CHAPTER 1
Decisions and Dilemmas in Special Educational Needs
Legislative and Historical Perspectives
This chapter begins by exploring some of the historical background of special education in England and Wales and examines changes in attitudes and terminology towards children with a range of disabilities and learning difficulties.
The first hundred years of compulsory schooling began in 1870 with the Elementary Education Act. In the decades which followed, pressure grew from school boards and voluntary groups to provide a separate system for educating pupils with disabilities. Children with disabilities were seen as unfit for the large classes of fifty or more taught by teachers with no specialist training. The usual solution was to segregate ...
Get The SENCO Handbook, 5th Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
