Is this not a species of insanity?
I have asked before on this blog, when and where the debate on the education of children with motor disorders such as cerebral palsy is taking place. I was interested then to read in an email I received this week, the announcement of a "Cerebral Palsy Feature in the July/August issue of SEN magazine" and inviting Paces to buy advertising or advertorial. "The lead editorial will be produced in conjunction with Scope," the email informed me.
It's not often cerebral palsy features in any educational context, so I responded by enquiring about
the content and "angle" of the lead editorial. Impressively quickly, I received the following reply: "The lead editorial in the Cerebral Palsy
feature will provide an overview of the condition. It will then go into
detail about how the educational sector will cope now that more and
more children with disabilities, especially those with cerebral palsy,
are going into mainstream schools."
This is all I have and it would not only foolish but also quite wrong to prejudge the content before it is published. Nevertheless, I am not encouraged.
Why so? Firstly, because a professional journal that was proposing to do more than re-hash the traditional "overview of the condition" would be promoting itself by trumpeting "a challenge to traditional views of cerebral palsy in education". That it is not doing so, makes me fear yet another re-hash. Secondly, "it will then go into detail about ....". About what? There are some extremely important questions that need addressing: Why do we in the UK & NI not require our teachers of children with almost any disability, to gain an understanding of the disability before they set foot in the classroom? Why do we reject the need for pedagogies specific to specific disabilities? Ditto curricula? What can neuroscience teach us? Where is the research? One could go on. These are questions of national and even international importance if we are to bring about necessary change in the education, schooling and upbringing of children with cerebral palsy. These are questions of importance to the children themselves and their families. Instead, it seems SEN Magazine is proposing to give over rare and valuable space to focus on ... problems experienced by teachers in mainstream schools; on "how the educational sector will cope now that more and
more children with disabilities, especially those with cerebral palsy,
are going into mainstream schools". In other words, having blithely followed the yellow brick road of 'inclusion', the only thing it seems worth talking about is what to do with the children now we have got them there. Shouldn't we have thought about this first?
I am not opposed to the inclusion of everyone in all the opportunities open to us all. I am opposed to the notion of "one size fits all, local schooling", (though, of course, now that certain sections of the Labour Party are busily adopting lotteries as an answer to allocating school places , it is logically impossible for them to advocate all children inclusively attending their local school). I am opposed to compulsion in education. I am in favour of a definition of "inclusion" that does not argue for compelling sameness, but recognises our diversities (were there not diversity, you would not need to argue for inclusion), puts parents' wishes first and promotes alternatives and choice.
A local primary school is faced with its first pupil with cerebral palsy. They will admit, privately, that they have not a clue how to teach this child (learning difficulties, a touch of autism maybe, some visual impairment, weak fine motor control - but able to manage an electric wheelchair). Sheffield is heading towards the closure of its only specialist school for children with physical disabilities. Barnsley did so some years ago. Doncaster is, I believe, doing so this year. Rotherham I know not of. And all of this is happening before we have any debate on training or pedagogy or curriculum .... and with the result that SEN Magazine can think it appropriate, even important, to have a special feature, not on the needs of these children, not on the wishes of their parents for alternatives nor on the latest research into the education and upbringing of children with cerebral palsy but on "how the educational sector will cope".
Is this not a species of insanity?
