Issues relating to the categorisation and labelling of pupils, and, the use of the terms ‘special educational needs’ and ‘disability’ in particular, have been the topic of debate in BJSE before. In this article, Sue Keil, a research officer at the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), Olga Miller, of the Institute of Education, University of London, and Rory Cobb, a development officer at the RNIB, summarise some of the key findings from a review carried out on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC). The authors highlight confusion over the use of terms that represent differing ideological perspectives. Despite the social focus that characterises much of the discourse about disability, disability is frequently regarded as an aspect of special educational needs, an area in which a medical model is often dominant. These confusions benefit neither children with disabilities nor those with less clearly‐defined difficulties. Sue Keil, Olga Miller and Rory Cobb note with interest recent developments in Scotland where a new framework based on the concept of ‘additional support needs' separates disability from educational need and is intended to represent a more inclusive approach to children's learning.

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March this year saw the publication of the first report for more than ten years to address key issues concerning the initial training, induction and continuing professional development of teachers with responsibilities for pupils with special educational needs. Entitled Professional Development to Meet Special Educational Needs the Report has been produced by a working party of the Special Educational Needs Training Consortium (SENTC) and funded by the Department for Education and Employment. Olga Miller, Chair, and Malcolm Garner, Secretary, of the Consortium, chart the development of SENTC, summarise the Report and, from its recommendations, identify future options for sustainable teacher training and development in relation to pupils with special educational needs.

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