Special Schools, Inclusion, and Justice

Special Schools, Inclusion, and Justice discusses special school provision in an education policy climate in which inclusion is the dominant motif. In this context, the special school sector is an anomaly and special schools inevitably occupy an uncertain and somewhat invidious position. This situation raises a number of questions concerning matters of justice and fairness with respect to special schools and their communities. It also raises questions about the validity of the view that only inclusion can represent justice in education for disabled children and young people. Special Schools, Inclusion, and Justice explores these matters from a philosophical perspective that centres on the broader question of what, in regard to where they go to school, might constitute a just state of affairs in education provision for disabled children. The New Zealand education context provides the case in point in the book, but the matters it examines and the broader argument and philosophical analysis that it pursues have a much wider international significance and application given the pervasive and dominant influence of inclusion in education policy across the world. Special Schools, Inclusion, and Justice offers a new perspective to international debates and conversations about matters to do with inclusion, justice, and the education of disabled children. It will be of particular interest to scholars working in the field of education in areas such as inclusive and special education, philosophy of education, sociology, and policy studies.

Trish McMenamin (PhD in education, University of Canterbury) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Canterbury. Her research interests include philosophy of education, inclusive education, and education policy. She has published articles in these areas in scholarly journals including the Cambridge Journal of Education and Policy Futures in Education.