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SUMMARY:Parent politics in education: is there a bias towards inclusion? -
  Dr Susie Miles\, University of Manchester
DTSTART:20121128T140000Z
DTEND:20121128T160000Z
UID:TALK41627@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Susannah Lacon
DESCRIPTION:The Coalition government aims to ‘reverse the bias towards i
 nclusive education’ and promote its agenda of ‘parental preference’.
  The nature of the relationship between parents and their children’s tea
 chers has been conceptualised as ‘involvement’\, participation\, co-op
 eration\, collaboration\, and sometimes coercion. It can also be seen as a
  power struggle – one in which aspirational\, middle-class parents ensur
 e their children’s success in an increasingly unequal education system. 
 The extent to which parents of disabled children are genuinely enabled to 
 participate in their children’s education\, and make informed decisions\
 , is questionable. This seminar will focus on a case study of Clare\, a pa
 rent of twin girls who have difficulties with communication\, learning\, m
 obility and health\, and who were included in their local rural primary sc
 hool with some difficulties. Clare used an auto-ethnographic approach as p
 art of her post-graduate studies to help her make the decision about the m
 ost suitable educational placement for her daughters at secondary level. R
 eflecting on the process of making informed decisions as a parent\, with t
 he benefit of academic study\, the gap between the rhetoric and reality of
  the parent choice agenda will be explored. Issues of power\, inequity\, v
 oice and notions of choice will be examined in relation to assumptions in 
 the current discourse around parental participation. \n\nDr Susie Miles is
  a Senior Lecturer in Inclusive Education at the University of Manchester.
  She teaches across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes a
 nd is currently developing an MA pathway entitled "Educational Leadership 
 and Inclusion" which will be taught in collaboration with the MA in "Educa
 tional Leadership and School Improvement". From 2004-2010 Susie was the Pr
 ogramme Director of the MEd in Inclusive Education. She is also the foundi
 ng coordinator of the Enabling Education Network (EENET)\, an information-
 sharing network which supports and promotes the inclusion of marginalised 
 groups in education worldwide. EENET represents a unique international res
 ource on inclusive education. Previously she worked as a teacher of deaf c
 hildren\, both in the UK and in Swaziland. As Save the Children UK's Regio
 nal Disability Adviser for Southern Africa\, she was centrally involved in
  developing inclusive education and community based programmes with and fo
 r disabled people over a period of 12 years. As grant holder and coordinat
 or of a Department for International Development research project (2001-20
 05)\, she has worked with colleagues in Tanzania\, Zambia and the UK to de
 velop a collaborative action research methodology on inclusion. She has wo
 rked as a consultant to a range of international non-governmental organisa
 tions\, including Save the Children (UK)\, Leonard Cheshire International\
 , the International Deaf Children's Society and the Dutch Coalition on Dis
 ability and Development.
LOCATION:Faculty of Education\, 184 Hills Road  Room GS3\, Donald McIntyre
  Building
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