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The involvement of all participants within all aspects of the research process is a well-established challenge for participatory research. This is particularly evident in relation to data analysis and dissemination. A novel way of understanding and approaching this challenge emerged through a large-scale international, 3-year participatory research project involving over 200 disabled people. This approach enabled people to be involved at all stages of the research in a manner that was collectively recognised to be participatory and also delivered high-quality findings. At the heart of this emergent approach to participatory research is an engagement with risk. This research note explores the types of risks involved in delivering research that seeks to be authentically participatory.

Despite decades of effort to achieve inclusive education systems, the emphasis on special education persists. This article explores the contradictory impulses that underpin these two concepts and considers whether they can be brought together. It does this through the development of two models; a model of certainty and a ?model of uncertainty?. These models seek to represent and create a platform for thinking about the emergence and perpetuation of these two contradictory impulses and how these contradictions are experienced and might be resolved.

This article reports on a study of practitioners’ use of In-the-Picture – a reflective, observational approach – when delivering early intervention programmes to young disabled children. To date, In-the-Picture has been used mainly by researchers to study interactions and learning between young children, practitioners and the children’s parents in home and early childhood settings. Practitioners involved in this early research had expressed an interest in using the tool themselves. This project aimed to engage such potential users, support them in using the approach and gain evidence of its impact upon their practice. In-the-Picture facilitates listening and communication between adults and children with learning disabilities. It is based upon a sociocultural understanding of learning, seeing the parents, children and practitioners as agents participating in an emerging teaching and learning process. It derives from a qualitative grounded research method which enables the researcher to consider the child’s perspective, through the use of first-person narrative observation, photography of the child’s focus of attention and reflective discussion with the child, practitioners and family. This study involved 10 Portage services in England, who provide weekly home visits with a focus on supporting play and communication with their child. Training was delivered to over 80 Portage Home Visitors across these 10 services. A selected sample of 20 practitioners, 2 from each service, was interviewed after 6 weeks and again within focus groups after 3 months. All interviewees used the approach in their own way and identified challenges in its use, but In-the-Picture was seen as relevant and valuable by all the participants, producing changes in thinking and practice, while proving flexible and simple to use. The study also exemplified how current early-intervention working practices in England limit the opportunity to engage with the child’s perspective and how practitioners value having the opportunity to do so.

This paper reports on the first systematic review of literature associated with participatory research involving people identified with sensory impairments and/or intel- lectual impairments. It was initiated as part of ARCHES, an European Union-funded heritage project. The review sought to examine processes and activities used for organising participatory research involving people identified with sensory and/or intellectual impairments. 54 papers were included, involving studies from 14 countries and varying numbers of participants across different time scales. Insights were gained into use of advisory groups, organisation and support, collecting and analysing data, sharing findings and activity types. Emergent themes enabled an identification of the while of participation. The while represents the tensions, outcomes and component parts which are evident within the multiple moments that span an experience of participatory research. Participation is not about types of activity but how any activity is undertaken.

Augmented reality (AR) technology possesses several affordances that can support disabled museum visitors. A structured research review was used to examine the ways in which AR being used in, or developed for, museums to support access for disabled people and /or those with cognitive or sensory impairments. It also considers the extent to which the underpinning research approaches are inclusive. The findings suggest that AR can positively transform aspects of disabled users’ museums experiences. However, disabled people’s involvement in AR research, intended for use by them, appears problematic.

This paper reports on a systematic review of how intelligence-based classification within schools shapes lives and identities of individuals, families and communities. Formal education has long divided learners, formally and informally between and within schools. These practices have remained in place despite strong evidence to suggest they are problematic, both in relation to the equitable nature of the practices involved and in their impact upon pedagogy, expectations and outcomes. This review examined what was known about the impact of intelligence-based selection upon people’s lived experience, in the short term and longitudionally. \ud \ud From 3623 possible papers published since 1944, only 85 had a focus upon children’s schooling, intelligence-based selection, and the lives and identities of individuals, families or communities. It was evident that very little consideration has been given to longitudinal impact of selection practices, including a paucity of life history approaches. \ud \ud Three broad strands of intelligence classification research were evident related to: \ud ● entrance examinations/criteria/Standardised Assessment Tests (SATS)\ud ● gifted and talented\ud ● streaming/setting/tracking\ud with most concentrating upon a single selection mechanism and quantitative measures. Looking across these strands, educational selection was seen to impact on people’s lives, identities and relationships, creating and perpetuating social hierarchies and divisions. It was overall a conflicted experience with more negative effects than positive. However, the literature largely failed to investigate the broader, interconnected influences of the knowledge hierarchy and its impact upon people’s lived experiences.

Purpose This paper aims to report the findings of a systematized literature review focusing on participatory research and accessibly in the context of assistive technologies, developed for use within museums by people with sensory impairments or a learning disability. The extent and nature of participatory research that occurs within the creation of technologies to facilitate accessible museum experiences is uncertain, and this is therefore a focus of this paper. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a systematized literature review and subsequent thematic analysis. Findings A screening of 294 research papers produced 8 papers for analysis in detail. A thematic analysis identified that the concept of accessibly has nuanced meanings, underpinned by social values; the attractiveness of a technology is important in supporting real-life usability; and that the conceptualization of participation should extend beyond the end users. Social implications The argument is made that increasing the participation of people with sensory impairments and learning disabilities in the research process will benefit the design of technologies that facilitate accessibility for these groups. Originality/value An original notion of participation has emerged from this review. It includes the participation and goals of disabled people but has expanded the concept to encompass museum personnel and indeed the physical and social spaces of the museums and heritage sites themselves. This constructs a broad of participation, with different aspects being reflected across the review’s research papers.

This paper is an introduction to the (virtual) special issue “Students’ voice in inclusive education” in which several international studies are collected to present research on students’ thoughts, needs, ideas and perspectives on inclusion in education. In addition to the papers of the special issue, the current paper will provide the reasoning and a theoretical background for the special issue. The impetus of the special issue will be closed with a critical reflection and recommendation for researchers and practitioners in the field of inclusive education.

This article reports on a survey of network and Wi-Fi enabled technologies to support disabled learners in museums and similar cultural heritage environments. In this study, literature is classified using the Epistemological Model of Disability, classifying and defining methodologies and ontologies as it does so. Data was collected using a systematic literature review using six academic databases, which included peer-reviewed articles from a range of sources. The analysis addressed two research questions, and was developed in three phases: the first phase examined trends, definitions and methods of teaching and learning in cultural heritage; the second categorized genres that emerged in the first phase and discussed meta-levels; the third developed a critical discussion on teaching and learning models. The study had two principal findings: 1) museums have done much to make themselves part of the inclusion agenda, 2) more needs to be done to improve management strategies, increase agency and reduce practice using deficit models.

A comprehensive literature review was undertaken in order to identify design approaches that have been employed with users who have learning disabilities or sensory impairment; the factors that influenced their choices and the extent to which the approaches and techniques adopted were successful. There was a huge variation across the corpus regarding whether a justification was offered for the choice of approach and the extent to which those justifications were supported by evidence. In addition there was a lack of comprehensive evaluation of the design approaches. Technology designers who intend working with users with learning disabilities or sensory impairments therefore currently have little to help them decide which design approach might be the most appropriate or effective.

BACKGROUND: Existing generic technology design principles and guidelines are considered not to be sensitive enough to meet the needs of people with learning difficulties.\ud \ud OBJECTIVE: To propose a unified design framework that can inform the design of technologies for people with learning difficulties\ud \ud METHODS: A literature search was undertaken and the resulting papers were analysed and coded in order to identify common ideas or recommendations that could be clustered into design principles.\ud \ud RESULTS: Four main categories of design principles were identified: learning support, accessibility, usability and agency. A conceptual framework incorporating diversity, difference and digital inclusion offers a way to understand the consequences of applying or not applying some or all of the principles.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS: A unified framework for the design of technologies for people with learning difficulties has the potential to fill the gap that more generic design guidelines cannot fill with regards to meeting the very specific needs of people with learning difficulties.

This chapter explores how the class and the subject can act as barriers to participation. It argues that if teachers and other education practitioners wish to overcome these barriers, there is a need to reimagine the class and how it operates. This change needs to happen holistically, building upon an understanding of the class as situated within a 'community of provision'. The chapter focuses on creative use of metaphor to develop a fresh and radical conceptualisation of how true and universal inclusion may be achieved in practice. Subject areas are both underpinned by and maintain the notion of technical rationality; the belief that to become a professional one must acquire generalised, systematic, theoretical or scientific knowledge. The class is traditionally a hierarchical space, both for pupils and staff. It is frequently a site of alienation and marginalisation.

The notion of the continuum is applied to special education in diverse contexts across many nations. This article explores its conceptual underpinnings, drawing on a systematic search of the literature to review recurring ideas associated with the notion and to explicate both its uses and shortcomings. Through a thematic analysis of the literature, the research team derived 29 continua, situated within six broad groupings (space, students, staffing, support, strategies, and systems). This provides a clear structure for reconsidering the issues that the notion of the continuum is supposed to describe and enables a reconceptualization of how the delivery of services is represented. We present the initial underpinnings for a community of provision in which settings and services work together to provide learning and support for all children and young people in their locality.

This case study explores the use of the In-the-Picture approach to engage with the views and experiences of very young children and people with whom typical communication approaches are not effective. It describes this qualitative grounded method which enables the researcher to consider the child’s perspective, through the use of first person narrative observation, photography of the child’s focus of attention and reflective discussion with the child, practitioners and family. Four examples of research undertaken using this approach will be discussed, outlining how it has been used to explore children’s experiences and relationships in the early years. It concludes with some suggestions of further possible uses for In-the-Picture.

This paper explores tensions between the social nature of learning and the current emphasis upon individual support. It contrasts the focus upon context in discussions with parents and practitioners with the focus upon the individual within formal and informal written documents. This is situated within the first author’s experiences as a parent researcher, drawing upon ethnographic research carried out with families involved in early intervention and an evaluation of over 150 pages of documentation supplied by a father involved within the research in relation to his son. It identifies the need for assessment and evaluation to focus upon and record the broad range of context which influences learning. \ud \ud Points of interest\ud • Practitioners and parents are aware of the many contextual factors which affect their capacity to support children.\ud • Parents and practitioners informally discuss issues arising from many contexts but not as a formal part of assessment, funding and support decisions. \ud • The focus on the individual in formal and informal written reports excludes the context and subsequently works against the social nature of learning.\ud • Requiring a broad range of contexts to be focussed upon and recorded within assessment has the potential to benefit everyone involved in learning.

This project aimed to create a descriptive map of international research which explores the notion of the continuum of educational provision for children with special educational needs. It also aimed to determine and examine the nature of how the continuum of provision is conceptualised, operationalised and enacted in a sample of selected countries. Commissioned by the National Council for Special Education, it also identified implications for the development of provision within the Irish context. The research involved a systematic identification and thematic review of theory, identifying and examining literature associated with the conceptualisation of the continuum; it examined the policy and provision across 55 administrations as publically reported, primarily to international agencies; it carried out more detailed examination of policy and practice in 10 countries using a survey and vignette study; and it involved a series of interviews with a range of individuals in a range of settings in four countries with differing approaches to supporting children with special educational needs. This paper outlines the overall findings of the research. It focuses in particular upon the need to change how we think about provision associated with continua, recognising the lack of international coherence in approaches to support for pupils with special educational needs. It identifies in particular the opportunities presented by a reconceptualisation of the class and the management of class resources, and the role key personnel can play in creating links between diverse services.

Early intervention activities for very young disabled children are frequently linked to developmental targets and goals. A key challenge for parents and practitioners involved in early intervention programmes is to encourage their child to play and develop creatively through enjoyable, everyday childhood experiences. This paper reports on a small-scale ethnographic study involving two young children identified with Down syndrome participating in early intervention programmes and whether and how their creative process was supported through their play and activities with parents and professionals. The ‘in-the-picture’ method used within this ethnographic study was developed from a listening to children paradigm. This article provides examples of the ways in which early intervention that recognises child agency can support children’s play and self-directing ‘little c’ of creativity.

The need for reflection is widely written about and positioned as a key aspect of continuing professional development. This paper examines the manner in which practitioners are encouraged to be reflective within the English system and the barriers they face. It questions whether such a complex, reaffirming system can allow for genuine critical engagement, how we come to buy into our models of thinking and their impact upon our understanding of learners and their skills. The paper highlights the importance of reflection particularly in relation to issues of inclusion, and explores the challenges using recent ethnographic research with families of young children with a label of Down syndrome. It challenges our focus upon the individual and through a socio-cultural model of development demonstrates the need for practitioners to reflect upon the developing context which we create and out of which we are created.

This paper examines the processes involved in a participatory inclusive research project in Liverpool and Merseyside, UK. The project involved 25 people with learning difficulties - the Heritage Forum - visiting 13 cultural and heritage sites on more than 50 occasions across a 15-month period. The research provides a much needed resource at a time when there is a lack of provision for, and research into, the intellectual accessibility of cultural and heritage sites in the UK and globally. This paper details the research approach taken by the Heritage Forum, providing a flexible protocol about ways of working with groups and individuals with learning difficulties. It also reports on the Heritage Forum's general findings about the cultural and heritage sites, providing some initial guidance about how to best include this diverse population.

The production of simplified language materials (SLMs) is a widespread practitioner response to delivering a curriculum to a diverse student population across mainstream settings. This paper examines the approaches of two groups of teachers and support staff in producing SLMs. It firstly reports on SLMs produced by 33 practitioners, identifying four main approaches. It then surveys 43 practitioners to test the reliability of these identified approaches. It offers a conceptual framework for describing SLMs and exploring their possible efficacy, highlighting the need to examine SLMs within the class context and their value as a tool of educational engagement.

The article reports the views of parents of children with Down syndrome in the United Kingdom, and those of a parent-researcher, who have recently been or are currently involved in early intervention programmes. It reports on a series of semi-structured interviews with nine parents of eight children with Down syndrome and the reflective engagement of the parent-researcher. The parents reflect upon learning moments and activities with their child that have been most enjoyable, effective and easy to carry out, as well as those that were difficult or a potential cause of conflict. They also prioritise situations that had a positive impact upon their child's learning. This research adds a parental voice to evidence that suggests a need to place a greater emphasis on learning that comes from the child's interests and less upon developmental goals, and the positive impact this may have for both the parents and children currently being encouraged to engage in early intervention programmes.

Background In recent years there has been increasing interest in creating diversity of educational provision to meet the full range of needs presented by learners. This is both a reflection, and a partial consequence, of the three central agendas for schooling in many countries—standards, choice and inclusion, and the growth in information communication technologies and associated systems. The complexity of available ‘school’ types makes it increasingly difficult for individuals to explore the differences between the educational programmes on offer. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to map the different forms of provision into a typology that will provide theorists, practitioners, users and policy-makers with a clear set of descriptors to explore current structures and to consider future developments. Nine types of education programme are categorized. Theoretical origins The paper takes the three distinct alternative education types, identified by Raywid, as a starting-point for this Educational Progra...

This paper examines the current use of simplified language materials (SLMs) by teachers and support staff across England. Drawing on a survey of Primary and Secondary schools it identifies the degree to which teachers and support staff use and produce SLMs. It explores both the contradictions and similarities between practitioners’ perceptions of the value of SLMs and the existing research base and policy and professional guidance. It focuses, in particular, on the significance of the perception that SLMs increase comprehension and improves access. It highlights the need to further examine SLM production so as to assess their value as an inclusive education tool.

This paper explores the experiences of early intervention for three families in England. The case study research considers parental perspectives and children's experiences of early intervention: what do parents want and what are children's experiences? In particular the ways in which parents and children participate in early intervention programmes in order to support learning will be explained. Case study data includes interviews with four parents. The early intervention experiences of three children with Down Syndrome aged 3–4 years old will be described and placed within the context of early years and inclusive education policy and practice in England (DfES, 2001, 2003a,b; 2004a; TSO, 2003; QCA, 2000). Recent recognition within Government policy towards increased parental involvement in the learning of young children will be considered within the context of inclusive education and early years policy and practice. The ways in which parents are encouraged to be involved in developing the learning of their children and their support from professional services will be considered. The parents' views and experiences enable a conceptualisation of the implementation of policy and practice, in relation to the opportunities provided and the difficulties encountered. The tensions identified raise questions about whether parents are receiving the kinds of support they need and expect, and in particular whether suitable consideration has been given to the pedagogic models being applied through early intervention programmes.

This article examines how the recommended pedagogy for people with Down syndrome may be of use to a wide range of other individuals within a mainstream school setting. Drawing on current practices within English education, it describes the evidence behind the current advice about the language to be used in materials for people with Down syndrome, and then examines why similar language forms have been devalued as teaching tools in relation to people who are learning English as an additional language. The article then describes the use of differentiated materials in a secondary school and the problems that this both highlights and generates. Drawing on these three strands, as well as current best practice and research into comprehension and simple English, this article then proposes a possible usage for simplified language materials (SLMs) at transition points of lessons. It suggests that if SLMs are used at these specific moments within lessons they could be of value to the whole class, and serve as a useful inclusive pedagogy. The article highlights the need for further research into the possible use of SLMs within mainstream schools.

In the mid 1990s, I was involved in adapting some Year 10 (age 14-15) geography materials that explored the development of the Norfolk Broads and issues surrounding their sustainability. The materials took the form of a booklet with pictures, text and a wide variety of activities.The text and activities were intended to be easily accessible, making minimal assumptions about both prior geographic and linguistic knowledge. The activities reinforced both academic and language development and encouraged students to explore issues in many different ways. Students could work their way through the booklet at their own speed, though there were plenty of opportunities for them to work together or to bring in personal experience and previous knowledge.The booklet was primarily produced for students who had English as an additional language, but was also used by a wide variety of students in the class alongside a more linguistically complex booklet. These two booklets represented a six-week course of work.There was always an overlap in the conceptual content of the booklets and often an overlap in activities, particularly those which were open-ended. Students with all sorts of differing characteristics successfully worked through these topic booklets, carrying out the activities with enthusiasm.This form of working was one which the students had experienced before, and reflected the close team-teaching approach that the class teacher used with myself and others.We felt that it was a successful working relationship.We were also pleased that students who had only recently arrived in the UK often managed to achieve E, D or C at GCSE.

While activists, politicians and policy-makers grapple with the big picture, teachers and learners are making inclusion happen in their day-to-day lives. This unique text shows the importance and reality of curriculum and pedagogy in developing inclusive practice in a range of settings. Bringing together an exemplary collection of key articles, this Reader provides ways of thinking about inclusive curricula and pedagogy as starting points for possible action, as wel as: * illustrating how teachers can get education right or wrong for diverse learners depending on the pedagogical decisions they make; * discussing the role of the ordinary, special and inclusive pedagogy; * showing examples of teaching that elicits genuine participation and active learning; * providing case studies, and lessons from learners about what makes good teaching for them. Curriculum and Pedagogy in Inclusive Education will be inspirational reading for anyone with an interest in making inclusion happen.

Inclusion is generally recognised as an ongoing, active process which reflects shifts in policies, practice and values as well as political choices made over long periods of time. Drawing upon research visits set 10 years apart, this study aims to examine how two schools with clear inclusive aspirations and intentions have weathered the last decade and reports on their perception of the journey travelled. Data from the research show that in both cases there was a shift away from practices that were previously seen as being central to the development of inclusion, caused by the interplay between political, pedagogic and social factors. The study also suggests that the pervasive influence of the special education and medical model can shape the extent of change in schools.

This article, by Alice Paige-Smith and Jonathan Rix, considers the current context of early intervention in England from the perspective and experiences of two families and in particular focuses on two young children identified as having Down syndrome. This case study research has emerged from previous research conducted by the authors, both of whom are Senior Lecturers at the Open University and have a wealth of experience across all phases of education. Their previous research involved interviews with parents of children diagnosed as having Down syndrome, which raised further questions about early intervention and the pedagogical relationship between the parent and the child, and recognised that ‘early intervention’ can be more than structured activities led by professionals. The research in this article, which has been funded by the British Academy, used ethnographic methodology to understand the process of early intervention with two young children with Down syndrome and their families. The methodology developed to include narrative first-person observation of the child and photography. In addition to this a method of reflecting on the process of early intervention developed that included the researchers, the parent and the child. The development of this research methodology is considered in detail in this article.

This article reports on a three-year systematic literature review funded by the UK Training and Development Agency for Schools. In order to begin to answer the question posed by the title of this article, the researchers systematically reviewed the literature with reported outcomes for the academic and social inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. This reviewprocess led to a focus upon peer-group interactions, the nature of teacher and pupil interactions and wholeclass, subject-based pedagogies. This series of reviews highlights that within the complexities of a diverse mainstream classroom teachers’ effectiveness is strongly influenced by their recognition of their responsibility for all learners and the centrality of social interaction to learning, as well as having a shared understanding of characteristics, skills and knowledge associated with a subject. It is also strongly influenced by a facility to plan for and to encourage participation in a communal learning experience through flexible groupings and roles, offering diverse ppportunities to engage with concepts and practices using tivities the learner finds meaningful. Effective practices are not about the teacher alone, but are rooted in the community oflearners – including other practitioners – with whom they work.

This paper considers the agency and identity of parents of children with Down syndrome within early intervention. It draws upon semi-structured, conversational interviews with nine parents and the reflections of one of the authors upon their experiences within early intervention programmes. It considers how representations of the deficit model permeate the participation of the parent in this process. It explores the multiple identities of the parents and links these to notions of parental participation within the current policy context of early intervention in England. The notion of parental agency is an implicit driver within the current early intervention programmes, yet it appears to be compromised by the nature of those programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]