Contributions from: Maggie Balshaw.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to describe the evaluative research project on inclusive education in the London Borough of Harrow. This project was initiated by the borough in response to the government's proposals, both on LEA-school partnerships, and on the requirement on LEA's to make policy statements about current and future practice in the field of inclusive schooling. Harrow LEA has a policy, developed over the last ten years, of moving towards more inclusive practices. There is evidence of this in the LEA's support for some of its schools in participating in two projects during the last five years. These are the Unesco project 'Effective Schools for All' (EsfA), and the development of the 'Index of Inclusive Schools' (a project coordinated jointly by CSIE, the University of Manchester and Christchurch University College, Canterbury).
The research project seeks to develop a set of understandings about what has been enabling all the LEA's schools in moving towards both more inclusive classroom practice and more inclusive whole-school contexts. It does this through sampling in EsfA schools, Index schools and others that have not been involved in either project. This paper will provide detailed accounts of the interim findings of the project and will form an agenda for symposium discussions that facilitate the comparison of others' experiences with those described. It is characterised as 'work-in-progress' and therefore interactive discussion opportunities through a symposium format would be valuable.
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