Separating, Losing and Excluding Children: Narratives of Difference

by Tom Billington

Overview

There has been an outpouring of children from schools over the last few years. The reasons for their exclusion from schools include: learning difficulties, behavioural problems or physical disability. Other reasons that are not dependent on a 'deficit' model of the children relate to Conservative-led initiatives involving school league tables, greater accountability, inspections, etc. Whatever the reasons, the new government are committed to reducing the number of children who are forced out of mainstream schooling.
The author addresses the key issues and relates them to the main theory/literature in the area. He 'unpicks' the major theories and applies them to possible ways of working with children in the classroom. Four case studies are used in order to make these proposed ways of working more accessible. As with other books in the series, exercises, readings and questions are set throughout.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134580408
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/12/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Tom Billington currently teaches in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of Sheffield and also works as an LEA psychologist in the Merseyside region. He has been a teacher and psychologist for over twenty years, working in schools, colleges and universities.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Working with Difference; Chapter 2 Gary—A Formal Assessment; Chapter 3 Pathologizing Children; Chapter 4 Speaking of Mary; Chapter 5 Authority and the Written Word; Chapter 6 Memory, History and the Division of Labour; Chapter 7 Alienation or Pathology?; Chapter 8 Tales from the Autistic Spectrum; Chapter 9 Conclusion;

Editorial Reviews

Billington (educational studies, U. of Sheffield, UK) focuses on children who are socially shunned at school because of "difficulties" or "disabilities." He looks at the processes of exclusion that can result when schools assign children to simplistic categories of deficit, broadly organized as problems in the learning, social/emotional/behavioral/, or physical/medical realms. Using case studies, he explores theories of language and experience to show how a variety of narratives come about that shape decisions about children's lives. The work challenges assumptions about children labeled "different" and questions the truth of expert opinion. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'This is a fascinating book, which I would recommend to those working with children who are different, but also to a wider audience who have an interest in discourses around disability and education.' - British Journal of Special Education

'This is a book born out of the author's work as an educational psychologist, full of stimulating narratives of personal experiences blended with theoretical analyses and which manages to prove accessible, academically rigorous and exceptionally engaging.' - British Journal of Educational Psychology

'...this book has the potential to spark the sort of reflection and debate that would provide a qualitatively different reappraisal of our role.' - Educational Psychology in Practice

From the Publisher