theory into practice cannot be morally right to include all children in mainstream schools if this means that some of them will not be able to receive the education most appropriate for their needs” (Hornby 2012: 54). It may however be appropriate to have some link schools, where mainstream and special schools work together to provide some integration opportunities with appropriate support (Heggarty 1988). So, the weight of current opinion within the research community is that inclusion should refer to the practice of meeting the needs of those children with SEN whose needs are such that they can be met by the mainstream school. Given this, Hattie’s (2009) influential analysis of the beneficial effect of learning support makes it very clear that it is important that children remain in the class with their teacher as the best qualified professional and are supported there as far as is possible.
Principles: The Big Picture
Even so, some parents are concerned that if their child is identified as having special educational needs that they will become labelled and stigmatised. Norwich (2010: 91)notes that there is a tension, a “dilemma of difference” in that if children are identified as having SEN there is a risk of negative labelling and stigma, while if they are not identified as having SEN then there is a risk that they will not get the teaching they require and their needs will not be met. Sadly, society labels us all in many ways and it is the opinion of many within the research community that avoiding identifying SEN will not prevent children being labelled, but that it may prevent them from getting the education that they need. In this regard, the curriculum must be appropriate for SEN children. As Warnock notes, it is particularly important for many children with SEN that there should be a balance between academic achievement and personal and social development.
Assessment Even when instruction is planned with great care, delivered effectively, and in a way that engages pupils, the learning outcomes often bear little or no relation to what was intended. If what a pupil learns as a result of a particular sequence of instructional activities is impossible to predict, even in the unlikely event that all the learners in an instructional group are at the same place when the instruction starts, within minutes, pupils will have reached different understandings. That is why assessment is a, perhaps the, central process in effective instruction. It is only through assessment that we can find out whether a particular sequence of instructional activities has resulted in the intended learning outcomes. Dylan WIliam (2011), Formative Assessment: Definitions and Relationships
Ausubel suggested that the most important factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows, that teachers should ascertain this, and teach accordingly (Ausubel, 1968).
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One of the main reasons that one-to-one tutoring is so effective, according to Bloom (1984), is that the tutor is able to identify errors in the pupil’s work immediately, and then to