Enid Mordaunt

Parents, professionals and special educational needs policy frameworks in England and Scotland

The research reported in this article investigates the extent to which parents of children with special educational needs (SEN) were involved in the process of assessment and recording (Scotland) or statementing (England) as active citizens, or whether they continued to occupy the passive role of service client.This article analyses competing SEN policy frameworks in England and Scotland, and explores the position of parents and professionals.We conclude that, while the English system allows parents greater power to exercise rights, they are not always willing or able to adopt the role of active citizens. Conversely, while Scottish parents have fewer opportunities to engage actively with the process, some parents are able to take an active role.While national systems differ in terms of the policy frameworks they reflect,there is considerable leeway for parents and professionals to reinforce or undermine the broad thrust of centralised policy.

Special educational needs and competing policy frameworks in England and Scotland

This paper explores a range of policy frameworks in play in the field of special educational needs and their relationship with procedural fairness and substantive justice. Drawing on analysis of post-1993 English and Scottish policy documents, dominant motifs in special educational needs policy are identified. It is argued that in both England and Scotland, there is a shift away from a policy framework based on professional control. Legal and bureaucratic policy frameworks are of growing importance in both countries, but change has been more rapid in England. Finally, the implications of comparative research for special educational needs policy and wider education policy are discussed.

The Emergence Of Multi-Inspectorate Inspections: ’Going It Alone Is Not An Option’

Drawing on data from HM Inspectorate of Prisons, HM Inspectorate of Probation, the Office for Standards in Education and the Social Services Inspectorate, this paper develops a typology of inspection, classified according to the focus of inspection. Five basic inspection types emerge, namely single institutional, multi-service, the-matic, survey and monitoring review. The typology is further categorized by a range of characteristics, resulting in a series of variants. The paper then focuses on the particular characteristic of the multi-inspectorate approach to inspection, because this is seen to offer a significant development in inspection practice that is set to expand and develop in the future. By examining operational examples of this approach it becomes clear that inspectorates are affecting the working practices of one another as they use the multi-inspectorate approach as an exercise in bench-marking.