Regular schools with this inclusive orientation are the most effective means of combating discriminatory attitudes, creating welcoming communities, building inclusive society and achieving education for all; moreover, they provide an effective education to the majority of children and improve the efficiency and ultimately the cost effectiveness of the entire education system.
(Quote from the Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education at: http://inclusion.uwe.ac.uk/csie/slmca/htm)
Discuss the Salamanca Statement; what are the implications for society, schools and individual pupils?
The Salamanca Statement (1994) could be seen as one of the most influential policy documents on inclusion. As a whole the statement was the adopted principles of a number of participants representing ninety-two governments and twenty-five international organisations who formed the 1994 world conference on Special Needs Education held in Salamanca Spain. The conference agreed a new statement calling for all children, youth and adults with disabilities and additional educational needs to be educated together, pushing forward the idea for:
“...schools for all...” (UNESCO 1994)
The Salamanca Statement (1994) is made up of two documents the second part of the statement being the Framework of Action on Special Needs Education, this too was also adopted by the world conference with the main purpose to guide and inform the actions and policy used by education officials, governments and non-governmental organisations and communities when implementing equality of opportunities to all children by taking on an inclusive way of life.
In this essay I will be looking at the implications of adopting the five principles of the Salamanca Statement (1994) for individual pupils, schools and society.
“.....every child has a fundamental right to education and must be given the opportunity to achieve and maintain an acceptable level of learning,” (UNESCO
Bibliography: The UNESCO Salamanca Statement (1994): http://www.unesco.org/education (02 March 2010) O’Brien, T. (2001) Enabling Inclusion: Blue Skies...dark clouds. London: Stationery Office.