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Development of Inclusive Education in England: Impact on Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

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Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education

Abstract

This chapter considers a historical account of the development of inclusion in England and the changes made to the education of children with SEND since the 1940s. The chapter details the development of inclusive education, the complexity of defining inclusion, and what inclusion has come to mean in current practice. This historical account is considered alongside the development and dominance of the standards agenda. In considering inclusion in this manner, the original intentions of its agenda are questioned against the practical implementation of inclusive education in current practice. The chapter concludes by proposing that significant progress has not been made with inclusion because it has not been possible to accommodate it within the competing political agendas replete in England’s education system.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK

    Zeta Williams-Brown

  2. Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK

    Alan Hodkinson

Authors
  1. Zeta Williams-Brown
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  2. Alan Hodkinson
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Correspondence to Zeta Williams-Brown .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo, CA, USA

    Rosemary Papa

Section Editor information

  1. Faculty of Health, Education and Well-being, University of Wolverhampton, Walsall, UK

    David John Matheson

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Williams-Brown, Z., Hodkinson, A. (2020). Development of Inclusive Education in England: Impact on Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. In: Papa, R. (eds) Handbook on Promoting Social Justice in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14625-2_151

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