Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education Advance Access originally published online on May 8, 2008
The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 2008 13(4):563; doi:10.1093/deafed/enn016
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Striving for Beyond either/or
National Technical Institute for the Deaf
S. G. Rayner (2007). Managing Special and Inclusive Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 232 pages. Paperback. $45.95.
The issues: uncertainty about the fate of special schools in the age of inclusion; the imposition of performance standards across the school curriculum applied to all students; a plethora of accountability mechanisms for tracking/reporting student and school performance per these standards; and increased pressures on schools and their constituencies to value auditing of learning outcomes more than learning itself. These are the kinds of "hot topic" issues currently fueling debates throughout the United States on the goals and roles of special and general education.
However, Steve Rayner explores such issues involved in leading and managing organizations serving students with special education needs ... not in the United States but in the United Kingdom (i.e., England and Wales). Although there clearly are differences between the United States and the United Kingdom regarding their systems of special and general education and the corresponding interrelationships, there also are similarities and a history of shared influences. In light of trends not only in the United Kingdom and United States but also globally, this book offers relevant insights for all educators.
Rayner reconceptualizes both the task of leading and managing programs serving students with special educational needs as well as the guiding assumptions. He advocates viewing special educational needs as aspects along a rich continuum of human variability that includes gender, social class, ethnic, racial, and learning style differences. Disabilities and learning problems are neither to be denied nor discriminated against but neither are they to be viewed as characterizing a wholly separate kind of learner. To support such a view, recasting the fundamental process of learning and teaching is required, so that exploring and supporting (even celebrating) the unique learning characteristics of the individual student becomes the central educational focus. This in turn demands developing innovative and effective instructional approaches through reflective practice, rather than plucking prepackaged or externally mandated solutions off the shelf. Such practice is possible only within school cultures transforming themselves into true learning communities. Finally, Rayner believes that the political ideology of "inclusion of all" has no place in the educational quest of determining which combination of strategies and resources, across both special and inclusive school programs and the array of community resources, will best support individual learners and those who serve them.
Rayner's analyses of nuances, obstacles, and alternative frames of references are enlightening and provocative. At the same time, his points could be enhanced through better grounding in current research regarding the efficacy of alternative programmatic approaches for students representing various kinds of learning characteristics and richer examples from practice. Further, some of the pivotal concepts supporting Rayner's theoretical framework (e.g., equity and excellence) could benefit from more elaboration. Is the meaning of equity tied to equal access to educational opportunities, or equal funding of educational provisions, or both? Is excellence a matter of student performance in light of preestablished standards, degree of student improvement, or something different?
Rayner's offering spurs reflection among educators regarding values, purposes, and guiding assumptions; it does not formulate recipes for practice. This is a book for those who enjoy being challenged more than reassured.
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