The irresistible rise of the SEN industry

Abstract

This article offers some explanations for the simultaneous expansion of special educational services and personnel, with the increasing inclusion in mainstream education of more young people with disabilities and learning difficulties. Following discussions with some 70 professionals, administrators and others in a study in four countries, it suggests that underpinning mass education systems in developed and developing countries is an expanded and expensive 'SEN industry'. Governments have acquiesced in the development of this industry, conceding its importance in dealing with groups who may be increasingly surplus to labour requirements in 'knowledge economies' and also in need of social control measures. It is unlikely that special education will disappear despite commitments to inclusive education. The article notes that those defined as in need of special educational attention vary at different historical times and between different professions, but a majority of those regarded as having learning and/or behaviour problems were always largely from the lower social classes. Although historically middleclass parents usually denied they had 'defective' children, and avoided stigmatised categorisation or schooling, now the middle classes and aspirant parents increasing claim classification, funding and resourcing for children who are unlikely to achieve in competitive market-driven school systems. The needs of parents, for their children to be resourced on the basis of medical or therapeutic 'diagnosis', the continuing needs of teachers encouraged or coerced to 'raise standards' to be free of troublesome and disruptive pupils, and the needs of an expanding number of professionals and practitioners, including neuroscientists and 'brain' experts, to expand their clientele are further explanations offered for the rise of the SEN industry.

Care-less spaces and identity construction: transition to secondary school for disabled children

“…This justifies parental efforts to obtain an official diagnosis and use the label to gain support for their child (Tomlinson 2012). However, this does not always mean that the interventions employed after a statement/assessment will be suitable to the child's needs (Lauchlan and Boyle 2007), or if any addition care-full work will be implemented.…”

“…However, this does not always mean that the interventions employed after a statement/assessment will be suitable to the child's needs (Lauchlan and Boyle 2007), or if any addition care-full work will be implemented. Tomlinson (2012) believes many parents pursue a diagnosis to access specialist services because of the nature of education in contemporary societies. Qualifications and entry to higher education are considered necessary for members to function in an economy which is grounded in knowledge acquisition.…”

Reasons for avoidance of vocational education in Jordan

“…Counsellors are inclined to encourage students to choose a career preferred by their parents (Tomlinson, 2012). If counsellors commended that some careers are better than others, they would reduce the chances of the students" choice.…”

Social Justice and Lower Attainers in a Global Knowledge Economy

“…Parents are driven by anxieties that with constantly raised qualification levels and intense competitive environments their 'less-able' children will be unable to find or keep paid work, although middle-class parents are still likely to avoid placement of their children on vocational courses. It is the case that the expansion of education systems has led to an expansion of institutional arrangements for all these lower attaining young people, and the whole edifice of mass education in a global economy is now underpinned by expansion for lower achievers and those with learning difficulties or disabilities [16].…”