Micro-politics of Inclusive Education : An Ethnography

"This book is sustained and significant in its argument, complex in its analysis and highly original. It is extremely well written and a pleasure to read stylistically as well as sociologically." - Professor Sheila Riddell, Director, Strathclyde Centre for Disability Research, University of Glasgow. "Shereen Benjamin's work opens up new ways of thinking about learning difficulties. This beautifully written book explores the school lives and identities of young women who find school work extraordinarily difficult for a range of reasons. It is a book to read, and read again for the rich vein of thinking about schooling and special needs that it opens up. All who are involved in teaching, policy making or school management and who are concerned about these young people should read it." - Professor Debbie Epstein, Head of the Department of Educational Studies, Goldsmiths College, University of London. * How is 'inclusive education' being translated into practice at school and classroom level? This book is a detailed account and analysis of students' experiences of 'inclusion' in a girls' comprehensive school. It uses theories associated with feminist post-structuralism to explain and critique the micro/political processes through which students identified as having 'special educational needs' make sense of the school and of themselves as school students. Central to the argument of the book is a critical engagement with current notions of school effectiveness and school improvement. The Micropolitics of Inclusive Education looks at how governmental policy initiatives - on school improvement and SEN/inclusion - are translated into practice by the school, and at how this practice is lived and understood by the girls. The book also explores the significance of multiple sites of difference - including social class, race, gender/sexuality and physical appearance - in the girls' schooling experiences. This book shows how 'effective' schooling can have unintended and inegalitarian effects for some of the most vulnerable students in schools, and unravels some of the complexities facing students and teachers as schools move towards inclusive education.