“Social Policy First Hand”

Michelle Daley reviews the chapter “Education (ignorance) addressing inclusive education: the issues and its importance from a participatory perspective” by Tara Flood & Navin Kikabhai, from the book Social Policy First Hand by P Beresford and S Carr (Bristol University Press 2018).

This chapter, part of a book on user involvement in social policy, is an introduction to inclusive education, its importance in the context of disability rights, the background of the inclusive education movement in the UK in the 1990s, and the emergence of ALLFIE.

It describes the struggle of Disabled people and the support of their allies in campaigning for political change to get inclusive education on the agenda. It addresses the UK’s continued dual system of mainstream and segregated education, which is contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We learn that the disabled learners most likely to be segregated are those with significant impairments.

It looks at reforms since 2010 which have sabotaged decades of positive work around inclusive education. The chapter ends with recognition of the challenges to ALLFIE and other disabled people-led organisations.