Partnerships for inclusive education : a critical approach to collaborative working PDF
Preview Partnerships for inclusive education : a critical approach to collaborative working
Partnerships for Inclusive Education Participation is essential for inclusive education. But why is this and what does this mean? How can it be brought about? Participation in the sense of real collaborative working has largely been elusive in any widespread sense. Increased partnership between professionals, particularly through the integration of services, heralds a major opportunity for child and parent participation, but one that seems in danger of being side-stepped. Drawing on substantial research evidence, this book looks at reasons for this situation, what is happening now, what developments and initiatives have been tried and what we can do to develop a culture of participation. Some of the main threats to participation are discussed throughout this text: • Has ‘partnership’ ever existed? • Who is excluded from partnership? • Which discourses have made participation elusive, and what are the implications – theoretical and practical – for how we move forward? Liz Todd presents original ideas to both practitioners and academics to open up the complex processes that can frustrate participative practice. The PPC (Practice–People–Context) Model of collaborative inclusive practice helpfully guides people working with children and families in schools and services towards the development of a culture of participation. In combining socio-cultural ideas with post- structural thinking, the strong yet accessible theoretical basis to this book makes the ideas relevant to both an academic and an educational professional audience. Liz Todd is senior lecturer and Director of Educational Psychology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Partnerships for Inclusive Education A critical approach to collaborative working Liz Todd First published 2007 by RoutledgeFalmer 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by RoutledgeFalmer 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 RoutledgeFalmer is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2007 Liz Todd All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for thi s book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN0-203-96749-6 Mastere-bookISBN ISBN10: 0–415–29844–X (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–29845–8 (pbk) ISBN10: 0–203–96749–6 (ebk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–29844–5 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–29845–2 (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–203–96749–2 (ebk) Contents List of illustrations vii Acknowledgements viii 1 What partnerships for what kind of inclusive education? 1 2 Being seen and heard and making a difference: how children participate 21 3 The absent special guest: children as service users 43 4 Parent partnership: the need for a richer story 63 5 Integrated services: an invitation to inclusion, or exclusion? 83 6 Participation for inclusion: the Practice–People–Context Model 106 7 Towards authentic participation: examples of practice 136 Appendix: what kind of services do children and young people want? 160 Bibliography 165 Index 184 Illustrations Tables 2.1 Advantages to pupils – in terms of social capital – from enhanced participation 31 3.1 Contrasting understandings (discourses) of childhood and professional role from different positions on participation 60 4.1 Models of partnership 70 4.2 Contrasting assumptions of professional role and parent for different conceptualisations of parent relations 81 5.1 The territory of extended schools 86 6.1 The implications for partnership of alternative assumptions about Practice 113 6.2 The implications for partnership of alternative assumptions about People 122 6.3 The implications for partnership of alternative assumptions about Context 126 Figures 1.1 Inclusions and exclusions: building a solid foundation 2 2.1 Three cultures of participation 36 5.1 An activity system 91 5.2 An activity system of a Joint Action Team meeting 93 6.1 The PPC Model: towards the development of collaborative working practices 110 6.2 PPC Model of participation in professional practice 111 Acknowledgements Writing this book has been a journey – and one impossible without so many friends and colleagues discussing ideas and making comments on drafts. It would have been abandoned without the great support of Andy, Robin and Jake and the time they gave me to write. Final thanks to the people – children and adults – I have worked with in grappling myself with how to have real participation in schools and services, and from whom I have learnt so much. 1 What partnerships for what kind of inclusive education? Introduction Inclusive education is built – in schools and in local authorities – in many ways. New bricks are added to replace the old. Some forgotten friends are remembered and added with new cement. What makes the ‘inclusion’ wall secure, stops cracks developing, or stops it from lean- ing in directions where it could topple is partnership. Real partnership. Participation based on mutuality and respect. This book takes as its starting point the assumption that this crucial element of what makes inclusion robust is often absent, given lip-service, badly done or wrongly assumed. Partnership and participation are explored through what we know about what is currently happening, what we know about what makes them difficult to secure and ideas for practice. This chapter explains the key understandings that inform the book – some of them theoretical – and explains the structure of the book. It makes a case for the particular partnerships that are to be considered and explores what is meant by inclusive education. There are probably countless ways to write a book on partner- ships for inclusive e ducation. I have chosen three areas that seem to speak very loudly for attention: these are areas where there have been substantial improvements but at the same time where there are real needs for change and improvement. They are all arenas for collaborative working that seem to be central to inclusion. These areas are: the participation of children and young people in schools and services; the partnership of parents with schools and with practitioners who work in services external to schools; and collabora- tive working between professionals and agencies. These three areas of collaboration are epitomised in the following quotes from research and policy, which illustrate their importance for different kinds of inclusive education, and introduce some of the issues and tensions.
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