, but apparently lacking in order. In my

manuscript I describe a journey which began in search of illumination of such a

setting i.e. the progress that had been made in Special Education and its provision

during a five year period when I had been too preoccupied with my professional work

to look outside and observe it. There are parallels between my journey and that of

50

Waldrop; my destination was never, by definition, absolute and there were

happenings apparent in Special Education that seemed too difficult to explain in the

light of the prevailing educational conditions. In describing the development of my

thinking and the refining of my ideals, I hope to inform anyone undertaking a similar

trip.

My drive to investigate the interpretations of "Inclusivity" came from a practitioner’s

zeal to see descriptions of interesting practice made available to workers in the field

who were having to implement change with reduced finance and limited external

advice, as the resources of the educational centre dwindled. In the hope of

discovering and interpreting examples of useful practice I began, as described in

previous chapters, by examining how and why schools in Birmingham were

responding to the inclusive educational vision of the Chief Education Officer;

Professor Tim Brighouse. Such vision, (and also that of the headteachers I met) was

seen, according to the perspective chosen, as either imaginative or as a reaction to

the need to cut LEA costs. I discovered that there was no central way of locating

information on this subject, but that there were a number of very committed Advisers

and Officers from whom a complex picture of seemingly chaotic initiatives “emerged”.

The latter term came to mean much more than "accidental discovery" as I

progressed; there seemed to be an element of order and pattern to these

developments when looked at from a “city” perspective. The natural law of entropy

(systems tending to greater disorder) did not seem to apply; significant initiatives,

with similarities of aim and form, were appearing in different, isolated, schools in spite

of concurrent fragmentation of the education system involving increasing emphasis

on institutional individuality and independence. I found parallels with the work

described by Waldrop in his book about the Santa Fe Institute’s post-Chaos Theory

51

analyses of the 1980s and ‘90s. They looked at complex systems, including Artificial

Intelligence, and at the conditions which would apply if the law of Entropy were to be

invalid. FitzGibbon also draws attention to this theory (2), but does not take a

perspective on special education or the emergence of initiatives "against the grain".

I was interested in the term "Inclusion” because it was beginning to replace

“Integration” in reports of Special Education (see the analysis in Booth 1995), and

because my personal motivation comes from a human rights interpretation of

educational opportunities. At this point I came to realise that the definition offered by

Booth (quoted in Chapter One) was pivotal and useful (3);

"For me, integration (read "inclusion") is the process of increasing the participation in their schools and communities of people subjected to exclusionary pressures and practices"

(p. 101).

As I progressed in my investigation I sought a number of schools which had taken

active steps towards including a wider variety of students and reducing the levels of

formal exclusion of pupils. I had to gather opinions on where to look (from Officers,

friends, Heads, and others) and then explore for myself what those schools were

doing. While some of what was happening was public knowledge, there remained a

significant number of previously unknown initiatives that emerged as I explored. The

origins and motives of the initiatives were various and fascinating, ranging from

inclusive “human-rights” zeal of key players such as Heads, through to cost-

effectiveness and the desire to see pupil numbers at the school increase. What was

also interesting was that it appeared that my position as an ex-Head myself may

have eased my access to potential sites. For example when refused access to one

site which I deemed crucial to my work, I was able to continue to negotiate through

known participants on the site until access was granted. The LEA had only limited

52

knowledge of this school, and the crucial detail emerged as I continued my pressure;

I had to ask whether someone else without such connections would have been able

to continue at that point. There must, I concluded, be many such sites with a wealth

of interesting examples of significant practice in a range of curriculum areas which

are not known about and which are therefore being denied the exposure. The

experiences of these sites could contribute to improvement in other schools, it

appeared, if more analysis and dissemination were to occur.

Within the schools where I began to work, it was interesting how examples of useful

practice had "emerged". These were often thought to be insignificant by the school

participants and were unknown to the outside educational world. Only where a school

needed the publicity or LEA finance did there seem to be a regular exposure of

interesting practice. As the degree and quality of Adviser time decreases (an

unfortunate corollary of school self-management), this isolation appears to increase

and the possible consequent impoverishment of the educational scene is to be

regretted. The examples of practice that gained exposure were increasingly those

“sanitised” by OfSTED inspections and promoted within the DfEE glossy publications.

I believed that the examples of school improvement from which the profession could

learn were not always going to be those that were successful in "standard" terms, or

complete, or those meeting "grand" targets. They might also be those where we

could learn from the difficulties and problems (even failure!) by analysis within an

institution and by honest reporting (not something encouraged by the public reporting

process associated with league tables and the current OfSTED process). The people

in the best situation to promote examples of good or interesting practice, I confirmed,

were the practitioners themselves; the role I played was that of catalyst, enabling the

understanding of the process that the actors were going through. In the initial stages I

53

was often taking ideas from one site to another and in this sense I believe I acted as

a "connector" between "units" as described by Waldrop. He argued that in a bounded

system of such units such connectors are a necessary component in the evolution of

unusual/unpredicted patterns.

While I was interested in analysis, I also wanted to act for betterment and not simply

to observe change, believing with Clark, Dyson and Millward (1995) that, while I may

be able to generate generalisations;

"...............they lose their validity if they cannot be used to bring about actual transformations "

(p. 167)

The mental space to reflect back, forward and outward came as I was granted a

respite from my professional position. The secondment was granted with few strings

attached and I was able to start my journey where my heart was. I was hoping, and

still am, that at my journey’s end I would produce more knowledge, a great many

more meaningful connections, and a greater personal ability to find the way through

the Special Educational Needs (SEN) maze.

At the start of my study I appeared to be travelling along two tracks; one was a

personal discovery track within the SEN area, and the other was a parallel

professional track as a manager of an organisation dedicated to the promotion of

interesting practice amongst secondary schools; the Centre for the Study of

Comprehensive Schools (CSCS). While the two tracks were conveniently parallel,

they often crossed at points where I could attempt to make my personal learning

interact with that of others who were working to improve the lot of young people in

similar ways to mine. As in Waldrop’s journey, many developments were unscripted

54

and many hurdles were unforeseen. There was a sense in which I knew my

beginnings, I had an embryonic story, the basis of a methodology was there, but I

was afraid to not know my ultimate destination. This was, I now realise, both a crucial

part of my study and the fulcrum of my methodology, although it did not feel so at the

time!

Complexity

"Complexity" promotes three very interesting concepts to explain aspects of our world

and how we evolve complex structures and do not disappear into oblivion. It is

possible that the theory can also explain many aspects of complex human behaviour,

in that it is said to apply to systems that are interactive, complex and bounded.

Human beings would appear to live in a world that can be described in such a way;

certainly the educational world would appear to be a bounded system in which

schools are interactive at specific times. The concepts behind Complexity, then, while

they are difficult to describe, have interesting parallels in the sub-world of education

and related research. The following analysis of major tenets of the Theory is taken

from M. Mitchell Waldrop (1992), where he argues that the most significant concept is

that;

There appears to be, at the limits of order and the edge of chaos in any field, a different set of rules.

Waldrop cites many early experiments in artificial intelligence which brought this

pioneering group of individuals together, to experiment further and to set up a new

research Institute at Santa Fe.

The second, associated, concept is that of "Emergence";

Apparently spontaneous orderly developments can occur in a context where we might usually expect disorder to prevail (i.e. in the boundary area between order and chaos).

55

The third concept is that of “Co-operation”; attempting to explain why, in the face of

a natural tendency to disorder and competition there is co-operation which leads to

emergent phenomena. This concept is based on the importance of feedback;

"Feedback". This is a necessary precondition for emergence as well as an effect thereof. Here is meant the continual and mutual dynamic equilibrium between the elements in the bounded system.

FitzGibbon, in her use of these concepts in an educational setting, describes this last

aspect vividly (2). She emphasises that, in her interpretation of Chaos Theory, in a

bounded system, there will appear unexplained, and apparently organised, patterns

as long as the units or cells in the system are connected in some way that allows

feedback. These patterns would not be predictable or obvious using a determinist,

natural science analysis.

Despite being challenged by my uncertainty about Inclusion, I was excited by how

meaningfully this all linked with both my journey and the developments I was

beginning to encounter. I used the Complexity framework to assist my thinking and

analysis as I entered the more “grounded” second half of my secondment study and

began to ask questions in the case study schools so as to construct a useful

comparative study. The Emergence concept also became an important concept for

another reason. I continually came across initiatives (coming from the CEO and

others) which were struggling against the pressures of limited funding, increased

competition, public denigration of the teaching profession, increasing bureaucracy

and consequent low morale amongst teachers. There seemed to be a large number

of small-scale, localised Inclusion initiatives which appeared to be having a

cumulative effect larger that the sum of the small parts. This did not seem logically

explicable and I became interested in the link with Chaos Theory and the "Butterflies"

concept developed therefrom. The latter popularisation of the Theory was, at the time

56

I started the study, often cited by the CEO as he sought to rally teachers to his vision

for the city and for its education service. The idea of a myriad of minute events

collectively causing the triggering of immense happenings was used on many

occasions as motivation for action. For me too, it evolved as a useful metaphor in

discussions with people across the largest metropolitan education authority in

Europe. I saw the decisions I had to make, or was forced to make, about the route I

was taking in my research task, as “butterflies” which had a great impact on the

eventual focus and results. Those butterflies that I had discovered in the world of

SEN appeared to be having a collective effect larger than the sum of their parts;

others were copying the ideas, more students were being included and the number of

initiatives was growing. This exciting path of discovery illuminated for me many of

the issues within qualitative research and made the process a fulfilling one; unknown

to me at the time, "butterflies" were also beginning to cause the emergence of SCSC

(Second City Second Chance). To the surprise of many, including myself, this

organisation managed to grow against a background of repressive government

legislation. The development of SCSC meant that an end was now in sight but that

the “middle part” of the research process had no form or direction. This was most

unsettling but, in fact, turned into a creative situation for the lone researcher.

I continually struggled at this point of the journey to determine "what to measure?"

and "what and how to report?"; Reynolds and others in the School Improvement

movement were arguing, from a positivist perspective, that objective, external

reporting was possible. Booth argued, however, in The Poverty of Special Education

that this approach only;

"…compares performance on outcomes in integrated and segregated settings."

(p.86)

57

He outlined the problems with this approach and while I would not have understood

his meaning at the beginning of my study, I know now that there are problems with an

"output" related model of Special Needs provisions compared with one which

emphasises "processes". As he puts it, there are;

"… conceptual problems with this approach, which compares schools on the basis of the labels on their name boards rather than the features of the educational experience…"

(p.86)

While my journey appeared to have a beginning and I was in the middle of a forest of

happenings, there did appear to be an end in sight; but it was very remote! I

determined that, in spite of its difficulties, my journey should be made useful to others

and that, by being so, itself might act as a “butterfly” to influence future events. I

began to see this as crucial within my work rather than an added burden; I therefore

became increasingly committed to a research position where I assisted participants in

their process of change, believing, as did many other such researchers, that any

other position would simply reinforce an unacceptable status quo in human rights.

This was facilitated by my “twin track” approach where, while on fieldwork, I strove to

take account of the teachers needs (information, advice, case examples, network

connections, time to test out their thoughts with a friendly observer etc,) but I also

used my background to assist them where possible; I was beginning to see an end to

my research process.

This approach was also useful as a door-opening strategy. For example while I was

initially denied access to two potentially interesting Case Study Schools, my ability to

access useful assisting material and information networks (including the then

exploding world of the Internet), meant that I was eventually admitted. Access to Five

Houses and to parts of the work of Courtly Green were only possible because I

58

continually demonstrated that I wanted not only to observe but to act constructively

and to assist in taking their vision of Inclusion a step further.

While I found this stage of the research process challenging personally, I also found

it fulfilling. In this context it is important to revisit the source of my research; my heart

was with those pupils who, for whatever reason, found themselves on the outside of

the mainstream educational provision and possibly with basic rights denied. My

values (see Appendix C) determined the subject of my study, its basic methodology,

its academic institutional base and even the choice of my spiritual guide through what

promised to be an interesting trip. I believed, as an individual and as an

educationalist, that we must strive for a society and a school system that was as

inclusive as possible. I had been dealing with the results of excluding students from

school for many years and was interested to determine, as the term “Inclusion” really

did begin to replace "Integration" in the public domain (as noted by Booth), how

changes in practice and rhetoric were affecting such pupils.

At this stage I saw the school as only a part of the world from which various

categories of people had been excluded, due both to attitudes and to systems. I

discovered increasingly that the move towards an inclusive vision for schools was

set, at least by some actors, within a societal paradigm that had a "Rights" theme but

that the interpretation and practice of Inclusivity within schools varied according to

practical pressures and personalities as Booth argues in the extract quoted on page

55.

In the middle of my research period I found myself in difficult negotiations about

admittance to the four of five schools in Birmingham that I thought would provide

59

examples of a wide range of philosophies, practices and action research possibilities.

I came across a spectrum of definitions of Inclusion and a variety of possible Action

Research sites which eventually contributed the data for subsequent chapters.

Interestingly, it was at this mid point in my study that the term "Inclusion" and the

"Standards" agenda became politically important issues. Many in the field saw these

as contradictory trends and identified the appearance of tensions as a result. Many

leading Inclusionists, however, looked to demonstrate that what was good for the one

was also good for the other (that increasing Inclusion might raise standards in the

widest sense). The “Standards” demands, however, began to lead to increased

workloads and stress, all of which would have been expected to hinder Inclusion.

Booth and Ainscow (1998) led the way in the analysis of this development with their

emphasis on "From Them to Us". While this was an international comparative study,

it also explored a British school case study and the pressures therein, usefully

highlighting tensions similar to those I was coming across in the field. Ainscow and

Booth, together with Dyson and others, ensured that the debate began to move away

from individuals to "all students". Such commentators pointed out that schools reflect

society and that inclusive schools could only be truly so in a society that wanted to be

inclusive. Ainscow in particular (4) emphasised that Inclusion was a process and not

an objective; the Inclusive School is therefore a logical impossibility. It follows that

there might be comprehensive schools or neighbourhood schools but not those which

could claim to be all-inclusive.

These tensions were a major feature of the first part of my research; and I found

myself beginning to become accepted in a number of schools with a range of

interesting interpretations of Inclusion.

60

The next part of my journey began with the "vision word" (Inclusivity) as I had heard it

used by the Chief Education Officer of Birmingham in his inspirational addresses, and

an attempt to explore the operations at a number of schools in depth. I had a great

philosophical empathy with the concept espoused by the CEO and, while I explored

one or two schools which opened their doors to me, I continued to look for other

interesting practices in the LEA which I could investigate. In talking to key individuals

within the support services, I even encountered a Senior Educational Psychologist

who had written to the LEA to emphasise that the word "Inclusivity" did not exist!

From this apparently chaotic and disorganised setting, which also included the

continual reduction of central LEA services, reduction of real budgets, increasing

autonomy of schools, a plethora of sorts of schools - Grant Maintained Schools etc. -

"emerged” a most exciting group of schools in which to work. They had, between

them, a range of ethnicities, geographical positions, and histories, but they also

exhibited varying degrees of hostility towards me as a potential LEA researcher and a

well known ex-Headteacher. I had been the first Headteacher in the city to have been

replaced in the wake of an OfSTED inspection and, although this did not discourage

those who knew me well, some schools were wary, at least at the beginning of the

project. My Journal records that I talked to my supervisor about my AR contacts

having a;

"…fear of Gethin because of;a) external constraints (OfSTED/ Code of Practice…),b) publicity (my ex-school),c) the difficult nature of Inclusion,d) my position as a Head, e) the threat of any researcher.

(C27)

It is interesting to note that, with the benefit of hindsight, this had changed by the end

of the research period, to almost unanimous acceptance of my involvement. My

Inclusivity research and the SCSC operation had apparently had the effect of leading

61

to my “inclusion”!

Before long I was also wondering whether the range of practices and interpretations

that I had chosen was going to provide me with data that would be useful and

manageable, in that they themselves demonstrated a complexity that I had not

imagined. I became anxious because I could not see patterns and similarities from

which to draw, however, as the Action Research fieldwork progressed, I became

convinced, as Clark, Dyson and Millward (1995) reported that;

"The notion of contradiction is useful in explaining why we (I) failed to find the coherence and uniformity that we had anticipated. If the case study schools are understood as fixed and determinate structures undergoing linear processes of social production, and if these processes are seen as containing a wide range of contradictions, then inconsistencies are entirely predictable."

(p.101)

I came to believe that a dialectical approach (looking at apparent inconsistencies and

contradictions) would not only provide myself and the schools with valid data with

which to progress, but would also give meaning to the term "emergence". New and

exciting interpretations can often emerge through the juxtapositioning of seeming

opposites and the evolution of a new way of approaching the analysis or action.

While philosophers would call this a dialectical approach, most teachers would simply

recognise it as good practice; learning from one another. Teachers are not always

skilled at this, however, and in a content-heavy curriculum in particular, there are

limited ways in which it is used. Ainscow and Booth point out that such synthesis is

the only method that is congruent with an inclusive vision and that we should

encourage ways in which it can be promoted. (4). Where this occurred in my journey

with and within the schools, I have described it, demonstrating how the new

discoveries often became pivotal in determining the direction of the research

thereafter. For example at Courtly Green I discovered a new initiative while talking to

62

the SENCO and at Four Houses their initial refusal to have me research in their

school only made me more resolute in my determination to find a way in and to

understand that very refusal.

In addition to my research notes about what was happening in schools, I began also

to examine recent writings from the school level (Heads and policy documents, for

example) as well as academic sources from the growing number of statutory and

voluntary organisations working in this field. I discovered that the debate had moved

on a long way while I had been occupied in my particular professional cul-de-sac;

separate Special Education provision and the implementation of the Special Needs

Code were no longer the burning issues, and key figures were talking about

Inclusivity, although always from the position of the “challenged” individual students.

From my reading I realised how important my freedom was; I had the luxury of being

able to study what liked, when I liked and of taking a research stance that pleased

me (5). I came to see, however, that my chosen stance carried a concomitant

responsibility to offer any assistance which appeared useful or necessary. My

reading, my discovery of fascinating but isolated practice, and my personal history

and interests began to interact in a way that led to significant action (my personal

portfolio of interests and activities is presented in Appendix C). It is my belief that,

through my focus on a useful study, I was able to maintain enthusiasm around me at

difficult times, and assist the staying power of those involved in the various initiatives

with which I became involved. It can be seen in my portfolio that I have always had a

desire to promote Inclusion, though it is not referred to by that name.

Most journeys, and this one was no exception, are planned to take the traveller to a

pre-determined destination, even if the route has to be negotiated. However, my

destination changed or "emerged" as my experience of the schools progressed; an

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early diary note reads;

" I don't even know now where I shall be at the end of this year; and though I initially thought that that might be a significant disadvantage (with a supervisor breathing down my neck) I believe that it will mean that my journey will be a lot more significant than it would otherwise have been."

My original Aims are encapsulated within an early Journal note about my research

questions as they were formulating in March 1996. I was intending to visit schools

with the following;

"7/3/00 Questions for Summer;

How do you interpret Inclusion? What ways is it different from Integration? What is this school doing in that direction? What hurdles are there in the way? What successes have there been? Why were these successful? Why don't other attempts get as far? Respondents Points?

(C28)

Later (14.10.97) my questions had moved to a different area of interest; the personal

or interpersonal;

"Why am I doing this?- what justification is there: For me? For kids? For schools?

Surely I can only justify this if my story does touch all parts. I can; Ensure that I develop Ensure that I allow schools to use me/ my views/ thought Through the above drive it all with a desire to enhance provision for ALL

Children"(sic B77)

During the latter stages of the research, I almost followed Poppers (1963) Searchlight

Theory and sought to falsify the pessimistic hypotheses I developed as I travelled. I

wondered about the influence of the size of schools and, separately, the power of a

64

large team of support assistants, and discussed the influence of these dimensions

with operators at all the schools with which I became involved. The ideas I had were

originally framed as hypotheses, which I had the grand aim of "testing" in some

quasi-scientific way in the schools. However the direction in which I applied my

narrow Searchlight beam was vital; what if the sections of the Inclusion arena that I

illuminated by this process still did not reveal the "true path"? By definition, this

progress by searchlight could only clarify those areas specifically chosen and did not

automatically lead me to possibly more productive areas to explore. I therefore had

"no end in sight" at the start of the research process, but that was necessary if

emergent learning was to continue. My searchlight had to be switched on regularly

and my learning from others enabled me to focus it increasingly. The following

chapters of my story describe how I became increasingly involved in direct action

towards the goal of inclusive schooling, documenting my own contribution and the

feelings and contributions of others as I went. While there appeared to be a middle to

my story that was worth telling, and there was an obviously a beginning, there did not

seem to be a convenient "end" in sight to this process. Eventually, however, the

appearance and evolution of SCSC provided an “end” produced via the “means” of

the research case studies and their analysis.

While I was in the middle stage of my work I was beginning to wonder whether I

could make any sense at all of my journey, and whether I could make it at all useful

to others. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that ideas were putting themselves

into some order within my mind and that patterns had "emerged" (described in the

Chapter; Second City Action). My Journals are full of questions about why bodies

such as the DfEE should be continually interested in my work and whether it was

"Who knows Who" rather than the currency of the issue that was determining the

65

progress of both my research and that of SCSC.

To demonstrate how I was reaching for explanation of what I observed, I note that in

one Journal entry I even tried to connect my observations with a precursor of the

Chaos Theory, the Aquarian Conspiracy;

"Q; How does this link with Marilyn Ferguson - The Aquarian Conspiracy?" (D5)

This refers to the idea of personal and human consciousness networks, developed by

Marilyn Ferguson in a mode similar to De Chardin and, more recently, those

attempting to explore the physiological origins of consciousness. Ferguson, in 1982,

builds upon De Tocqueville and De Chardin in writing;

"..on the transformation of our consciousness…"(Introduction by Max Lerner; p.11)

Interestingly Ferguson was a "participant-observer" herself as she built up the book;

but her writing never gained the same currency as did writings about Complexity and

Chaos Theory. This is despite the basic similarity between the Aquarian Conspiracy

idea and that of Complexity; that there are connections that lead to unexpected

results. Ironically, this is a demonstration of the Theory of Increasing Returns which,

as Waldrop argues, is a consequence of Chaos Theory; the attractive nomenclature

in the latter, and its almost accidental popularisation by Waldrop and others, made it

"succeed" as an explanatory instrument whereas The Aquarian Conspiracy failed to

interest a wider public.

Integration or Inclusion?

As I negotiated the schools with this question in mind, I began to see Inclusion as a

66

Human Rights issue and Integration as involving little change to the status quo.

Some initiatives described as Inclusion were no more than Integration, simply putting

students into the mainstream with little or no adjustment of the system (for example

the early students introduced to Four Houses). However if Inclusivity can be defined

as;

"...the restructuring of Special Education to permit all, or most students to be integrated in mainstream classrooms through reorganisation and institutional innovations.."

(Ware 1995 p.127),

then it should involve all possible areas; local government, school governance,

curriculum and pedagogy. Within it are fundamental issues of human dignity and

rights for all.

Even here an effect of Emergence can be observed; Inclusion work may be carried

out initially in individual classrooms or even with students within those rooms, but

ascending out of that action are concerns for, and discussions about the rights and

values of the sections of the populations to which all the participants belong.

Integrative practices are only a part of the Inclusion concept.

As the schools that I came to know developed Integrative practices (each for different

historical and institutional reasons) the debate about Inclusion started to develop.

The school leaderships did not begin with a firm grasp of "Inclusion as Vision” but

they often came to that realisation through the natural extension of their planned

development of a caring, community focused, school. My notes record that at an

early stage I could see no clear causes for Inclusionary moves and I was of the

opinion that;

"…so much inclusion happens as a result of Heads….no policy…. No finance,.. just good practice. (GB) School have just (for example) dismantled their Unit (I must visit!)"

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(A8)

As Ainscow might say they "dropped" their "baggage" and, through internal debate,

"wrote their own scripts" (6).

A second emergent phenomenon (for me at least) was the increasing appearance

within the associated literature of a research paradigm which appeared to be

grounded in the study of such values-laden issues as Inclusion. Barton (1995)

referred to the concept of "Researcher as Change Agent " and Dyson later (1995)

promoted the concept of a dialectic relationship between researchers and

practitioners in this area which could be regarded as constituting a distinct research

field similar to that which was developing around School Improvement. The

relationship in such a paradigm would be typified by the interactive nature of the

researcher-researched relationship; just the sort of "feedback" system that analysts

were saying was necessary for "emergence". The emergent issues are, then, both

within the study, where study developments are shaped by the issues crystallised

during dialogue between researcher and participants, as well as outside it where this

was emerging as a distinct research paradigm.

The above issues are illustrated by the ways in which I gained acceptability within,

and access to, my case study schools. At FH School (which I had identified after a

conversation with an officer of the LEA who had recently had her job re-titled as

“Inclusion Officer”) I was initially refused access; the reasons given included an

impending OfSTED Inspection and heavy staff workloads. I refused to accept the

rebuttal and began a dialogue of my own with the Deputy Head; my arguments

concentrated upon the process of the research, the denial of any personal agenda

and the desire to interact with the school in pursuing its goals for all students. This

68

approach must have gained a sympathetic ear since, when the Deputy became the

Acting Head, I was invited to resubmit my research proposal. The issue of overwork

had disappeared and the Chair of Governors - herself slightly disabled- was

convinced and convincing about the mutual advantage of my temporary attachment

to the school. After that it very soon became obvious that the school was not going to

feature heavily in my learning and I “emerged” from this to occupy a position as

"Researcher as Change Agent". Together with the Head and appropriate staff, I

began to look into the ways in which we could take Inclusivity forward together and

the Head saw this as developmental for the school, the staff, the pupils, and the

Governors. It was not necessary for me to make it clear that, at FH, I would inevitably

have a value position on these foci; it was taken for granted and we all assumed that

the learning for all of us would emerge as a direct result of the dialectical process.

No End In Sight?

Although it often seemed that there might not be “closure” at the end of my journey, I

did find that subsequent parts of my story appeared to demonstrate that the

emergent and inclusive happenings which I began to witness did not seem to occur

by chance, but arose out of a set of rules as yet little understood. These conditions

are apparent at the edge of unplanned activity (or chaos) and they allow development

and change to happen in the face of incredibly powerful opposing factors. I have

described many of these factors, and the developments that took place despite them,

in the following chapters concerning the four case study schools that became the

central feature of this work.

The dilemmas (Human Rights, Inclusion or Integration, Schools size, Local school or

Centre of Excellence etc.) exposed in my work (see the Chapter “Endgame”) were

69

initially disconcerting but eventually became useful. In my opinion, all researchers

should have to confront such dilemmas and, indeed, in the absence of the action that

leads to these dilemmas, many writers;

"…worry about the contemporary role of qualitative social researchers."(Fine and Weis in Shacklock and Smyth 1998)

In other words, simply reporting what I witnessed would have been immoral; I had a

“duty to act” and, in becoming a force for change, I was able to explore the dilemmas

more deeply and to understand the actors more fully.

It is interesting that my initial goal had been to understand what was happening in

developments in Inclusion as witnessed in some Birmingham schools, and my initial

thoughts on methods and reporting were very different from those upon which I

centred at the end of the process. I attempted to use narrative in a similar way to that

espoused by Foley ("On Writing Reflexive Realist Narrative" in Shacklock and Smyth

1998) when he referenced the exposure of everyday life in the work of the nineteenth

century novelists;

"…in retrospect, my primary goals were similar to these novelists. Like them, I wanted 'to reveal the driving forces of history which are invisible to actual consciousness'. "

(p.113; No primary source quoted by the author)

On reflection, and with the help of hindsight, I realise that I did actually have an "End

in Sight"; it was just that I could not see it with my original aims in mind. The journey

took me into an examination of perspectives in a way that I had not expected and I

now understand (in particular after Ferguson and Waldrop) why that happens. I

realised that the "Beginning" was obviously my original, personal, stance and that the

"Middle" was an exciting personal developmental journey that eventually helped to

construct the next stage of my philosophical and professional life.

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Footnotes

1. M. Mitchell Waldrop published "Complexity" in the USA in 1992. It was subsequently published in the UK in 1993 and, among many things, describes a computer simulation that could be a simile for creation itself; THE GAME OF LIFE. He describes the way in which his voyagers independently came across times and places, within various disciplines, where spontaneously a greater degree of order was created from complex, random happenings or arrays. Evolution, or the Game of Life, is a case in point where there are pressures for the development of increasingly complex lifeforms despite all the basic rules of science (Entropy etc.). My own journey started to uncover complex SEN developments which were occurring against the apparent run of the political and financial game and , like Waldrop, I was increasingly fascinated by how and why this could be.

2. FitzGibbon (1996) reminds senior managers trying to develop quality and value added systems in schools of the importance of "complexity" and the implication of this that you cannot, by definition in a post-modern world, see all the consequences of your actions. Planning therefore has to be more of an Art than a Science.

3. Booth (1995) unpacks these differences in his article in the book by Clark and Dyson et al (1995). He is clear that;“If we wish to explore new ways of understanding special education, then we have to be prepared to jettison the language that ties us to old habits of thought” (p.97).

4. Booth and Ainscow (as editors) reported on the scene in ‘From Them to Us’ in 1998.

5. Because I had started the study within a secondment, but had no outside direction, I was able to choose a subject to fit my interests. I also carried out my study over four years and was able, even encouraged, to change my stance as my findings dictated.

6. In the North of England Conference in 1998, Mel Ainscow used this phrase. This was later repeated in his Gulliford lecture at Birmingham the following year.

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CHAPTER FOUR

DANIELLE AND DANA

(Two on-the-ground students bring the researcher to a focus)

Synopsis

Two small, early, exploratory Case Studies are described in this chapter. The stories of Danielle (from Five Houses School) and Dana (Courtly Green School) enable the reader to explore with the researcher the perspectives of two students who were (by some definitions) obviously well "included” in the schools system. The two stories originally appeared to be relatively straightforward accounts of students with disabilities who were coping and integrating but they evolved to expose fundamental questions about Inclusion. The way their individual schools had moved, or were moving, to develop systems to accommodate them is explored. The issues facing Danielle and Dana (who had impairment of mobility and hearing respectively), are narrated so as to explore the tensions that arose in their schools as these were asked (or asked themselves) to take on a wider range of pupils with physical disability. The situations facing the two girls are analysed with reference to a study by a colleague and co-researcher who worked with Danielle at Five Houses in the same period. The contrasts and initial analysis provided by these two short studies is presented under the following headings, which are later explored and extended in the School Studies;

Contents; Danielle DanaContrasts and Comparisons;

School Changes (Physical and Personnel) Curriculum and Pedagogy Changes Resource Issues Neighbourhood School or Satellite School? Instigators Human Rights

Danielle

The Head of Five Houses recounted one of his first encounters with Danielle, which took place while she was still of primary age and was visiting the secondary school for the first time, in order to introduce her to the possibilities and difficulties therein. He told me that;

"As Danielle left the School at the end of that day, scooting her wheelchair as fast as she could manage (and with the Buddies in pursuit), I spotted her from my bus duty position near the school gates. I heard her mother shout offering a lift in the car. This was refused with the shout;

“No thanks, I’ve got my Buddies and they are taking me!”

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This was the first day on which Danielle had met these peers, and her transition to

secondary school from a sheltered primary placement was going to depend, to a

significant degree, upon the support they would be able to offer her. Barry, in his

position as the newly appointed Head of the school, had invited me to get involved in

Action Research around Danielle’s situation, and was obviously pleased that one of

the tactics that I had devised (the Buddy System) was starting to have an effect! He

had asked me to become involved with advising the school about the Inclusion of

Danielle at Five Houses High, even though there were, at that time, still six months to

go before she was to start. She had chosen this very local school for a variety of

reasons and I later had time to investigate these while I was devising support

strategies for her. I had proposed the Buddy System she referred to in response to

fears from both the primary and secondary schools that she would be lonely,

excluded and possibly lacking the mobility or ability to make friends upon her arrival

that September. The “Buddy” system is apparently used in Canada and North

America where some aspects of Inclusion are better understood and documented (1).

Danielle was a White, diminutive, wheelchair-bound Year 6 girl at the time and was

unlikely ever to be able to walk unaided, as a result of Spina Bifida. Numerous

operations, immobility and incontinence were just some of the difficulties she was

having to overcome as she looked forward to transferring to "big" school. My notes

recall an early observation about this at her home with my analytical thoughts of the

time recorded in upper case. (See appendix E for the structure of Fieldwork and

Journal Notes);

"Dad; very positive/ both parents very enthusiastic (THE POWER OF THE PARENT!) - they obviously pushed for the inclusion of Danielle (when moving into Year 2 at HK Primary)."Danielle; smiling, confident and mobile! She obviously gives it all (like Dana) (THE ENTHUSIASM OF THE STUDENTS MAKES IT SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT; EBD PUPILS ARE IMPOSSIBLE?)

73

"The parents had adapted the house, pushed for her to move because "she was bored and not being pushed" (Dad) and they wanted her to be independent ("then we can get our lives back" said Dad. (EVERYBODY WINS; WIN-WIN)"

(B19)

The four Buddies we chose for Danielle were all female but included, importantly, one

African-Caribbean girl who had started to develop a friendship with Danielle on the

street where they both lived. Interestingly, family visitors from the South of England

had expressed surprise that Danielle’s parents were allowing such a girl into their

home and it was to counter such prejudice that she was deliberately chosen as a

Buddy. Danielle’s parents had many similar, stereotypical, worries about Five Houses

(Black pupils, unruly bus-stop behaviour…). They were particularly worried about the

possibility of bullying and the effect of out-of area pupils with no allegiance to the

locality. Five Houses has a large number of pupils travelling to it by bus as a result of

other school closures in the inner city and is attempting to keep the Year 7 numbers

at a constant level. The effect of the Government’s strategy of Open Enrolment (any

school anywhere able to take any pupil) appeared to be hitting the school hard,

leading to their open policy on recruitment and their search for ways of attracting

more “custom”. This had led them to examine possibilities such as the Satellite

School Initiative under which students such as Danielle would be attracted. The

behaviour of pupils at the local bus stop (never nice at any school!) had led to

stereotyping by local residents since many of the out-of-area pupils were Black.

Danielle's parents were ostensibly more worried about the possibility of bullying and

name-calling; the fact that she might still be wearing nappies and had special

toiletting arrangements was seen as a potential target for this. Although both parents

were anxious, they appeared very enthusiastic about the warmth of the Buddies

towards Danielle on that first day.

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The scheme was designed so that the Buddies (coming from different primary

schools) would meet a few times before the start of term in September and visit the

secondary school on at least one occasion. This was successful in creating a positive

focus for all relationships with Danielle, and avoided the possibility of the negotiations

about her being exclusively about problems and differences. It gave a feeling of

togetherness and, even though this was specific to Danielle, of Inclusion. Partly by

design, and partly by accident, it also gave a wonderfully advantageous position for

the teller of this part of the story; I could help, act, assist and yet observe the

reactions of all involved. This actively enabled me to see clearly and practically that

there is a major tension in Inclusion; schools need to change and adapt, yet students

need to be seen as similar to one another in as many aspects of their educational

experience as is possible. Danielle's school adapted corridors, added lifts and trained

staff (all of which I was involved in as an adviser) but Danielle wanted to be the same

as all other students.

As a Spina Bifida sufferer, Danielle was going to find it hard to be the first wheelchair

user at FH. The range of support strategies that we developed for her to ensure her

successful primary-secondary transition also enabled the production of this narrative.

The teachers, governors, students and others who surrounded Danielle in this uphill

task were the providers of the material for the tale. The story is of a girl who, despite

physical difficulties, and the stress that her challenges often produced, made

tremendous strides in achieving her own goal (that of going to an ordinary school

with her “mates"). She also inspired all those around her to make it work well for

herself and others.

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FH was not the only schools that the parents could have chosen, but it was a local

one; the other main alternative school had a number of wheelchair users but was a

significant journey away. On a visit to her home I saw how important locality was to

Danielle and it was probably this that convinced her parents in spite of their fear of

bullying (such fears always increase the closer a house is to a school site);

"Met Danielle on the street with a friend, and she said that she did not want to come in to see me…Mum/ Dad said they'd give FH "a try" and I said that, in the light of their original aim, it would be more Inclusive (treating her as ordinary) because; She can see her friends at FH/ in the street (she wants to go to school with

them - to walk up the hill (400 metres), GH ( the other school possibility) is a very different community (of Asian

and "bussed-in" PH students); on neither ground would it be "normal", GG School (a third, Grant Maintained alternative) is middle-class and the

pupils (45) "bussed-in"; this again would not make her "ordinary" or able to be with friends".

(B70)

The Danielle case is an interesting, early, reference to the Local School definition of

Inclusion in my work.

I designed the Buddy scheme in order to provide a peer-support group for Danielle in

her new school. This was example of what I later came to know was called "praxis".

I also talked to her parents about the support she was to get from the Integration

Assistant (IA); I had wondered whether she could be persuaded to transfer to the

secondary with Danielle. However this did not happen and my field notes recorded;

" I raised the question of (that particular IA) being alone at FH for these reasons; Staff training (would be) more high profile and more worthwhile (in their

view), Friendship for Danielle at a stressful time, Specialist knowledge by (other) IAs/ CAs,Mum agreed with this, Dad didn't think that this all mattered- he was concerned with facilities and homework and bullying". (B19)

Danielle had a major influence on the Buddies, who had been carefully selected by

the FH school Community Co-ordinator in close co-operation with the Head of the FH

Year 7 and a primary school contact. Staff said later that they came to admire her

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and that she influenced their perceptions of the disabled; even though they saw her

as a "mate" it was obvious that she was different. The school actively adopted a

"Different but Equal" approach to which the Buddies added a great deal. The Buddies

system was not simply an “added extra” as far as Inclusion was concerned; it

exemplified in real terms the significant difference between Inclusion and Integration

which academic discourse could only coldly describe. The school wanted Danielle to

become integrated (first to the curriculum and then to timetable and support

systems), but it was forced to change basic procedures in order to accommodate her

physical, practical (and sometimes emotional) needs. For example the homework

system changed so that Danielle could leave lessons slightly early to get to her lifts or

physiotherapy without missing set homework (see Chapter Seven for more detail).

In order to ensure that Danielle - and others with similar challenges - could transfer

successfully to FH, the school;

engaged an Action Researcher (myself) to work with key agents for change in the

school,

physically restructured the school, taking advantage of the major re-building work

already in progress,

inserted activities such as the Buddy system into the school’s gamut of Primary-

Secondary transfer strategies,

began to consider whether it would be necessary to change the timings of lessons

in the whole school in order to facilitate Danielle’s transfer between lessons using

several lifts and hydraulic ramps,

engaged Governors in discussions of all of the above and other management

issues such as the challenge to the school’s Health and Safety systems,

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engaged teaching staff in practical discussions on how they would adapt or

change their pedagogy and classroom practices (for example, when to tell the

class about homework tasks if one or two of Danielle’s Buddies were also going to

leave classes early to assist her movements), and

asked me to arrange staff visits to schools which were known to have effective

practice in this matter.

All of these actions changed the school for all pupils, and not simply for Danielle.

From this researcher’s stance, this exemplifies Inclusion defined as locating

responsibility with the system and not with any individual. Such a definition involves

attempting to change the school so that it is able to accommodate any pupil from the

locality of the school who wishes to attend. It emphasises change and adaptation of

the school, or mutual adaptation.

The probable effect on the Buddies as students develops another aspect of Inclusion;

the Human Rights dimension (the argument that Inclusion is about the right for all

pupils, not just those described as “challenged”, to experience living and working with

a full range of the human spectrum). This dimension is, of course, well espoused by

the growing number of disability action groups and it in promotes the right of all

children to be educated with all others. Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights

of the Child is often quoted in this context; "preparing the child for active life as an

adult". The CSIE (Centre for the Study of Inclusive Education) is one such advocacy

group which argues for the active operation of the principles in the Salamanca

Statement (2). In the Human Rights dimension the benefits of inclusive practices are

seen to be for all; all students, parents and teachers (particularly those who have no

currently assessed disability). Inclusion in this sense promotes the view that we

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should all be engaged in a world enriched by relationships between all sorts of

human beings with all their attendant strengths and weaknesses.

We are all richer for the strength, example, humour and inspiration that Danielle

brought to the FH challenge. The Buddies benefited immediately, the staff changed

position and I developed personally and professionally under the influence of the

Action Research situation. Through active involvement with Danielle and her schools

and parents, I came to much deeper understandings than I could have reached by

simply reading and gathering quantitative data. We were all changed permanently by

the situation in which we worked with Danielle.

Crucially, FH did not wait until everything was absolutely organised before attempting

the necessary shift in their practices. They prepared the way by engaging an ex-

Head wheelchair-user to tour the school and to advise the Governors about

Danielle's future welfare and their responsibilities for Health and Safety in particular.

On his advice;

“You cannot get everything right before starting”,

they decided to organise initial support and facilities for Danielle, which would begin

in her Year 7, and to evolve the remaining aspects as they became obvious. This, as

a “management of change “ strategy, might appear unsound until considered in the

light of the speed of change and Chaos Theory, which indicates that, by definition, we

cannot know the detail of the state towards which we are progressing. All our current

actions as well as other actions taken en route influence the final state of affairs; we

have to start somewhere! This point is well developed by Michael Fullan in his work

on Change within a post-modern world(3).

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Danielle was therefore able to begin at FH with the school already changing to suit a

wider range of students than before; her determination to attend the local school had

driven this development as it had also driven her move from a Special School to an

adapted primary school in her year 5. She derived enormous pleasure from moving

to FH, which I witnessed one day when visiting her at the primary; I arrived at

playtime and went to the yard to see her with all the other pupils, racing around in her

wheelchair. She rushed away from me at the end of a brief conversation and held out

a hand to grab a lamppost, which enabled her to swing back laughing through 360

degrees, and rush back to me, laughing, (B24).

In visiting FH six months after Danielle started, it was obvious that things were going

well, that she was accepted, and that my (and her) earlier hopes were being fulfilled;

"Danielle liked the idea of a Buddy Group and was interested in the break/ lunch arrangements"

(A24)

On my visit during her first month in Year 7, I recorded;

"Danielle has started and "It's all going well! (Headteacher and SENCO say)"(B75)

One very effective intervention by the team working on this development at FH

(which included myself) had been to look at a school in a neighbouring LEA which

had over forty wheelchair-users in "regular" classrooms. In particular this helped FH

to emulate Courtly Green in developing the use of Integration Assistants to aid full

Inclusion rather than only assisting assigned Statemented individuals with their

Integration (See Chapter Seven for an analysis). I arranged the visit to the school

(called here CH) and noted in my Journal;

"CH tactic of attaching an IA to a Department ….. this allows that person to concentrate on access to that part of the curriculum for that young person"

(A 24)

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At this stage of my journey I identified a significant tension; schools could not, for

practical and financial reasons, all have a team of IAs; each IA having a subject

specialism. This, therefore, begs the questions; ‘are "Satellite" schools or "Centres of

Excellence" inevitable?’ and, if so, ‘is this really Inclusion?’ This tension is

underlined by the concern at FH that, if all children needing direct assistance are

spread around the educational system;

"We still have a problem overcoming the "Singleton Factor" - how do we get more (children) there? …. Or she (Danielle) will get to rely on one person!

(A24)

At CH they argued that;

"…sociability- we don't want them to be reliant on one person….so we move the IAs

around" (A 25)

CH also noted the distinct advantage of having students who could identify with one

another in times of stress, which is not possible if students are dispersed;

"(When one of the Muscular Dystrophy wheelchair-users died)...they counselled one another better than anyone else could have done".

(A 25)

Barry, the Head of FH, was very pleased that Danielle had succeeded; he was

pleased for her and pleased that he had created a "market niche" for FH. This was in

marked contrast to his resistance of the temptation to allow a "Behaviour Unit" on

site. He accepted Danielle with all the challenges that ensued, but was forceful in his

opposition to having "EBD" or "troubled" students anywhere near his site!

After the first month with Danielle, FH staff had nothing but admiration and praise;

they had overcome their barrier; and they were ready, it seemed, for the next

challenge in the move to an inclusive school. Danielle, and the work we had carried

out, were what I came to refer to as a "Wedge". This refers to initiatives which, when

“pushed” by managers (LEA or School), opens the door to more, and a wider range

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of, Inclusion developments. This was a concept I developed after conversations with

the Head of Green Hall school, where, in describing a very successful drive towards

Inclusivity at his school, he talked of the development thus;

"it's integration or nothing…. We have accepted that (student name) can be built into what we do but often (then) a new one is presented (with different needs) and we say "oh… we can’t cope with that - but we do"

(C20)

Interestingly, like Barry at FH, he refused to have anything to do with "EBD" students,

referring to the as "EeeBee-Deebies" with the reasons, or excuse, that the latter

were;

"…pupils whose behaviour might …"threaten the education of the other pupils" …"

(C20)

The "Wedge" concept was a useful one, to which I returned continually in trying to

understand how things happened in this field (see Chapter Nine; Endgame). Danielle

was certainly involved in a Wedge that worked; there are now other wheelchair-users

following in her tracks and the school has moved on to other challenges. Details of

how they and other schools worked on the challenge presented by the "EeeBee-

Deebbies" are presented in Chapter Six and details of the school processes are

given in Chapter Nine.

Dana

Dana was a very different character from Danielle and the dimensions of

“Inclusiveness” of the school situation in which she found herself were also very

different. However, there were underlying similarities that I was able to tease out

during my visits to her school and home. The impact she had on my understanding

of Inclusion was significant; her situation illustrated for me the idealism of much of the

Inclusion debate; yet she inspired me to look to ways in which the profoundly deaf

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might be included despite their need for major changes to school buildings. She also

was living proof that there is a "Deaf Culture" (often referred to by the professionals)

in a way that is not paralleled for any of the other groups facing similar challenges.

As a child born with total hearing loss, Dana was a challenge to her parents. They

had come from East Africa (Ghana) and had not spotted her hearing problem until

her nursery recognised developmental problems. Despite these, everyone at nursery

level worked with her in an inclusive way; she was only separated from her hearing

peers when she went to a primary school with a Unit for the Deaf;

(At the Unit) " ..we were not mixed in the school….not with the hearing….not like at (CG) where we could go with the hearing people…"

(A16)

Dana’s mum, who held down a demanding job in a metal fabrication factory, was able

to tell me feelingly that she didn’t want her daughter to attend a local school. Living in

‘Wandsworthy’ (a majority Black and Asian area) she wanted me to know that she

was not happy with the schools in the area, even though the family was Black.

Although one of the local schools - which had a majority of pupils from Asian

backgrounds - had a Unit for the Deaf (called, significantly, just that), she wanted her

daughter to go to a school on the other side of the city. Dana herself said that the

pupils at the local school were;

"…not like me…." (A 16)

In this situation obviously Dana saw her identity as Black first and Hearing-Impaired

second. This race issue is certainly rarely raised as an issue in the Inclusion debate;

and if pupils think it to be so important, should it not be? Using the Human Rights

argument discussed above, we might be tempted to argue for “bussing”!

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I met Dana at school, at home and in "HIRBY" (see Courtly Green Chapter) and I

spoke with her mum on a number of occasions, eventually becoming trusted enough

to fix the fused lights one night when on a home visit. I learned in these visits and in

talking with Dana at school, that she was able to travel to a school of her choice,

seven miles away from her home, because she had the use of a taxi and that this

was a result of her Special Needs Statement. This allowed Courtly Green to become

her choice for reasons based, it seemed, partly on prejudice and partly on the

expensive and extensive resources located there. The developments there are

described elsewhere (see Chapter Five).

The family seemed not to have even considered the advantages of a neighbourhood

school; a situation I understood more clearly when I saw the extra resources

(physical and human) at Courtly Green school. These included a team of specialist

Integration Assistants and flashing lights in every classroom to warn the deaf in case

of fire. It is fit to note here that the other school with a Resource Base, which could

have benefited Dana, was not very far away from her home. It seems that the friendly

attitude of the large CG Support Base made her feel very welcome, to the extent of

ensuring that she stayed on in the school to pursue sixth form courses despite the

extra challenge thereof;

"…Secondary is very friendly…""…Sixth Form is a lot of work…" (A16)

To have only two secondary schools resourced in this way in such a large city meant

that students had to travel and that their needs could not, by definition, be met in the

school nearest to their home. This led me to question whether the same expensive

input would ever be possible for all schools. Since the number of severely hearing

impaired students is limited (the number is approximately the equivalent of one per

secondary school in Birmingham) I would estimate that, especially in a time of limited

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finance, it is not ever likely. The implications of the impossibility of equally resourcing

local schools for Inclusion, or “Human Rights" are clear; there are tensions that

appear to be irresolvable, except in a limited way through the “Neighbourhood

School” approach (4). This seems to me a crucial area for strategic development at

government level (national and local) since, in Dana’s case, the effect of travelling

daily to a Centre of Excellence so far away and by private taxi was to result in her

isolation from her home community. She is included, said Mum, only in

"..Deaf Youth Club…(Black) Church) … but rarely plays outside now because there is much more work to do for school now"

(A17)

Exploring this with Mum, she agreed that it would never be possible for all schools to

be equipped in the way that CG was. She also pointed out that even concerned

adults rarely make an effort to consciously counter the negative aspects of the

situation in which her daughter therefore found herself;

"…they put all the (Hearing Impaired) together on a recent trip (residential) to Wales!…."

(A17)

Children see this differently; Dana loved being with her hearing-impaired peers and

she could also see that she was receiving better quality education and pastoral

attention as a result of being in what was, in essence though never in name, a

"Centre of Excellence". Commenting on her primary school provision she stated;

"At…. School I was the only one, the equipment (transmitters etc.) wasold and didn't work very well…and I felt alone."

(C 38)

It is all very well for those in the educational establishment to regard either Inclusion

or Neighbourhood Schooling as the ideal, however if the individual child perceives

that their identity is being defined by that "different" part of their being, then are we

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not wrong in disregarding this? This tension is discussed further in the Dimensions of

Inclusion part of Chapter Nine (Endgame).

Everyone around Dana saw her as a strong person, which was, no doubt, a reason

that I gravitated towards her for this part of my work;

"…popular….performing (for hearing people)… outgoing…" (Sister; A 41)

This must lead to the question as to whether Inclusion is brought about by the

personality of the "challenged" individual, and whether it should be a policy for all. My

note to myself at the time of my last meeting with Dana outlined the main question;

"She is a personality, a driver, and forces you to take notice of her. As a Black girl this ensures her integration but not her social Inclusion - this ideal is not possible!"

(A 41)

Because, as a result of taxi-ing to a distant school, she was increasingly excluded

from the local community (testified to by Mum, above), there are similarities with the

exclusion felt by students who are bussed to Grammar Schools, City Technology

Colleges etc. My last notes record that this, in her opinion, worsened as she became

older and that she was tempted to transfer to an out-of city Deaf College in order to

maximise her post-18 education chances (A17).

Contrasts and Comparisons

A colleague at FH happened to carry out a study (for eventual use by the Open

University) of the moves made by the school as it changed to include students with

physical disabilities. I will refer to him as MG and use these initials to prefix any

references to his notes. There are a number of issues raised in the situations of

Danielle and Dana which are usefully explored by cross-referencing with

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observations by MG and which all revolve around the difference between Integration

and Inclusion;

1 School Changes (Physical and Personnel)

Both CG and FH schools had had major adaptations, resourced by national cash

injections, (although not always for those children with disabilities). It is an important

distinction to note that, while Integration allows an individual to "fit into" a school, the

sort of reorganisation for Inclusion which took place at these schools calls for a

searching analysis of the need to transform the curriculum, extend the range of

pedagogies and examine the physical aspects of the site.

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2 Curriculum and Pedagogy Changes

My own Journal and that of MG chart the development of thinking at FH School.

However CG had already reached a static position in its thinking about Inclusion of

the Hearing–Impaired; they had hearing children learning to use sign language and

had carried out Departmental Staff Training led by members of the six-strong

"HIRBY" Team (See Chapter Five for details). At FH the developments were at a

much earlier stage, for example the Curriculum Team meetings which I attended

centred discussions on basic problems and identified needs such as;

"Homework to be set in good time to take into account Danielle leaving lessons early"

and;

"Our resources should reflect all aspect of society, including wheelchair users".

(Communications Faculty MG; 3.60)

The Humanities Faculty decided that adjustments were necessary on BOTH sides;

"Homework- picked up by (IA) if necessary?…No. She can pick it up from (BUDDY) and take on board personal responsibility, or pick it up from friends mainly."

(MG; 3.59)

The organised grouping of pupils is an important part of teaching practice. Many

teachers at CG and FH commented on how they had adapted, or were about to

adapt, their practice in this respect;

"Danielle and BUDDY to be together when groups are divided"(Arts and Technology Faculty MG; 3.61)

3 Resource Issues.

There appeared to be major resource arguments affecting the education of both

Dana and Danielle. Unless there is a "Magnet" or "Centre of Excellence" approach

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then the net cost of appropriate resources is inevitably higher for an inclusive

approach. The Arts and Technology Faculty at FH noted that there were still other

problems that had potentially expensive implications;

"The upper floor Fire Escape is not accessible (Stairs to be used)"

and;

"In Food Tech. Danielle to leave last (Safety)" (MG; 3.61)

4 Neighbourhood School or Satellite schools?

The tension in this aspect has been referred to above for Dana. Danielle, however,

was desperate to go to the local school. She saw herself as defined by her

personality and her friendship group; the people she met regularly in the street

outside her home, only a few hundred yards from FH;

“I want to… "..go to school with friends because it is more normal…."”(MG; 3.62. Note from an interview with Danielle and parents)

5 Instigators.

While I offer "Emergence" as an explanatory theory for the emergence of Inclusions

against repressive pressures (See Chapter Two), it tends to imply accidental and not

directed happenings. It is evident from my Journal about Dana and Danielle, and

reinforced by the work of MG, that certain charismatic individuals were significant in

the group of factors that came together to influence this emergent "happening". In

both of the Case Studies in this Chapter the Heads of the schools had been

inspirational. As well as being opportunistic (seeing this as a way of marketing their

school within a "safe" population in times of Open Enrolment, or creatively using

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building alterations), they “led from the front". They also claimed to take a moral

stance on the issue of Inclusivity, although attitudes to difficult students (at CG) and

to the possibilities of a Behaviour Support Centre possibility at FH suggest that they

did not apply this stance to all groups.

The Heads were clearly similar in a number of ways in this respect. My interviews

with the Head of CG shows how proud he was of HIRBY and what an inspirational

figure he was in its development. This was demonstrated particularly when he was

challenged about the fact that HI students were not socially included (see Chapter

Five).

At FH, MG notes that, when he asked the about "influencing factors", the Chief

Education Officer of the City was also mentioned. Research by Osler suggests that

such an influence of leaders is significant in the development of an inclusive

approach to children at-risk of formal exclusion from school (Osler 19997). The Head

of FH also testified that he thought he was;

"Taking the best advice form the LEA and (other) Heads".

He also believed that he was directly influenced by;

"The Head of Victoire Special School" (which Danielle attended in Y5)(MG; 3.52)

6 Human Rights

Significantly for me, only one of the parties interviewed at FH or CG by either MG or

myself saw Inclusion as a Human Rights issue (as defined in this Chapter). The Head

of FH testified that one of his personal motivators was the desire to see all students

learn to live with the complete spectrum of the human race. Unfortunately, even the

UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the Salamanca Statement (UNESCO

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1994) are weak on this point, arguing principally for the rights of the "challenged" and

not for those of all. This Dimension is explored further in Chapter Nine.

FOOTNOTES1 In Canada some of the earliest work in this field was carried out and provided impetus for many of the projects across

the UK. The influence of work such as that of Forest and O'Brien 1989 and in New Brunswick 1994 is testified to in Thomas, Walker and Webb, 1998.

2 The CSIE designed and promoted the Index for Inclusion in use across the country. They also list ten good reasons for Inclusion the following (under interesting subheadings);

HUMAN RIGHTS

All children have the right to learn together Children should not be devalued or discriminated against by being excluded or sent away because of their

disability or learning difficulty Disabled adults, describing themselves as special school survivors, are demanding an end to segregation There are no legitimate reasons to separate children for their education. Children belong together - with

advantages and benefits for everyone. They do not need to be protected from each other.

GOOD EDUCATION

Research shows children do better, academically and socially in integrated settings. There is no teaching or care in a segregated school which cannot take place in an ordinary school. Given commitment and support, inclusive education is a more efficient use of educational resources.

GOOD SOCIAL SENSE

Segregation teaches children to be fearful, ignorant and breeds prejudice. All children need an education that will help them develop relationships and prepare them for life in the

mainstream. Only Inclusion has the potential to reduce fear and to build friendship, respect and understanding.

3 Michael Fullan explores these issues in Change Forces (1993)

4 The CEO promoted the idea of registering all pupils at their local neighbourhood school, making that school the responsible body even if portions of or, exceptionally, all of the student’s education happened elsewhere over time. When combined with the development of satellite provision as school buildings are replaced or amended, the idea is a compromise, allowing all students to be with one another for a maximum amount of time within the constraints of national and local budgets.

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CHAPTER FIVE

COURTLY GREEN

(A truly comprehensive school!)

Synopsis;

Courtly Green School came to my notice on the recommendation of a senior education officer whose title had recently changed to refer to “Inclusion”. It was a school which had as comprehensive an intake as was possible in the Birmingham context. I gradually became a welcome part of the Special Needs Department, and, without referring directly to “Inclusion” was able to gain information from a range of staff about how the school was developing its approach to a very wide range of young people. This chapter records and begins to analyse the debates that I stirred up that year. It includes reference to two hypotheses; one on curriculum delivery and one of the effects of the size of the school.

Contents;

Preamble

Practices;

1. The SEN (Learning Support) Team

2. The Counsellor and Network Five

3. Links with the OS Special School

4. The Beech Wood Link

5. HIRBY; The Hearing Impaired Resource Base

Hypotheses;

1 The Size Hypothesis

2 The Curriculum Hypothesis

Some Conclusions

Preamble

In exploring the intellectual territory of inclusion, I talked with many education officers and

advisers. The schools that they recommended me to visit created a field from which I chose

those most likely to provide rich data. Courtly Green (CG) was a showcase city school which

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achieved as comprehensive an intake as possible in a city where grammar schools and sixth

form college provision truncated the intake of most schools. It had gained a good reputation

for its SEN Department, based on equal access to the curriculum for all pupils; an issue that I

later realised was fundamental to Inclusivity. It was compared with my other case study

schools, a very large school and, as such provided a very useful comparison with the other,

much smaller schools in my sample. While I had difficulty in understanding how they were

working towards Inclusivity while maintaining quite rigid pupil setting systems, I was

comforted that staff appeared to realise this tension and knew that they were challenged in

developing whole class teaching strategies that allowed curriculum access for all. One

member of staff saw this in terms of the size of the school, and that it needed to ensure that it

took action on the large numbers of students who appeared to find it easy to "coast through".

He believed that the school knew that;

"What matters is that a child is not dismissed as a "Set One Pupil"…"(C48)

They did, however, like many of us, slip up and stereotype students;

"…we've got a lot of rubbish… but…"(Deputy Head; A2)

Another member of staff, during one of my staffroom visits, reported that he saw the

comprehensive nature of the school intake as a great advantage but was very concerned that

pupils might be physically enrolled, present and nominally included but;

"…not really actively included. It is easy to coast (here) …almost laissez faire for them"

(B30)

The school had many similarities, except in size, with another inclusive showcase

school in another area of the city where I had seen impressive examples of "leading

edge" Inclusion. At this school staff who had risen to the challenge of many "different”

pupils, were being encouraged by the Head to tackle yet another type of “difference”.

I saw that the Head used this approach in leading staff to accept incrementally one

more challenging case after another; extending their tolerance and ability to cope. I

came to call this the "wedge" effect. My Field Notes record that;93

"There were great parallels here (at CG) with the (GH) situation; the LEA provide the specific resources (of high quality) and everyone seems happy)". They also ask the question, which kept re-appearing in one guise or another at CG; "Why is this not the case for EBD pupils?"

(B17)

When I talked to him about Inclusion, The Head at CG said that they were working

towards a halfway house with respect to full Inclusion. But my notes recall that he

was sure that;

“Inclusivity for the Hearing Impaired had brought nothing but good….when the EBD youngsters were mentioned it was a different matter.

(C15)

At CG I was keen to bear in mind the difference between technical and practical

involvement by researchers as analysed by Lomax and Parker (1995). They remind

us that many researchers have been criticised for only reporting and not;

"..showing the way in which understanding is transformed.." (p.301)

They quote Elliott's championing of practical action research where;

"..the experience of a practical problem challenges us to question the framework of beliefs and assumptions we bring to the situation, and to personally reconstruct that framework…”

(Elliott 1993 p.198 quoted on p. 301)

At CG, I was hoping to find the Birmingham equivalent of the Cleeves School (1) ; a

school that “works” for all students, of whatever background. However the situation I

discovered at CG was very different from what I knew to be the situation at Cleeves

and I ended up looking at aspects of CG practice which I originally did not even know

existed. This made it very different indeed from Cleeves and therefore provided fertile

ground for a thought-provoking investigation which extended in scope the longer I

was able to spend there. I became interested in the effect of the size of the school

and the nature of the ancillary support that a school can therefore afford, and I

became more aware of the importance of a range of interventions; which, again, a

large school might be thought more able to generate. These thoughts were then

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further explored in the other schools I had targeted but to which access was more

difficult to achieve (see the Chapter Six on St. Edna's and Lowlands High as well as

Chapter Seven on Five Houses).

CG had an experienced Head who was extremely well respected in the city and the

school, as a result, was known for its careful risk-taking stance. It had a Base for the

Hearing-Impaired and, I later discovered, a pilot link with a local Special School

where students were exchanged between the two sites on an organised basis. Staff

perceived the school as orderly and careful on the issue of risk-taking. I remember

vividly the Head of the HI Base, which was affectionately known as "HIRBY", talking

of agreeing to one of her girls attending a History trip with the rest of her class but

without an "aide". She had to work hard to persuade parents but, after the event, she

received so many cards from the girl, parents and others that the event had;

"…remained imprinted on (my) mind…(but).. my heart was in my mouth"(B33)

I negotiated access to this important school easily (although not to all the parts I wanted to

reach) because of my status as a former Head and a colleague of the Head of CG. I was

able to contrast this with the initial refusal by Five Houses (FH) School to allow any entry

whatsoever; did FH have something to hide, I wondered, or was it simply that the situation at

CG was so secure that it could take on any visitor? Even at CG, however, I was initially

denied access to a potentially revealing project on the use of the local Special Schools as a

resource for CG) students. The Head referred to this refusal by saying that the Project was at

too sensitive a point in its development (see below).

The Practices

1. The SEN (Learning Support) Team

2. The Counsellor and Network Five

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3. Links with the OS Special School

4. The Beech Wood Link

5. HIRBY; The Hearing Impaired Resource Base

1 HIRBY; The Hearing Impaired Resource Base

Within CG I rapidly discovered a wide range of practices that I could describe as

being spread along the Inclusivity Spectrum. Across the country at the time this

continuum could be said to take in, at one extreme, total Inclusion of all pupils

whatever their disability (e.g. Newham LEA which claimed quality curriculum access

for all pupils in truly comprehensive schools) to, at the other, a segregationist

approach with a significant group of students isolated "for their own good" in the

Special School sector. The practices at CG upon which I eventually concentrated

were as follows;

The SEN team and their work

The role of the school counsellor

The developing link that the school had initiated with a neighbouring Special

School (BW; Beech Wood)

HIRBY; the Hearing-Impaired Resource Base.

I used the SEN staff and the Counsellor as a particular set of staff to interview to

assist my analysis of the total situation as highlighted by the two specific inclusionary

projects (BW and HIRBY). These two had become known to me, or “emerged” after I

started to visit the school and I felt that I had to follow up on them whatever my initial

research design (where I had intended to focus specifically on the working of the

SEN team). The manner in which these two projects became apparent was very

interesting to me. I was convinced that, had I asked at the city Education Office, I

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would not have been referred to either of these ventures. The second of these

emergent happenings (the discovery of the Hearing-Impaired Resource Base) would,

no doubt, have been pointed out to me eventually by SEN Advisors, but the quality of

evidence that it eventually provided was so significant that I was surprised that the

Inclusion Officer of the city did not see fit to mention it; possibly because it was seen

as a part of the Special School spectrum despite being within a school. The BW

Project was so wrapped in secrecy that the Inclusion Officer did not know about it; I

assume this was because the Project could be said to be linked with the possible

demise of parts of the Special Schools sector.

2 The SEN (Learning Support) Team

On the issue of the SEN Department as a force for Inclusion, I had heard that the

team did not withdraw many pupils from classes but had a teamwork approach, both

amongst themselves and with the departments within the school with whom they

were working. They were properly called the Learning Support Department but their

work incorporated all SEN responsibilities. Their stated drive was towards co-

operative teaching for the good of all students in all classes in the school. It was

obviously going to be very important for me to observe this on the ground and to

analyse it. I did this through interviews and lesson observations; but predominantly by

becoming an active part of the team; always assisting or bringing in ideas for

consideration. Views recruited from this team are built into the analysis below.

3 The Counsellor and Network Five

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At the same time I began to explore the role of the school counsellor, himself

physically disabled. He was (through an inter-Agency meeting that was a part of

school policy) the link between school and the peripheral educational world of the

Educational Psychologist, the Educational Social Workers and the Behaviour Support

Service staff from the local Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). Network Five (NF), as the inter-

Agency meeting was called, featured in my investigation because it was clearly an

attempt to get the various services of the Birmingham Council/LEA to support

students in staying in school. The Head reported of NF that it;

"..works at an informal level" and that "…some staff see it as just a talking shop…but (the work) is very effective even though it is all confidential by it's very nature!"

(C49)

This initiative provided me with very little information in comparison with the others; I

was seen as a challenge and it was, by definition, difficult to observe in situations that

were very personal; usually interviews between counsellor and pupil.

4 The Beech Wood Link

The BW scheme involved the SEN students of CG availing themselves of the

opportunity to use the specialist facilities of the nearby Special School twice a week. I

only discovered that this was going on after weeks mixing with the SEN department

staff and this "emergence" of a possibly different focus for my work surprised me. In

asking to observe the Project, I was even more surprised by the refusal of the

Project Management Team of the project to allow me access to it or to allow me to

build an evaluation of it into my Action Research. I recorded that;

“…the evaluation of the BW Link Project has been vetoed. I therefore turned this into a look at the “range of strategies and selection procedures within the SO Project”.

(C8)

My initial analysis of this was that they were avoiding this particular researcher 98

(possibly due to my reputation) but, after a significant time in the school, I came to

the view that this sort of innovation was exceptionally challenging to the school. They

seemed to genuinely desire no disturbance of the original equilibrium while the

project got under way (it was starting its first year). Ironically, later in the same year

and when an internal review had judged it to be a success, I was welcomed with

open arms to interview the participants. I wondered, of course, what would have

happened had it failed? Would I have been allowed similar access? At the outset the

Head of CG had indicated that he was willing to involve me, but told me that the BW

Project Working Group had turned down my proposal. My Field Notes record that he

had even been willing to be "economical with the truth" in order to ensure my

involvement, by telling the Head of the Special School that;

"He's looking at our (CG) end of things….pupil selection ..etc."

But he also told me that;

"I need to be careful there", (C16)

indicating that trust was certainly not present at the Special School. This experience

was unsettling at the time, but sat easily alongside the difficult problems of access to

interesting Inclusion activities at St Edna's, Lowlands High and Five Houses! In all

these cases it was fascinating to be present as the barriers to my access came down

and as the schools fought to include a variety of youngsters in the most difficult

circumstances. At CG my notes finally record the enthusiasm of the Head for my

involvement, even with the BW Project, although I was unable to work out whether

this was due to the seeming success of the BW Project or a greater trust in myself;

"Our initial evaluation shows almost entirely positive… "

Talking with a member of the Learning Support Team, he agreed;

“…kids enjoy it… gives them a break (tea breaks with adults I witnessed) …gives them a boost…the work there is useful..(computers…time…) and although the

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kids slag it off, when you are disparaging about something (as a youngster) it can mean that you admire it”.

(B58)

The Head was eventually very happy with my focus and even ventured to set up an

interview with J, a girl who, after horrendous family and Child Protection issues, had

returned to CG after being motivated by her involvement in the BW Project. He

enthused about her progress and how the professionals around her "did not believe

it". He offered to arrange the interview and explained the (initial) reticence to allow

me to do more by saying;

"You know how it is at the beginning of a Project, you don't feel confident." At this point he agreed to my also looking at integration in the HIRBY and indicated that I would be able to see the BW Project video.

(B4)

The link with the BW Special School had been initiated, I discovered from the Head,

by a school working party responding to indications from the CEO (in appointments

and rhetoric) that he wanted to see the Special School sector decrease. He had a

vision of Inclusivity that involved all students being enrolled at their local secondary

school, even if (of pragmatic necessity) the education of some sometimes had to take

place elsewhere. He argued that they should thus always be the responsibility of the

local school and that this would bring Inclusivity a practical step closer.

The Head of BW played a significant part in developing the link with CG, which may

have been because he shared the CEO’s vision but this begged the question of

whether this was because the Special School sector was under attack in a climate of

reducing finance for education. I was never really able to answer this question to my

satisfaction; staff seemed to be split on the matter and my direct evidence was

limited.

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As I discovered more about the Project I was able to ask what made it work for the

students; in this aspect of my investigation I was motivated by a drive to further the

knowledge about the mechanics of "School Improvement" and this would have been

served just as well by analysis of success as of failure. I held a deep belief that

School Improvement works best when schools can complete the usual systems

checklists but can also add the richness of such initiatives as BW to their daily

practices. It was certainly made more feasible because of the size of the school, it

was inspired by a motivational Headteacher, and was only one of a panoply of

Programmes; all these were important factors in the positive move towards Inclusion.

At the beginning of my study, there appeared to be a gap between the rhetoric of the

CEO (sometimes wrongly quoted as wanting to "close all the Special Schools") and

the actions of Directors of Education (his deputies) and school Heads who

constructed a variety of projects like BWCG. Many of these projects set out to blur

the Special-Mainstream boundaries and I later came to understand that the players

concerned saw such projects as a means of approaching the same goal of Inclusivity

by very different evolutionary routes. The Heads of CG and BW, in talking of the

closure of Special Schools, argued;

"This would not produce Inclusion…the (staff) expertise would be dissipated and diluted so much that it would be useless. What we need is more of this… (the BW initiative) …cost-effective use of special and expensive resources (the Special School and Staff). …"

(B3b)

The BW initiative allowed me to raise a number of other questions in addition to that

brought about by problematic access. For example the large disparities in

backgrounds for Statemented students came to the fore. The CG SENCO noted of

the BW students that came to the CG on placement from BW that;

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"…they would not have been Statemented here!"(B29b)

In other words the apparently objective criteria for issuing a Statement of Need,

which might in differing contexts result in a Special School Place or not, were seen to

be only relative. The SENCO was sure that a number of her students were more

“challenging” than some of those at BW and that some of the latter would have fitted

in easily to CG with its wide range of differences.

5 HIRBY; the Hearing Impaired Resource Base

The Base was part of a programme which the Head claimed "integrated fully” a large

number of pupils whose hearing was impaired to varying degrees. Here I came

across a very specific view of Inclusion and met some very articulate and proud

students (one of whom, Dana, features in Chapter Four) and I generated two useful

hypotheses that I sought to use in my other Action Research situations. Here it is

useful to note that, at that time in my research journey, I was still concerned with an

imitation of "scientific" research (where the terms “hypothesis” and “testing” are

rooted). I later moved to a much more openly Action Research approach (see

Chapters Two and Three for an extension of this argument) because I realised that

my investigation was fundamentally about "understandings" and not about objective

"knowledge". Since this chapter was written while I was in the first stages of the

research, some of these early references and terminology are retained to give their

flavour to the story.

I made myself useful in the Base, talked to a number of students and carried out a

“pursuit” of three of them for a day. All of this helped me to generate the two

hypotheses. The first concerned the size of the school and , curriculum delivery was

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at the heart of the second;

Two Hypotheses;

The Size Hypothesis; SHThe Curriculum Hypothesis

1 The Size Hypothesis; SH;

I had originally thought that only schools above a certain size would be able to be fully

inclusive and I tested this thought against my analysis of the situation in the HIRBY at CG.

The HIRBY Base was one of only two in the city and pupils were taxied to the school

over large distances. I questioned whether, in order to have a large enough client

group within each, this development could only happen in a very few schools within a

City. If so, was this really Inclusion? A number of my interviewees stated categorically

that the only way to establish such costly support (not only in the HIRBY but also in

CG in general) was indeed through such Satellite provision. If the tensions herein are

real and unresolvable (see “Endgame” Chapter) then this will lead our educational

community to "Inclusion Through Congregation" (2). I was able to examine this to some

extent at CG but, as I developed access to Five Houses (which was developing a

Satellite approach for physically challenged students), then it became possible to

examine the issue in more depth.

I found that, within the spending limits in the system as it was, my hypothesis held; not all

schools could be Inclusive in ideal terms. Just as with the BW exercise, some schools could

incorporate some students but not all schools could incorporate a truly full range of students.

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2 The Curriculum Hypothesis; CH;

I hypothesised that a school only had also to be over a certain critical size in order to

provide good quality provision delivery of the curriculum to pupils; those being

“integrated” as well as those with whom they were placed. This seemed to be true

from what I observed at CG when looking at the “integration” side of Inclusion. From

the Human Rights definition of Inclusion, though, this hypothesis raises the question

of whether it is ever possible see a range of humanity in local small schools? Indeed

how big would schools have to become before they allowed students to experience a

true mirror of the world? CG was over 2000 strong, but did not, in any way, have an

intake that was typical of the city in general (for example it was truncated by the

Grammar Schools and had few Black students whereas the population of the city’s

schools was 50% Black and Ethnic Minority. The ideas of Neighbourhood schools

and full Inclusion pull in different directions since neighbourhoods are not

comprehensive in this respect.

I also looked at whether high quality curriculum delivery necessitated a dedicated

team of learning support assistants (LSAs) and other support staff. I argued that the

school had to be big enough to be able to employ a team who, between them, had all

the appropriate knowledge and skills to facilitate full curriculum access for their

clients. Inclusion can become a reality only if this is the case and yet this seemed

likely only in very large schools. I could not conceive of the small St Alban’s school

having such a team; there were only one or two such staff there and they would have

to be superhuman to cover the knowledge of the curriculum between them as the

team at CG did. This view - that Inclusion is an ideal and not possible in any real way

- is supported by the view of the Head of the Learning Department at CG who

believed that there are barriers of economics to Inclusion and that education officers

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were often;

"..not living in the real world!"

She added, referring to the impact of her team in this large school;

"…our SEN Team has an impact on Department pedagogy…all other things have to be right regardless of class size"

(B31)

As a result of being in a 2000 pupil-plus school, this Head of Department had large

team that could "reach all parts" in terms of curriculum knowledge as well as have the

collective and necessary inservice support skills and strategies. She also pointed out

a parallel aspect; the view that a large range of curriculum alternatives in Key Stage 4

could be offered in a school the size of CG. When speaking of the then current

Dearing National Curriculum Review she said;

"Yes this could promote inclusion if a good balance (between curriculum offers to students) is achieved"

(B31)

As will be seen later, the SEN leader saw that curriculum and curriculum access was

"meant for all” and shared the vision of Peter Mittler with regard to real,

comprehensive (as distinct from locational or any other form of) Inclusion (see Mittler

2000). This hypothesis about school size continued to be a recurrent thread in my

research story as I started to work in four other schools; each with a very different

size, intake, LSA team and approach to Special Needs.

The “Base” (an important, non exclusive, descriptor used in the school) was coming

to the end of its fifth year of educating pupils from all over the city whose Statements

of Need were due to hearing disabilities. The first pupils had come to CG in their Year

5 and they were now facing the challenge of the GCSE. I was to enjoy meeting,

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conversing and discussing with these pupils and their staff in pursuit of my

understanding of the meaning of inclusive education to participants. In an interview

with the Head he reinforced how good HIRBY had been for the school, but also put

his finger on a thorny question which I was able to investigate later (at St Edna's and

Five Houses in particular). My Field Notes record that he talked of;

"..new version (of Inclusivity)..where we are working on a halfway house".

The HIRBY students had access to the usual registrations, assemblies and

classrooms. All the HIRBY students I talked with found the CG approach so

enfranchising. They compared CG favourably with their primary schools where, since

they were often the sole child with hearing loss, the provision and curriculum access

was so much poorer. This, of course, supports the Size/Satellite argument;

"..at my primary school I was the only one ., the equipment was old and didn't work very well and I felt alone."

(C38)

(My Notes record that at CG she certainly did not feel alone in the school, although

this had other, less positive effects at home; see Chapter Three).

There is a tension here, then, in a world with limited finance, between the efficient

teaching of the hearing impaired students and the complete education of the majority.

The latter is an aspect of the Human Rights theme to which I was to return repeatedly

as my experience (and sometimes anger) grew. This tension sits alongside two

others that appear to be specific to the Hearing-Impaired community. I observed that

many hearing impaired students did NOT want to be classed as having SEN; yet

clearly they were different. So they wished to be apart from all other "impaired"

students but they wanted to be accorded the pride imparted by the phrases; "Deaf

Community" and " Deaf Culture"! Two striking anecdotes from my research illustrate

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this desire to be included yet excluded;

Firstly I established that the two city HIRBYs were established as the original city

"Units" at a number of schools were dismantled. They were originally

"multidisciplinary" and the Teacher in Charge (TiC) at CG stated that this was

because;

"..they didn't want to be labelled as intellectually (her emphasis) disabled"

Secondly my Field Notes also record that at CG the TiC had vigorously avoided

being included within the (far-seeing and inclusive) Special Needs Department for

exactly the same reason (A33). This refusal to see themselves as "Special" or "in

Need" was, of course exclusivity in the extreme and a pre-OfSTED inspection had,

apparently, observed and criticised the same thing (B3). The Head defended this

later in an interview as due to the fact that the funding sources were completely

separate.

As I followed HIRBY students through classes, registration and breaks, it became

obvious that the majority of “other” pupils did not interact with those with hearing

loss. The HIRBY students often sat as a group, worked alone and only

communicated (through signing or speech) with other HIRBY students. They were

therefore receiving an excellent taught curriculum but their social curriculum was

limited. Integration was to be seen at its best but the transformation to Inclusion was

something at which the school was only then beginning to work.

I was interested in the access to the curriculum offered within the operation of

HIRBY, and to the informal learning opportunities available. LSAs (learning Support

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Assistants) all had general duties as well as specific curriculum areas for which they

were the link LSA. When I pointed out to a Science LSA that the pupil groupings in

the class we were accompanying were based on putting the hearing impaired

together, she denied it saying;

"They were correctly grouped according to ability"(C38)

I also noted that the informal opportunities offered in the Class Registration Period were

sometimes removed;

"…discovered that HIRBY students have registration in the Base (for Health and Safety reasons as well for Special Instructions I was told)…"

(B20)

Often the HIRBY youngsters were unhappy to move away from safety. During the

"pupil pursuit" I noted (as had an LEA adviser on another visit, I was told), that;

" The group I followed always stayed together and did not mix socially with other pupils (but neither was there a negative reaction)"

(B20)

Following this up with the TiC of HIRBY, it became clear that they also saw it as an

issue but were not willing to jeopardise the self esteem produced by the groupings

which allowed communication through signing. This was also the defence of the

occasional HIRBY registrations and meetings when HI pupils were extracted from

regular lessons.

We agreed that, in HIRBY, there was little social Inclusion and that the way in which

signing was used was important, as was the way in which Integration Assistants

operated. My notes record that;

"..she agreed with me that the IAs are a barrier to real inclusion and said "We are hotly debating whether signing should go on a the front of the class". (So that; a) there is linking between the signing and the teacher's mouth movement and; b) the HI group are really part of the class.)"

(B32)

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and

“…the presence of the helper isolates the helped (in a mainstream class)!(B3)

In response to my thought that the HI group did not need to go to the Social

Education lessons with the rest of the school because such good care was taken of

the pupils by her staff, she agreed. However my notes also record that she

"..stated that a number of other pupils did mix more but that "socially some of ours are scared (particularly regarding friends of the opposite sex)"

(B32)

Interestingly, at the end of my period at the school the Head also agreed with my

perspective;

"We need to work on this, we've had numerous conversations about it! " The hurdle of signing was agreed; "It's a big issue in deaf education"

(B50)

The issue was raised on a separate occasion in another interview with the TiC of the

SEN/LSD;

"…signing is a barrier…" The feeling …(is)… clear that HIRBY …(is)… certainly (obviously) integration but not significantly inclusion".

There were skills in the SEN team, she posited, that could led to HIRBY team members developing this possibility (Inclusion). (B29a).

The organisation, status and policy of the Learning Support Department at CG

school seem to embody the whole approach to Inclusion at the school. They all

appeared to share a vision with the Head that;

"..curriculum access (is) the first level of Inclusion (if we can assume that they can get into the school and can access all the buildings). AS (Head of Dept.) was vehement that SEN had a good "set-up" at CG (she being on the Curriculum Management Group) and therefore staff paid heed to their needs (for example any child can be extracted from any lesson if they wish)."

(B13)

The SEN/LSD Team also saw that, while they had to attend to individual learning

needs of students, they had a major responsibility to work with other Departments to

pursue curriculum accessibility for all. There was, as one might expect, dissension 109

from some of the junior members. One of the latter stated, for example;

"I think that you'll agree from your experience that school is not the right place for some of these characters!"

(A49)

My Field notes record that;

"…with their status (coming from the size of the responsibility) the SENCO and the HIRBY TIC both have an impact upon Heads of Department (e.g. re. training and strategies).

and;

"That's my job (interacting with HoDs , classroom management etc.) said the SENCO/Head of SEN/LSD

(B17)

There appeared to be a significant motivating personality in the HOD/SENCO and

this reverberated through her large team (created after a Working Party). Indeed

Field Notes of very personal information (B26) paint a picture of a professional that

had been very dispirited by her experiences in a large number of Birmingham

Schools in a variety of positions and sizes. Yet here at CG she was re-invigorated, a

situation she attributes to the lead of the Headteacher (and indirectly to the CEO);

"…if you go and say… what about this… then he will respond if possible.."

and;

"…he operates a broad stage here… with a lot of different people doing a lot of different things…"

He was, she said;

"..approachable…will listen with an open mind"(B27)

She also noted that it was her opinion that his commitment to comprehensive education;

"..came out of, or was reinforced by, his Christian values."(B27)

These commitments (to a comprehensive system and a Christian view of humankind)

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overlap significantly with what has become the "Human Rights Definition of Inclusion"

moving from "an obsession with individual learning difficulties and disabilities to an

agenda of rights" (Thomas 1997) (3).

Staff interviewed at this school saw a number of barriers to their work towards

Inclusion. Many were angered by the continual removal of Option Choices within KS4

as a result of NC changes. As a result, they argued, those subject which could

"reach" the difficult students were becoming marginalised;

"Things over the years have changed. Options have reduced (quotes MFL for all as "irrelevant"

(A49)But they all seemed to agree that;

"…there's lots of scope for Inclusion at schools… we need practical ideas on how it would work…"

(C 61)

They saw well-intentioned ideas from the outside as not an impetus for change. Indeed they

saw outside agencies as living in a rather different world;

"The BSS team are well intentioned, but they're on the outside…. We need training here (in school)…"

(C61)

Or on the mooted move of Victoire Special School to a mainstream site somewhere

in the area;

"…that wouldn't work… because even if you're on the same site that doesn't make it inclusion"

(C61)

There were a number of other initiatives at CG that I discovered in my zeal. They painted a

picture of a vibrant school, confident in its ability to work with a changing variety of young

people. Let one more example suffice;

I discovered the links between the school and a local Disruptive Pupil Unit (PRU).

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Although I decided, due to lack of time, not to investigate further, it was referred to

many times during structured interviews with SEN staff involved. Apparently the

Behaviour Support Service (BSS) staff at the PRU took difficult youngsters on

Outward Bound and Social Skills Training events. One boy interviewed had found

this most stimulating.

The range of such initiatives led to a reinforcement of my view that at least one major

factor here was likely to be the size of the school. Other schools that I came across

had one or two initiatives, but here there were too many to investigate properly and

yet there did not appear to be "innovation overload". That they coped with this was

possibly as a direct result of the school size. Indeed there seemed to be the

construction of a range of alternatives which could suit the range of students in the

school; a real move to an Inclusive situation that would not be as practical in a small

school.

This plurality offered an unrivalled opportunity to compare some aspects of all the

initiatives. For example I noted, (B18), that the school had expensive flashing light

systems to assist the HI in the case of fire. It was obvious also that the ratio of HI

Students to LSAs was generous. Would the case be the same for "EBD" students, I

wondered? The costs of the Network Five and SO/BSS initiatives appeared to be

very low in comparison! Interestingly, towards the end of my study period the

acceptability of placing LSAs with such students (with "EBD" that is) grew, indicating

an acceptance of the "needs" of such students as distinct from them being seen as a

problem (5).

The situation at CG was covered comprehensively in an interview with a member of

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the SEN staff who saw three aspects of the situation to be important there.

Firstly the Head was;

"..very supportive, very concerned with individuals…(with)…giving them curriculum support"

Secondly, due to size of the school, there was;

"Time (for planning and operation) and (positive) attitudes… (Head of SEN)..has very strong leadership qualities…we owe an enormous amount to (her)"

and thirdly (and probably as a result of the first two, I surmised), she said that;

"We are valued…are asked for advice…in clear support (of staff)"

The links with students and parents were, as a result, very good. In a telling anecdote

she recalled a parent's surprise and resentment being asked, in her son's Year 7 to

agree to SEN involvement;

"He was upset at being told that he was weak…but now… the stigma is not attached.. as (she) thought it might be"

(…..)

In all, the experience at CG allowed for me the exploration of a number of

Dimensions of Inclusion (See Chapter Nine). Some of these were echoed in the other

case study schools, but the HIRBY and SO experiences were highly specific and

provided such an insight into the feelings and understandings of those who are asked

to operated in a more inclusive environment; the staff.

My analysis at the end of the period of attachment to CG was that I had had too

many questions and been tempted to look at almost too many aspects of the school.

As a result, the motivations of the BW Head had not been looked into at all, and the

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work of the Counsellor and the Network Five meeting had only been examined

cursorily. I resolved to take the learning from this situation into the other schools that I

had on my list and to thereby continue the investigation of School Improvement. After

all, Inclusion was (to me) about how schools made learning and curriculum

opportunities available to students whatever their presenting difficulties. Probably the

most telling learning from this site was that the Head and others believed that the

closure of Special Schools would not produce Inclusion. The Head argued that;

“ …the expertise would be dissipated and diluted so much that it would be useless. What we need is more…cost-effective use of expensive (SS) resources…”

(B3)

I left CG with the view that size really did matter, particularly to ensure quality curriculum

delivery and support. I do not take easily to Centres of Excellence but the HIRBY was

exemplary and the experience there could not, in the current financial climate, be available in

every school. As a result of the accumulation of interventions and understandings at the

school I saw it moving clearly and steadily in an inclusive direction exemplified by the

following Field Notes;

A Note taken after an English lesson I had observed;

“They (the HIRBY students) planned the lesson with the teacher (on survival after a shipwreck) …the teacher modified the lesson with HIRBY pupils in mind . Even so the HIRBY pupils tended to stay together (and there is little social inclusion). Even on the shipwreck there they found it difficult to integrate (sic)”

(B56)B After a Year & lesson with six Statemented students in the group;

“These six pupils were all identified by their primary records or the screening test at the start of Year 7. They worked together for 30 minutes on their individual or specific skills. Teacher led the way (cool style, independent activities) to include all six in appropriate strategies in the reading aloud (as did I). Note; There had been demonstrable 6 months gain (in reading ability) for the group in a couple of months. Socially the group included one another (helping when reading was difficult for a particular person).

(B12)

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C About the SENCO and TiC of HIRBY (possible because of size and not seen

elsewhere in the smaller schools I worked in);

“The SENCO and the TiC of HIRBY both have an impact on HoDs ) e.g. the training and strategies). “That’s my job” said (the SENCO)”

(B17)

FOOTNOTES1. In Learning and Inclusion; The Cleeves School Experience (Alderson, P (Ed) 1999), the work of a typical Newham school

is described by the students and staff as it moved to take "inclusion further than most" (Lani Florian in a TES Book Review in 1999). Newham had closed all its Special Schools and, for the difficult Year 10 and Year 11 students, created alternative Curriculum Projects; leading to almost zero exclusion rates.

2. Anderson (1990) refines the Birmingham Satellite School argument. He argues for locational inclusion, where expensive resources are located in a few, geographically appropriate schools. His argument is based on a real life example of two new (1990) schools he argues that all new educational building or development should have this opportunism in mind. He quotes the Ministry of Education manual definition of Inclusion;

"…the value system which holds that all students are entitled to equitable access to learning, achievement, and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of their education. The practice of Inclusion transcends the idea of physical location and incorporates basic values that promote participation, friendship and interaction. Anderson, of course, goes on to show that this often conflicts with the provision of what, in North America (and the IDEA Act in the US in particular), they call the "most enabling (or least restrictive) learning environment" (p.2).

3. Thomas, one of the authors of The Making of the Inclusive School, 1999, argues;"Our ideas about difference and failure at school (which) emerge in part from traditional models and the established theories…. within which childhood has been constructed. As these come under increasing attack….it is possible to view more readily the child-as-learner characterised by flexibility and plasticity and not by immutable characteristics."

He expands this by comparing Inclusion with Integration in a way that CG would have recognised; "The notion of inclusion does not set parameters (as the notion of Integration did) around particular kinds of putative disability. Rather it is about a philosophy of acceptance and about providing a framework within which all children (regardless of the provenance of their difficulty at school) can be valued equally, treated with respect and provided with equal opportunities at school"

(BJSE September 1997). Here the author agrees with the recommendation of Ainscow et al;

"..the evidence suggests that when such students come into the mainstream from special schools they often remain relatively isolated. The study concludes that this approach should be replaced by an orientation that seeks to permeate the principle of inclusion within all LEA and school policies and processes. In this sense Inclusion must be seen as a never-ending process rather than a single change of state; and dependant upon continuous pedagogical and organisational development in response to pupil diversity. This means, of course, that deep changes are needed and, inevitably these will take time".

(p.2)

4. Clearly this gives an important role to the LEA as emphasised by Ainscow et al in their analysis for the DfEE in January 1999 and by The Select Committee on Education (1997);

"The difficulties which arise (for Special Education) are too wide ranging to be soluble by schools alone…(this is)…dependent on the development by an LEA of a clear and coherent policy…."

(paragraph 50 of the Report quoted by Wedell 1995) 5. The idea of LSAs for disaffected students has been piloted in a number of areas (for example in Birmingham at St Edna's

in particular) and recommend in many writings (for example in Gillborn and Gipps 1996)

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CHAPTER SIX

ST. EDNA’S AND LOWLANDS HIGH

(Two schools that attracted the attention of the researcher for very different reasons)

Synopsis;

This chapter describes my interactions with a number of people in two further Case Study schools, each of which had moved to an Inclusion strategy but for very different reasons. In both cases, the inclusive move was driven by the Head and the issues and tensions involved in this are explored. In both these schools there was a reticence to become involved with the researcher at that time and this issue is examined.

Contents

Preamble

St. Edna’s

Lowlands High

Some Comparisons

“Dig this”; an inclusion Vignette

Preamble

Why do some schools find it easy to include youngsters with emotional and

behaviour problems? Or do they find it difficult but worthwhile? Are there any

penalties to pay for such successes and, if so, is it therefore “worth it”? If it is, why do

other schools not follow suit? These were the initial research questions, a subset of

my questions about Inclusion in general, with which I approached St. Edna’s, a

Church of England school, and Lowlands High, a city school on a similar site that had

recently reopened under new management.

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St. Edna’s

St. Edna's is a maintained school whose Head was well known to me. It appeared

that the school had not excluded any student permanently for at least six years and

this led me to ask; what strategies had the Head adopted, at what cost, and with what

backing from the rest of the staff? Only two months prior to my first visit to the

school, Chris Searle had famously been forced to leave his Sheffield Headship as a

direct result of his non-exclusion policy and the difficulties it created between himself

and the staff and Governors. I wondered whether St Edna’s had achieved a better

collective understanding and, if so, whether it had been as a direct (or possibly

indirect) result of it being a Church school and having a specific ethos of Christian

care. The initial answer from the Head to this enquiry was defensive, my Field Notes

recording that she felt that it was not a Christian issue but a "humanistic" one, even if

her personal motivation was Christian (A53).

I had made contact with Lowlands High because I had noted the total change in the

senior Management Team. I had also been told of a concomitant move to disband a

MLD (Moderate Learning Difficulty) Unit. The new Head had the idea of using the

“old” Unit staff as a learning support team and of including the MLD students in

mainstream lessons.

My first contact with St Edna’s in this research period was with the Head, who was

very proud of her reputation for not excluding students and complained bitterly that

the Educational Psychology Support Service was inadequate in its level of support. I

also knew that she was interested in the possibility of running an extra support “Unit “

on the school site in order to reduce still further the need for formal exclusions. My

interviews with her indicated to me that there was an element in the situation which

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was determined solely by her personality and not by the nature of the school or its

structures. The established wisdom in the School Improvement movement was that

the single most important factor in changing a school ethos was the character and

effectiveness of the Head and Senior Management staff (See, for example, Mittler

2000). I determined to examine this against the perceptions of a range of staff; if such

an hypothesis were substantiated, then the implications for school improvement were

significant.

Access to the staff and pupils of St Edna’s was difficult at first. I found that the

“mother hen” (my Notes) Head had kept me away from her "brood", reminding me

that, prior to their OfSTED Inspection, an extra load of any sort would lead to a

breakdown for some of her staff. “At a later time, again through the Head, I became

involved with the school again through the SCSC initiative (see Chapters Two and

Eight). The school became involved in the “Valued Youth Programme” on the

initiative of the Head (reinforcing my hypothesis about the importance of her personal

drive). After I gave a presentation to staff on the subject access to the staff suddenly

became much easier. They saw me as attempting to help them to help their most

difficult students through that programme and instantly I was welcome. My Field

Notes record the change;

"Today I gained access to and written……. from St. Edna's. I think my SCSC activity put them in a better mood to help me"

(A13)

After some time with the SCSC involvement, the Head was even more impressed

saying;

"They (the students with which SCSC became involved) are much better now …some of the Year 11 that would have been excluded in Y9! I can show this to staff and hold them to it!

(A52)

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This experience was similar to the finding at Five Houses where, possibly because I

knew the new Head, access to the school became much easier after initial problems.

Obviously access was being determined by a complex combination of factors,

probably including the propensity of the Head to support risk-taking ventures. Both St

Edna’s and Five Houses became involved with SCSC and, despite their very different

natures, the Heads were extremely supportive of it as it grew.

The Head of St. Edna’s was initially very sceptical about the usefulness a researcher

could have, apart from furthering his/her own aims. Until I made clear to her my own

moral criteria for being involved (action research means being supportive of change

while, and as well as, analysing it) I had to be content with such rejoinders as;

“Well at least you can tell me how you believe you do it “ (i.e. keep pupils in) I said to her on being initially denied access past her door.

When I finally did manage to interview her, having "won my spurs" as described

above, she was very critical of the pressures under which the school was labouring,

commenting that they included pupils who were "part of life's rich seam" at a

significant price;

“I honestly believe that we do it by (tiring) ourselves out and by ignoring other issues”

My notes added that she would eventually speak to me further at a later time;

"..despite an imminent and difficult OfSTED …our SENCO is near breaking point and…".

When asked again later how they managed to be so inclusive, she added, in a statement

notable because of the effort she thought it worthwhile to expend in pursuit of an inclusive

school;

"..by pushing our staff to the limit"(C11)

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It was of interest that the school came near the bottom of the years “League"

Performance Table, even though this was not reported by the OfSTED team as being

a significant problem, because of the difficult nature of the intake of the school. The

Head later said that this was an inevitable consequence of her inclusive stance. She

believed that academic results and attendance performance would inevitably be low.

Interestingly, the school never receives any public praise for never having excluded

pupils, but gained a great deal of attention for its poor performance in the "tables” for

Attendance and GCSE Results.

Parsons (1999b) states this very clearly;

"Let us be clear from the outset that social inclusion meaning the acceptance and involvement of all children within our schools, conflicts with school improvement as measured by National Curriculum tests and GCSE results. With regard to behaviourally difficult children, there are two major ways in which this conflict is manifest; firstly these children tend to perform below the norm; secondly, they can demand large amounts of senior teacher time that might otherwise be spent on children who conform and learn with greater apparent ease."

(p.179)

The difficulty of working on a non-medical model with such students in the current

climate is put a little more subtly by Wearmouth from a constructivist perspective;

"Including pupils whose behaviour seems threatening to the system is not easy. Those who require additional resources are not popular and exclusionary pressures resulting from the current competitive climate are very strong. Assuming an interactive view of the child's learning implies an approach which is time-consuming in the short term and requires the co-ordination of a number of different views."

(p.21)

Ben Kenham, who was in charge of SEN and IT at St. Edna's, would, no doubt, take

exception to this argument since his belief was that the school succeeds with the

most difficult students because of its uncompromising stance on differentiation. He

spent a lot of time insisting that all abilities are catered for properly, detailing a raft of

policies for making pupils welcome at Year 7. This argument is somewhat weakened,

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however, by the fact that there is a 30% turnover in the school, and statistically it is

more likely than not that a Y7 student will leave the school before Y11 (1).

The raft of policies and practices to which he referred includes;

An integrated approach to Y7 teaching, with a team from Special Needs, English

and Humanities.

High teaching commitment by Form Tutors to their own class group.

Minimising the number of different teachers that Y7 were exposed to on transfer

to their new school.

High quality student resources (often with a significant IT input).

Student-centred learning of a high quality (see the “Dig This” vignette at the end

of this chapter.

Integrated Special Needs provision (as support, materials provision, collaborative

teaching in Y7 and Y8 particularly but not, significantly, extraction from

mainstream for those with SEN).

Strong primary school links.

This list has a striking similarity with the indicators produced by Richards (1999) of

schools that are successful with such challenging youngsters. Apart from shared

belief (at St. Edna's this might be perceived as having a religious origin) his research

emphasised "dialogue, participation, supportive relationships, ownership and “voice"

leading to "agreement and belief” in;

“An Appropriate Curriculum,

Shared Concept of EBD,

Incorporated Pastoral System,

Flexible Policies,

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Problem-solving Approaches,

Shared Responsibility”.

(p. 99)

Many of these aspects also echo the call by Ainscow for us to look at our institutional

structures (setting, teaching strategies, care systems in this case) if we are to develop an

inclusive school system. In observing classes at St. Edna's my field notes record that I felt

that the approach described by Ben appeared to;

"..cater for all needs… (the) more able can get on at their own pace…"(C63)

and that particularly important was;

"..team teaching is crucial to the success.." as well as "..a good start in the schools…"

(C64)

Ben accepted, though, that a stable staffing complement (including the Head) was

also of significance, and he pointed out that there had also been a necessary infusion

of new staff over the years. Indeed he himself had been asked by the Head to join

the school, presumably because of his valuable community and primary school

experience.

Dannie, in charge of putting the IH (Integrated Humanities) scheme together, put

forward another reason for its success. In response to my question about the self-

imposed workload that seemed to be involved, she answered;

"…when you're involved in such a place as this you need the intellectual stimulation of such a challenge"

(C66)

People such as Ben and Dannie are invaluable in supporting difficult youngsters.

These pupils know that they are a friend, want them to succeed but will stand no

"messing about". An abiding memory of the researcher is of Ben sitting at his school

lunch in a crowded, noisy dinner room, and his being able to control all present. He

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did this in a calm and concerned way commanding the respectful attention of

students at the other end of the Hall who were either too noisy or out of order. He

used a personal presence, knowledge of all their names, and a strategic seating

position, which allowed him clear lines of vision. All of this is not easy in a

challenging, inner-city school such as St. Edna’s.

In checking my analysis of the situation at St. Edna's with staff, and putting forward

the view that the school both tolerated and celebrated differences in backgrounds,

ethnicities and religions, the IH team came up with a fascinating addition. They

agreed that my statement was true but, a point particularly emphasised by Ben, that

this only made it a successful place when it was combined with the "low tolerance (of

unacceptable behaviours) at class level” assuming that appropriate differentiation

was in place. We reflected upon the possibilities that these two "butterflies" (see

Chapter Two on Chaos Theory) might together be having a greater sum effect than

the sum of the parts;

And/But

From the researcher's perspective this was an example of synthesis of a new

hypothesis from a dialogue about another, simpler, one. This Hegellian (2) synthesis

was not always possible in my schools; all hinged on my access levels and the trust

established.

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High Tolerance of individuals, backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, and school behaviour….

Low tolerance of disruption in the differentiated classroom.

At Lowlands High there was a low level of access and little trust; interestingly, there

was never any SCSC involvement either.

Lowlands High

At Lowlands High I encountered a situation with many similarities but significant

differences from St. Edna’s. The Head knew me in another capacity, yet the

important gatekeeper (a newly appointed SENCO) obviously wanted to restrict my

access and to determine exactly who I should meet. I overcame this by waiting and

timing my approaches suitably, particularly taking into account the visits by OfSTED.

It took one whole year of persistent approaches to this school for me to gain a similar

level of access to that described at St. Edna's, despite being a friend and colleague

of the Head. This was as a result of the pressures referred to by Parsons above.

Lowlands was formed at the beginning of the 1996 school year from two previous

secondary schools. New staff were appointed to a new philosophy brought in by a

new Head who was himself from outside the LEA. The old school on the site had had

a Unit for students with Moderate Learning Difficulties; the new one was to have an

inclusive approach for those pupils. A new SENCO was appointed to oversee this

development although the old Unit Staff were all still retained due to anomalies in the

appointments schedule. The new Head came from an Authority where Inclusion was

at a greater state of development and to him this approach was natural and not

revolutionary. Unfortunately the Unit staff saw it as very upsetting and it was the risk

of making things worse that was quoted as the reason for keeping me at bay far

longer than any other school. When the infamous OfSTED “Brown Envelopes”

arrived as well, I was kept out of the way for over a year, occasionally scavenging

information through small meetings. Although The Head was involved with the

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researcher in other matters, he was not amenable to accelerating this process and,

as a result, the school proved to be useful only as a comparison for other schools in

my fieldwork.

Just as at Five Houses (see Chapter Seven), it took a long time for the vision of the

Head to combat these pressures and for the Action Research to "kick in", with its

possible support for initiatives at the school. It is of note that Heads in many other

countries would not have been able to contemplate exclusion; their governments

have enshrined in law the child's right to a full-time education. Exclusion of children

facing difficulties is a very English (and sometimes Welsh) problem; even our UK

partner Scotland joins Canada, USA, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland,

Denmark…. in being a country where exclusion from school by the Head "is not a

possibility" (Parsons 1999 p.179).

Some Comparisons

The St. Edna’s situation was very different from that at Lowlands High School and a

comparison brings into stark relief some of the issues in making Inclusion work. In

comparing the Inclusion developments at the two schools, two pairs of staff came to

be influential in my thinking about the issue of Inclusion. At St Edna’s the pair

happened to be husband and wife, but it was clear that they held different views on

the reasons for the success of the school with difficult "EBD" youngsters. (2). At

Lowlands it was the views of the SENCO and the Head (each of whom was

committed to Inclusion as they saw it) that became important to me; I was, of course,

being kept from contact with the other participants by these two figures and I had no

choice but to interpret secondary evidence from them.

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At St Edna’s Ben Kenham obviously had educational thinking at the heart of his

explanations. His partner, Dannie, though, was clearly of the view that it was the

Christian aspect of the Head (and of the school?) that led to the stretching of all

boundaries to keep students in school after events that would elsewhere have led to

formal exclusion. Although it was pointed out that non-Christians were actively

involved in the IH work at the school, she maintained that;

“When we complain she replies’….”somebody’s got to teach them!”……. its her mission as a Christian, which I share from a Judeo-Christian perspective”

(A 52)

Dannie did, however, clearly demonstrate Ben’s point about differentiation, indeed

she proudly described herself as the “Queen of Differentiation”). Her preparation of

the Integrated Humanities materials and lessons seemed second to none with, as

Ben had suggested was important, a significant IT input into each. The materials

were so stimulating and attractive that they had been sold to many other schools.

There was ample evidence in the rooms of support and extension materials, and a

student-centred approach which stretched some individuals but supported those who

might have difficulty. In one session I observed that it was possible for students to

negotiate whether to undertake a simple task with little support or a complex one with

a great deal of support. Such refinements of differentiated learning materials were

impressive and held students’ attention for long periods of time, bringing out the best

in them.

The experience of this Integrated Humanities Programme (see the “Dig this” vignette

at the end of this chapter) reminded me of all the Bruner (1966) and CARN

(Collaborative Action Research Network) -inspired materials and approaches that

were so influential in the 1980’s. These kinds of materials and approaches are

obviously under pressure as the National Curriculum promotes specific factual

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coverage in the Core and Humanities areas; yet here at St. Edna's they were being

influential in an inclusive stance with the “hardest” end of the SEN student spectrum.

The corollary of this argument is that the influence of the NC and League Tables

would be to push up Exclusion statistics and the number of Statemented pupils; both

these statistics were rising at an incredible rate at the time of the commencement this

study and few commentators appeared be establishing causal links in this domain,

although rhetoric abounded. Interestingly, by the end of this study the climate had

changed and the important work of schools such as those referenced in this chapter

was becoming recognised.

It was clear that in looking at the “Influence of the Head” hypothesis that in both these

schools the Head had had enormous power to move the institution in an inclusive

direction. In this move the two schools differed in focus and strategy but both came at

the issue from a perspective of efficient teaching and concepts of natural justice,

inspired by the very different personalities and rhetoric of the Heads. Neither seemed

concerned with putting pupils out of school or hiding the less "attractive" pupils from

sight. This vision was inspired by the Heads but not always shared by the

Associations representing the teachers, particularly at Lowlands.

Teaching (and, within that, differentiation as the central issue) was seen by both

Heads as the crucial weapon in their mission to accommodate all pupils. Lowlands

was dealing with a great variety of statemented students who came to the school by

Taxi each morning. St. Edna’s was dealing with an equally wide variety, and while

some were Statemented there was no confidence in the Education Psychology

Service and there was not a drive to Statement as many students as possible. The

Head of Lowlands wanted to move the “Unit students” away from being the

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responsibility of a special group of staff and towards being the responsibility of all the

staff. When a pastoral or disciplinary issue had arisen in the old school, it had been

the usual response to refer the matter to the Unit staff. The move to an inclusive view

involved these pupils being regarded as a natural part of the human spectrum and

dealt with as such when involved in difficulties. The task of the Unit staff and that of

the SENCO was to become a Learning Support Unit which, through provision of In-

service Training and targeted staff development, aimed to enable clear and

appropriate access to quality learning materials and approaches for all pupils,

Statemented or not. In this respect it was attempting to move to a situation which the

staff at St. Edna’s had already attained (at least in Humanities and at least in the

opinions of the Kenhams!). At Lowlands, the Head used a document to lead the way

in his work with the Special Needs staff which stated;

"All staff in the Learning Development (sic) have a responsibility for all pupils both in terms of curriculum support and effective monitoring. Equally all teachers are teachers of special needs"

(p.2) and on the role for the Learning Support Department (in BOLD in the document);

The focus needs to be on developments and not on working in lessons with pupils "decoding the curriculum"

(p.3).

A clearer statement of cognitive inclusion could not be made. It fits well with the 1999

drive to;

"…re-establish differentiation as a part of the inclusion agenda" . (From Blamires 1999)

As the staff implemented this philosophy (with differing enthusiasms determined, it

appeared, by whether they had been involved in setting up the policy), they

discussed it at length. Many were unconvinced about the change, having been

committed to the caring Unit in the school's previous incarnation. The Head was of

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the view that students in that Unit used to be, seen as being in a separate school and

obeying different rules;

"..there is a perception that the "Unit" functions as a school within a school….pupils are often referred to as "unit kids" or "one of Tap's".

(p.1 of 14.10.96 document from Head)

In talking with the staff who had had to make the transition, it was obvious that a

major difficulty was that of "results". This included the staff determining what success

meant (for themselves, the LEA, the parents, the Statemented students, as well as

for OfSTED);

"…how do I demonstrate that I have included a person in class?…it is easy to say I have included him/her from a Unit to mainstream but…."

(B26)

It would have been interesting to find out more from the old Unit staff at Lowlands but

my access was limited to one Integration Assistant who was obviously a convert to

the Inclusive view but was also a Governor. I was continually kept away from the

other “old Unit“ staff on the grounds that the issue was so contentious that even my

asking questions was likely to upset progress towards the Inclusive goal. What could

a researcher with an inclusive view do in such a situation? I simply waited and hoped

to open the door eventually to other perspectives.

The concept of Natural Justice (it could be called Christian Justice in St Edna’s) also

became a useful analytical tool in my work to unravel the underlying intentions at

these two schools. This concept can be the most powerful argument for Inclusion; put

simply the argument is that ALL pupils need to live their school lives in a society

which is as close as possible to that of the real world, and that people with disabilities

should figure as a normal, if minority, part of that world. Neither Lowlands nor St

Edna’s articulated it as such but they clearly wanted all pupils to be experiencing the

same environment and the same range of teaching strategies. This is why St Edna’s

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moved away, years ago, from “withdrawal” as a way of supporting SEN students and

why Lowlands saw collaborative teaching strategies as so much of an improvement

upon the MLD Unit. It was perhaps surprising, therefore, that neither school

articulated this or wrote this “Human Rights” perspective into its Ethos documents.

There were factors involved which were beyond the scope of this part of my study.

For example; what effect does school size have in the ability to know and care for a

range of personalities? Karen, a teacher at St. Edna's, thought this was a major

issue, arguing that, at a small school, one;

"..can care for the kids better. I know all the kids by name…There is only one class that I do not teach"

(A53)

On the other hand, Ben Kenham thought that the small size ensured that they all had

to work together even if they did not wish to (A53).

There were also less positive possible explanations for a low exclusion rate. One of

these concerned the large pupil turnover rates argument (see above), but another

was the possibility that the school might indeed prefer to have the difficult students on

the inside of their “patch” rather than exclude them and have them on the outside

causing just as much, albeit different, damage and time consumption! (A53).

As this study progressed, formal exclusion figures both in Birmingham and nationally

began to fall significantly (4). At the time of writing up my findings, the national climate

began to encourage schools such as St. Edna's and Lowlands High and the numbers

of Special Schools began to significantly reduce (5).

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A comparative analysis of the Inclusion situation in these two schools was useful. It

was not possible to work as creatively with them as with Courtly Green and Five

Houses, but an extrapolation of the following points to the whole school population is

possible with a fair degree of certainty;

The influence of Heads is very significant if a school wishes to move in a truly

inclusive direction.

Classroom organisation and curriculum differentiation are two of the important

keys to engaging youngsters who are behaviourally difficult.

There are key staff who are able to analyse the situation well and can carry or

enthuse others in this respect.

The size of the school may play a very important role, but in different ways for

different aspects of SEN.

The OfSTED inspection system appears to hinder Action Research and the

development of work to include behaviourally difficult students.

The proposition by Parsons cited earlier in this chapter about the influence of

modern bureaucratic pressure appears to have been supported by the evidence I

amassed at both these schools.

Many schools have strategies and approaches that are under-researched and

under-praised. I hope that my work has made a small contribution here.

There is still significant misunderstanding of students who challenge

behaviourally. Few resources are allocated to these students and a comparison

with the development at Five Houses demonstrates this (See Chapter Seven).

The schools differ enormously with regard to the teamwork observed. There also

seems to have been a lack of clarity at Lowlands about the responsibilities of

staff. This is probably inevitable as a school moves to an inclusive focus based on

differentiation. The Lowlands OfSTED report reinforces this;

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"….further improve the good provision made for pupils with special educational needs by clarifying the responsibilities of staff within the learning support department."

(p.3)

Emphasising Differentiation and Pedagogy is one of three important ways,

amongst many, of conceptualising Inclusion (See Chapter Nine for my

Dimensions of Inclusion). It might be wiser to say that we need to develop

Inclusion on at least three fronts; Physical Inclusion, Social Inclusion and

Cognitive Inclusion (see Blamires (op. cit.) for an extension of this argument). Any

one of these without a degree of the other two would seem to be sterile. St.

Edna's and Lowlands have, from very different starting points and with different

styles, moved together down this road.

Probably the most important aspect of my research in these two contexts was the

juxtaposition of the structural parameter (Lowlands) with that of the curriculum (St.

Edna's). I realised that there were multiple answers to the question of Inclusion,

which were being addressed in different settings by a range of approaches. Most of

the research sites I used included these two parameters, but in different ratios. At the

centre of the whole issue, though, was the crucial consideration of pedagogy and in

this respect I was permanently affected by the enthusiasm and dedication of the IH

team at St. Edna's. The systems and materials that they developed for dealing with

the whole range of young people is best reflected by a vignette based on my

Fieldnotes;

“Dig This!”; An Integrated Humanities Experience

Since one of the arguments presented at St. Edna’s was that clearly differentiated

class teaching was a major key to success. I visited a number of lessons to observe

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practice. One memorable example was delivered by the Humanities Team together

with two Teacher Training students, who re-enacted an archaeological Dig in the

classroom! A large wooden matrix was in place on the floor (there were no desks)

and relevant artefacts were to be found on the green mat below it. Students were

asked to map the objects and to draw conclusions from their orientation, position and

number. The students were given differentiated written materials that needed

different levels of adult support, and supplementary booklets lined the wall. I watched

as, for a whole hour, a Year 9 group of varied ability concentrated on the task. Since

at least three students were away from school (for a range of social reasons typical of

a school in such a catchment area) the group size was manageable for this exercise

and the teacher in charge (Dannie) was able to leave the group to the task while she

explained the activity to me. The students stayed on task for the whole lessons,

rarely needing to be assisted, save for direction to the additional work-sheets and

materials. Such an approach is obviously resource-expensive and cannot happen at

every lesson in the IH curriculum, however the integrated nature of this course meant

that there were a number of such activities which had been set up over the years,

continually refine, and used in rotation. This appeared to enable very efficient use of

the teaching staff and their specialist skills.

There are issues that the IH approach does not address, and Dannie readily

identified these; for example there is an over-reliance on worksheets and a possible

lowering of the level of challenge by constantly making all materials available at the

level of the learner. These issues do not appear, however, to detract from the

immediate sense that this part of the IH curriculum (which was obviously only one

aspect of the whole formal curriculum) was stimulating to the students and supported

the Kenhams’ differentiation hypothesis. The OfSTED inspection of the school,

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interestingly, missed the importance of this aspect of the work at St Edna's. This

would support the arguments from Parsons and Ainscow that current systems are not

conducive to the inclusion drive of many practitioners.

FOOTNOTES

1. If there is such a great turnover of students, it can be argued that, if the school waits long enough and has strategies in place to "buy time" when pupils become so difficult as to risk exclusion, then statistical "natural wastage" will see them moving on and away from being the responsibility of the school. Thus, while the school can be commended for using a range of strategies and placements, the effect may be due to other, natural, causes. In using the Bridge (a Pupil Referral Centre) the schools almost admitted as much;

"The ….. Centre has been good… a bit of space….time to reflect…. something else… and seeing whether they like it!"(Ben Kenham recorded in A52)

2. Marx based his theories on the work of the philosopher Hegel. Hegel's concept of Dialectical Synthesis is useful in understanding how different views can be reconciled and even, in grand terms, the theory can be used to build up a number of world views or dimensions (see, for example the Christian view of Teilhard de Chardin referred to in Chapter Two).

3. I became reluctant to label such students “EBD” since it was fast becoming obvious as I gained experience in the Case Study schools that St Edna’s was dealing with non-Statemented pupils who would have been Statemented as EBD in most of our Special schools. These pupils would also have been very difficult to include in the other schools with which I had ever had contact.; they would have had difficulty coping! The concept of” EBD” seemed so situation-specific that I found it useless as a descriptor in conversations in such a wide range of schools.

4. This happened over the last three years of this study, but attributing causation is difficult because the national government imposed financial fines on schools which excluded. This was a significant factor in the way schools thereafter approached youngsters at risk of formal exclusion.

5. Special School numbers declined slightly over the period of this study (See Howson 2000). A number of Special Schools and at least two school-based Units in Birmingham closed during this period.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

FIVE HOUSES

(First they didn't want me, then they did!)

Synopsis;

In this Case Study the moves towards inclusion of a difficult school, which also had a budget problem, are explored. The issue of the sensitivity to pupils with “EBD” emerges as an issue worthy of particular attention. This was the school that “included” Danielle but refused to have an Exclusion Unit (PRU) on site. The problem of restricted access to this site is described and the moral position of the researcher is examined. I took the view that the research could only be justified if it was carried out at the same time as action to promote Inclusion (1), and the ideal opportunity which "emerged" is described. A number of hypotheses are generated which allowed creation of "theory" about the Inclusion scene, the intention being to develop these in my work to further Inclusion. At that time, these hypotheses were simply "emergent" but later, when I had established Second City Second Chance, I had the opportunity to test them in a qualitative way.

ContentsPreamble

School Background

Hypotheses

Initial Research Emphases

The Study

Analysis

Some Tentative Conclusions

Preamble

I wanted to work with staff at Five Houses because I knew that there were a number

of relevant initiatives in its Special Needs Department, with which I had been

connected intermittently over a number of years. I knew that the SENCO had both

encouraged community volunteers to work in his Department and that he had

maximised the number of Special Needs Assistants and Integration Assistants that

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the school employed. In seeking to research this and any connected measure that

facilitated the inclusion of at-risk students, I approached the Head. However,

although I knew him personally at the time of the first contact with the school, his

Senior Team refused me the access I asked for on the grounds of high teacher

workloads and an impending OfSTED Inspection in one year’s time. I initially looked

for other sites for my work but it became increasingly clear that this resistance was to

be typical. There were at least two other schools (identified in order to maintain a

spread of school type, gender balance and ethnicity) which quoted similar reasons for

their reticence to become involved with either this work or with myself.

I knew that the initiatives at FH were going to be valuable to me and so I returned to

the quest for access and applied the force of my connections without any qualms. I

had no moral problem with this approach since I knew that there was something

interesting at FH which was worth transmitting to others and, in order to do this, I was

determined to add it to my study. I was particularly interested at that point in an

analysis of the effect of OfSTED and other pressures on inclusion, but my access

was continually denied.

I documented precisely all the moves I made in this effort and was eventually

rewarded, although partly because of a tragic event which worked to my advantage; I

was eventually granted total access and even received a request to assist the

Governors in one part of their Inclusivity drive. My notes record that, at an early

stage, I felt that the school;

"..is an exemplar of an ordinary school, mixed intake, reorganising and with new

structures/ new Head…NB They have to increase their roll; will they tumble on the

"(Mary Dean School) Approach?" (See Below)

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(B2)

I was referring here to a primary school that I visited after exhortations from the LEA

which had come to Inclusion because of practical needs but stayed with it from

philosophical commitment.

I have listed the main tactics I used to enable my research below so that they can be

compared with the opportunities afforded to the researcher with, perhaps, fewer

connections;

Contacting the Director of Education of the city of Birmingham (Special Needs)

and asking her to intervene by telephone, arguing that the Case Study to be

generated by my research would be extremely useful to the LEA

Taking the Deputy Head of the school, an ex-colleague of many years standing,

out for a drink to discuss our mutual interest in social science research and the

promotion of good practice through the CSCS (Centre for the Study of

Comprehensive Schools (2)) network where, in the year previous to this contact, I

had been an Associate Director.

Writing to the Chair of Governors who, unknown to me, was slightly disabled

herself and who was proud of having, as Chair of her Curriculum Committee,

someone who had been a lecturer in Special Needs.

School Background

Sadly, the Head of Five Houses suffered a stroke and a car accident, after which the

Deputy (referred to above) became Acting Head. He had seen the potential of an

Action Researcher in the school as he pushed forward its development and, along

with the Chair of Governors, he invited me act in that capacity with a brief which

added a specific task to the list I had formed myself. This was to work with a Year 5

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pupil with Spina Bifida (Danielle) who, having begun her primary education in a

Special School, had been successfully integrated into the mainstream and had

indicated, through her parents, that she wished to go to FH as her preferred

Secondary. I was asked to work with her and her family so that the school could be

as prepared as possible for her arrival in September 1997. The work was to involve a

small student case study and an analysis of all the needs generated by her being

both a permanent wheelchair-user and also a number of years behind her peers in

achievements, due to the regular time away from classes for her operations and

physiotherapy.

This development not only opened the doors to the work I had previously identified as

important, but also gave an ideal opportunity to put into practice my beliefs about

Action Research. At this time I was also undertaking similar work in another school

with a comparable catchment area, and I was able to transfer thinking, practice and

analysis from one situation to the other. In addition to Danielle, a pupil from another

school (Dana) was identified for further Case Study work; I made friends with both

pupils and they seemed wonderful advertisements for Inclusion as well as ideal

"cases" with which to analyse the Inclusion scene (see Chapter Four; Danielle and

Dana).

Five Houses School is a mixed-race school which is not full, and which had received

a reasonable school inspectors’ report; it was being substantially re-built, through

national means, during the research period. The school was ostensibly a community

one, but since many of the Black pupils bussed themselves there from areas closer

to the inner city this was, to some extent illusionary. Physically, though, it did share

on-site facilities with a Primary school and Adult Education facilities.

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The FH staff were well qualified and, in many cases, individuals had been at the

school for many years (the SENCO for at least ten). During the rebuild it had been

obvious that provision could be made for wheelchair users and an LEA Officer was

asked to supervise this so as to maximise access to what had previously been a very

difficult building in which to move around.

Hypotheses

In my analysis of the FH situation I posited the following hypotheses, which I hoped to “test”

as I saw it at the time. I later modified this approach to one in which I saw these hypotheses

as key concepts which led me to the Dimensions of Inclusions discussed in the last part of

the thesis, but which are explored there with reference to the understandings developed in a

number of schools and within the SCSC development. In particular it was interesting that two

other schools also gave way under my pressure and granted access after a long period of

demonstrating my level of tenacity (developed over a long career!) In order to refer easily to

the hypotheses at other points in my narrative, I have created labels, attempting to make

them memorable;

OfSTED and similar external examinations of schools (with public pronouncement

of the results) will tend to minimise high-risk initiatives such as those concerned

with the inclusion of a wider range of pupils (OF; The OfSTED Hypothesis)

Open enrolment and the financial aspects of the Local Management of Schools

(LMS) can have different impacts on inclusive practices. Such national policies

will encourage inclusive practice if student numbers and quality rise, but otherwise

the effect will be to minimise high risk initiatives which may deflect pupil entrants

or be too expensive, per pupil, to maintain (LMS; The LMS Hypothesis).

Emergent initiatives will happen where there are both significant actors who tend

to minimise the effects of, for example, OfSTED and LMS, and a significant

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degree of school-school interaction or “co-adaptation” (Waldrop 1992). (COH; the

Co-Adaptation Hypothesis).

The promotion of good practice in school improvement, not simply inclusion of

Special Needs students, is being discouraged by the current political climate

where trust and openness are discouraged (PH; the Political Hypothesis).

Where Inclusion is happening, it is the “soft” end of the SEN spectrum that is

being touched. Students with behaviour difficulties (particularly those who have

been formally excluded from school) are ignored as being too risky for a school to

handle, particularly in the light of parental choice (EBD; The EBD hypothesis).

Evidence presented below to support or counter these hypotheses is referenced in

parentheses.

Initial Research Emphases

I was asked by the school to pay particular attention to the development of the

physical side of the school, but there was also a need to address the situation within

classrooms and to analyse the training needs of the staff. In addition there was a

worry about the cost-effectiveness of the initiative and a concern on the part of the

Head about quality curriculum access for pupils like Danielle. It was these and

associated issues that I was asked to investigate and report on to the Head and

Governors. It was to provide a fascinating insight into the provision thought

appropriate by Architects and LEA Officers, and into the reactions of staff. It allowed

me an understanding of the range of motives for such initiatives.

The initial elements I wanted to explore are listed below but they were soon

supplemented by suggestions from the Acting Head. The worth of these suggestions

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(including those about Danielle) demonstrates, I believe, that externally designed

research is significantly impoverished if it is not reactive to the field situation. Indeed,

if it were possible, for schools to be put in a position where they had an academic

catalyst, they could themselves research and identify their own action (3).

My initial research emphases, then, in FH were;

The school SENCO and his use of integration and classroom assistants; how did

this promote inclusion, what had been achieved and what obstacles (including

possibly the then new Code of Practice) did he encounter?

What links were there with local Special Schools and where did they fit on the

integration-inclusion spectrum? (I had heard, for example, that a local Special

School had wanted to move its entire facility to the FH campus as the rebuild of

the Lower School was completed).

When I discussed these with Barry, the Acting Head, he added another three

aspects;

How can FH ensure that the new building and, as far as possible, the old one to

which it had been added, are accessible to special needs students? Barry stated

that it was important to recognise that his attention in this project was focussed

solely on physically disabled or "challenged" youngsters. He wished, it appeared,

to stay "focussed".

How is the FH internal Behaviour Unit functioning with respect to Inclusion?

How can the researcher assist Joanne, an integration assistant who was carrying

out a study on inclusion for her BTEC qualification? Joanne had a son herself who

was exhibiting behaviour problems and she had helped to integrate a difficult boy

from a nearby primary into FH. The primary school was surprised, Barry said, by

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the success of the school and, by implication, he wanted me to explore the

background to this; why was "his" school so successful in that case?

One further issue arose or “emerged” as I came to know the school; this involved the

role, in Inclusion, of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO). All

schools had, for a small number of years, been required to appoint a person to this

role and the responsibilities were prescribed by the Code of Identification and

Assessment of Special Educational Needs. This was an onerous task in any school

and the FH incumbent had apparently laboured productively at the tasks involved.

However the SENCO role was (and still is) focussed on the needs of the minority and

not on the whole school population; the role in Inclusion is thereby usually limited to

the Integration part of this. Very few SENCOs become involved, as far as I could see,

in the work on differentiation and pedagogy which would be so important in

pursuance of a wider definition of Inclusion.

In conversation with the SENCO both at school and informally, it was evident that

there were a number of issues that were of concern to him. He felt that the efforts

that he had made (to create and maintain links with local Special Schools and to

incorporate individuals with specific difficulties) were not being recognised. In fact, he

was re-located, later that term, to a different post within the school to “give him a new

outlook” (said the HT). This was despite his being, apparently, a far-seeing

practitioner in this field. I had to ask whether his frustration resulted from a lack of

senior management “ownership” of the inclusive ideas that he embodied, or whether

there were other issues involved. He also became a co-researcher at one point (See

Chapter Four) and we were often able to converse about our understandings of the

situation. In his own study he demonstrated his thinking in recording;

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"I think the one message that has come out of this for myself is a very simple

one and that is that (Danielle) and others in her situation have a disability, this

only becomes a handicap to them when obstacles physical or otherwise are

placed in the way."

(MG 1.37)

My research moved along much faster once the Head, governors and the LEA were

involved in identifying areas of interest; showing how power is important (PH). The

Head also empathised with a researcher position;

"I know how much you rely on the support of schools to do your study, I needed it to do my MA"

(C16)

He also let me be aware that another Deputy had resisted my input. She would, he indicated,

only support my work if;

"I somehow made it look like the focus was on the Satellite School aspect (and not, as originally the SENCO; MG) and that the Case Study aspect was being done for Birmingham LEA"

(C 17)When he became the Head, he telephoned me to agree and stated;

"The opposition that was there before was no longer there"(C 21)

The Study

The emphasis of my FH study did change after the interventions described above

and I become more interested in the wider aspects of Inclusion at the school. I was,

as any good qualitative researcher should be, influenced by my discoveries (4). After

all, I wanted to understand the situation; how could I ignore an important element

simply because my emphasis at the school had originally been on the SENCO?

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One of the cases that the SENCO had championed was that of a boy from a Special

School who had to be carried in by his father a few times each week to work in the

Art Dept on the second floor. This was a major effort for all concerned before the re-

build and was one small but important step in the inclusive direction, but it was built

on his ideal and was not part of a school policy move. He had been pushing for

Inclusion for a long time; it was interesting that the Inclusion move at the school only

received impetus when the HT became involved (PH). The school was one which

had a pride in the belief that they;

"…were always a school that worked with problems"(B42)

This Case Study School came to embody for me the political aspects of the Inclusion debate.

It appeared that the three hypotheses presented here centred around who was able to wield

power and influence, whereas in other situations (St Edna's and Lowlands High as well as

Courtly Green) the education/rights dimension appeared to be equally important.

Figuring highly in the political stakes was the inspection regime of the Office for

Standards in Education (OfSTED). Indeed, at the start, a main reason for the refusal

of access to me was given as the impending "OfSTED";

"RS had referred to 1) imminent (10 months away) OfSTED and 2) the pressure on MG who had so much to do anyway…he always says "Yes" to everything)".

(C10)This was despite my maintaining that;

"I would be active in helping with tasks while accumulating views". (Original emphasis C10)

In an analytic memo to myself at about the same time, but just after having gained

access, I reminded myself that;

"The researcher, then, who is useful and proactive, will inspire confidence and commitment to his/her own project from the participants. "Declaring a Hand" is therefore useful;

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a) for ethical reasonsb) for political ones (Change)c) For practical ones (getting in)."

(C22)

A real tension, then, developed and was resolved during my work with the school. My

original focus changed from looking at an "Integrationist” move on behalf of the

school, with a concentration on the situation as experienced by Danielle, to the wider

aspects of Inclusion and power.

In the rebuilding programme (as a result of which the move to include wheelchairs

became possible) the Head was opportunistic and made things happen (COH).

However he made it clear that he would not accommodate a Behaviour Support Unit

on his campus and wanted to develop safer alternatives instead. He was worried that

the Governors of the school would agree to this initiative and asked me "to be a

Mole” in the LEA. The senior team, the governors and the Labour Group of

Councillors would be very concerned that the group of pupils with EBD in the

Behaviour Support Unit would;

"…reinforce feelings about the school….the community would say …look it is typical that they've put that there at FH" (C30)

Support for this sort of approach even appeared to be coming, at the time, from the

Minister of State (Estelle Morris MP) in an interview;

"Interviewer;."(in) the area of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, I think this

is one of the most difficult aspects of the inclusion debate, much more so than bringing wheelchairs into the classroom, for example".

EM;" Yes that's the easy stuff. But I think there will always be the need for some children not to be in mainstream school, because of the behaviour they exhibit and because that's fair to other children, that Inclusion isn't at the expense of anybody……Teachers also need to know that they can take action to remove a child from their class, and the local authorities need to have separate provision for that to happen." (5)

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Barry was not alone in his reaction to the re-siting of a local Behaviour Unit, the Head

of Courtly Green also saw it as;

" …a good idea… but not here!"(B50)

The teacher in charge of the In-school Exclusion Unit (established by her to do just

exactly what the Minister had deemed appropriate), exhibited a clear vision of why

this dimension of inclusion was different;

"….it's an emotional response …the teachers are personally affected (when bad behaviour is focussed on them or is in their class)…they cannot separate themselves from this".

My notes record that she therefore felt that;

"…inclusion of physically challenged students was easy since the "problem" was exterior to the teacher-student relationship and that learning in that situation could remain as the focus. She had established the Unit to give "emotional space"

(B36)

In exploring with her what extra resources were needed in order to include "EBD"

students, she was eloquent in her desire to see;

"personal time….to listen to students… the new system will work if this is allowed and if students feel that they can approach (me) … I don't know…it's

all word of mouth isn't it" (B37)

This reticence contrasted significantly with the confidence, force and direction given

to the inclusion of Danielle and friends by the whole school. The investment of time

needed by the "EBD" youngsters was never costed and contrasted with the

resources being poured in to support Danielle (PH).

FH School, then, started to become a "Satellite" one for the physically challenged. In

such schools there would be a concentration on catering for a particular disability,

with extra and specific resources allocated to that school just for that purpose. To

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many this seemed to be a pragmatic solution to the resource issue in inclusion. It is

almost the Consortium concept, with sharing of pupils being understood to be

necessary (i.e. one pupil might attend more that one school depending upon need).

One member of staff saw this possibility (which is not finding favour, it appears,

across the city due to open Enrolment and jealousies in this way (LMS);

"Why not Consortia - for ensuring equality of opportunity, curriculum breadth etc. - this would lead to Inclusivity"

(B31)

This Satellite school concept, which can be seen as a practical solution to the

resource problems associated with true inclusion, inevitably leads to limited

experience of "other" pupils by the general school population, a consequence that is

usually ignored. This appears to be the case because Inclusion has traditionally been

viewed from the perspective of the "challenged" and not from the "human rights

perspective" (the right for all students to experiences the full range of the human

condition as a real part of their education. However the school saw, or at least the

Head and Governors did, that this was a way of establishing a "Market Niche" and

increasing school roll (PH and LMS). As long as they stayed away from the negative

impact of the "EBD" youngsters then the school could capitalise on the skill of its

teachers who enjoyed working with challenging youngsters. A Head who was a

wheelchair-user and, like myself had been employed to advise the school talked with

me about the "empathy" for such youngsters that we both witnessed at the school

and;

"…reiterated the belief that (as a HT) he saw teachers who taught,…(in similar conditions in the inner city)…. Because they were that sort of person and enjoyed those kids"

(C51)

While, initially, that testified to a school with a special aptitude, it had negative

implications for inclusion. If "All means All" then all teachers should surely want, or at

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least be able to, teach all youngsters? As Danielle started her short career at the

school I wondered whether it would work for her at all. There were so many

challenges for the school to overcome. Listing them allows one to ask whether the

same effort would have been made to "include" or "integrate" students with emotional

or behavioural difficulties (EBD);

Staff awareness Need to change classroom seating arrangements Major physical reorganisation of equipment and facilities on many school s

areas Learning Assistants appointed and trained Parents involved "Buddies" worked with as in Stainback and Stainback (1985) (PH)

(See Chapter Four; Danielle and Dana for more details and (6)).

This compares unfavourably with the space and resource given to behaviourally

difficult students where staff were only too aware of possible solutions. One such

solution, often referred to, was to provide equivalent changes to the curriculum for

“EBD” students to ensure that they accessed it fully, or at least felt that it was

constructed so that they could exercise the same flexibility as Danielle. As one

teacher put it, the success of the inclusion of Danielle was;

"…down to ..(success of).. staff training and pupil awareness…" .

In contrast to this the locus for EBD youngsters was seen to be within themselves

and did not involve the same sort of adult responsibility. Many saw, for example, the

Key Stage 4 curriculum as;

"…a straightjacket with little flexibility (especially in a small school?) and many pupils are turned off. Why not allow kids to specialise and remotivate them? Many are keen on Art, Music etc. but are disallowed (by the Option Choices) from taking these."

She lamented that the Art timetable allocation was being cut and that Textiles was

being reduced by inclusion within Technology;

…."where it will be theoretical and not practical" (implying that it was therefore less of a turn-on for students.

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(B39)

Analysis

As I started to become more active in FH, the initial list of areas for analysis became

more action focussed. My remit, agreed in discussions with the Head, shows a

corresponding emphasis on integration of Danielle, however, and not Inclusion in any

other sense;

Is there access to all parts of the school? Are facilities in classrooms and other areas suitable? What training will staff require to manage pupils with challenges? What resources will allow access to each child? Will there be sufficient finance to meet the needs of the child (Danielle)? What about the other staff as they manage students with disability? How do we prepare the current students to successfully welcome and

accommodate children with disability?(B15)

The school was looking for a "market niche" and was backed in this approach by the LEA, Trash Naylor (Deputy CEO with responsibility for SEN and Inclusion) saying, while on a visit to FH;

"It's a window of opportunity, one of the few windows".

My Field Notes record that she was referring to the fact that;

"they see they can get a "niche" when they are surrounded by six or seven first choice schools"

(A26)

This aspect (the effect of Open Enrolment within LMS) was one I did not have time to

explore fully but it has worrying societal and racial implications as witnessed by the

testimony of Barry, the FH Head. He "put his cards on the table" early in the

developments at the school, betraying quite clearly the pressures on his decision -

making. Very little seemed to be driven by educational thinking, more a pragmatic

approach (LMS);

"I don't believe in Inclusion for all kids…. especially the EBD kids….", "What sort of inclusive schools do we need to be?" and "would white children be upset by our Black and Asian kids (that are bussed in from the neighbourhood)?"

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(A26)

Similarly teaching staff were concerned with image and marketing;

"How will this affect marketing…with parents it might be perceived negatively by parents - how can we make our positive view seem positive elsewhere?

(A27)

Despite this beginning and the HT’s agenda, I also became interested in a small

number of other, apparently peripheral, happenings in the school and the evidence

they afforded me. Firstly, the school had had a Behavioural Unit (one teacher, one

room and few facilities) and yet, with a staff change and budget problems, the need

for this provision seemed to evaporate overnight. This was despite the sort of

arguments being made by the teacher in charge and the (EBD and PH).

Secondly there was a very active SENCO whose work on integration was well

known. However he was moved to work on community relations (PH and LMS).

Could I assume that suddenly the staff developed new ways of working with difficult

students? Paradoxically, but possibly not causally, this change coincided with the

uptake by the school of Programmes like that offered by the developing charity

SCSC (see Chapter Eight; Second City Action). The SENCO, like many staff saw the

need;

"…to take risks….but also saw that Rights (as in Inclusion) entailed responsibilities"

(B40)

Interestingly he viewed his "sideways" move as one that would hinder inclusive

moves. My Field Notes record that he saw that;

"The Senior Team were limiting progress and adopting policies…setting etc. that would limit inclusion in the classroom".

(B43)

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He also saw, I noted that the restriction of resources imposed a limit on Inclusion.

This applied particularly to the number of hours available from LSAs. We had,

together, visited a neighbouring LEA school and noted the excellent practice of;

"…attaching an LSA to a (academic) Department - this then allows that person to concentrate on access to that part of the curriculum for the young person"

(A 24)I became very interested in this issue, as I had been at Courtly Green. I witnessed

the effect of integration Assistants (as they were then known) and their

metamorphosis into Learning Support Assistants (a much more "Inclusive" label).

These observations were indeed facilitated by the Danielle adventure; there was a

great need for all involved to examine terminology and practice together (COH).

FH was a school that both took my advice seriously and was concerned to move to

being an inclusive Neighbourhood School which (suggest Sebba and Ainscow 1996,

among many others) is probably the most pragmatic interpretation of Inclusion;

"Inclusion describes the process by which a school attempts to respond to all pupils as individuals by reconsidering its curricular organisation and provision. Through this process, the school builds its capacity to accept all pupils from the local community who wish to attend and, in so doing, reduces the need to exclude pupils"

(p.9)

Ironically, FH takes the majority of its students from schools many miles away, as a

result of LMS and the closure of inner city schools (PH). This is probably one of the

enduring tensions in the current British Inclusion scene, leading to a situation

critiqued by many and put forcibly by Feiler and Gibson (1999);

"We suggest that the inclusive movement needs to take a realistic look at the way in which schools have been placed in the unenviable position of needing to consider the effect upon published standards of welcoming low-achieving children"

(p.149)

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Some Tentative Conclusions (or Fuzzy Propositions)

As I came to the end of my time at FH, I was puzzled by their attention to many

aspects of the Inclusion debate but their refusal to address others;

No one at FH would look at the influence of the size of the school. As a very small

school, could it become a true Satellite School? Being on the edge of the city was

it well placed so to become or were the prime motivation factors political ones?

While there was more understanding of the inclusion debate at FH than at many

other schools I visited, why was there virtually no debate about the "EBD" issue?

Why was Differentiation in the curriculum not a major focus as a mechanism of

inclusion despite many comments in staff training days?

On the issue of differentiation, one member of staff was very;

"…keen on her success with challenged youngsters (Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, etc.) but accepted that this was easier in Art, her subject (where differentiation is always by outcome and rarely by task)…"

(B39)

Another saw setting by groups (which is usually in response to a need to differentiate

curriculum) as limiting Inclusion because;

"..in the lower groups the whole emphasis is on Top Dog"

and in her discussions with kids they always wanted to know;

"Miss can I move group?"

or;

"I don't want to be in the thick kids’ group".

She estimated that;

"65% of those I saw had SEN and the whole lot come single parent homes with extremely complex adult relationships…. the older kids know they've "failed" and there's nothing for them"

(B48)

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This type of comment demonstrated to me clearly and continually that the interests of

the school were on the "integration" of students like Danielle and that the more far-

seeing members saw this as the front end of the Inclusion "Wedge". However, the

latter analysis came to the fore only when I searched hard. Even the City Inclusion

Officer slipped into "integration speak";

"Inclusion is … what FH is about… is making a number of small changes to accommodate some pupils"

(A27)

And the staff focussed inevitably on Danielle;

"It's probable that Danielle will integrate better than the rest of us and the kids" (A28)

and;

"Equal Rights…means that we don't treat her as different from the others" (A28)

After a while, however, a number of the staff came to realise that there was a need

for fundamental change and accepted that previous students with extra challenges

had been short-changed;

"With Smithy and Alan (previously “integrated” students with severe challenges) we were under-prepared. Are we fully inclusive now?”

(A 28)

They identified at least the following aspects of the school that needed fresh attention

as a result of wheelchair students;

Doors; the speed of return, Funding; for the whole school, Back-up (medical and teaching support), Safety on machines- who helps? Staff Training, and Real inputs into the Understanding Society Course.

(A28)

They also agreed to change seating plans, fire drill and to use the Buddy system I

introduced in a very creative way. On the latter they were suggesting that they could

minimise Danielle’s "Curriculum loss" by;

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One student going ahead to the lift door (minimising the wait for the lift) One Buddy going ahead to the class so that the first teacher instructions are

easily known to Danielle as she arrives"(A62)

Staff also changed terminology;

"…to get away from "normal" after seeing the Altogether Better video…they.. suggested (the use of) "standard" if any description was needed. A Head of Department noted; "This has benefits; we don't expect pupils to be standard. A standard car is the basic one from which all types/models vary in a range of ways."

(A63)

This, I feel, typified the school which had, as a result of such positive thinking;

"..minimised the number on the SEN register" (A65b)

and;

".. been about taking calculated risks" (B51)

This fitted well with the advice given to the school about inclusion from a Head of a

Special School. In describing how he operated at his school, he emphasised that it

was continual risk-taking. Immense daily risks were minimised by;

KNOWING the students, NOT their disease or medical history! Taking ACTION; training and awareness Rolling in a Programme of INVESTMENT

(B52)

He, I and Ron (the visiting Head who used a wheelchair) were at one on this point

and Ron echoed aspects of Chaos Theory when he advised;

"You won't make everything work for them all, but you can make most things work (accessible) for most". We all emphasised also that what was important was "equality of opportunity to access the curriculum …not equality per se. There will be areas not accessible to some youngsters, just (as with) the hockey and volleyball team or whatever…"

(B53)

I reflected at that point that, again, the same level of analysis, sympathy or empathy

would not have been present had the subject been those challenging "EBD" kids.

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Five Houses was made into an ideal Case Study by a combination of access, luck

and my "pushiness". The Chaos Theory interpretation of this is presented elsewhere

but here I emphasise the Action Research focus of the work and the access it

afforded me.

In my "Action" mode I worked with the LEA to try and ensure more changes, using

Danielle's presence as a reason. They refused to go any further than absolutely

necessary, especially in resource allocation;

"AP (from the LEA) now rings saying that the Access Group of the LEA will "support Danielle" but only with equipment to suit her not to facilitate a range of others"

and, despite my pushiness my notes record my frustration;

"SURELY THIS IS INTEGRATION AND NOT INCLUSION" (Original Emphasis A38)

It was, and still is, a proud school taking calculated risks in moving forward in the

Inclusion scene. They had done a great deal before coming to know Danielle or

myself;

"We have integrated an autistic girl in this classroom….. (said a teacher). I saw the IA moving around the whole class and could not identify the girl (my notes)…."The parents were over the moon about it -she came from a private primary school and was fully incorporated (sic) here".

(Teacher A50)

They also had;

"…included a youngster from a school "where dad comes in and carries him up the stairs so that he can come and …." "

(A51b)

Danielle had a significant effect on the school when she arrived as a vivacious and

"wicked" Year Seven pupil having four Buddies under her thumbs. Although, sadly,

she died during an operation in her Year Eight, I know that the school and staff will

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always be a more inclusive one as a result of her. This is despite the "downsides"

that researchers like me continued to find in this enterprising venture entertained by a

school already facing so many typical modern difficulties. She, and the story

described here, inspired both a number of people and projects which took FH faster

and further down the inclusion path than would otherwise have been the case (7).

If Inclusion is a process and not a destination (From Them to Us; Booth and Ainscow

1998) then I would dearly like to meet the main FH "actors" in another ten years to

talk to them about what they saw to be their destination.

FOOTNOTES

1 The moral necessity of action is presented in Bourdieu 1990. In this, The Logic of Practice, he argues that the research act is itself either subversive or maintains the status quo.

2 The Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools is a study-based organisation that is focussed on the promotion of comprehensive education and based at the University of Leicester.

3 Elliott argues the case for the Action Researcher in numerous publications including Action Research for Educational Change (1991), the theme of which fits with my thesis.

4 Ely et al (1997) in their ‘Living by Words’ describe many examples of researchers being sensitive, and reactive, to the field situation.

5 In the Journal ‘Special’ (Summer 1998, page 21) the Minister was interviewed and obviously was more moved by political considerations than by philosophical ones. She emphasised the need for LEA Behaviour Support Plans that should include the full time provision of education for excluded students. While this may appear to be against Inclusion, it fits with the Satellite and "Local Schools" dimensions or interpretations discussed further in my final chapter (see Chapter Nine; Endgame)

6 Stainback and Stainback (1985) describe a case study in which a Buddy Group was formed and highly trained in order that a student could be transferred from a Special Education facility to a mainstream school.

7 While investigating how people viewed the operation of Inclusivity at FD, I came across a number of embryonic developments that looked fruitful and which evolved as a result of Danielle and the current initiative. I was able to interact and engage to a different degree with each, but decided to exclude them from my main narrative. They are recalled here as further context for the story and to demonstrate some of the choices that I had to make about FH aspects;

Lindsey; A parent of two boys with specific difficulties, an integration assistant and someone developing her own competence by engaging in a C& G course within which she is intending a essay on Inclusion. (Where did this thought originate?)

Carole, a Spina Bifida year 5 pupil from a special school but integrated into a primary who has expressed a desire to come to the school in a year. Can the school cope? What needs to be done? .

The Primary Corridor. After a great deal of rebuilding with Government grants, there is the possibility of utilising a common corridor with the adjacent Primary to focus on activities that could promote inclusion. My initial reaction was that this was tangential but that things might happen- what might they look like?

(Journal Extract)

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CHAPTER EIGHT

SECOND CITY ACTION

(Putting research into action)

Synopsis;

As the work described in the previous chapters was progressing, I was busy (partly as a result of my professional interests and partly as a result of my observations) trying to create an intervention to assist young people at risk of exclusion from school. My initiative quickly drew the support of many leading professionals since it was seen to be tackling an issue that was of increasing concern across the country and appeared to get to the heart of the Inclusion debate. A charity (SCSC; Second City Second Chance) emerged out of my research work and the account in this chapter attempts to understand why the work of the charity became so popular at the time it did. How this development linked with my research and personal thinking is explored together with the various hypotheses generated at Five Houses (see Chapter Seven). These are brought to bear on the story as a way of exploring the reasons for the rapid growth of this "inclusive" charity.

Contents

The SCSC ButterfliesCCVYP ElementsResearch Action and SCSCMy Development and SCSCTales out of SchoolConclusion

The SCSC Butterflies

In describing the genesis of SCSC it is apparent that it was, itself, a “butterfly” in that

a large number of schools and individuals eventually were prompted by the

programme, philosophy and activities of the organisation, into further action

themselves.

Having reflected upon the initial data from my Case Studies and becoming involved

in writing them up, I, at the same time, moved into a different stage of my

professional life where I was evolving, with a group of professional colleagues, a

charity that aimed to assist schools in their efforts to reduce formal exclusion from

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school by innovative interventions; programmes that had been little tried but were

based on sound research evidence already available. I became increasingly unclear

as to how to manage the two disparate parts of that life however, as I sought advice,

a way of integrating them “emerged”. Since I had identified that including youngsters

with emotional and behavioural difficulties in normal schooling was the greatest

pedagogical and political, (if not financial) challenge to schools, an exploration of the

issues surrounding the work and efficacy of the charity in which I was becoming so

absorbed, became an obvious addition. At this stage I was influenced by writers such

as Stephen May (1) who stated that he drew from Bourdieu’s key concepts (of

Habitus and Cultural Capital in particular) as "Method" rather than only "Analysis",

although the latter is the way in which Bourdieu's work had mostly been seen. In my

effort to put learning into practice I saw a mirror here and my thinking in terms of

Chaos Theory added a possible explanation. May quotes Bourdieu (1990a), in

developing this argument, but also writes that, to him (May);

"…it was clear that much of his (Bourdieu) intellectual project was not structuralist as it has come to be (mis)represented but was actually directed towards dismantling and /or circumventing the absurd dichotomy between agency and structure!

(p. 164)

In keeping with the exhortations of Barton (2) my example of praxis (SCSC) is one of

which I became very proud and which enabled numerous ways of implementing

actions as a result of my Case Study research. SCSC grew very quickly over the

years of this study and, as a result of countrywide interest, became involved in a

number of areas outside Birmingham. Mentoring and Cross-Age Tutoring were its

main interventions and its expanding practice was based on the best to be found

across the world. The Mentoring activities were based on work in Israel (3) as well as

Great Britain and the Cross-Age Tutoring (CAT) was based on the research of Keith

Topping (4) and Carol FitzGibbon (5) - both of whom I had had the opportunity to meet

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- and the impressive practical example of CAT in the USA (which started in Texas)

which I visited and replicated. The latter was called the “Coca-Cola Valued Youth

Programme” and had been in operation across the USA for eight years at that time. It

was not the only "peer mentoring" initiative to begin in the period of this study, indeed

the entire January 1996 edition of Educational Psychology in Practice was given over

to the general area ("Intervening with Peer Groupings; Research and Practice"; Vol.

11 No 4, 3.). I had personal communications with a number of researchers and

practitioners on the subject of their own practice; Carol FitzGibbon (Newcastle),

Jackie Dearden (Nottingham) and Keith Topping (Dundee). Dearden, in an

unpublished paper (6) reported on one young person (who would be referred to as a

“Tutee” in the VYP but in her scheme was known as a “Mentee”);

"…who has been given the label of Aspergers syndrome was included in the scheme. He has begun visiting the comprehensive school for his mentoring session on a weekly basis and has got to know the SENCO and been given messages to take around the school. After a tentative start where he was reluctant to get out of the member of staff's car he is now reported to be racing into the comprehensive school to meet his mentor. This is a huge step for the student and also for the staff at both schools in helping to overcome that "he'll never cope at the comprehensive schools" attitude."

(p.3)In a meta-analysis Tony Charlton (Support for Learning Vol. 13 No. 2 in 1998)

exhorted that the evidence for the efficacy of "peer support strategies" was so clear

that;

"By failing to capitalise upon this support, schools are forfeiting the valuable opportunities to help orchestrate pupils’ (and teachers') success in school."

(p.53)

I was obviously not alone, then, in seeing that a greater range of opportunities

needed to be provided to our young people. Mel Ainscow, in a North of England

Conference lecture (Reach Out to All Learners (7)) recalled one observation of a

teacher after he (Ainscow) had watched a French lesson and asked why a particular

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pupil had sat at the side and not taken part in the, otherwise, inclusive classroom

activity;

"Yes…..(name of Pupil)…. He's my failure"(Bradford version p.19)

Ainscow points out that identifying this locus (that the challenge is with us as

facilitators, NOT with the students), is crucial in developing an inclusive educational

system. The VYP and other schemes developed by SCSC attempted to assist this

change of locus. He also quoted research that appeared to fit with the learning in this

chapter about whether an "outside" organisation like SCSC could succeed in

changing things to the advantage of all pupils;

"… schools are idiosyncratic communities, each with their own biographies, circumstances and profiles. Within these communities many competing views are held, particularly when it comes down to the fundamental beliefs that guide teacher's interactions with their classes. This being the case, each school has to develop its own way forward and whilst outsiders can and must be involved there is strong evidence that improvement has to be driven from the inside (quotes references)."

(p.17)

The Valued Youth Programme (known in full as the “Coca-Cola VYP” or CCVYP, in

recognition of the initial funding from a major Corporation) was carefully imported and

"translated" from the USA, giving attention to the educational systems and National

Curriculum within which it would fit. The apparently rigorous research regarding the

efficacy of the VYP was impressive; matched study of two groups of "drop-outs" (8) in

1992 had been very persuasive, and many States reported that the VYP had been

effective in countering this issue in the US system. It was interesting in the context of

my research story that, at the time, there was not a single reference to Inclusion in

the literature or Programme materials. The rationale was about "Integration"

therefore, although the intervention required major alterations to timetables and

staffing in order to bring "drop-outs" back into the school system and it was very

different in philosophy from interventions being used in the UK to counter

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disaffection. The latter appeared to concentrate mainly on the negative aspects of

young people (or at least a process that started from a negative, or pathological,

position regarding adolescents). By contrast, the CCVYP (by name and definition)

started from a position of “Valuing” and celebrating what students could achieve. The

climate in the UK at that time was one which seemed to enshrine “blame” rather than

celebration, and therefore the effect of the Programme was going to be very

interesting in the context of my study.

CCVYP Elements

In discussing the way in which this CAT programme worked as an inclusion tool, it is

important to state the most important operational aspects and the philosophical

stance on which it was based.

Philosophically the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA; the

Charity that started the programme) stated a position that included; “no child is

expendable, every child is valuable”. Obviously, this impressed the SCSC team as an

inclusionary statement. The practical aspects of the programme include;

1. Cross-Age Tutoring (“at-risk” students Tutoring in local primary schools. Tutees

are those in need of more educational assistance and who are four

developmental years behind the Tutors),

2. Staff support (sometimes from SCSC’s own additional Mentoring Programme),

3. Group support sessions at the secondary school,

4. Visits by Role Model to the Group of Tutors at the secondary school,

5. Field educational trips,

6. Payment; for their work the Tutors receive a regular hourly ‘reward’

7. Pre and Post Test Evaluation measures (Self Esteem, Achievement, Attendance,

Exclusions, views of the Teachers)

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US psychologists refer to the group elements of this process as replacing, or at least

redirecting, the “gang culture”. They claim that it recognises the need to be in a

“gang” but gives that powerful force a beneficial focus.

The collective effect demonstrated by the elements in the VYP encourages us to view

them as “Butterflies” leading to a “total effect”. The Intercultural Development and

Research Association never used this construction, but they do insist that all

elements MUST be used in the operation of the Programme. This would seem to

indicate that they are aware of an effect of the whole that is " greater than the effect

of the sum of the parts" even though they fail to argue this effectively. Indeed in

Birmingham schools that attempted to be partial in their operation of the elements,

and ignored the Butterfly Effect, the Programme ended sooner than in others. Five

Houses is a case in point where this has happened, in contrast to St. Edna's where

all elements are rigorously operated and where the programme is now (2000-2001) in

it's sixth year of operation. Further background to SCSC and a description of its work,

including original documents to show the development of the thinking behind it, are

given in Annex G.

The CCVYP appears to be an example of the innovative thinking which is needed in

order to include difficult students. The argument for this is well put by Hart;

"Making connections ..(to other causes); ..what might be helping to produce this response (from the student),

Contradicting…how else might this response be understood…, Taking the child's eye view…, Noting the impact of feelings…, and Suspending judgement…"

(1996 quoted by Blamires in Support for Learning Vol. 14 No. 4 1999)

Maybe the VYP is so successful because it pursues a number of these

recommendations; it certainly examines how the students feel about themselves. It

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contradicts their own and teachers interpretations of their individual histories, and it

asks everyone to suspend judgement about the student until s/he has had an

extended opportunity to "demonstrate…. worth" (SCSC Aims Sheet; see Appendix

G2). It was also a practical way of "noting the impact of feelings" and therefore of

students being valued for their other "intelligences" (particularly what Gardner in 1993

called "interpersonal" intelligence). As part of (what became) the Inclusion

movement, it was a way of "Rediscovering the Right to Belong" (as Norman Kunc

entitles his Chapter in Villa and Thousand (1995).

Once a large cohort of Birmingham pupils was involved in the CCVYP, it also gave

rise to the possibility of a quasi-controlled case study to explore the effect of its

intervention across a school year. The data from that year (staff views, students’

perspectives) was available to me as the Valued Youth Programme (VYP) of SCSC

developed and is used where appropriate in this thesis. I was assisted in this work by

two Research Assistants whose tasks included the collection of ipsative evaluation

data across Birmingham and who, as a result, were in a position to collect data about

a parallel group of students matched, as far as possible, with the group of students

involved in the VYP.

Interestingly, an earlier matched study proposal had had to be abandoned due to

“contamination” and ethical considerations (9). This earlier study had attempted to look

at the comparative efficacy of Mentoring and Cross-Age Tutoring (the essence of the

VYP) but had been ended when student fall-out and student demands to be in one

cohort or another were too vociferous to be ignored. Students without the opportunity

to go to a local school demanded this, and those without Mentors sometimes did the

same. It was partly these same issues that led to the abandonment of any controlled

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aspect of my research, but the change was also due to a re-evaluation of my

strategies as a result of introspection about my aims for the whole work and, in

particular, my aims for the SCSC part of my research "story". Through interaction with

other research students, my supervisor and the literature on the issues involved, I

realised that the way in which I was approaching the issue was about looking only for

external reliability. As described I Chapters Two and Three was, by this time, more

interested in an in-depth understanding of the processes involved and the ways in

which the learning could be transferred to teachers with whom I was working. Since

the objective research evidence concerning CAT intervention already existed (see

the earlier references to FitzGibbon and the macro analysis by Topping), I needed to

offer something new and therefore began to work out how the adoption of the VYP in

Birmingham Schools (which eventually included two of the Case Study schools

referenced in this dissertation) linked with their existing understanding of Inclusion,

and I explored the tensions, personalities and processes involved.

It became apparent, as I developed this thread of my thinking, that there were, in fact,

significant numbers of other “Butterflies” around in my area of interest, of which

SCSC and the CCVYP were but two. SCSC and CCVYP appeared to be expanding,

apparently, as a result of a post-modern process rather than by design since no-one

in the government or local authority was promoting either, and neither was

advertising itself. All enquiries about CCVYP in, and outside, Birmingham came from

people who came across SCSC accidentally. There are implications for curriculum

and teacher training development here; some of which are explored by Claxton (Hare

Brain, Tortoise Mind 1999). Claxton implores us in this work to develop more

opportunities for “unstructured time” if we are to escape “d-mode thinking” and to be

truly innovative in the way we attempt to find solutions to complex modern problems.

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His work seems to endorse my hypotheses that the “top-down” overload from the

government (LMS, OfSTED etc.) are likely to lead to less inclusive practice in that the

latter involves ways of re-thinking, or innovative approaches to structure, not just

“more of the same” for a wider range of pupils.

Some of the other “Butterflies” might include;

The effect of the role of the Chief Education Officer or any other major leader (10),

The effect of a newly elected government,

The greater understanding and accepted intolerance of racism at institutional as

well as personal levels,

The speed of communication in a post-modern world where dilemmas and

developments are often immediate and for which there cannot, by definition, be

pre-planning of a detailed sort. This aspect was clearly explored by Fullan on a

number of occasions during the period of this study (11),

The massive effect of "Wedges" or the “First Butterflies” (my adaptation) in

demonstrating what it is possible to achieve. In the context of this study these

might be the examples of Green Hall and Five Houses leading the way with

respect to Special Needs students (12) ,

The creation of "space" or breathing room to allow the “Butterfly Effect” to happen,

for example Educational Action Zones, Excellence in Cities, and even "Sin Bins"

or Exclusion Units where, for reasons opposite to all those publicly quoted, the

possibilities of innovation arise. An example of the latter is the work of the

Zacchaeus Centre in Birmingham, which was described in a glowing report in the

Times Educational Supplement of 15.9.00.

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These “Butterflies” were all potential Inclusion factors and contributed to the

innovative thinking behind the evolution of to the work of SCSC and the success

thereof.

Research Action and SCSC

The SCSC work became the obvious final locus for a piece of Action Research which

would explore my understandings that had evolved from a number of research

schools, particularly those where the VYP took root (Five Houses and St. Edna's).

SCSC also enabled access to many other schools as they requested involvement

with the VYP and it therefore, for once, obviated my problems of access as a

researcher. Indeed, some of the other schools referred to in this chapter invited me to

operate the VYP with them and even paid our (SCSC) fees as a result! After the first

year of the Programme, so many schools were interested that it became necessary

to refuse it to some schools rather than attempt to “sell” it. This in itself is of interest

and is probably due to the political, as much as the educational, changes which took

place over those years (1997-2000). My view of my research stance was recorded at

the time;

"This is what Case Study work is all about; we examine, we make links, we act, we review…"

(D36)

As the main instigator of the programme, I now had access to the views of the many

and varied actors in six or seven schools. This, I thought, would make my information

extremely valid even if it were at a partial cost to reliability. I decided to pursue this

avenue, record the data that it was beginning to provide, and to examine how it

illuminated the concepts generated in my wider school Case Study research. At this

point I abandoned the term "Hypothesis" as I had used it in Five Houses because it

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implied that rigorous testing of findings was possible and was therefore more

appropriate to different strategies from those that I had now adopted.

As I looked back on the SCSC development, and attempted an introspective

analysis, it seemed important to recognise that;

the original idea for the SCSC approach developed from my reading and research

work in and around the four main Case Study schools and from the ideas and

views of the academics and friends that I made during my secondment,

my secondment to CSCS (The Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools)

and the national contacts that that enabled gave me the practical, emotional and

intellectual “space” to set up the project,

I began to approach Officers, Heads and Support Service personnel during the

second half of my year’s secondment to CSCS. Their reactions were interesting

and vital to the teamwork approach which was adopted within the SCSC

organisation

there were psychological, social, and political as well as practical reasons for the

enthusiasm with which the SCSC model was received (See “SCSC Butterflies

“above).

It soon became clear that these dimensions would be useful in analysing why this

emergent idea, born of a crisis in my life, was being so well received. The political

climate changed during the period of this study and a new government put such

initiatives “on the map” as it tried to deliver on its pledges to counter social exclusion.

The Chief Education Officer, whose view on inclusion seems to have been influential

in the thinking of Officers and Schools alike, was one of the first to hear of my

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proposal to form an strategy which schools could use to add to their repertoire of

tactics to reduce their exclusion of troubling youngsters. His reaction was very

positive, because he saw that it fitted his belief that all pupils should be the

responsibility of the local school, wherever their education took place, and suggested

contacts which led to the inception of a Charity that later became SCSC. His concept

of “butterflies” is referred to elsewhere and is a reassertion of the Chaos

Theory/Emergence concept. The work of Osler for the Commission for Racial

Equality (1997) later identified the leadership role of someone such as the CEO as

crucial in the reduction of exclusions.

Analysing how SCSC came about, one sees that the core programmes (Mentoring

and Cross- Age Tutoring) were;

backed by a significant leader figures who were prepared to back a risk-taking

venture,

built upon interesting practice in the field (a Birmingham Mentoring Project;

KWESI (an African-Caribbean group basing their name on a West African word),

and a great deal of US research into Cross- Age Tutoring),

only possible because the Consultant SCSC Director (this researcher) had the

space and initiative to create something which followed naturally on from earlier

research.

This reinforced for me the earlier finding (within my Case Studies) where spectacular

happenings were rarely the result of top-down planning. Indeed many of those top-

down (government-led) initiatives, with which schools were struggling, appeared to

be working against the implementation of bottom-up innovative strategies (see Five

Houses Chapter for an exploration of this). The following illustrations from my Field

Notes explore this bottom-top dimension. For example I came across a tired Head

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who could not spare one hour in a half term to discuss this initiative even though she

was worried about exclusion rates;

“ I cannot possibly spare an hour this side of Christmas to look at this with you Gethin”

(St. Edna's 30.10.96)

Heads were also worried that they would be breaking the National Curriculum laws in

that the Tutors who went to work in the Primary schools would be missing time on NC

subjects. Interestingly, at least one school thought that their involvement in the

scheme would impress the OFSTED inspector and, at a different level, at least one

school saw this as a chance to remove a difficult pupil during an HMI visit;

“.,.. the boss has told me that…… must not be in school during our HMI visit…”From its initiation to the implementation of its Programmes on the ground, there were

a number of significant and key points in the development of SCSC that deserve

mention and some analysis;

There had previously been a number of cross-age mentoring projects tried in

Great Britain; why had they not taken off even though there was a research base

to indicate that they would lead to greater inclusion?

When exclusion was mentioned there was an almost universal desire by Heads

and Voluntary Groups to do something about it and they were very interested in

exploring any potential activity which might increase feelings of self-worth

amongst adolescents. This demonstrated both a belief in the innate worth of

young people by school management teams as well as a willingness to try the

sometimes risky pathways of support which, of course, included the SCSC mantra

of praising and rewarding youngsters who had been bucking the system up until

that point).

There was a "coming together" on the project of people from a variety of political

and professional standpoints - Educational Social Workers, Psychologists,

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Behaviour Support workers and volunteers - in a scheme which meant that they

had to give personal as well as professional time to the enterprise. The

Management Group and Advisory Groups, which assembled very quickly (and

with not a single refusal of co-operation), are listed in Annex G1 to demonstrate

the level of commitment.

The Pilot VYP programme, which was operational from October 1996, is

described in Annex F and it should be noted that only one of the schools

approached did not want to take part. This was a girl’s school where the Head

was worried that the girls would be exposed to too great a risk on their way to a

(admittedly) remote primary school.

It is pertinent to ask why this development took place at the same time as my

Inclusion Research and was able to harness such support in such a short time.

Removing personalities from the analysis is difficult; there must have been a degree

to which the persona, knowledge and disposition of this researcher influenced the

situation. I was not only a researcher but also an agent for change with a

commitment to an inclusive educational world. However it is my thesis that, however

strong that particular element was, there was a significant force towards Inclusion

present behind this development which ran counter to all the national pressures. The

latter tended continually to produce an exclusive situation (as testified to by Parsons

(13)). I was a catalyst in this field and was lucky enough to have the time to creatively

synthesise a number of effective practices from proven research records.

It appeared that the intellectual “cells” were interacting and that a change was about

to emerge from a complex situation, creating energy of its own. As the national

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political scene changed after the 1997 general election, this process was

accelerated, one DfEE official putting it to me privately that;

“…. People like me have always operated in this way (i.e. looking for innovative solutions and recruiting them, as distinct from pushing "“politically correct” theory and trying to make things fit this)… I can now do it officially!”

As the SCSC Project entered its pilot phase, the national media, Teaching Unions

and the Government were all busy contemplating the effect of disruptive pupils on

schools. Exclusion was rapidly becoming a national issue with changes in the law

being introduced by the Government in the lead up to the following years general

election. Despite pressure from Unions and staff, the pilot schools continued to

express enthusiasm for the work with SCSC to keep pupils “included”!

Ironically, my Field Notes record that, in the same week in which two schools closed

as a result of disruptive students and disruptive behaviour and primary school

exclusions were reported as having risen, Central TV made a positive news clip

about the energetic VYP scheme. In the same week, two of the schools which were

to feature in the Central TV Programme were expecting HMI inspections, yet the

Heads continued to give their support. Since they could easily have delayed or

cancelled the event, this would seem to demonstrate that they either saw the

involvement with SCSC as positive PR and/or that they genuinely cared about the

educational activity in the VYP Scheme and the effect it was likely to have. I came to

the conclusion that both reasons were valid and that the balance was different

between the two in each school.

The attitude of these schools was in contrast with the negative response of St.

Edna’s (and Five Houses initially) to the request for access for a “pure” research

investigation, despite their knowledge that they were being approached because of

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their interesting and effective practice. Although I offered to promote these schools

through a national Broadsheet of which I was editor, resistance continued; this would

appear to suggest that, in the face of increasingly complex and chaotic

circumstances, those in charge of our schools were only positive about a researcher

or a programme which could involve them in extra work, time and responsibilities,

when they saw it as an inclusive approach with ties to an input that would make a

direct impact on the lives of their pupils.

The schools with whom I dealt seemed to be acutely conscious that pupils have only

one “shot” at their education and they, the schools, really wanted to make a

difference to the “here and now” for those pupils despite the pressures in other

directions. These pressures were increasing as the VYP developed and were

witnessed by reports such as;

20% of primary exclusions are from the reception classes of our Primary Schools (TES of 1.11.96)

For a researcher there could not have been a more opportune and significant time to

be studying exclusion and inclusion; the pressures on both sides (from Unions,

government and idealists as well as from Inclusion pressure groups) seemed to be

mounting, especially as the general election approached. At the same time, Teacher

Unions and LEAs attempted to wrest back some of the influence they had lost as

schools became more autonomous, leading to an additional exclusionary force.

Initially, the Press and school population approached the formal exclusion issue as if

it were not a Special Needs issue. A document produced by an LEA Working Party

at the time emphasised separate but equal Codes of Practice for the two sets of

young people concerned (SEN and EBD non-Statemented pupils). “New Outlooks”,

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published by Birmingham LEA in 1996 attempted to press home the analysis that

school should look first to improving the “Behavioural Environment” in which students

were being asked to operate. Thereafter they should, it argued, go on to create

Individual Behaviour Plans (IBPs) in parallel to the Individual Education Plans (IEPs)

used for those who were deemed to be SEN students.

This is an example of the sensitive “psychological” approach, and it was a major

move away from the mainstream "pathological” position that was being taken up by

many key figures in response to alarming numbers of formal exclusion and,

particularly, the racist nature of these. To demonstrate the prevalent mood at the

time, mood I noted in my Journal that, at the same time as the above TES report;

A major Union promised to strike if sixty pupils were not excluded or severely

disciplined after the Ridings School closed following major disruption,

The Chief Inspector of Schools continued to question “teacher competence". In

his analysis there were 15,000 inadequate teachers in the school system. (He

later revised this to 13,000),

The School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCA; later to become the

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; QCA) published a report on Values, in

which the “family fault” perspective was inadvertently fuelled. This publication was

attacked by the Secretary of State for Education even before it was published as

not having sufficient emphasis on the family.

These perspectives, among many others, had one uniting element, and that is their

negativity. Each sought to place blame for the situation on someone or somewhere

else and none were promoting anything but pessimism, doom and a lowering of

parent, teacher and voter morale. It was interesting to see the extent to which these

attitudes changed after the Labour victory in May 1997. It was then that a Social

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Exclusion Unit was set up at No 10 Downing Street with an initial remit to report on

exclusion from school. This was symptomatic of further changes; millions of pounds

poured into the initiatives such as NEWSTART across the country, funded by the

Home Office and the DfEE. Consultation even began about major changes in the Key

Stage Four curriculum to ensure an appropriate educational diet for all. SCSC also

became involved, through two (later three) of its schools, in a STAR Programme

(“STandards and Results”; DfEE- funded) which brought many of these initiatives

under one banner. This was, presumably, in order to avoid the labelling and

associated problems that had troubled previous waves of “alternative” curriculum

approaches. The latter include the Raising of the School Leaving Age (RoSLA)

classes in the 1960's, Link Courses between schools and colleges in the 1970's and

General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQ) in the 1990's.

The SCSC initiative, and particularly the Valued Youth Programme within it, was

predicated on the assumption that there was more that could be done. An

inclusionary slogan developed and, as Director of the Programme, I emphasised the

aim of placing young people;

"…in a placement or Programme where they could demonstrate their worth"(See Appendix G)

All those involved with me believed that there was more to be gained by everyone if

we moved away from the “culture of blame” and towards a humanist recognition of

the potential of our students. The reforms of the previous few years had included a

number of developments crucial to this study; the evolution of SCSC gave me an

opportunity to examine what effect these had on inclusive practices and, since the

time of the research took place during the change to a Labour Government, I was

also able to see how a Government committed to reducing social exclusion in general

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modified these practices. The key developments which allowed schools to develop as

"cells" in the post- modern world were;

the gradual removal of the power of LEAs (particularly with the 1989 Act), leaving

the Special Needs responsibility as a major part of their workload, and;

the relocation of power (particularly with respect to exclusion and opting out of

LEA control) to volunteer-based Governing Bodies. These expanded their role

and sometimes took an active interest in Inclusion (see the chapter “Five Houses”

for example). More often than not, though, they appeared to put the interests of

"the majority" of students first; and exclusions continued to rise. Even Parsons,

prominent in the anti- exclusion movement, could not prevent an exclusion at the

school where he was a Governor (see the Annex to Parsons 1999b)

It was interesting to see, over this time, how the causes of exclusion were seen to be

located within the school (teacher skill), the child, or the home but rarely in the

curriculum or school organisation. I hypothesised that teachers in the main wished to

be totally inclusive and that they were being held back in this by the lack of creative

backing. I decided to explore this idea as SCSC (particularly the VYP) went into its

second full year of operation, thereby affording me immediate access to a significant

number of schools which were attempting, now with greater government support, to

counter the issue of exclusion. This led me to resolve to ask, during my operation of

the VYP Pilot (1996) and the extension of the SCSC what the participants felt was

the reason for the enthusiasm for the SCSC/VYP scheme. This enthusiasm was not

affected as the “honeymoon period” of the initiative ended, rather it led to people

proposing creative answers for the problems that had been bound to arise. We

continued to involve more schools, only one per year dropped out, and a national

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network of LEAs and EBP's was constructed to develop the CCVYP Programme

nationally (eventually becoming called Youth Esteem (UK); YES).

Other strands of the SCSC initiative developed at the same time, all having the same

focus of retaining students in school and developing an inclusive structure for even

the most at-risk. These are detailed in Annex G but here it can be noted that they

included residential work (which had been on the wane in Birmingham), work

experience (which was expanded from the statutory two weeks that all students are

usually allowed) and alternative Accreditation Pathways (ASDAN; the Award Scheme

Development and Accreditation Network, for example).

It became possible to explore, during the year, whether the initiative was simply;

“Cooling out” disruptive pupils….” “Trimming the edges” of disruptive pupils..” “ Letting the schools off the hook”

(All quotes from schools involved).

A flavour of the range of comments about the positive work with at-risk students on

the VYP is given in the following;

“…should we be rewarding them to go to school?” (Media question of a Mentor). Reply;

“if it works let's give it a try…”and

..”what has gone wrong with the system that we are having to do this?” or;

“..doesn’t anybody lose in this scheme?” (A18)

and;

“…Why are we doing this?“(Teacher). Headteacher’s reply;“…Because we are now working against previous best…and want success for ALL our students!”

(A18)

In seeing the VYP succeed a Head commented;

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“They had a different spring to their step - you can see they felt better about themselves”.

The pre-post test results of the VYP are hugely positive; (see Appendix G for the

changes that occurred in the objective measures applied; self-esteem, co-operation

with staff, etc.) However, my research questions were now about why this was

happening at this time, and about the mechanisms. At one school a VYP Tutor (a

student with significant behavioural difficulties);

"Described how he was left in control of a (primary school) class and had to do something; "I asked them to be quiet, then read them a story". His demeanour has changed. This happened with a number of the group….. and was in direct opposition to the group behaviour at the start of the Programme."(B83)

Teachers were also almost unbelieving that primary colleagues could see the

students who gave them such “challenges” in such positive light. When shown the

reports from a primary reporting one such Tutor's successes in the VYP, one Maths

teacher at St. Edna's asked;

"Is this for real?(D6)

Some of our Tutors also exhibited high levels of introspection. When, in presenting

the Programme to over 400 adults in Manchester, Meisha was asked whether, as a

Black woman she would not prefer a Black Mentor to see her through the challenges

of Tutoring, she replied;

"It's the person inside that counts, not the person outside".(D7)

My Development and SCSC

It is clear from the above that I learned from the SCSC development, incorporated my

learning from the students and schools into the operation of SCSC and was

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determined to report my work in a congruous way. I hoped that my values would all

intersect with my work;

"My values operate at all three points; Description - there can be multiple interpretations- value them all, Analysis - value the "emergent" or metatheme ideas; these are

dialectically more significant. Action- Based.. Rights for All …All rights have…Responsibilities"(D44)

The extracts from my Field Notes given in the section below (Tales out of School)

illustrate the points made in this chapter. They should be read in conjunction with the

Hypotheses as I referred to them at that time, though I later revised my terminology,

which I repeat here;

OfSTED; That such public humiliation exercises would reduce "risky" inclusion

ventures,

LMS; That increasing school control of budget and staffing would have differential

effects on initiatives, depending upon whether they would generate pupil numbers

and /or income,

Co –Adaptation; That there will only be "risky" developments, as in FitzGibbon's

interpretation of Chaos Theory in School Management terms, if there are

sufficient "links" between "cells"; otherwise risky ventures will fold ar move with

the key actors involved,

Political; I posited that openness and trust is discouraged at a national level and

that Inclusion developments would thereby suffer, and;

EBD; I surmised that "soft" inclusion targets would work; mainly because they did

not alter practices, but that "hard" targets; like those students with Emotional and

Behavioural "disorders" were likely to highlight real Inclusion. This is because

developments in provision for these pupils involved significant professional and

personal changes in and within school staff.

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Our (SCSC) work on the VYP recruited financial support from inclusive charities, and

publicity article in a very wide political range of journals (14).

Tales Out of School

My Fieldnotes are full of evidence of the efficacy of the VYP, and I utilise samples of

these in the text of this chapter. However, in looking for explanations of its success,

the students are quite clear. One young woman said, in response to my question

about why she had changed as much as the teacher- co-ordinator said she had,

indicated;

"I see the (primary) kids misbehaving and things, and I see how my teachers saw me".

(D67)

It should also be noted that staff found it very difficult to accept that those who

behaved badly for them could be transformed in a different setting. Obviously they

internalised this and did not want to accept the challenges to their established

practices. As a direct result we tried to evolve as much teacher training as we could

within our limited resources. Teachers rarely responded to the challenge to change

the way in which they structured their classrooms; and this would be too much to

expect. Indeed the common cry from teachers who witnessed improvements in

Tutors is echoed in an extract for a visit to St. Edna's;

"…at the primary school they do brilliant things…here he can behave in the same way as before…"

(D27)

Parents and carers also began to understand that their charges could achieve and

responded well to the opportunity presented. At some schools;

" ..parents turned up that we hadn't seen. One mum (tears in eyes) said "I can't get him to school - I hope this gets him there!"

(D22)

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Primary school Heads were worried that this was just another "Noddy" development

at a difficult time;

"…OfSTED coming up…staff don't want anything more now…"(Headteacher)

"…workload for class staff…"(Primary SENCO)

"… cover costs…"(Headteacher)

And they were concerned about quality and sustainability;

"…if it's like Work Experience when they were more trouble than they were worth…."

(Primary Headteacher)

All the above are recorded in Field Notes A6 along with my own observation that;

"I had to argue the fuzzy proposition that;

..could mean..

This "Win-Win" approach was to become a cornerstone of the CCVYP development

nationally; but one which was underplayed in the original USA version. Indeed when

one primary Head had to defend his decision to accept difficult youngsters coming in

to teach the children of vocal parents, he simply asked them to trust him. He said he

would "throw out" any Tutor who misbehaved, although this did not, in fact, happen

as far as we knew in six years. Interestingly, parents in his school wanted to know

why, in the VYP;

"… are our kids being taught by thugs and villains…. Why are they being paid...?

(A22)

Both of these issues at the beginning were sufficient to attract negative political and

media attention. By the time of writing (2000) neither was the case; all the "proof of

the pudding" had been found "in the eating", but it had taken strong and determined

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VYP; Small and Specific Input

Gain for all; Tutors and Tutees

personalities like the risk-taking Head mentioned above to move it to that position.

Another (Deputy) Head, in a full staff briefing with myself present, referred those

present to a female student of the previous year who had only just survived school

and had left with a measure of success;

"You'll remember…. (name)… she survived because of SCSC/VYP … it's worth it even if it were just for her!"

(D27)

No doubt they (the Heads) influenced one another when they saw how it worked for

the difficult students about whom they often despaired;

She's doing well…she's different around the place. It's doing good for her feelings abut herself"

(A23)

Without resources such as the VYP, Heads often resort to formal exclusion "for the

sake of the rest of the school". One Head, when asked by me why she had excluded

five students within her first term, gave an indictment of the lack of

strategies/resources available;

"..it sorted that year group out…not on it's own… but along with other things…. It made them realise…"

(D14)

Interestingly, it was mainly teacher practitioners who looked at the emotional or

affective aspects of the Programme (most Heads being worried about Public

Relations and Pupil numbers). Attempts in the published research to investigate self-

esteem also seemed very low key. Indeed when looking for a recognised and

validated Test on this issue it appears that there is not a single nationally validated

test of self esteem for Key Stage Four youngsters (and yet this is where low self

esteem is held to affect so many school and social outcomes). Many articles

published at the time of this study still looked at students from the outside rather than

looking at how they felt (rarely asking them!). For example, in Support For Learning in

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August 2000, Toothill and Spalding stated that there had been a great increase in the

number of "EBD" students who had been "re-integrated", and they recommended

that, for this to be successful, it was necessary to have;

"…opportunities for flexible patterns of attendance within mainstream schools." (p.117)

and yet they still called this integration, since it was a movement from one setting to

another. Jacqueline Thousand, however, in her presentation to a Birmingham

audience in 1999, reminded us all about the importance of the affective realm and of

talking with students with such challenges as we contemplate their inclusion in our

schools. (15). Importantly, but not directly, she referenced Chaos Theory when she

said that, in making changes to accommodate a more diverse student population;

"We are asking people to be temporarily incompetent"(D62)

Here, in my opinion, she was referring to both the challenge for us to be confident

about ourselves, even if we do not know exactly what to do, and also to the idea that,

if we adopt this stance, then "answers" will evolve. There are similarities here with the

arguments of Claxton in his promotion of the use of more non- "d -Time" (16).

There were also a number of smaller "butterflies" which aided the development of the

VYP. In particular, the addition of Mentors in the UK model allowed the support of key

individuals with a very different perspective on the young people and they could bring

this to bear. One Mentor, who was a very influential person in the schools involved,

said;

"… they keep saying how it makes them feel good…"(A22)

Conclusion

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I came to believe, through this research process and it's utility in creating SCSC, that

progress comes through ideas, and that ideas come from creative thinking and not

necessarily only from logical thinking. Claxton (op. cit.) quotes A.N. Whitehead to this

effect and I concluded that readers would more influenced (or able to build on their

own practices) in the creative way imagined by Claxton, by my descriptive narrative

than by a quasi-scientific mode or reportage. Social Science always seemed to have

mimicked the natural sciences; a “third way” appeared possible, and which would be

profitable for the young people our research was supposed to benefit.

SCSC, and the CCVYP in particular, seemed to be having the effect of increasing

Inclusion of difficult pupils but this was mainly in schools where, as Jill Porter and

Penny Lacey pointed out, after a survey of curricular provision for pupils with learning

difficulties and challenging behaviour;

"…curriculum access is the result of decision -making and planning rather than serendipity."

(BJSE Vol. 26, No. 1. March 1999)

I believe the SCSC experience demonstrated, and continues to demonstrate at the

time of writing, that the "repressive tolerance" (Marcuse in ‘One Dimensional Man’)

and "social control" analyses of interventions need to be put in opposition to the

Chaos Theory (or "emergence") analysis. Major inclusionary moves can be made,

against the bureaucratic and political tide, if the "cells" (teachers, outside

organisations, thinkers etc.) in this relatively "closed system" are connected and

communications are enhanced. SCSC appeared to be part of this connection and our

activity promoted Inclusion (rather than integration) where our agency connected a

"critical mass" of the cells.

Footnotes;

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1 May, (in Some Reflections on Critical Multiculturalism in Jarvis 1999) describes his case study work at Richmond Road School and his dissatisfaction with the traditional interpretation of Bourdieu's concepts. He quotes Bourdieu as himself writing (1990a) that;

"…key concepts such as Habitus aim to reintroduce 'individual agents and their individual actions without falling back into the amorphous anecdotes of factual history…Notions like that of Habitus (or systems of dispositions)…are linked to (an) effort to escape from structuralist objectivism without relapsing into subjectivism" (p. 46, 61)

2 For this reference see the Introduction to this study (Footnote 2).

3 The Perach (Hebrew for "flower") Programme is one where 20% of Israeli HE students receive a Bursary in return for the Tutoring of primary or secondary age students who are at risk of failing at school. SCSC initiated, with others, the Birmingham Mentoring Consortium based on this model. See Goodlad 1979 and 1995 for details of Perach.

4 Topping, in a publication that is about to be republished (The Peer Tutoring Handbook 1988) examines the world-wide research on the effects of this and similar interventions.

5 FitzGibbon originally researched the Cross-Age Tutoring idea in San Francisco and the north of England and has actively promoted the concept. She proved that retention rates of the taught material were greater than in any other teaching strategy, and that this applied to both Tutors and Tutees. See FitzGibbon 1985, 1988 and 1990.

6 Jackie Dearden sent a manuscript to me entitled "PEER MENTORING IN ACTION; One family of schools approach to mentoring involving Year 10 and Year 6 students; the process and outcomes ". I do not know whether this was eventually formally published.

7 Bradford LEA, where the conference was held, published the proceedings under the title; North of England Education Conference Record or Proceedings (Keys to Learning (Bradford 1998). However Ainscow used much of the same material, including the anecdote quoted, in a Gulliford lecture at the University of Birmingham which was later printed in the BJSE.

8 In the Texas Researcher (Cardenas et al 1992) it was reported that their had been 98% of one sample staying on at school (the group size was 100) while in a matched group (no intervention) there was a dropout rate of 20%. No attempt was made, though, to see which aspect of the VYP (payment, tutoring, support, adult involvement etc.) was

the most influential in this impressive result.

9 In the original attempt at a controlled study 42 students in six different schools were involved. Some were involved with Mentors as well as being on the VYP, some were only one the VYP. Quite quickly there were a number of happenings;

Students wanted in to the VYP ; there was no ethical way to deny them access. Some students fell out of the study, unbalancing numbers. While it was possible to match students on some criteria across schools (age for example), the number of

apparent variables was daunting (criteria used by schools to select students, race, ethnicity, parents' involvement, degree to which the schools applied every aspect of the VYP etc.)

As a result this study was abandoned and an ipsative model developed, the results for which are presented in the Chapter contributed by SCSC Evaluation Consultant Francis Mallon to the book by Harry Daniels (Daniels 2000).

10 Osler (1997), for the Commission for Racial Equality, looked at the ways some LEAs had achieved a lowering of formal exclusions. In Birmingham she identified as very positive that the CEO had publicly given himself a target of at least not allowing exclusions to increase by more than 10% per year.

11 Michael Fullan, in a lecture organised by the writer, described (as an example of planning in a post-modern world) the merger of two universities in Canada in which he was involved. He argued, that since there were so many unknowns, and because the Butterflies in the process might cause unexpected developments which would have to be dealt with as the process developed, that an Aim was appropriate but that minute planning was, by definition, impossible.

12 I visited Green Hall School as a result of the advice of an LEA officer. It was, at the time, a non LEA school as a result of being Grant Maintained.

13 Carl Parsons has documented this in Education, Exclusion and Citizenship (1999b)

14 My Field Notes record, for example;"…why is this so easy (raising cash).. it is timely… It has generated articles in Docent (Church Magazine), Educare, Primary Schools Newsletter (LEA), CRE, TES, ITN News, Central News, BBC local News “

(A15)

15 “From Pressure to Progress; Working Creatively with Young People with Emotional and Behavioural Differences" was the title of her paper, yet she made little of the significant change in the "D" word; from Difficulties (subjective) to Differences (objective). The presentation itself also used emotive (or as she would have said affective arguments through poetry and video). An article in the journal Support for Learning exposes this concentration on definitions for Learning in the autumn of 1996. The models for "EBD" were identified; Behavioural, Psychodynamic and Ecosystem; only the second of these being relevant in this context, although the same article did state that it seemed to be not very useful to be spending so much time on definitions. (Field Notes A29)

16 AN Whitehead, quoted by Claxton in Hare Brain Tortoise Mind said;

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"It is a profoundly erroneously truism, repeated by all copybooks and by eminent people when they are making speeches, that we should cultivate the habit of thinking what we are doing. The precise opposite is the case. Civilisation advances by extending the number of important operations that we can perform WITHOUT thinking about them. Operations of thought are like cavalry charges in battle-they are strictly limited in number, they require fresh horses, and must only be made at decisive moments”. (p. 15)

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CHAPTER NINE

ENDGAME; FUNNELLING IN

(Where does this story lead us; where will the Inclusion trail go now?)

Synopsis;

This chapter sets out to bring together the threads that evolved during the fieldwork, referring to evidence from the various "cases". The tensions in the schools and between pupils are explored by referring to the information from earlier chapters; the “funnelling-in” ends with reference to the Danielle and Dana pupil case studies. The "storying" of the success of the SCSC initiative is examined as a way of exploring the "Dimensions of Inclusion" in greater depth. A vignette is presented at the beginning to highlight the dilemmas and tensions in the Inclusion scene, as they were perceived on this journey. Tentative conclusions reached as a result of the fieldwork are presented and, where the traveller can see “signposts” for others to look out for as they make similar journeys, these are highlighted. As with most journeys there are many such signposts and, since research routes in such a field can obviously vary enormously, this chapter presents the learning of the writer-traveller as mere guidance to those that might follow.

Contents;

An Inclusion Vignette; A Nottingham Day

Dimensions and Dilemmas

Some Tentative Conclusions;

For, or from, the Case Study Schools

For Second City Second Chance

For the Traveller

Conclusion; “More means Different”

An Inclusion Vignette;

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I had, as a Head, been greatly influenced by David Hargreaves who, in his 1982 book

had argued that the main challenge for secondary schooling was to engage all young

people (1). As referred to before, he quoted Durkheim as a moral reminder;

"Everything which is a source of solidarity is moral, everything which forces man to take account of other men is moral, everything which forces him to regulate his conduct through something other that the striving of his ego is moral, and morality is as solid as these ties are numerous and strong"

(Quoted by Hargreaves 1982, p.107)

In exploring all aspects of such "solidarity", I met some unusual people, all with their

particular moral agendas. A vignette will both give a flavour of some of this and

provide an introduction to my analysis of my personal research journey. The vignette

is recorded here in the form I used at the time of the experience, at the mid-point of

my journey;

A Nottingham Day (With Extracts from Fieldnotes; A56 to A60)

Giving up a working day to attend a Workshop on Inclusion seemed a good idea at

the time. What better for a stressed researcher than to hear two renowned Canadian

experts (Jack Pierpoint and Marsha Forest) present on Inclusion at a University (I

assume this was in order to give them academic credibility by association), in a

relaxing, picturesque lake-side setting? Canada, after all, was hailed as the leader in

Inclusion, spending more per pupil capita than anywhere else in the world to make it

work (2) and providing a great deal of case study material. Perhaps I had expectations

that were inappropriate, but, in fact, the day was a great disappointment although,

paradoxically, it provided me with real and different directions from which to approach

my analysis of the Inclusion scene.

The participants were greeted in the usual way with the usual Workshop folder but

then, however, on ascending the stairs to the hall, we were assailed by loud pop

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music and discovered that the entrance was adorned by balloons and streamers

which we were later asked to wrap around a partner. It was a scene reminiscent of

the 1960s, the music continuing at each break, although, for balance presumably,

some classical and some guitar music was also played.

Although this was billed as a Workshop, the presenters took us through a selection of

rhetoric-based accounts, refusing (even when requested) to give academic

references for their assertions. They continued to insist that they were going to

attempt to approach us through all our “intelligences” (3), one presenter saying;

"I won't give the academic references… someone here will try to over-intellectualise this… If you want the references then we can get them for you,”

Slides, pictures, videos and speeches followed with an explanation as to why we had

been greeted by balloons and streamers; based on the need to address the low

priority they argued was given to work on the affective realm. Those, like myself, who

felt uncomfortable with the style were made to feel that we did not belong and that,

indeed, that we were excluded from an Inclusion event! When I felt so uncomfortable

that I was forced to leave the room (something I had never done before in my

extensive professional life), I was made to feel that this was because I was “different”

and that this would be tolerated. As I left, feeling that my views had no way of being

expressed, I was tolerantly advised to;

“ Go and do what you have to do, Gethin”

and, ironically, for the first time in my life (as a relatively successful, middle class

white, male, I knew how it felt to be excluded.

My reaction to the presentation had been inspired by an intellectual and emotional

aversion to the material and methodology with which we were being assailed and the

fact that this was cursorily dismissed as the feelings of a single individual. This was,

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of course, not only annoying but, most importantly, it amply demonstrated to me how

it felt to be excluded by a “tolerant” society that did not want to engage with my view,

only to accept it. I wanted, and needed, the opportunity to communicate at an

intellectual level with the ideas being presented and this was being denied to me by

the confident and unconsciously manipulative people in control on the day.

All in all, the event had the feeling of a Billy Graham revival meeting. I felt that the

closest comparison was with the “Moonies” and other sects whose churches I had

visited in the past in search of answers to fundamental questions. At one point a

group, who turned out to be the whole staff of a school who were present as an

inservice exercise, cheered as their presence was announced. At another, tears

flowed during an emotional slide-show of the life of a Downs Syndrome child

accompanied by slow, romantic music. Later in the day, videos were played

describing tactics integrating young people with disabilities into classrooms and these

concentrated mainly on the feelings of the members of the groups to which the

youngsters were being introduced. A potentially useful “PATH” programme was

described (essentially an Individual Action Plan process to secure integration of the

individual within the new host community) but this appeared to emphasise the

“differentness” of the person new to the group. No attempt at all was made to tailor

this obviously North American idea to the educational scene in Great Britain; for

example no reference was made to our Special Educational Needs Code of Practice

or its associated Individual Educational Plans. It seemed a great shame that,

although some of the material appeared useful in essence; there was an arrogance

of assumption by the presenters and a seeming inability to make an effort to

“translate” their learning for our current geographical and political culture. This was

not only upsetting to me as an individual, but appeared to be a monumental waste of

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a great opportunity. The layer of “smarm” and delusion that was heaped on

participants made this worse; there appeared to be no practical recommendations

from the presenters as to how the philosophy, emotions and principles might be

routed into action.

At the outset of the session, the participants were asked what their expected

outcomes were; one man asking for clarification on how difficult youngsters (he

referred to “EBD” ones) could be included since this was probably the greatest test of

the tolerance and inclusivity of a system, but his request went unheeded throughout

the day. There was also an attempt to elicit from the audience their individual feelings

on being met by the initial balloons and music. When no-one proffered the word

“welcome“ it was used by the presenter in a way often used by manipulators;

“…welcome….. I hope you all felt that….”

The cult-like atmosphere was maintained at one point by participants being asked to

stand and decorate a neighbour with ribbon and, at another, to stand and repeat a

mantra from an overhead transparency slide. The fact that the quote on the OHT

was not attributed to Confucius, from whom I believe it originally came, was

incidental; the event appeared to be purely indoctrinational and did not enable

practitioners to get a real grip on what they could do! The mantra we were asked to

repeat (Tell me and I will forget, Show me and I will remember, Involve me and I will

understand), as well as the “facts” presented on academic research into memory

retention, were all presented in an unquestioning manner and those of us who had

questions were told to ask later for the references! Those of us who attended the

event with an interest in how to make Inclusion work in the real world heard very little

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of practical use, our questions went unheard and we saw no variety of process or

product.

As with revivalism, the “force” took the meeting, leaving the vast majority with a

“cosy, rosy” feeling but having done very little to move the real debate forward. The

obvious, unstated, motivation for the presenters was that if you win hearts then you

win minds. This turned out, then, to be a non- inclusive day altogether as far as I was

concerned, but one that usefully exposed for me the tensions and dilemmas in

Inclusion (assisting the exploration presented later in this chapter).

My Field Notes on the Nottingham trip end with what was to become a repeated

dimension of my analysis of the Inclusion scene;

"It all therefore still focuses on the individual (pathological and patronising). There is little here about changing the context and not the student (despite the rhetoric)"

(A59b)

An analysis of my reactions to this event reveals several ironies and a number of

contradictions; all useful in mapping the way that Inclusion was developing at that

time. For example, my notes record that I sympathised with the stated Inclusion Aims

on that day, for which "fix the schools not the kids" would seem to be an appropriate

paraphrase. However I learned very little about how this might be achieved and,

indeed, my notes recall that I was very frustrated and that I identified several ironies

that day;

I come from a “social education as process” career (see Appendix C2), yet I was

appalled by the gloss, glitter and abuse of enfranchising methods to suit

apparently indoctrinational ends.

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I felt excluded from a Workshop for the only time in my life and yet this Workshop

was on Inclusion.

I have been a vociferous critic of the OfSTED, Open Enrolment and such

competitive and purely academic trends in our educational world in this country,

yet I found myself decrying the emphasis on emotions and wishing for more

academic rigour.

That I was made to feel totally excluded on a day dedicated to Inclusion was lost on

the system in operation on that day and my efforts to put this point across were

ignored. The few who did listen appeared to agree with my analysis of the

atmosphere at the meeting, but still seemed taken in by the personality cult and

emotional ploys of the day. The well-known cult of the individual, confident and

charismatic leader was endorsed and questions (which are obviously the source of

progress) were ignored. The fundamental debates in any real school about how to

effect a change of heart among staff, and how to develop curriculum differentiation to

suit all needs, were not faced. This is illustrated in the telling pronouncement from

one of the presenters;

“There has been too much talk of the curriculum….I don’t want the reactions of the “Curriculum-…..( pejorative word for "group" used) today”

(A56)

The contradictions exposed the meeting led me to the following initial questions

about Inclusion;

Despite my negative reaction, the issues concerning Inclusion were certainly

highlighted magnificently and I decided to utilise my thoughts about the

experience as I worked alongside colleagues in my case study schools; how

could I put these to use?

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How did that which was presented in the seminar assist in distinguishing between

Inclusion and Integration; and how do we do that without simply seeming to

endorse yet another word for the sake of empty political correctness?

How do we ensure that there is a proper balance between the emotional and the

intellectual arguments for Inclusion?

Why is there rarely a mention of the Human Rights (For All) aspect of Inclusion?

All arguments seem to start with the needs of the individual who is “challenged”

and rarely with the educational benefits to the rest of the world from contacts with

that person, or indeed any other socio-moral perspective. Such emphasis on the

“challenged” locates the need for change both in a small number of Institutions

and in individuals. Surely the Inclusion argument, if it is to be different from that of

integration, is about the benefits to all from living in communities (in housing,

education, employment, etc.) where all sorts and types of people are fully

represented, respected and valued?

In trying to bring about change in such a difficult area, we surely need case

studies and practical examples of “how to...”. Is it actually counter-productive to

be spending all our time in theorising?

Above all, it would seem, we need to explore how a society (school or other) can

be Inclusive with respect to those who are currently excluded as a result of

emotional and behavioural challenges. There will not be a problem including (in all

senses of this) such children as those with Downs Syndrome; this is an

educational problem that will be solved, especially since there are pressure

groups building up to support this move. Similarly, there will eventually be no

problem in continuing the closure of MLD (Moderate Learning Difficulty) schools

and units as we become better at differentiation within the mainstream curriculum.

It will be possible to change our schools and systems to include students with

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physical disabilities, given the political will and the practical/financial resources,

although there will, of course, be time lags while this happens. But how do we

build an inclusive world for those whose behaviours, by reasons of nature or

nurture, are disturbing and directly challenging?

This last question appears to be the most fundamental. It was illuminated by the

example of SCSC and by that of schools which have relatively low levels of exclusion

(see Chapter Six and Seven and Parsons 1999b). In looking carefully at the evidence

in those cases, (St. Edna's and Lowlands High in particular), there appeared to be a

number of crucial elements which ensured that an inclusive agenda could be

pursued. These are discussed under Tentative Conclusions below.

In an analysis of all the case studies for similarities, issues and congruencies (trying

to see how the learning from initiatives had influenced practice at the schools and

within SCSC), the following Dimensions and Dilemmas appeared dominant;

Dimensions and Dilemmas

Dimensions;

Pathological/Societal Dimension Historical Dimension Schools for all; the Political Dimension Geographical Dimension The Pragmatic Dimension; Satellite Schools or Centres of Excellence The Human Rights Dimension (Human Schools for All)

We can conceive of the Inclusion debate using a number of dimensions along which the practices examined in this study can be located. They are not completely or mutually exclusive and my list is obviously not exhaustive.

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The Pathological/Societal (from a concern for the "challenged" to a concern for ALL) and Historical (from Integration, through Inclusion "of" and Inclusion "for", to Schools for All) Dimensions

As society evolved in the last century, the predominant change involved moving

towards pluralism and the manifestation of this within education was towards

acceptance of diversity and the associated challenge of driving up educational

standards for ALL. As the focus changed towards the individual learner so Special

Needs education moved from Integration/Mainstreaming through Inclusion to

Education for All, the latter, in a post-modern society, being (at its most extreme)

unencumbered by an emphasis on Geography or Disability. It could be said that

along this dimension we moved away from;

"The explicit reduction of human life to attributes of the natural world… a view of the individual with disabilities that is mechanistic and psychological in the narrow sense, rather that holistic and psychological in the broad sense of being culturally sensitive".

(McPhail 1995 p. 160)

Alan Dyson put this eloquently when (with others in Clark Dyson Millward and

Skidmore 1997) he showed how the move towards integration was a part of a wider

movement towards equity "characteristic of the decades following the Second World

War" (quoted in the BJSE December 1997). Unfortunately, however;

"The focus of attention came to be on rearranging the ways in which special needs education was delivered, rather than on constructing a form of education which would be equitable in itself and which would promote wider social equity.

(BJSE p.153).

Schools for All; the Political Dimension (from seeing the "challenged" as an impediment; "them", to seeing them as a real part of "us" (4) ).

At the beginning of this study Tim Brighouse, the CEO of Birmingham, clearly

articulated the view that he expected to see Special Schools "wither" over time; their

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staff would become a resource for all schools, and students should be enrolled at

their neighbourhood school even if it was necessary for them to spend periods of

time at another specialist site. The school would therefore take managerial, if not

delivery, responsibility for ALL students. Clearly, over time, this might gravitate

towards the Satellite Model (see below). His influence is demonstrated by the

difference in the two LEA statements presented in Appendices F1 and F2. The first

was available at the beginning of this study, emphasising SEN, while the second -

from 2000 after six years of Professor Brighouse as CEO - emphasising Inclusion of

the variety he espoused. This is a clear illustration of the finding by Villa (5) about the

importance of leadership in this field. In the understanding of this reaction of the

education system to accommodate positively pupil diversity, there is a continuum of

delivery over time, as well as across institutions, in response to the exhortation of

analysts like Wedell;

"…education systems have to be planned for pupil diversity….many of the educational approaches demanded by a system geared to pupil diversity already exist…(however)…attempts to graft inclusive education for pupils with SENs on to education systems that are not geared to pupil diversity, are inevitably likely to fall short of their goals."

(Wedell 1995 p.104)Geographical Dimension (from physically separate provision to same-site provision with a multiplicity of resources)

This is a growing response to pupil diversity where specialist schools are located as a

central part of a (necessarily large) school complex, however Birmingham appears

not to have moved significantly in this direction. There is a great advantage to this

arrangement even if it is not strictly Inclusion because it accommodates the existing

skill levels and views of staff while exposing students to the variety of the population.

No one is "hidden away" in the Specialist school miles away.

The Pragmatic Dimension; Satellite Schools or Centres of Excellence (A realistic move from separate Centres of Excellence (Special Schools) to a range of

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Comprehensive Schools/Facilities/Campuses which have, within them, expensive Centres of Excellence).

This is the practical way of operating the Geographic Dimension. Local schools

develop specialisms (as with Courtly Green for the Hearing-Impaired or Five Houses

for the wheelchair-users). Unfortunately, although this gives the impression of moving

to accommodate diversity, not all pupils, by definition, can then learn by experience

that they are part of a diverse human spectrum. A number of aspects of this type of

provision were brought up in my discussions with Heads (Field Note B24 for

example). These included the support, cover and training of Learning Support

assistants, the prohibitive cost of facilities (e.g. fire warning lights at Courtly Green)

and the variability in secondary destinations of primary pupils. Teachers often are far-

seeing on this issue of physical provision;

"Maybe school is not the place to include kids" (meaning all kids in unre-structured schools). (B28)My notes record this statement as inferring that a plurality of provision, even if on one

physical site, was to be preferred.

The Human Rights Dimension (Human Schools for All)

This argument, the most potent but challenging to this author, concerns the right of all

students, including those who are not challenged, to experience and grow up with,

the whole spectrum of humankind. It is predicated on a humanistic, and not a

mechanistic, view of the aims of education (defined as equipping us, first and

foremost, for all of life with academic skills and aptitudes instrumental in this regard).

I noted various views from staff that appeared to demonstrate that they had a grasp

of this Dimension. For example, on the link between Rights and Responsibilities, one

teacher asked whether, as my Field Notes reported it,

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"…Inclusion means the (potentially) included have responsibilities to ensure that they are included?"

(B40)

There were many "common sense" interpretations that put the "educational research

establishment" to shame. One teacher at Courtly Green saw the Human Rights

argument very clearly;

"Inclusion is an all-embracing term isn't it?…about the notion of good practice for all students isn't it?"

(B29a)

And, in the opinion of at least one teacher, the Human Rights and Curriculum

Dimensions were linked;

"… the most telling example of curriculum inclusion came in …a science lesson where everything was planned using the HIRBY (hearing impaired) pupils as a resource and the whole lesson was delivered by them. "I shall never forget that.. it's one of those that stays in your mind forever! I honestly believe that we all learned a lot on human rights"

(B56)

By definition this Dimension can only be furthered by planners; action is needed at

the school system level. However hard any one of my case schools tried to move in

this direction, they were bound to be constrained by practical limitations.

Dilemmas

In this inclusion journey there were at least three crucial areas within which there

were dilemmas for the professionals;

Action Research; Politics and Synthesis

Human Rights; for All or Some?

Personal Resources, Mindsets and Understandings;

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3 Action Research; Politics and Synthesis

When the Head of Courtly Green was asked during this journey why "there were

fewer exclusions" in North America /US, we could only hypothesise that this was

because of differences between;

AND

Interestingly the Head then hypothesised that this is why, in US classrooms, there is;

"..a fear to act…"(A35)

This opinion has a remarkable congruence with the conceptualisation by Ben Kenham at St. Edna's when he reflected that the success of the school in being a low-excluding one was that it had a;

"High Tolerance of individuals" but that this was coupled with a; "low tolerance at classroom level"

(see Chapter Six)

There appears to be a dilemma, or a social dialectic in the Inclusion scene. The

"people" pressures for Inclusion, increasingly of a “Human Rights for All” variety, are

in continual opposition to operational and pragmatic forces. There will always be this

dialectic in a post-modern world; no Endgame is possible in such a fast changing

scene because, as soon as "progress" is apparent, the definitions and pressures

change. This continual dialectic between an "ideal" world and it's real and untidy

counterpart was the message in an important Hermann Hesse novel; The Glass

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Nationally

Enshrined

Rights

Individual

Rights

Bead Game (1943). Hesse tells how Joseph Knecht, the most advanced player of the

elitist intellectual game of the title, forgoes the highest honour his society has to

confer and returns to everyday "chaotic" society, in the belief that it was wrong for

Castalia (the country in which the story is set) to view the world as;

" ..something backward and inferior, a life of disorder and crudity, of passions and distractions, devoid of all that is beautiful or desirable. But the world and its life was, in fact, infinitely vaster, and richer than the notion a Castalian has of it; it was full of change, history, struggles, and eternally new beginnings. It might be chaotic, but it was the home and native soul of all destinies, all exaltations, peoples, governments, cultures, all arts, all humanity, it had produced us and our Castalia and would see all those things perish again and yet survive."

(p.371)

That the ultimate synthesis for Joseph Knecht was suicide is not negative because by

this act he brought his "ideal" world (after Plato’s in The Republic (6)) together with the

real one. Theologians and scientists have extended this argument (7).

While a number of dilemmas are exposed by the case studies in my journey, they

support the hypothesis that there is a "sum" picture of Inclusion which is greater than

the sum of the parts comprised by my story and the case studies therein. There

would seem to be significant movement towards a dialectical synthesis of Inclusion of

the “Vision” (or Ideal) definition and that encompassed by the School Improvement

one. In the future, the research question which began this intellectual journey may be

redundant, although, undoubtedly, others will have "emerged" in parallel.

Natural, "chaotic" human forces appear to be taking us towards a future societal

"repressive tolerance" (Marcuse 1968). Marcuse argues that our society negates

potentially disrupting humanistic change by giving way slightly without significant

change in repressive structures (8). Schools attempt to remain the same in the face of

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teacher or government pressure and some analysts (e.g. Barton and Corbett) would

argue that this, like simplistic forms of discussion about the issue are;

"in and of itself" part of the disabling process"(1990 quoted in Slee 1996 p.13)

Bourdieu has a similar analysis from a slightly different perspective (9).

Human Rights; for All or Some?

It depends at whose "outcomes" one is looking as to whether Inclusion can be said to

"work". If traditional academic outcomes for the "challenged" are the main measure

then the results of recent changes are equivocal (see for example Hegarty 1993). If

social goals are included, significant changes are recorded in a number of studies

(for example many are reported in Lipsky and Gartner in the Harvard Educational

Review of 1996). If the effect or expanded vision and horizons of all pupils is to be a

main goal then this has not been examined by any serious quantitative comparative

studies and the question arises as to whether this would be possible anyway.

However a great deal of investigative and qualitative affirmation does exist for

example in the work of Staub and Peck (1994) and in the report in the special issue

of the Journal for Persons with Severe Handicaps (Helmstetter Peck and Giangreco

1994). What is notable is that, in the absence of very significant data, the originators

of the Special School system argued for a separate "empire" while the Inclusion

movement today would argue that, in the absence of arguments to the contrary,

students should be educated together. A DfEE report (Ainscow and Farrell et al

1999) concludes, tellingly;

"It (Inclusion) must also ensure a positive role for special schools and services in supporting the deep changes in attitudes and practices that will be required"

(p.6.)

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There will not be, by definition, an Endgame when Inclusion is seen as a process and

not about individuals. Many observers like myself map progress against the Rights of

the Child as encapsulated by the United Nations Salamanca Statement (UNESCO

1994). Most of these Rights are predicated on the United Nations Convention; "…

best interests of the child…" (Article 3) and the principle that rights apply to ALL

children "…without exception…" (Article 2). However, even here, the emphasis is

upon the individual who might be considered "challenged" and not on the rights of all

students to be taught and live in an inclusive environment that might better reflect the

society in which they are expected to operate after leaving school. The Salamanca

statement moves towards a sociological interpretation, emphasising that mainstream

schools with inclusive practices are;

"..the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building an inclusive society and achieving education for all"

(Page ix).

While the "objective" data for the positive results of Inclusion are not conclusive (see

for example the reviews by Hegarty in 1993 or that of Florian in the BJSE in 1998),

there are reports that it does have a significant effect, depending upon the focus. For

example, Lipsky and Gartner quote Staub and Peck (1994) as having identified that

for the whole class of school students there is;

"…reduced fear of human differences accompanied by increased comfort and awareness…growth in social recognition….development of personal principles… warm and caring friendships…" (pp 27-39)Towards the end of my study, the UK government was beginning to emphasise this

dimension and it is reflected in such documents as Excellence for all Children (DfEE

1997a) and Excellence in Schools (DfEE 1997b).

Personal Resources, Mindsets and Understandings

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Teachers are both hard pressed in the work they have to carry out, and often of

limited vision as a result of the recruitment and remuneration systems in the

profession. It is therefore asking a great deal to expect teachers to act inclusively

when, as a result of these factors, they will naturally act to move the equilibrium

towards making their life easier rather than even more challenging. I heard teachers

refer to these pressures and the lack of provision of resources;

"..the quickest way to kill inclusion… is to not give it sufficient resources…"(C60)

I was fortunate in being able to bring support, however little, to some teachers who

wished to move forward in this process so that they, as well as I, were allowed to

become more reflexive, self reflective, and empowered;

"Self-reflection upon the constraining conditions is the key to the empowerment 'capacities' of research and the fulfilment of its agenda."….the emancipatory cognitive interest (Habermas 1971) of the critical perspective yields a medium for the exposure of the ideological constraints on the research, through reflexivity."

(Shacklock and Smyth; p.6)

One common survival strategy in a hard-pressed world is to use labels as shorthand.

Feiler and Gibson (1999) note that there is considerable evidence that we continue to

use labels as a result of our inability to function multi-phasically and our need or

desire to reduce "cognitive strain" (after Dowie and Elstein 1988). Using Dyslexia as

an example they argue that it is so much easier to;

"…entertain the notion that the reason for some children's poor 'literacy performance' is due to a condition dyslexia than to evaluate systematically the myriad reasons why an individual child might be struggling with learning to read".

(p.150)

They also look to the reasons why we, as humans, always stress the intrinsic

features (child's inability to concentrate etc.) while ignoring external, environmental,

factors (paucity of materials or role mode etc.). I saw ample evidence of

understanding by teachers of the challenge and differences here. For example at CS;

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"..although I hadn't heard of Inclusion before you mentioned it… it's one step further than integration… going the whole "hog"… integration assistants work to that end don’t they?"

(B59)

The dilemma here is that we are expecting professionals to have an extended vision

of the possibilities, but natural tendencies work against this trend. As I was reminded

often in my fieldwork, the dual Inclusion challenges are curriculum differentiation (by

process as well as outcome) and plurality of provision. The SENCO at Lowlands High

put one aspect of the first of these challenges in the following terms (having read

Clarke and Dyson et al 1995);

"It is inclusion in the work of the class that needs to be discussed….(the question is) "How do I demonstrate that I have included this person in the class?"…It is easy to say that I have included him/her from the Unit into the class…"

(B26)

Some Tentative Conclusions,

For, or from, the Case Study Schools For Second City Second Chance For the Traveller

Tentative Conclusions for, or from, the Case Study Schools

It is useful to reconsider the above dilemmas with the evidence from the case study

schools in mind. A number of the most important understandings developed in the

case study chapters of this story include the following;

From Courtly Green

The Inclusive Curriculum Inclusion and LSAs (learning Support Assistants) Hearing Impaired and Deaf Culture; Apparent Inclusion

The Inclusive Curriculum

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An inclusive curriculum would initially appear to be facilitated in schools of significant

size and small schools did not appear to attract, or keep, a wide spectrum of pupils.

An inclusive curriculum can be worked out in a small school (See the description of

Humanities in St Edna's in Chapter Six) but this involved, it would seem, dedication

beyond the ability of many school staff. The ultimate challenge of inclusive

classroom delivery (i.e. activities suited to the whole range of students present) is

that of Differentiation. From my case studies, It would appear that insufficient

attention was paid to this matter and that other practices (usually coping strategies

rather than visionary initiatives) were prevalent. The issue of Differentiation is well

discussed by Visser (1993) and Mittler (2000).

Inclusion and LSAs (Learning Support Assistants)

Support staff dedicated to individuals appeared unwilling to see their role as

inclusionary; only as integrationist. They were unwittingly, but actively, working

against Inclusion for all. Ironically, Five Houses, with an insufficient spread of subject

knowledge amongst the LSAs for Danielle, worked better at including her than did the

bevy of assistants at Courtly Green for Dana. The Integration Assistant, it was argued

at FH could become an "Exclusion Assistant" (Sic.), if the person was too closely tied

to the student whose challenges were paying for their assistance. The Deputy CEO,

on visiting the school to advise on this issue said;

"…my advice is to avoid having a person with respect to this (linked to Danielle) …because it allows the all others to avoid the collective responsibility "

(C60)

Hearing Impaired and Deaf Culture; Apparent Inclusion

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Courtly Green exposed the weaknesses of the Satellite School approach; it can

attract excellent and specialist staff but students at all other schools are denied the

experience of working with deaf friends. This is reinforced by the "Deaf Culture"

argument that I heard many times; that there are specific things that deaf and hearing

impaired students need to be taught and a need to collect them together in order to

use the deaf "language". I found no evidence to support this. Indeed for any other

"category" of challenge the opposite appeared to be the case. No-one fought to keep

"EBD" students together and Five Houses, as recounted, fought against this very

hard.

Throughout this study I was constantly mindful of the difference I noted between

shadowing Danielle in her lone wheelchair with Buddies all around, and the tight

groups of Hearing Impaired students around Dana at break time; communicative with

one another but with no one else.

From St Edna's and Lowlands High

Staff Attitudes as Barrier to Change

The Risk- taking Headteacher; Critical Influence

Staff Attitudes as Barrier to Change

The comparison between these two schools was stark in two respects. Firstly the

Lowlands staff saw me as a challenge and, despite my offers of help and "Action" to

add to the "Research", they threw up more barriers than I could surmount. St Edna's;

with a more difficult pupil population, however, welcomed (eventually) my input and

tolerated my analysis. Not surprisingly, the latter was a more inclusive school with

lower exclusion figurers despite the intake.

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The Risk-taking Headteacher; Critical Influence

Across all the cases the lead of the Head was crucial. The origin of the zeal for

Inclusion was different in all cases; Christian in Courtly Green and St Edna's,

Humanistic at Five Houses and purely educational at Lowlands as far as I was

allowed to see, but the drive was equally impressive in all with the Heads persuading

their staff and leading from the front. The "Matron" approach at St. Edna's was as

effective as the intellectual and charismatic one at Courtly Green. Research by Villa

et al would appear to back this finding (Villa et al 1993 (9) ). At CS the Head inspired

devoted following;

"…HT is very supportive ….strong leadership…and vision…concerned with individuals… curriculum support (for these)

(SENCO B60)

It could be said that there were other influential people who could effect change as

risk- takers. At FH I interviewed the Chair of Governors, who faces a physical

challenge, and who saw a role for "subversion" of government initiatives in the

furtherance of the interests of students. In our conversation about key features of the

system at present she identified;

"..cost savings expected by Inclusion (not real savings she argued)…… key leaders exerting influence…significant pressure groups… mature political operation by people ("subversion" or the "educational establishment" taking someone else's agenda and making it their own)"

(B41)

Others saw a need for "mavericks” too;

"…if you don't have mavericks then things will not happen…"(Head of LEA Behaviour Support Service; B63)

Even those who I described in my Field Notes as "sceptics" were aware of this need;

"…he gave numerous examples of the overprotection in society and insisted that "we have to take (calculated) risks".

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(B40)

Indeed Barton or Slee would probably argue that this was a necessary role if we are

not to collaborate in systematic oppression.

From Five Houses

Opportunism or Chaos Theory at work? The Wedge for Change Dana and Danielle OfSTED, League Tables, LMS and Open Enrolment as barriers to Inclusion.

Opportunism or Chaos Theory at work?

Five Houses demonstrated how to turn threats into opportunities; low pupil figures

allowed the DfEE to actually donate cash for a significant rebuild. While this might be

the case at the local level, the best analogy that I could find for the overall movement

in an inclusive direction was that of Chaos Theory. This was supported in every one

of my case studies; things moved in an inclusive direction despite a range of

pressures that would have led an outside observer to predict the opposite.

The Wedge for Change

Many schools used a serendipitous happening as an opportunity for change; the "thin

edge of the wedge" and, as the Head of the first school I visited during this research

pointed out, this led to greater willingness of staff to tolerate (and work with)

increasing pupil diversity. At Five Houses the opening was a building possibility, at

Courtly Green it was the Special School approaching them to plan joint work, while at

Lowlands it was the opening of a new school. In each case I saw staff willing to take

on greater diversity.

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Dana and Danielle

For me the two mini case studies of these courageous young women illustrated the

complex nature of at least these two questions;

What is the Curriculum For Anyway ? and Does Size Really Matter?

What is the Curriculum For Anyway ?

Danielle missed a great deal of teaching (for reasons associated with physiotherapy

and having to take tardy lifts between floors) but she gave back so much to her able

friends. She demonstrated that there is so much more to the curriculum than that

which is taught in class, yet unfortunately the phrase "Hidden Curriculum" describing

the realm of values and attitudes is little heard today, probably due to bureaucratic

overload.

In the last stages of this study the UK government made many statements and

exhortations of an inclusionary nature. The Curriculum Document (Curriculum 2000)

reduced curriculum pressure on Key Stage Four, penalties were imposed for the

exclusion of pupils and Citizenship (which would be seen to fit with Inclusion when

the latter is seen from a Human Rights perspective) was to be included as a statutory

subject from 2002. The fear that many parts of the formal curriculum were

inappropriate were realised within the SIPS (Social Inclusion Pupil Support)

documentation (10) and relaxations in the curriculum (tortuously called Disapplication)

were allowed for groups (for example leaving Modern Foreign Languages) and for

individuals (as part of Pastoral Support Programmes; PSPs).

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In a number of the case study schools I witnessed the disabling effect of "setting" as

a way of coping with delivery of the curriculum; students appeared to be very

perceptive about this and a teacher described how they would say;

"…Miss, can I move group?….I don't want to be in the thick kids’ group…"

She saw the effect of streaming or setting as emphasising "Top Dog" operation within

classes and therefore anti- Inclusionary. She said;

"The older kids know they've failed …there's nothing for them! .. we need more than the NC… why not modules and options?"

(B48)

I saw many excellent moves towards an enabling curriculum. For example, the work

of the Humanities Department at St Edna's was matched by that of the Art

Department at Five Houses where the Head of Department, who was known for

taking risks and including those students that others would not, talked about the

minimising of the curriculum in national guidelines;

"Art…all can find something they're good at…we're lucky in this subject"

(B40)

Does Size Really Matter?

If the definition of Inclusion is, as used in British Columbia;

"… the value system which holds that all students are entitled to equitable access to learning, achievement and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of their education. The practice of inclusion transcends the idea of physical location and incorporates basic values that promote participation, friendship, and interaction"

(BC Ministry of Education 1995 Quoted in Anderson 1997)

then the size of schools should not matter; but we all know that it can and I saw

evidence that this was sometimes the case but did not always have to be the case.

For example Dana attended a very large school (which is why it was chosen to 210

support a "HIRBY") while Danielle attended a very small school. Both, in their

different ways, became more inclusive during the course of this study and in each

case the size of the school appeared to be both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Without being large CG could not have had a HIRBY yet, as a result of being in a

large group in the base, the students isolated themselves. FH did not have enough

academic support for Danielle but she engaged with her peers in movingly human

ways that probably would not have happened in a larger school where there were

likely to be similarly challenged students towards whom she could easily gravitate.

The most significant argument appeared to concern resources and the concomitant

development of Satellite School provision where resources were expensive. One of

the greatest expenses, obviously, is that of the necessary support staff. At one

primary school the Head argued that it was important firstly to keep a set of

Integration Assistants staying at the school (not promoted to the secondary with their

charges) and secondly to have them available to cover for one another during

training or illness absences (B24). This argument supports the trend to Centres of

provision or Satellites, since not every school will be able to afford a larger pool of

expertise. At the secondary school there was agreement that, with regard to IAs

(called also LSAs or TAs depending on the school) there was a strong argument for a

team of such assistants, in that they are unlikely to have (singly) the expertise to

cover the whole formal secondary curriculum. They could, it was argued (especially

at FH and CS), cover it collectively and this would be better anyway in that the

supported student would be learning to work with a number of other adults and not

become dependent upon only one of these. This view was echoed at Lowlands High

(B66).

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OFSTED, League Tables, LMS and Open Enrolment as Barriers to Inclusion.

This raft of 1990s governmental innovations, ostensibly aimed at improving

educational attainment, appears from this study to have been very counterproductive

as schools endeavoured to become inclusive. External pressures appear to have

been circumvented by the schools in my study, illustrating clearly the view of Dryden

in Out of the Red (1978);

"People will over-achieve targets they set themselves"

While this may be an overstatement, it echoes of the work of J. Edwards Demming,

the management guru, when he argued against targets in manufacturing, saying that

this approach limits aspirations and promotes adherence to mediocrity and not

excellence (see Neave 1990).

FH refused to have a Behaviour Unit on site because of the effect on pupil numbers

and St Edna's feared for the effect of non-exclusion on school results (fearing a

repeat OfSTED as a result). They all appeared to see these developments as leading

to increasing stress levels, leaving less time and energy for the needs generated by

Inclusion developments. As was reported in the Case Study Chapters, I was even

denied access to study certain sites as a result of the pressures under which they felt

themselves to be. At Lowlands High the SENCO repeatedly denied my access as a

result of the impending OfSTED inspection. My notes record that;

"..when I said that I would come back over the coming year she said "don't come near us next term; OfSTED!"

(B64)My notes record that ;

"…both the SENCO and the IA were arguing that I could easily upset a perilously balanced apple cart"

(B67)

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This overload, nationally, led to many changes in the bureaucratic demands on

schools towards the end of this study; and the Statementing procedures were seen

as an obstacle to Inclusion by many LEAs (this system was also reviewed and

changed after my study);

"For example, formal processes within LEAs, such as arrangements for assessing children as having special needs, including the guidance offered in the SEN Code of Practice, were seen by many stakeholders as a significant barrier to the creation of more inclusive arrangements."

(Ainscow et al 1999 p.6)

Within the classroom it can be said that the current emphasis on non-exclusion is

leading to "Internal Exclusion" of a very disturbing kind (11).

Tentative Conclusions for SCSC

Behaviours as an Emotional Challenge to the Inclusion Vision Inclusion; Soft and Hard Inclusion as Process for All

As perceived in this study, St. Edna's, Lowlands High, Courtly Green, and Five

Houses are certainly moving in an inclusive direction, sometimes working against

tremendous repressive forces. SCSC appears, in its actions, to be assisting them in

this endeavour. However the study does reinforce the view, expressed so vividly by

Dyson that the human rights dimension is often obscured by concentration on

disability;

"..the concern to which the inclusion movement appears to invariably return is the right of disabled children to be placed in mainstream schools; an important issue to be sure, but not one that is immediately relevant to the wide range of children experiencing difficulties who are ALREADY placed in the mainstream."

(Dyson 1997 p.155)

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SCSC appears to have made a difference to the lives of some students experiencing

difficulties. I see this as important in Action Research, because, as Fullan argues;

"Making a Difference, must be explicitly recast in broader social and moral terms. It must be seen that one cannot make a difference at the interpersonal level unless the problem and solution are enlarged to encompass the conditions that surround teaching… and the skills and actions that would be needed to make a difference……without this …the best of teachers will end up as moral martyrs."

(Barton quoting Fullan 1993 in Support for Learning 1995)

The Second City Action part of this journey would appear to have clarified

understandings in the following areas;

Behaviours as an Emotional Challenge to the Inclusion Vision

In the work of SCSC as it evolved during this study, it was clear that school staff were

willing to be inclusive until they saw “differentness” as a direct challenge to their

persons or their institutions. At a number of schools, exclusion was seen as a way of

ensuring quality "for the rest" and SCSC was, after all, a very convenient way of

allowing this to happen; students got involved with SCSC and were less of a

"problem" to staff. A number of students each year on the SCSC Valued Youth

Programme were excluded from school in subsequent years; staff had not changed

but students were expected to have done so. SCSC itself recognised that there was

a need to get involved with in-service training using the excellent work that students

had performed as a way into this. We obviously have a long way to go until we can

see that practice concurs with the rhetoric!

Inclusion; Soft and Hard

The SCSC experience showed that there were many untried, or under-resourced,

Inclusion tactics that could be adopted by schools, given the ethos, direction and

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time. The "soft" methods; using the curriculum, incorporating individuals, using the

Valued Youth Programme, etc. are all within the reach of schools and their teachers.

The "hard” methods include ensuring Equal Opportunity for All and accepting that all

students have a lot to offer with the concomitant responsibility of all teachers to find

out, and bring out, the potential of each child. This is clearly a very difficult challenge

and one about which SCSC is only just beginning a dialogue with schools.

Inclusion as Process for All

If Inclusion is a process, not a product, and starts with the rights of ALL learners to be

educated together, then it is, by definition, a process which has to affect all parts of

the educational system. SCSC is assisting schools as they attempt to translate

government rhetoric (from the DfEE and the Social Exclusion Unit in particular), into

action. At least this means that differentiation by variety of provision is increasing.

From the outside, an organisation such as SCSC cannot easily influence

Differentiation by output or process. All varieties of Differentiation are needed if

Inclusion is to be meaningful. As Mike Blamires argues;

"Inclusion =Access + Engagement" (Blamires 1999 p.159)

Tentative Conclusions for the Traveller

As a writer-researcher I learned that analysis starts at the same time as the data

begins to be collected. A significant part of the message or learning in the whole of

any project is also contained within the way the exercise is recorded and written up.

These two arguments have been argued well elsewhere; the latter by Marshall

McLuhan (“the medium is the message” and the former in particular by Margot Ely et

al; (Living by Words 1997) and Robert Stake (The Art of the Case Study Researcher

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1995). The views of these last two exponents are also well expressed within the

exhortation of Lomax and Parker (1995);

"The forms of representation used in educational action research must be congruent with educational forms of understanding, rather than those that are more appropriate to physical and social science"

(p.302)

I also learned that Reflexivity was the key to useful research. My matched study

proposals, and some original research design components, were replaced by other

aspects reported herein after engagement with the field (see Appendix D for a

restatement of some of these original aims to see the difference in perspective). It

was in this way that I was able to “rise above” the situation I found myself in. After all;

"…theory is knowledge of practice; it provides hypotheses for practice, and in this sense it is practical"

(Jarvis 1999 p.167)

Cox (1980) similarly argues that a concise statement of what it means to be critical is;

"…(to) stand apart from the prevailing order of the world and ask how that order came about",

(p.2)

I considered that I was being both critical in this sense as well as being a theorist

"from the inside". I was creating understandings by;

"… constant shuttling backwards and forwards between abstract concept and concrete data between social totalities and particular phenomenon; between current structure and historical development; between surface appearance and essence; between reflection and practice."

(Harvey 1990 quoted in Shacklock and Smyth p.29)

I also learned that much research seemed to be "cleansed" and I attempted to

construct my work and writing in a way which took account of this, being critical in the

sense promoted by Shacklock and Smyth in "Cleansing of Socially Critical Research

Accounts" (Chapter 1 in their op. cit.). They quote Lather (1992) and argue that to

undertake "critical" research involves a number of the following;

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“Studying marginalised or oppressed groups who are not given the authority to speak,

Approaching inquiry in ways that are interruptive of taken-for-granted social practices,

Locating meaning in broader social, cultural and political spheres, Editing the researcher into the text, and not presuming that she/he is a

neutral actor in the research, Being reflexive of its own limitations, distortions and agenda, and Being concerned about the impact of the research in producing more

equitable and just social relationships”. (p.40)

I see my journey as fitting this set of arguments quite closely;

The potentially excluded students are "marginalised or oppressed". My "storying" of this research is a deliberate attempt to interrupt a taken-

for-granted approach. It also comprehensively "edits me into the research". My complexity argument locates the understanding of developments in an

almost global context. I hope that, especially in the Chapter on SCSC, I have been reflexive about

my own distortions, and; The whole point in my studying Inclusion was that inclusionary practice

should be about "producing more equitable outcomes."

By far the most effective of the SCSC learning on this journey was the way it

developed the researcher-traveller as an agent (being involved in action, reflection

and feedback to self and schools). As Elliott said (1989);

"Action Research improves practice by developing the practitioner's capacity for discrimination and judgement in particular, complex, human situations"

(p.6)

In assessing the lessons learned, I was reminded by Wilson (1999) that, despite the

enthusiasm that I share with others in the field for inclusive developments, it is

important to;

"…see that the idea of people doing different but equally valued things is not enough to satisfy the notion of inclusion. They may do these in different, albeit equally valued, communities as was supposed to be the case with secondary modern schools under the tripartite system and which purported to guarantee 'parity of esteem'

(p.111)

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There are, of course more subtle arguments about the effect of inclusion/segregation.

Gary Thomas and others (1998) explored the way one school decided to "self-

destruct" as a special School and metamorphose into a pupil support system.

Following Bourdieu (for example Bourdieu and Passeron 1997), he analysed the

Special School system as one which might (like any separate system) develop

different language systems and symbols from the other (mainstream) schools. In

establishing this different "cultural capital" then students from a SS background might

be disenfranchised. A more inclusive situation does not, of course, ensure that this

does not happen but it does, Thomas and many others agree, make it less likely.

If we are moving to an inclusive school system in order to produce an inclusive

society, then we need to recall that our endeavours are driven by the moral

considerations of which Hargreaves reminded us in the extract quoted at the

beginning of this chapter;

"…everything which forces man to take account of other men is moral………….. and morality is as solid as these ties are numerous and strong"

In this moral agenda the distinct nature of Inclusion (as opposed to Integration or

Mainstreaming) is clear;

"The notion of Inclusion therefore does not set parameters (as the notion of Integration did) around particular kinds of putative disability. Rather, it is about a philosophy of acceptance and about providing a framework within which all children (regardless of the provenance of their difficulty at school) can be provided with equal opportunities at school"

(Thomas 1997 p.103)

The UNESCO Statement emphasised a significant change, moving as it did away

from the pathological, or blame, approach that concentrated upon accommodating

individuals. It re-emphasised the broader goals of education; those that cannot easily

be measured (as distinct from the narrow goals of much "schooling" which is

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promoted by League Tables and Tests, the hallmark of the 1990s. In this respect

many authorities are now suggesting that a very practical dilemma exists;

"…the inclusive movement needs to take a realistic look at the way in which schools have been placed in the unenviable position of needing to consider the effect upon published standards of welcoming low-achieving children."

(Feiler and Gibson 1999 p.149).

In this dilemma, some very creative politicians are trying to marry two agendas (those

of Human Rights and of School Improvement). My research suggests that this is

almost impossible; a very real tension exists. In fact a dialectic, or dynamic

equilibrium appears to be in place which can only swing in the direction of Inclusion

with enormous backing, risk-taking and the personal will-power of the relevant

gatekeepers and politicians. In displacing the equilibrium in Newham to one where

only 0.2% of SEN students are in Special Schools, Graham Lane (Chair of the LEA

Education Committee) argues;

"We believe it is the right of young people to be integrated and educated with their peers - and not separately. For the philosopher that's a human rights issue ,….But it is also about raising standards; we've noticed that the children in special schools have few end qualifications"

(Quoted in Special, the magazine of NASEN in Spring 1999).

External commentators on the leading position taken by Newham also talk of the

necessary emphasis placed on learning and teaching styles (12).

After the Durkheim moral reminder, it is particularly important to ask what moral

imperative is behind the inclusionary happenings described in this study and the

reasons for this. International figures show that Special Schools are reducing in

number and UK figures indicate that exclusions are decreasing and attendance is

improving. Integration or Inclusion for students of all "sorts" is happening although

very slowly (13).

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The question is begged, however, as to why all this "emergent" Inclusion (which I

found obvious in the case study schools) is happening against the trend of political

pressures. One answer which I developed used an idea originated by FitzGibbon

(Monitoring Education 1996), that of Reducing Bandwidth (see Appendix E3 for the

extract from my Journal). Essentially this concept builds up a picture where, as the

repressive political forces accumulate, they reduce the room (bandwidth) for

innovation and tend to produce uniformity. Events only occur, in this model, if

sufficient energy is infused to “fire” a “cell” (school, individual.,,) into action against

the trend.

Some would argue that, especially in the Special Needs context, what is needed is

for Bandwidth to increase to allow for greater innovation in the provision for ALL

students. Meighan in fact is adamant that the whole idea of compulsory attendance at

a given site removes freedom and that this is a real threat. In ‘The Next Learning

System’ and ‘Why Home -Schoolers are Trailblazers!’ (1997), he argues that to take

this right away removes a fundamental freedom and ensures that education is for

conformity and not emancipation (his defined goal for liberal education). He agrees

elsewhere with Bertrand Russell that, if we do not restructure the system to take

account of;

"…current research, such as the findings about multiple intelligences, accelerated learning systems, and the insights of the new brain science research, (then) Bertrand Russell's verdict will hold;"we are faced with the paradoxical fact that education has become one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought." "

(extract from an internal document from Meighan at Nottingham)

FitzGibbon, in developing this idea however, follows Waldrop in identifying the key

concepts in "emergent" behaviour and these have parallels in the field I was

examining;

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Unpredictability Feedback Local Organisation

In the educational world, with national pressure on school standards and the reducing

freedom for operational initiative within schools ("reducing bandwidth") and increasing

uniformity (OfSTED inspecting for "compliance") then the elements are all in place for

unusual, ‘emergent’, happenings (such as the Inclusion movement). The action

researcher plays the part, in this model, of the Feedback Agent (taking examples

wittingly, or even unwittingly, from one situation to another). This could happen within

a school or, as in the case of my research, between schools as well as between

schools and external agencies such as SCSC. I was eventually seen, as evidenced

in the case study chapters, as a catalyst and even used as an agent for some of the

changes.

Above all I learned to understand that not all change is predictable and that access to

sites of special social scientific interest is governed by no set rules. Willingness of

schools to engage with me was enhanced by my active involvement in constructive

action in addition to analysis. The case study schools were evolving, and most

shared an inclusive vision that they were willing to analyse and understand for

themselves; but contemplative research by an outsider without concomitant action

was not a position that they would have accepted. As SCSC evolved, a most useful

vehicle emerged which enabled the traveller to work with, and to come to understand,

the main actors in the scenes described.

The most influential finding of my research, in personal terms, was the way in which it

became very obvious to me that Inclusion of any meaningful sort entailed the

restructuring of educational systems rather than efforts to make the existing ones fit

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all students. My work in SCSC was predicated on this learning and we tried to

develop ways in which staff could perceive "EBD" youngsters in a different light. The

Valued Youth Programme challenges schools to look to "Functional Inclusion". This

was a term I heard used often in Birmingham, especially clearly by the Deputy Chief

Officer at FH one day (A54). She saw the Inclusion spectrum as stretching from

"Locational Inclusion" (same place, different rooms or buildings) through "Social

Inclusion" (sic; same place, same classes) to "Functional inclusion" (same place,

learning together and from one another). The latter position has been well described

by Sir Christopher Ball recently in his (Learning Society) Lifelong Learning lectures;

Conclusion; "More Means Different"

This would seem, on the basis of the understandings uncovered in this study, to be

both an Inclusion statement and a challenge to us all; researchers and practitioners.

Towards the end of my Journal I recorded that I had, by this research process,

"…been helped to see that it (Inclusion) won't happen because "it's right" or because enough people believe in it. In (particularly) this post-modern world there are multiple definitions of correctness and the way our world works is by the use of power. Part of this study was to see how actors from "inside" were changing things…against tremendous repressive forces …Probably, trite though it may seem, I shall always recall Danielle spinning around her lamppost in her "inclusive" primary and awaiting my arrival. People such as Danielle, Dana and the Valued Youth Tutors (re-invigorated by the Valued Youth Programme) are what this study has been about. If I changed so that I could better empathise with their situation and could act to allow them to change it for themselves, then so much for the better".

(D50-51)

I also noted a useful strap-line that encapsulates Ball’s dictum;

"(Inclusion is moving)….from "find them a place" to "catch them doing good"(D56)

If systems need to be planned for diversity then many would argue that this is not

such a major change;

"…many of the educational approaches demanded by a system geared to pupil diversity already exist, and can be implemented…. (but)…attempts to

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graft inclusive education for pupils with SENs on to education systems which are nor geared to pupil diversity, are inevitably likely to fall short of their goals."

(Wedell 1995)Inclusion is happening, it is different from Integration, and the way in which it is

appearing and is understood varies across my Case Study schools. The speed of

change from this point will depend, I believe, upon the influence of joint action

between researchers and teachers. Interesting practice and research will produce

wonderful "Butterflies" and enable the "emergence" of vehicles such as SCSC. This

could, given connections, publicity and a favourable political climate, promote a shift

in attitudes towards those most difficult to include. If it is done by agencies working

together, we can better, it would seem.;

"catch them doing good".

Without such joint action this study would indicate that pre-existing, predominantly

pathological, models of school students will prevail. Inclusion would then fall at the

most difficult hurdle.

Footnotes

1. David Hargreaves argues that "The Challenge for the Comprehensive School" was to ensure that the brightness of youngsters at the end of Key Stage two was not lost when they enter secondary school. He later argued that we were excluding a significant proportion of pupils at one end of the spectrum, that another proportion at the opposite end were being educated "otherwise" than at school and that we were in danger of only having the compliant, underachieving section left in our schools. I was reminded about this by reading Thomas (1997) where the argument is re-presented in a modern guise.

2. Canada spends a higher proportion of GNP on education than the UK; 17.3% compared with 13.9%(UNESCO 1991), and this includes a higher proportion on Inclusion, although exactly how much more is hard to extract as a separate figure.

3. Daniel Goleman argues (‘Emotional Intelligence; Why it can matter More than IQ’ (1996) and ‘Working with Emotional Intelligence ‘1999) that there area number of "Intelligences" or ability areas that typify the individual and he enumerates a number as being emotional, physical and aesthetic. This analysis appears to have enormous implications for the Inclusion movement; since schools obviously value some of these intelligences more than they do others. Some, it would appear, they rate not at all, leaving those with these abilities feeling excluded and betrayed by the system.

4. Booth and Ainscow use this very Dimension in the analysis of change across the world; From Them to Us (1998)

5. Villa and team (1993) looked at thirty-two sites implementing inclusionary educational opportunities in Ontario. "Administrative Leadership" emerged as the most powerful predictor of positive attitudes towards full Inclusion

6. In ‘The Republic’ Plato describes the concept of an ideal object. He sees, for example a table as having an Ideal Form (which we would have in our heads and to which we would relate when talking about any one table) and a separate real time form.

7. Teilhard De Chardin takes this argument to a philosophical conclusion in another sphere of argument. In ‘The Phenomenon of Man’ (1955) he describes the "Noosphere" as an ultimate dialectical synthesis of the human consciousness. There is also a growing movement that uses this emergence argument to demonstrate how human consciousness itself might emerge as a synthesis of intersynaptic activity in the human brain (See, for example, ‘Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind’ by Guy Claxton (1999).

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8. Marcuse refers, in One Dimensional Man (1968) to the way in which initiatives are "bought out" by the macro political system; it allows a little movement in order to satiate the push for change and to use up the otherwise creative energy of innovators in the small change allowed.

9. Bourdieu ( in the Logic of Practice 1990) argues that the research act itself is either subversive or maintains the status quo (usingthe term "goods" generally);

" The struggle is…. a struggle to appropriate rare goods and a struggle to impose the legitimate way of perceiving the power relations manifested by the distributions, a representation which, through its own efficacy, can help to perpetuate or subvert those power relations" (p.141).

10. In 1999 the Inclusion movement became "established" as far as formalities for difficult pupils were concerned. The SIPS (Social inclusion Pupil Support) Guidance of that year outlined the work that should be done to support such pupils, indicating that resources must be allocated even without a Statement of SEN. The Pastoral Support Plan as a part of the SIPS process enshrined the rights and responsibilities of all involved. The "fines" introduced that year for schools that excluded pupils was also influential; although the move upset many teachers’ leaders who argued that this would lead to more disruption of teaching for the average students

11. In ‘Rationing Education; policy, practice, reform and equity’ (1999) David Gillborn and Deborah Youdell outline just this very issue. They see the emphasis on "league tables" and Open Enrolment as well as the infamous GCSE C/D boundary pressures as leading to higher, but internal exclusion of students from equal rights or equity. They argue that this is a new form of Exclusion that, as might be predicted, is affecting Black and Minority Ethnic students disproportionately.

12. Abdelnoor (1999a) argued from a psychologist’s perspective when, in describing Newham's drive to become inclusive, he stated that;*

"…schools which manage learning well also manage behaviour well". (Quoted in the TES of Oct 29. 1999)

13. John Howson, in the TES ‘Hot Data’ article on 15.12.00 stated that;“The proportion of pupils with statements of special needs in England appears to have levelled out at around 3 per cent of the school population. But due to the rise in pupil numbers the total of “Statemented” pupils has now passed the quarter of a million mark. He goes on to show how the number of students in Special Schools has declined (“from more than 98,000 in 1995 to around 96,000 in 2000).

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APPENDICES

Page

A; Synopses and Abbreviations

A1; Chapter Synopses Compiled 228A2; Abbreviations Used 232

B; Reference, (and Other Sources) Lists

B1; References used 234B2; Other sources; 252

Schools or LEAs visited; Organisations consulted or visited Websites available Other Consultations

C; Author Background

C1; Gethin Davies Values Statement 255C2; Gethin Davies; Curriculum Vitae 257

D; Maps and Tools

D1; Initial Research Report 1995 262D2; Fieldwork Draft Outline 1995-1996 263D3; Interim Report 265D4; VYP Matched Study Proposal 268

E; Sample Fieldwork Data;

E1; Extracts from Field Log Books 270E2; Examples of draft letters to schools 271

E3; Researcher's Personal Journal Extracts 272E4; Audit Report 276

F; LEA and School Information

F1; An early Birmingham LEA Statement on SEN Policy311F2; A recent (2000) LEA Policy Statement (Inclusion)313F3; Lowlands High; Background Policy Document 314F4; St. Edna's Integrated Humanities Documentation 318

G; Other Background Materials

G1; Second City Second Chance Information225

G2; Valued Youth Programme Information

226

APPENDIX A;

SYNOPSES AND ABBREVIATIONS

A1; Chapter Synopses Compiled

A2; Abbreviations Used

227

APPENDIX A1;

CHAPTER SYNOPSES COMPILED

Introduction; An Introduction to this study

This story- study is an exploration of the ways in which terminology around, practice of, and understandings about Inclusion developed in the Birmingham area from 1996 to 2000. The exploration is recounted as a narrative and starts with a dedication to some of the remarkable students that the researcher met during a four year long attempt at understanding inclusionary changes in schools. I was lucky enough to be able to work in a number of such schools as they became more inclusive of a wider range of individuals.

Chapter One; The Scene

This chapter examines in detail the setting in which the researcher operated and ways in which practitioners have interpreted "Inclusion" or operated to produce it. The research process is described as having much in common with non- "deliberation-mode" thinking (as in ‘Hare Brain Tortoise Mind’ by Guy Claxton, 1997). The latter process was aided by the fact that the study was carried out over a four-year period on a part-time basis, leaving scope for reflection and the opportunity to observe changes over a significant period of time.

The reasons for presenting the research as an accessible narrative of the struggle of the researcher are presented. The research is described as an effort to create an understanding of the Inclusion issue as it was experienced over the period of the study by a variety of actors. Because of the timescale I was able to examine how political and personal perspectives on the research question changed, and I have been able to gain a greater insight into the processes behind these changes. The thinking of Teilhard De Chardin, Guy Claxton, M. Mitchell Waldrop and Carol Taylor- FitzGibbon is used to develop the threads of theory that evolved in the process.

Writing in narrative form is used here as a way of harnessing the power of the story to create in the reader a picture that is bigger and more revealing than the sum of the parts. I argue that researchers who "story" follow in the wake of the well-accepted figures in English Literature whose vision is much the same; to explore and uncover understandings.

Chapter Two; Madness in the Method

228

This Chapter continues the "storying" of how the research method unfolded under the influence of many factors; time, resources, access, peers and the writing process itself. It examines the links between the way the research evolved and the concept of Complexity. Writing in narrative form is explained as a way of using the power of the story to create with the reader a picture that is bigger and more revealing than the sum of the parts described. The narrative, which is deliberately not always linear, describes the “spiralling-in” process explored as the writer tried to understand the views of participants on some of the finer questions at the heart of the Inclusion debate.

Chapter Three; A Beginning, A Middle and no End in Sight

This chapter describes the tentative beginnings of the research process and the initial methods used to select sites of interest. It emphasises how, after two years, the research process ground to a halt; no theory was evolving for me and I was wondering whether anyone would anyway ever read what I might write. Would my writings end up on a shelf or could parts be put to better use? This chapter concludes with a discussion of the tensions and difficulties at the heart of the Case Study Research process. It begins to show how the final research methodology “emerged”, revisiting the original aims and exploring how they were changing.

Chapter Four; Danielle and Dana

Two small, early, exploratory Case Studies are described in this chapter. The stories of Danielle (from Five Houses School) and Dana (Courtly Green School) enable the reader to explore with the researcher the perspectives of two students who were (by some definitions) obviously well "included” in the schools system. The two stories originally appeared to be relatively straightforward accounts of students with disabilities who were coping and integrating but they evolved to expose fundamental questions about Inclusion. The way their individual schools had moved, or were moving, to develop systems to accommodate them is explored. The issues facing Danielle and Dana (who had impairment of mobility and hearing respectively), are narrated so as to explore the tensions that arose in their schools as these were asked (or asked themselves) to take on a wider range of pupils with physical disability. The situations facing the two girls are analysed with reference to a study by a colleague and co-researcher who worked with Danielle at Five Houses in the same period. The contrasts and initial analysis provided by these two short studies is presented under the following headings, which are later explored and extended in the School Studies;

Chapter Five; Courtly Green Courtly Green School came to my notice on the recommendation of a senior education officer whose title had recently changed to refer to “Inclusion”. It was a school which had as comprehensive an intake as was possible in the Birmingham context. I gradually became a welcome part of the Special Needs Department, and, without referring directly to “Inclusion”

229

was able to gain information from a range of staff about how the school was developing its approach to a very wide range of young people. This chapter records and begins to analyse the debates that I stirred up that year. It includes reference to two hypotheses; one on curriculum delivery and one of the effects of the size of the school.

Chapter Six; St Edna’s and Lowlands High

This chapter describes my interactions with a number of people in two further Case Study schools, each of which had moved to an Inclusion strategy but for very different reasons. In both cases, the inclusive move was driven by the Head and the issues and tensions involved in this are explored. In both these schools there was a reticence to become involved with the researcher at that time and this issue is examined.

Chapter Seven; Five Houses

In this Case Study the moves towards inclusion of a difficult school, which also had a budget problem, are explored. The issue of the sensitivity to pupils with “EBD” emerges as an issue worthy of particular attention. This was the school that “included” Danielle but refused to have an Exclusion Unit (PRU) on site. The problem of restricted access to this site is described and the moral position of the researcher is examined. I took the view that the research could only be justified if it was carried out at the same time as action to promote Inclusion (1), and the ideal opportunity which "emerged" is described. A number of hypotheses are generated which allowed creation of "theory" about the Inclusion scene, the intention being to develop these in my work to further Inclusion. At that time, these hypotheses were simply "emergent" but later, when I had established Second City Second Chance, I had the opportunity to test them in a qualitative way.

Chapter Eight; Second City Action

As the work described in the previous chapters was progressing, I was busy (partly as a result of my professional interests and partly as a result of my observations) trying to create an intervention to assist young people at risk of exclusion from school. My initiative quickly drew the support of many leading professionals since it was seen to be tackling an issue that was of increasing concern across the country and appeared to get to the heart of the Inclusion debate. A charity (SCSC; Second City Second Chance) emerged out of my research work and the account in this chapter attempts to understand why the work of the charity became so popular at the time it did. How this development linked with my research and personal thinking is explored together with the various hypotheses generated at Five Houses (see Chapter Seven). These are brought to bear on the story as a way of exploring the reasons for the rapid growth of this "inclusive" charity.

Chapter Nine; Endgame; Funnelling–In

This chapter sets out to bring together the threads that evolved during the fieldwork, referring to evidence from the various "cases". The tensions in the schools and between pupils are explored by referring to the information from earlier chapters; the “funnelling-in” ends with reference to the Danielle and Dana pupil case studies. The "storying" of the success of the SCSC initiative is examined as a way of exploring the "Dimensions of Inclusion" in greater depth. A vignette is presented at the beginning to highlight the dilemmas and tensions in the

230

Inclusion scene, as they were perceived on this journey. Tentative conclusions reached as a result of the fieldwork are presented and, where the traveller can see “signposts” for others to look out for as they make similar journeys, these are highlighted. As with most journeys there are many such signposts and, since research routes in such a field can obviously vary enormously, this chapter presents the learning of the writer-traveller as mere guidance to those that might follow.

231

APPENDIX A2;

ABBREVIATIONS USED

ASDAN; Award Scheme and Accreditation NetworkBSS; Behaviour Support ServiceBC; British ColumbiaBCJSE; British Columbia Journal of Special EducationBJSE; British Journal of Special EducationCSCS; Centre for the Study of Comprehensive SchoolsCSIE; Centre for the Study of Inclusive EducationCEO; Chief Education OfficerCCVYP (VYP); Coca-Cola Valued Youth ProgrammeCH; Colton HillsCRE; Commission for Racial EqualityCG; Courtly GreenCAT; Cross-Age TutoringDfEE; Department for Education and EmploymentEBD; Emotional and Behavioural Disorders/DifficultiesFH; Five HousesGH; Green HallHoD; Head of DepartmentHI; Hearing ImpairedIH; Integrated HumanitiesIAs; Integration AssistantsIT; Information TechnologyIDRA; Intercultural Development Research AssociationKS1 etc; Key Stage One…LA; Learning AssistantLSA; Learning Support Assistant LSD; Learning Support DepartmentLSU; Learning Support UnitLH; Lowlands HighMLD; Moderate Learning DifficultiesMFL; Modern Foreign LanguageNC; National CurriculumOHT; Overhead TransparenciesPSP; Pastoral Support ProgrammePH; Physically HandicappedPRU; Pupil Referral UnitQCA; Qualifications and Curriculum AuthoritySCSC; Second City Second ChanceSENCO; Special Educational Needs Co-ordinatorSS; Special SchoolSIPS; Social Inclusion Pupil SupportSLA; Service Level AgreementSFL; Support for Learning TiC; Teacher in Chargew.r.t; with respect to

232

APPENDIX B;

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Lipsky and Gartner (1996)

Villa R A and (1995) Creating an Inclusive SchoolThousand J S (Eds.) Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Developments; Alexandra V A

Vislie L (1995) Integration Policies, School Reforms and The Organisation of Schooling for Handicapped Pupils in Western SocietiesIn Clark Dyson and Millward (1995)

Visser J (1993) Differentiation; making it work; ideas for staff developmentNational Association for Special Educational Needs; Stafford

Waldraven G (2000) Combating Social Exclusion through

250

Parsons C Educationvan Veen D& Garant and EERA; LouvainDay C (Eds.)

Walker R (1975) The Conduct of Educational Case Study; ethics, theory and procedureIn Hammersley (1975)

Ware L (1995) The Aftermath of the Articulate Debate: the invention of inclusive educationIn Clark, Dyson and Millward (1995)

Warnock M (1982) Children with Special Needs in OrdinarySchools; integration revisitedEducation TodayVol. 32. No. 3

Wearmouth J (1999) Another one flew over: ‘maladjusted’ Jack’sperception of his label

British Journal of Special Education Vol. 26 No. 1

Wedell K (1995) Making Inclusive Education OrdinaryBritish Journal of Special Education Vol. 22 No. 3

Wilson J (1999) Some Conceptual Difficulties about ‘Inclusion’Support for LearningVol. 14 No. 3

Yin RK (1993) Applications of Case Study ResearchSage; London

Zohar D (1997) Observations on a Cat in a BoxTimes Educational Supplement; 9th May

Zohar D & (1997) Who’s Afraid of Shrodinger’s Cat?Marshall I the new science revealed

Bloomsbury; London

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APPENDIX B2;

OTHER SOURCES (INCLUDING INTERNET SITES)

1 Schools or LEAs visited;

Colton Hills School, Wolverhampton Duckeries School, Nottinghamshire Coventry LEA (Special Needs Department) Two further Birmingham Primaries and three other Birmingham Secondaries Birmingham Advisory and Support Services (BASS)

2 Organisations consulted or visited

Centre for the Study of Inclusive Education (CSIE) National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN) Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools (SCSC) National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCIE) Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) National Mentoring Network (NMN) Intercultural Research and Development Association (IDRA) USA. National Development Team (Manchester)

3 Websites Available

http://inclusion.ngfl.gov.uk http://inclusion.uwe.ac.uk http://www.open.gov.uk/dfee/a[a[er/nindex.htm http://www.innotts.co.uk/~colinn/epsweb.htm http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/do~borth/down1.htm http://www.kidstogether.org Kidstogether.Inch http://www.esu3.k12.ne.us/esunotice/inclusive.html http://128.169.200.210/units/inclusive.html http://134.84.215.89/pub/ http://www.almanac.bc.ca/~axis/incurrec.html http://130.111.120.13/~cci/focus.html http://130.111.120.13/~cci/ccid.html http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/families/TWC/ ERIC http://beaches.soehd.csufresno.edu/soehd/ctet/ties.html http://www.clark.net/pub/cfpa/execsumm/cb-inclu.html http://www.inclusion.com http://web.syr.edu/~thechp http://www.sonic.net/nilp http://schoolnet2.carleton.ca/ http://www.valdosta.peachnet.edu/coe/coed/sped/camp/proj/abstract.html http://www.metronet.com/~thearc/welcome.html http://www.worx.net/fraxa http://151.7.114.15/opi/opi.html http://access.digex.net/~edlawinc http://ss.niah.affrc.go.jp/~momotani/dowj1-e.html http://www1.mhv.net/~grohol/ http://www.nas.com/downsyn/ http://wvlink.mpl.com/users/casten_t/downsyn1.html

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http://www.portal.com/~cbntmkr/php.html http://www.yahoo.com http://www.fln.vcu.edu/ld/ld.html http://mail.bcpl.lib.md.us/~sandyste/school_psych.html http://www.ed.gov/ http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/specialed http://web.syr.edu/~jmwobus/autism/ http://tardis.pacificu.edu/~brentb/deaf.html http://fohnix.metronet.com/~thearc/faslist.html http://www.sos.on.ca/~pmackay/williams.html http://www.sheridanc.on.ca/~cowley/asl-eng.html http://www.familyeducation.com http://ep.open.ac.uk/wgma/CSIE/csiehome.html http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/edu_incl.htm http://ep.open.ac.uk/wgma/Chris/UKDSinfo.html http://www.pleasant.org/pleasant/sarah/teach/sped.html education of the visually

impaired http://www.pleasant.org/pleasant/sarah/teach/blind-ed.html

4 Other consultations

Bates (personal Bibliography on Inclusion) Alan Dyson (personal conversation) Governors of two further schools Membership of, and debates within, the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

(electronic) forum (SENCO FORUM); senco-forum@ngfl.gov.uk Electronic conference; inclusive-educatino@mailbase.ac.uk

NOTE;

On completion the study synopses were offered to the SENCO FORUM to aid

practice and research I any way that was conceivable. Over forty people took up the

initial offer.

APPENDIX C;

AUTHOR BACKGROUND

C1; Gethin Davies Values Statement

253

C2; Gethin Davies; Curriculum Vitae

254

APPENDIX C1;

GETHIN DAVIES; VALUES STATEMENT

(Presented as constructed at the mid-point of this research)

The values in my research

1. That all human perspectives in a social situation are of equal importance even if they are of people or parties that find themselves in a less powerful situation than would be fair in an ideal world.

2. In unequal situations the researcher has a moral obligation to act to counter the inequality.

3. Inaction by researchers will tend to favour the powerful, We therefore should act to counter inequality.

4. "Influence Not Power" should be the motto of the social researcher. Action without empowering the other actors would be indefensible, particularly at exit.

5. Inclusion; The world is a better place for ALL therein if the whole spectrum of humankind is, as far as is possible, able to interact at work and play. Integration is "top-down" model and does not rework the power arrangements. Inclusion starts from ALL participants and enshrines a reworked set of goals which are continually re defined AFTER the actors have been involved in analysis.

6. In social science research the "human rights" agenda should be visible and not tokenistic/ parenthetic.

7. Young people are to be valued as the inheritors of our work (and mistakes) and therefore high value should be placed on their education and their views.

8. Social Science research is a "snapshot "activity that can become "voyeurism" unless change is involved.

Making my values explicit in the research.

1. I constantly refer to the actors in the situation being studied. (Chapters on Five Houses and St Edna's and Lowlands High in particular)

2. My research will provide information and views for staff development (Chapter on the Scene for example)

3. I deliberately cross-fertilise between schools, exchanging interesting practices on a daily basis.

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4. I undertake to ensure that the learning is applied directly to the research situation (not awaiting the "final" writing phase).

5. I acknowledge that there is no "final point" except that determined by the PhD thesis presentation timing. I therefore write up as a "novel" attempting to unravel meanings in the situations that I explore.

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APPENDIX C2;

GETHIN DAVIES; CURRICULUM VITAE

Gethin Davies BSc MPhil FRSA LTCL OBE

A PERSONAL DETAILS

Age: 52

Family: Two sons and two daughters

Interests:

Music (classical guitar and piano); solo, ensemble playing and teaching.Ornithology (RSPB member)CBSO: concert attenderAmnesty International: memberRoyal Society of Arts: FellowSpecial Educational Needs

B RESEARCH AND QUALIFICATIONS

1969 BSc (Upper 2nd Honours) in chemistry with Mathematics and Physics subsidiaries. Birmingham University

1971 Postgraduate Certificate in Education (Chemistry and Physical Education)Birmingham University

1974 Youth Service Training Scheme Certificate

1974 Psychological Testing CourseBirmingham LEA

1982-87CNAA MPhil Degree (completed in February 1987)An Investigation of LEA Social Education Provision across the Country

1994 Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacture(By invitation)

1995 Licentiate in Music Education ( Trinity College)

1996-1999

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Registered for a part-time PhD with Birmingham University (Special Needs). Subject; Inclusivity (A Case Study Approach). Due to complete in 2001

1998NVQ level 4 on Mentoring, Counselling and Guidance with City and Guilds.

2000 Awarded an OBE for Services to the Birmingham Mentoring Consortium

C EDUCATION POSTS

1970VSO at Dekina GSS Kwara State, Nigeria(Teaching Chemistry and Physics to 11-16 boys in a boarding school)

1971-72Assistant Teacher at Handsworth Boys' Technical School, Birmingham(Chemistry and Careers teaching in an 11-18 bilateral school)

1972-73Head of Careers (Scale III) at Hamstead Hall School, Birmingham(Hamstead Hall was formed by amalgamation of two 11-16 schools)

1973-74Head of Careers (Scale IV) at Hamstead Hall School, Birmingham but also involved with the establishment of courses upon the RoSLA.I taught the entire 11-18 age range in this new comprehensive school.

1974-76Head of Science, Lirhanda Girls' Secondary School, Western Province, Kenya(An 11-16 self-help residential school)

1976Scale I post at Duddeston Manor School, Birmingham(March-August) (Teaching Science and PE)

1976-79Scale III post Deputy Head at the Burlington Centre for Suspended Pupils, Birmingham(This centre took up to 21 severely disruptive pupils)

1979-82Group V Head of Newlands Educational Guidance Centre, Birmingham(This being a centre involved with the rehabilitation of disaffected pupils from up to 45 of Birmingham's secondary schools. The age range involved was 11-16)

1982-83Seconded by the Birmingham Education Authority to Birmingham Polytechnic, Centre for Advanced Studies in Education, to establish the Social Education Research Project.

1983-88

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Deputy Headteacher, Kings School, Birmingham(A Group IX comprehensive school)

1988-89Seconded as Deputy Head (Curriculum) at the Arthur Terry School, Sutton Coldfield(A Group XII 12-18 comprehensive school)

1989Acting Headteacher of Perry Beeches School, Birmingham(Autumn Term only; A Group IV 11-18 comprehensive school)

1990-95Headteacher of Handsworth Wood Boys' School, Birmingham (A Group IV 11-18 comprehensive school)

1995-96Secondment to the Associate Directorship of the National Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools (CSCS).

1996-98Inaugural Director; Second City Second Chance (SCSC);

1998Consultant (A STAR). Self-employed.Consultant Director of SCSC

D PUBLICATIONS and PRESENTATIONS

During the above period these have been for the following Journals or Organisations;

NOISE (National Organisation For Initiatives in Social Education)

FEU (Further Education Unit)

TRIST (TVEI Related Inservice Training)

CASE Centre for the Advanced Study of Education, Birmingham Polytechnic

SCSC (Second City Second Chance)

CSCS (Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools)

NMN (National Mentoring Network)

ICSE (International Congress on Special Education)

Third International Conference on Tutoring and Mentoring

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E OTHER CURRENT PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

NAME:Formerly National Association for Multi-racial Education and now the National Anti-racist Movement in Education

NOISE:National Organisation for Initiatives in Social EducationA founder member, ex-chairperson, current membership secretary and editor of the first two journals. Organiser of the day conferences which brought David Hargreaves and Paul Black to Birmingham in 1986 and 1988

CSCS:Centre for the Study of Comprehensive SchoolsInvolved in a variety of projects with CSCS including a Social Education Day (1983) and Group leader on the 1984 conference.Co-ordinator of the Annual Conference in Birmingham (1991-94)Brought Michael Fullan to Birmingham at the ICC in 1995

TVE:Technical and Vocational Education Initiative ExtensionMember of the management teams of two TVE Partnerships (North West and TITAN)

MRA:Midland Record of Achievement SchemeAppointed as an assessor by the WMEB in this scheme (1989)

ASDAN: Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network

Special Needs; Member of NASEN.

Mentoring;

Trainer for SCSC. Presenter to numerous conferences and Seminars including those of the National Mentoring Network in 1997 and 1998. Presenting in Israel in 2000.

Chair of the West Midlands Mentoring Network, which, in 2001 will run one of the first three Mentor Points form the DfEE

Initiator and Chair of the Birmingham Mentoring Consortium (with a three year Millennium Awards Scheme)

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APPENDIX D;

MAPS AND TOOLS

D1; Initial Research Report 1995

D2; Fieldwork Draft Outline 1995-1996

D3; Interim Report

D4; VYP Matched Study Proposal

NOTE

These are all deliberately presented as in the original to give readers an impression of progression.

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APPENDIX D1

ORIGINAL RESEARCH REPORT

Gethin Davies ; Research Report October 1995

PhD Study;

Inclusivity Practices and the influence of the Special Needs Code .

Having identified three secondary schools and two primary ones (where some additional data might be recruited) fieldwork has started in the two Secondaries CG and FH.

Learning from an earlier ethnographic experience ( Davies GL :1986 ) methodology has centred on participant observation from which it is intended to progress to Action Research on school-focussed projects within the above remit.

Four issues already have surfaced as crucial within this stage of the study;

1 ( Methodological ); Gatekeepers have enormous power to influence which schools are involved in research , and this has implications for both quantitative and qualitative research. Rarely do quantitative studies refer to the skew that this produces and qualitative researchers do not appear to this practitioner to be honest about what influences the fieldwork site choice.

2 ( Moral ); There is a moral imperative ( which has practical usefulness ), in busy times in a field experiencing rapid change , for the researcher ( not necessarily the research ) to be of practical assistance within the sites. This, it would seem, can best be achieved by either:

2.1 contributing to developments within the site as research progresses ( case study, importing useful examples.... )

or 2.2 originating the research in the participants vision of what might assist them ( and this could be varied ) .

This is a moral issue because time spent by participants with a researcher can impoverish the provision for current students . It would not be morally right to mortgage the latter to produce ( hopefully) benefits for future cohorts.

3 ( Practical ); Possible hypotheses on which to focus include;

3.1 Inclusivity is a Human Rights Issue. Is it perceived this way by participants or as the wild idealism of " our leader " or the " Professor Loony ".? Already two prominent professionals have stated to this researcher that "Inclusivity is a word that does not exist ".!

3.2 That schools can be "fired" by the Heads zeal or mission but ,for inclusive practice to be incorporated into the ethos and structure of the school , the real ( as distinct from co-operational ) involvement of other key players is necessary. With only a co-operational approach the "rights" focus would be missing and any moves towards an inclusive school could disappear in the wake of inevitable changes in leadership, LEA administration (or Government ............).

262

4 ( Ethical and Practical ) ; Would it be right to study perceptions in this area without reference to views of students ? And since observers cannot be value-free is not any statement to pupils a political act?

Key Questions

The nature of data collected;

While my most valid data will be that recruited in the field from conversations and documents, triangulation of the data to test out hypotheses will be via semi- structured and recorded interviews at the end of the year of my secondment. T his means that approximately one third of my data might be truly primary , one third secondary (reports, reported views and documents conceived with a public audience in mind) and the remainder statistical or interpretative.

My account ;

I anticipate retelling my "story" as an open ended investigation into special needs provision in which, like in all good adventures, the main actor did not know where he was going but wanted to explore the terrain. Most adventurers do not have enough time to carry out a total map of their area, but can describe it best to those who want to know what they found by use of telling and demonstrably reliable anecdote. My Case Study schools themselves were chosen during the journey and my methods within them will be guided by sensitivity to the feelings of the participants as well as to the hypotheses as they develop (see above).

Thus my story will be subjective with the addition of relevant objective data as appropriate and necessary.

My Methodology;

To maximise the confidence of participants my journey will be documented by means of a diary and "item cards" which will carry noted conversations or snippets and be written down at the earliest opportunity. These will be coded and available for sorting or searching whatever the hypotheses that develop. I will attempt to cover any aspect of school life that anyone describes as promoting an inclusive vision of education. The analysis of the cards, the final semi -structured interviews and documents retrieved will be done continually throughout the fieldwork ( and as far as practicable with the participants being actively involved ).

APPENDIX D2

(FIELDWORK OBJECTIVE DRAFT 1995-6)

Gethin Davies: remit (draft) for work in two (anonymous) Birmingham schools during Ph.D work 1995-1996 with the supervision of Dr. C. O'Hanlon (University of Birmingham ).

*To explore the range of practices at the schools which promote an inclusive approach to education .

263

* To document the participants views of these and directly related practices.

* To explore the selection processes involved in projects where specific pupils become targeted.

* To determine the effect of the implementation of the Special Needs Code on Inclusivity.

* To determine the viability of producing (through a partnership of the schools and the Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools ) two or more Case Studies which, via CSCS channels, could be made available to other schools wishing to learn from such practices.

The specific practices at the two schools would include;

1 A Selly Oak Special School Link (SC)

2 A Family Literacy Project (SC)

3 Oakdale Centre links (SC&FD)

4 Multiagency Meetings/ Networks (SC&FD)

5 Youth and Community Links (FD)

6 A Baskerville Special School Link (FD)

7 Plans involving Victoria Special School (FD)

8 Community Action Volunteers use (FD)

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APPENDIX D3

(RESEARCH STRATEGY; GETHIN DAVIES MAR-JULY 1996)

BACKGROUND

There are two parts of the rationale for this research. ;

*A PhD study into Inclusivity (the word , its origins and interpretations in the Birmingham context). This study will concentrate upon the various views which are held of the Inclusivity approach and the meanings which are attributed to it. It will examine the obstacles described by the four schools that have agreed to assist. These have been chosen to represent a range of known interpretations and a range of school types.

*The possibility of a Centre for the Study of Comprehensive Schools Broadsheet on the complex issue of ; SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND THE INCLUSIVITY DEBATE. The Case Study schools would, if willing , provide exemplars within this .

SCHOOLS INVOLVED AND THE PROPOSED AREAS OF FOCUS IN EACH;

Courtly Green;

*Selection procedures for and perceptions of the Selly Oak Special School initiative (in which mainstream pupils spend periods in a special school environment to concentrate on basic skills using specialist equipment.*Network Five ( a multi agency meeting) and the range of strategies to assist the integration of pupils with behavioural difficulties. *Integration of pupils from the Hearing Impaired Unit.*Working methods of the SEN team , including cross-age tutoring for reading support.

Five Houses;

*Attempts to reach out and accommodate the physically challenged ( including the links discussed with Victoria School and the Satellite Program of the LEA).*Creative uses of opportunities afforded by a massive rebuilding programme.*Imaginative uses of Integration Assistants.

Lowlands High

*Inclusion of pupils from the 1995 Unit attached to the school.*Activities specifically designed to assure the minority ethnic communities served by the school of full inclusion.

St. Edna's

* Inclusion of those pupils identified as having EBD (educational and behavioural difficulties).

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PROGRESS TO DATE;

*Knowledge of the schools and , to some extent , the staff therein. A great deal of time was spent on this due to the sensitivity of the area, the challenge presented by any researcher and the particular challenge presented by this well-known ex -Head entering other schools after a period in which he had been prominent in local news media.* A summer timetable and research questions refined.*Some documentation and views collected (using a method advocated by Stake and which minimises the challenges to staff and which obviates the use of a tape recorder).

SUMMER PLAN

*Construction of four Case Studies ( to be anonymous ) to use in the appendix to the PhD, each shared with the school in question alone, views being recorded.*One hour interviews with a range of staff, say ten in each school. Possibly some repeat interviews.*Extracts from the anonymous case studies to be used in the CSCS Broadsheet alongside national and international items, if finance is arranged.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

- What does the term 'inclusion' mean at the following level?

*Society ( national )*LEA*School

- How has the school interpreted inclusion in?

*classrooms*facilities*development planning*new initiatives

- In what ways does inclusion differ from integration?

- What obstacles exist in developments towards inclusion?

*at school*in class*at the LEA*in society (wide)

- What successes have there been in this direction?

266

- To what can success be attributed?

267

APPENDIX D4;

(VYP; MATCHED STUDY PROPOSAL)

AIM: To supplement the evaluation of the Valued Youth Programme as it is applied in Birmingham by the addition of a quasi-controlled study of a cohort of 100 youngsters.

Methodology; The twelve schools in Birmingham currently involve approximately 100 students in the VYP (Centres excluded). They will be asked to “match”, as far is possible, their 98-99 cohort according to the variables below. The matching will be carried out so that the SCHOOL GROUP is matched, NOT THE INDIVIDUALS. The progress of this Birmingham matched group will then be compared after a year with the progress of the VYP group according to the Indicators below;

Variables

Objective;

Age FSM; Free School Meals Year Special Needs Level.GenderRace

Subjective

Extrovert/Introvert

Indicators

AttendanceExclusions NC Levels (English Maths and Science)Disciplinary Referrals.

Staff Involved

The SCSC Research Assistants will recruit the data as appropriate and negotiate with schools. This Team will compare the two at year-end.

End Result.

This to become, with commentary, a separate part of the Methodology Chapter of a PhD (GD) and a Paper offered to the European Education Research Network (EERN).

The results will be used to influence the criteria by which students are chosen for the VYP in 1999-2000

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APPENDIX E;

SAMPLE FIELDWORK DATA

E1; Extracts from Field Log Books

E2; Examples of draft letters to schools

E3; Researcher's Personal Journal Extracts

E4; Audit Report

269

APPENDIX E1;

SAMPLE FIELDWORK DATA (FROM RESEARCHER LOGBOOK)

NOTE

These are reproduced as photocopies of original documents used while visiting the field over four years.

They each served as Journal (personal views and research thoughts) as well as recording devices for conversations.

They replaced, after Year One the cards that I used to write out after visits.

On all of these extracts I have marked the way in which Post-its were used to annotate the books during analyses and searches for commonalties and threads of thought.

270

APPENDIX E2;

EXAMPLES OF DRAFT LETTERS TO SCHOOLS

271

APPENDIX E3;

RESEARCHER'S PERSONAL JOURNAL EXTRACTS

Note; The first extract (a) is reprinted here to give a picture of the development of the researcher towards the end of the research period. It is presented in its original form with original mistakes;

Two further extracts (b and c) are presented as photocopies of originals

Extract (a)

"Thoughts while trying to examine the 50,000 words (June 1. 00)

Maybe there is not enough I have written about my own development as a result of this study and writing; what insights did I develop?

The ones which come to mind immediately are;

There are many untried strategies that other pressures push out of the way…VYP…hence SCSC…

I am a very practical person, so the learning has been WHAT can be done rather than only cerebral development, however

The Chaos theory aspect ; the route that this gives into explaining developments and surprising turnarounds was a key point fro me

I came alive when I knew that, despite my science training I could develop this study as a set of understandings; " bounded" etc"

The nail in the coffin for determinism was, for me the Quantum Theory argument; by definition there is no way that wecan pre- map all components, due to the effect of that interfernce at the measurement stage.

The realisatino ( whcin QM should have taught me) that electrons can be miles aprt yet influence one another simultaneously and that ……….. ( see Alice in Quatum Land)

The influence of Leaders (in a Chaotic World… is as catalysts and their influence can be disproportionate.

Inclusion; My Journey

I started at the point where I thought no one should be rejected, travelled through the Headteacher stage where …… to the point where , a la postmodernism, a multiplicity of approaches would appear to be the ideal. I had ideals that were tempereed, particularly by Dana and Danielle, and I alwways came back to a pragmatic approach (agaim hemnece SCSC)

272

The untouched area in my research must be how to influence other adults. My atitudes varid through the fieldwork stage from proseletising (Lowlands) to catalysis (Five Houses) to awe (St Edna's). SCSC offers a great opportunity to create scenrios and training (by doing rather than by telling) and this is wher I am at currently.

SCSC; organising Confernces and Seminars, arranging INSET and Acreditaion for adults that travel the same route.

Above all the self reflection invlved in thei PHD research is the ultimate; it has exposed me to my own naïve thinking, allowed me to develop in ways that otherwise would not have occurred, start interventions that,…

After all;

"The only thing necessary from the triumph of evil is for good men (sic) to d o nothing" (Edmund Burke?)

or ;"If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem" (Sometimes attributed to Mao and sometimes to Proudhon"

So there are not new Programmes (VYP) or sayings (above) but that people, by self discovery , come to these revelations for themselves. When they do, as in this study then it is a powerful agent fro change. Change with an inclusive agenda will then lead to a fairer world.; one where Human Rights are for all; the extreme Inclusion interpretation."

(Journal 23.6.00)

273

274

275

APPENDIX E4

AUDIT REPORT

The following statement was approved by three of the significant personnel in the schools involved;

“On the basis of the evidence provided and the experience of having Mr Davies as an observer in our school, the account offered would appear to be accurate and the inferences drawn appear relevant. The activity was conducted ethically with due respect to all involved”.

The personnel were;

The Headteacher of ‘Five Houses’

‘Ben Kenham’

MG; the co- researcher at ‘Five Houses’

NOTE

The first two were presented with appropriate parts of the dissertation while the latter was provided with total access to the thesis and the Field Notes/Logs. Their personal details are available from the Author

276

APPENDIX F;

LEA AND SCHOOL INFORMATION

F1; An early Birmingham LEA Statement on Special Needs Policy

F2; A recent (2000) LEA Policy Statement (Inclusion)

F3; Background Policy Document from Lowlands High

F4; Integrated Humanities Documentation from St. Edna's

277

APPENDIX G;

OTHER BACKGROUND MATERIALS

G1; Second City Second Chance Information

a) Aims and Programmes

b) Programme Map

c) Personnel List

G2; Valued Youth Programme Information

a) Original USA Publicity

b) Typical Evaluation results; extracts

278

APPENDIX G1;

SECOND CITY SECOND CHANCE INFORMATION

a) Aims and Programmes

b) Programme Map

c) Personnel List

279

APPENDIX G2;

VALUED YOUTH PROGRAMME INFORMATION

a) Original USA Publicity

b) Typical Evaluation Results; extracts

280