This book uses detailed case studies of two secondary schools to examine the relationship between curriculum choice and gender identity among fourteen-year-old pupils making their first choices about what subjects to pursue at exam level. It reveals a two way process. Pupils decisions on what subject to take are influenced by how they perceive themselves in gender terms, and the curriculum once chosen reinforces their sense of gender divisions. The author looks at the influences on pupils at this stage in their lives from peers, family and the labour market as well as from teachers. She argues that the belief in freedom of choice and school neutrality espoused by many teachers can become an important factor in the reproduction of gender divisions, and that unless the introduction of the national curriculum is accompanied by systematic efforts to eradicate sexism from the hidden curriculum it will fail in its aim of creating greater equality of educational opportunity among the sexes.

Special Education and Globalization illustrates the way in which inclusive education has become the dominant discourse across Europe and the wider international context. Contributions to this book highlight the tensions evident within each jurisdiction, related to the construction of disability within specific historical and cultural antecedents. These tensions often involve the relationship between official policy discourses and grassroots practices based on the assumptions of classroom practitioners who may have strong views on individual deficits. Parents and voluntary organisations may also have an interest in asserting the 'specialness' of specific conditions which require provision outside the mainstream. Finally, the emergence of new bureaucratic structures in an era of heightened national and individual competition often run counter to the ethos of co-operation which informs inclusive practice. This book was originally published as a special issue of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.

The ongoing economic crisis raises fundamental questions about the political and social goals of the European Union, particularly the feasibility of harmonising social and education policy across member states. The forward momentum of the European project is clearly faltering, raising the possibility that the high water mark of European integration has been achieved, with implications for many aspects of education and social policy, including lifelong learning. This timely book makes a major and original contribution to the development of knowledge and understanding of lifelong learning in an expanded Europe. Its wide range of contributors look at the contribution of lifelong learning to economic growth and social cohesion across Europe, focusing its challenge to social exclusion. It draws on comparative data from the EU Sixth Framework Project Lifelong Learning Policy and Practice in Europe (LLL2010), which ran from 2005 - 2011 and involved twelve European countries and Russia. Very little research has been conducted to date on the nature of lifelong learning in post-Soviet countries, and this book provides important insights into their evolving education and lifelong learning systems. The book will be of interest to researchers and academics in the UK and Europe, especially those from social policy, adult and comparative education, equality studies and practice of lifelong learning.

This books examines the increased prominence of children's rights in education to ask whether we are witnessing a paradigm shift within the education system. The author uses a wide range of case studies from Scotland and England to examine the extent to which children and young people with Special Educational Needs/ Additional Support Needs are in practice able to realise their new rights of participation and redress. In addition, the book examines the ways in which the child's capacity to make independent decisions is understood and acted upon in different contexts, and the factors which ultimately promote or inhibit the rights of young people and children with SEN/ ASN. The author asks whether, in a context of tight budgets and often limited support, this new emphasis on children's rights can be seen as 'window-dressing' and a distraction from reductions in support for social welfare.

With contributions by recognised experts in the field of education law, this book is a comparative study of the resolution of special education disputes, including via mediation. It analyses the varying approaches in England, Scotland, the US and the Netherlands and addresses major questions of dispute resolution, redress, judicial and non-judicial approaches and the protection of citizens' rights. The first review of mediation in citizen v. state disputes outside the context of the courts, this topical book also incorporates findings from a recent ESRC study into dispute resolution in special educational needs cases. It will not only be of interest to those concerned with education issues but also those interested in administrative justice, especially the role of mediation generally

This book uses detailed case studies of two secondary schools to examine the relationship between curriculum choice and gender identity among fourteen-year-old pupils making their first choices about what subjects to pursue at exam level. It reveals a two way process. Pupils decisions on what subject to take are influenced by how they perceive themselves in gender terms, and the curriculum once chosen reinforces their sense of gender divisions. The author looks at the influences on pupils at this stage in their lives from peers, family and the labour market as well as from teachers. She argues that the belief in freedom of choice and school neutrality espoused by many teachers can become an important factor in the reproduction of gender divisions, and that unless the introduction of the national curriculum is accompanied by systematic efforts to eradicate sexism from the hidden curriculum it will fail in its aim of creating greater equality of educational opportunity among the sexes.

With contributions by recognised experts in the field of education law, this book is a comparative study of the resolution of special education disputes, including via mediation. It analyses the varying approaches in England, Scotland, the US and the Netherlands and addresses major questions of dispute resolution, redress, judicial and non-judicial approaches and the protection of citizens' rights. The first review of mediation in citizen v. state disputes outside the context of the courts, this topical book also incorporates findings from a recent ESRC study into dispute resolution in special educational needs cases. It will not only be of interest to those concerned with education issues but also those interested in administrative justice, especially the role of mediation generally

How do disabled students feel about their time at university? What practices and policies work and what challenges do they encounter? How do they view staff and those providing learning support?

This book sets out to show how disabled students experience university life today. The current generation of students is the first to move through university after the enactment of the Disability Discrimination Act, which placed responsibility on universities to create an inclusive environment for disabled students. The research on which the book is based focuses on a selected group of students with a variety of impairments, as they progress through their degree courses. On the way they encounter different styles of teaching and approaches to learning and assessment. The diversity of their views is reflected in the issues they raise: negotiating identities, dealing with transitions, encountering divergent and sometimes confusing teaching and assessment.

Improving Disabled Students Learning goes on to ask university staff how they experience these new demands to widen participation and create more inclusive learning climates. It explores their perspectives on their roles in a changing university sector. Offering insights into the workings of universities, as seen by their central participants, its findings will be of great interest to all practitioners who teach and support disabled students, as well as campaigners for an end to discrimination. Crucially, it foregrounds the views of disabled students themselves, giving rise to a complex, contradictory and always fascinating picture of university life from students whose voices are not always heard.

How do disabled students feel about their time at university? What practices and policies work and what challenges do they encounter? How do they view staff and those providing learning support?

This book sets out to show how disabled students experience university life today. The current generation of students is the first to move through university after the enactment of the Disability Discrimination Act, which placed responsibility on universities to create an inclusive environment for disabled students. The research on which the book is based focuses on a selected group of students with a variety of impairments, as they progress through their degree courses. On the way they encounter different styles of teaching and approaches to learning and assessment. The diversity of their views is reflected in the issues they raise: negotiating identities, dealing with transitions, encountering divergent and sometimes confusing teaching and assessment.

Improving Disabled Students Learning goes on to ask university staff how they experience these new demands to widen participation and create more inclusive learning climates. It explores their perspectives on their roles in a changing university sector. Offering insights into the workings of universities, as seen by their central participants, its findings will be of great interest to all practitioners who teach and support disabled students, as well as campaigners for an end to discrimination. Crucially, it foregrounds the views of disabled students themselves, giving rise to a complex, contradictory and always fascinating picture of university life from students whose voices are not always heard.

As wider access to higher education becomes a top priority for governments in the UK and around the world, this ground-breaking piece of work raises the challenging questions that policy-makers, vice-chancellors and government officials are reluctant to ask. A highly qualified team of authors have closely analyzed rates of participation and the experiences of disabled students in higher education over a two year period. They compare the responses of eight different universities to the new anti-discriminatory practice, contrasting their social profiles, academic missions, support systems for disabled students and approaches for the implementation of change. Change comes under particular scrutiny, with a close examination of each university's interpretation of 'reasonable adjustments', and the extent to which they have modified their campuses and teaching accordingly. Student case studies are used throughout to illustrate the real impact of institutional responses to the legislation. Disabled Students in Higher Education will make fascinating reading for students of education, social policy, politics, and disability studies, and for those working towards accredited university teacher status.

A presentation of research on disability in 2003, this text provides extensive coverage on the development of thinking cultures of disability; development of the social model of disability; disability and the politcs of social justice; and media treatement of disability, amongst other issues.

This book explores policy and practice in a range of areas where education and other agencies (health, social and employment services and housing) interact. Its theme, of joined up policy and inter-agency working, is central to all those interested in promoting social justice for adults and children experiencing the effects of exclusion.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203471970

This collection, written by researchers in the field, looks at how gender issues have affected educational policy in recent years. It explores how attempts to improve equal opportunities in education have fared and examines the tensions and contradictions in recent policies. The book is aimed at students on masters courses in education, and undergraduates on social policy and sociology courses.

Gender equality has been a major educational theme for the past two decades and has become interwoven with other policy themes, including those of marketisation and managerialism. Contributors to this strong collection are key researchers in their fields and seek to address the following questions:
* What patterns are discernible in the educational attainment of girls and boys over the past two decades?
* To what extent are changes attributable to gender equality policies?
* What form have gender equality policies taken in different parts of the UK?
* What has been the impact of European equality policies?
* How have gender equality policies been experienced by particular groups including pupils from ethnic minority and working-class backgrounds?
This book aims to take an overall look at how significant have been the changes in experiences, aspirations and culture of girls and boys and male and female teachers. It explores how attempts to improve equal opportunities in education have fared and examines the tensions and contradications in recent policies.

This book, first published in 1994, explores the impact which changes in thinking and policy at national and local level have had upon the educational experiences of children and young people with special needs in England, Scotland and Wales. Two major factors are discussed. Firstly, there is the thinking of the late 1970s which emerges in documents such as the Warnock report and the legislation which followed it. Secondly, the authors examine the educational policy and legislation of the 1980s and early 1990s which aimed to encourage the operation of market forces. Through the various articles in this collection, the contributors discuss both the common themes and the tensions created by these changes, and assess the effect these have had on special needs education in practice.

This book, first published in 1994, explores the impact which changes in thinking and policy at national and local level have had upon the educational experiences of children and young people with special needs in England, Scotland and Wales. Two major factors are discussed. Firstly, there is the thinking of the late 1970s which emerges in documents such as the Warnock report and the legislation which followed it. Secondly, the authors examine the educational policy and legislation of the 1980s and early 1990s which aimed to encourage the operation of market forces. Through the various articles in this collection, the contributors discuss both the common themes and the tensions created by these changes, and assess the effect these have had on special needs education in practice.

As wider access to higher education becomes a top priority for governments in the UK and around the world, this ground-breaking piece of work raises the challenging questions that policy-makers, vice-chancellors and government officials are reluctant to ask.

A highly qualified team of authors have closely analyzed rates of participation and the experiences of disabled students in higher education over a two year period. They compare the responses of eight different universities to the new anti-discriminatory practice, contrasting their social profiles, academic missions, support systems for disabled students and approaches for the implementation of change. Change comes under particular scrutiny, with a close examination of each university's interpretation of 'reasonable adjustments', and the extent to which they have modified their campuses and teaching accordingly. Student case studies are used throughout to illustrate the real impact of institutional responses to the legislation.

Disabled Students in Higher Education will make fascinating reading for students of education, social policy, politics, and disability studies, and for those working towards accredited university teacher status.

Special Education and Globalization illustrates the way in which inclusive education has become the dominant discourse across Europe and the wider international context. Contributions to this book highlight the tensions evident within each jurisdiction, related to the construction of disability within specific historical and cultural antecedents. These tensions often involve the relationship between official policy discourses and grassroots practices based on the assumptions of classroom practitioners who may have strong views on individual deficits. Parents and voluntary organisations may also have an interest in asserting the 'specialness' of specific conditions which require provision outside the mainstream. Finally, the emergence of new bureaucratic structures in an era of heightened national and individual competition often run counter to the ethos of co-operation which informs inclusive practice. This book was originally published as a special issue of Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.

First published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.