Enabling, hearing and giving weight to students’ views of special schooling in 21st century Ireland: do ‘dilemmas of difference’ apply?
Motherway, Colman
(2009)
Enabling, hearing and giving weight to students’ views of special schooling in 21st century Ireland: do ‘dilemmas of difference’ apply?
Doctor of Education thesis, Dublin City University.
Special schooling is increasingly under the microscope, with theory, policy and practice
converging towards inclusive education, and Irish legislation enshrining the principle o f
inclusive education fo r children who have special educational needs. Central to current
debate is the question o f whether or not to recognise difference: this has become known as the
‘dilemma o f difference'. In recent years, another social movement has also come under the
microscope, with increased emphasis and discourse on the concept o f children’s rights / views
o f children. Both o f these themes are central aspects o f this study.
This study aims to ascertain the views o f students who attend one special school, and in
particular whether ‘dilemmas o f difference’ apply fo r them. Using a range o f different
strategies such as focus groups, individual and paired interviews and written and pictorial
data created by participants, students ’ views on schooling are gathered and analysed. An
overarching theoretical perspective combining an open thesis o f insider epistemology, a
relational theory o f the subject, and a social relational model o f disability is used to fram e the
study. The findings are that dilemmas o f difference do apply fo r at least some o f the
participants, in particular in relation to identification, location and the status o f the school. A
dilemma o f difference in respect o f curriculum was fo u n d not to apply in this study.
This study is significant fo r the manner in which research is conducted with young people
with special educational needs, and its findings have implications fo r policy makers and
practitioners. While the movement towards inclusive schooling continues, it is apt to consider
and to give due weight to the views o f students, including those attending special schools.