Needs Rights And Opportunities

By introducing a human rights perspective to special education, this book detaches the concept of special needs from its origin in handicap and roots it instead in human rights. Also implied in this view is the notion of the teacher or policymaker as an advocate for children's rights.

In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces – extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions – so the world can read them in a single manageable volume. Readers will be able to follow the themes and strands and see how their work contributes to the development of the field. Spanning Mel Ainscow’s accomplished 30 year international career in education, the texts in this book trace his efforts to find ways of fostering more equitable forms of education. This has involved a series of struggles as he has experimented with different approaches - in a variety of contexts - to find new possibilities for responding to learner diversity. Over the years this has related to a variety of headline themes, starting from special education, through to integration, on to inclusive education, and then, more recently, educational equity. The readings have been chosen to illustrate the changes that have occurred in Ainscow’s thinking and practices and a short introduction is provided for each chapter that is intended to help readers to understand the significance of what is presented and how this relates to other chapters in the book. The writings in this text reinforce the idea that the promotion of equity in schools is essentially a social process that has to occur within particular contexts.

The decision to go to college is a big one. It signifies a transition into young adulthood and the increasing expectations for independence that can feel exciting, liberating, and daunting! For students with disabilities this transition may be even more challenging. Despite the challenges, more and more students with disabilities are attending postsecondary colleges and universities. While this is certainly encouraging, students with disabilities are less likely to successfully complete their postsecondary programs when compared with their general population peers. So, what do we do? We can learn from our successes during early education and from successful postsecondary programs, taking what we have learned and bring these lessons to scale so that fully inclusive postsecondary programs are available for all students with special education needs. This book was originally published as a special issue of European Journal of Special Needs Education.

Chile's constitutional moment began as a popular demand in late 2019. This collection seizes the opportunity of this unique moment to unpack the context, difficulties, opportunities, and merits to enhance the status of environmental and social rights (health, housing, education and social security) in a country's constitution. Learning from Chilean and international experiences from the Global South and North, and drawing on the analysis of both academics and practitioners, the book provides rigorous answers to the fundamental questions raised by the construction of a new constitutional bill of rights that embraces climate and social justice. With an international and comparative perspective, chapters look at issues such as political economy, the judicial enforceability of social rights, implications of the privatisation of public services, and the importance of active participation of most vulnerable groups in a constitutional drafting process. Ahead of the referendum on a new constitution for Chile in the second half of 2022, this collection is timely and relevant and will have direct impact on how best to legislate effectively for social rights in Chile and beyond.