School Without Walls

4

THE BRITISH SCENE

The term special educational needs or special needs education originated with the development of special education in Britain. The concept of special educational needs was introduced, for the first time, in the Warnock Committee report in 1978. The Committee had been appointed ‘to review educational provision in England, Scotland and Wales for children and young people handicapped by disabilities of body and mind’ (DES, 1978). A brief history of special education in Britain until the concept of ‘special educational needs’ introduced by the Warnock Committee follows.

The Education Act of 1870 had established the principle of mass education in England and Wales. Later, in 1893, the Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) ...