supporting inclusion, challenging exclusion
CSIE Strategy 2010-2013
I. Our vision
CSIE aims to improve the life chances of children and young people at risk of marginalisation or exclusion. Our activities focus on the change that needs to take place, so that every child’s right to equality and non-discrimination can be upheld. Our work is underpinned by the following principles:
Equality and respect
We believe that everyone is of equal value, earned by virtue of being human. Family and ethnic background, gender identity or perceived ability have no part in determining personal worth.
One school for all
We recognize the uncompromised right of every child to a good education in their local community, as enshrined in national and international legislation. We understand a call for separate special schools to be a remnant of a previous era, when disabled people were excluded from mainstream society. We can see no moral justification for separating disabled young people from their peers.
Best outcomes for all
We aspire to an inclusive society where minority groups are no longer marginalised or excluded. We understand that the fundamental aim of education is to prepare today’s children for tomorrow’s life as adults and that inclusive education is an important step towards an inclusive society.
Valuing diversity
We believe that diversity is part of what makes the world beautiful; it should be celebrated and utilised as a rich learning resource. People from a range of social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, who may be heterosexual, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and may or may not have a range of physical, sensory or mental impairments, all contribute to the richness of everyone’s life.
II. The current picture
Deeply-rooted prejudice is still apparent in today’s society. Parents, education practitioners and other professionals often seem unaware of the assumptions they are making about others. This means that:
- A number of children, young people or adults do not feel welcome, visible or respected in some schools; for example, people from minority ethnic or cultural backgrounds, those who may challenge conventional ideas of gender or those who have impairments and/or learning difficulties, may become marginalised or excluded.
- Many disabled children and young people continue to be regularly sent to separate so-called “special” schools, on the grounds of historically established expectations. This is widely considered unproblematic, even though it hinders their life chances and is inconsistent with current moral values, policy and legislation. In other parts of the world education has transformed and all children are educated in mainstream schools.
National and international legislation and guidance stipulate every child’s right to a good education without discrimination. In practice, many schools and local authorities discriminate against people from minority groups and are not being challenged.
III. Barriers to change
The main barriers standing between the current picture and our vision are:
- Current government priorities appear to be inconsistent:
- Despite a continued promise of parental choice, there seems to be little political will to develop inclusive provision in mainstream for parents who choose this.
- Legislation is weak and inconsistent, with little attention to monitoring how it is being applied.
- Equality legislation has been introduced without an accountability mechanism to monitor schools’ compliance.
- Terminology is unhelpful: inclusion means different things to different people; the discourse of ‘special educational need’ supports within-child deficit assumptions and overlooks the role of the educational environment.
- Local authorities operate with a degree of autonomy that allows for significant discrepancies between different authorities, even when their geographical and/or demographic characteristics are similar.
- There is little incentive for local authorities to develop more inclusive provision for all.
- There is no national guidance for local authorities on how to support the development of more inclusive provision in their schools.
- Individual schools are under intense and competing pressures.
- Competing policies put schools under pressure to focus on raising academic achievement. This means that other areas of young people’s development get less attention from school staff and individual pupils can remain invisible.
- Established models of educational provision often result in some young people’s learning becoming the responsibility of support practitioners who may be insufficiently trained or experienced.
- There has been lip-service to inclusion without real commitment to change for too long. School staff are sometimes unaware of government backed initiatives and/or may feel demoralised and under pressure to implement policies that appear unnecessary.
- School staff do not always share the same values or perceive a need for change
- Resources and awareness-raising opportunities are not readily made available to schools, or considered a priority.
- Advice and support is not always available to school staff who are called upon to develop more inclusive provision.
IV. The levels at which organisations can intervene
There are four levels at which intervention can be made:
- The level of individual children.
- The level of family and community.
- The level of services: schools, other educational settings and local authorities.
- The level of society: national policy and legislation, public awareness.
V. CSIE’s current strengths and capacity
The organisation is well-known in the education world and CSIE resources are highly regarded. The professional background, experience and expertise of key staff lie in the areas of gender equality and disability equality. Existing capacity suggests that CSIE activities should concentrate at the level of services and the level of society. This complements the work of other organisations, many of which work at the level of the individual (such as MENCAP, Scope, RNIB, RNID, NAS, DSA, SARI, EACH, Gendered Intelligence, Beat Bullying UK and others) while others focus on the family and community level (such as Barnardo’s, ACE, IPSEA, Network 81 and others). We have strong links with other organisations that focus on the level of services and/or society (such as Allfie, Parents for Inclusion, Stonewall and Schools Out) with whom we plan to maintain our connections.
VI. CSIE priorities from November 2010 until October 2013
Key priority one
(at the level of services: schools, other educational settings and local authorities)
Promote and protect children’s rights with regard to gender and disability equality.
Objectives:
- Produce and disseminate information:
- produce and distribute free information leaflets across the UK.
- make information available on the CSIE website.
- develop new publications.
- revise existing CSIE publications.
- adapt the Index for Inclusion for use in higher education institutions.
- update the CSIE Inclusion Information Guide.
- undertake research which furthers the understanding of issues relevant to gender or disability equality.
- Deliver talks, training and consultancy:
- organise conferences and other events.
- offer training and consultancy for Local Authorities undertaking a strategic review of inclusive provision.
- offer training and consultancy for schools and other education institutions in the process of developing more inclusive provision.
- contribute to initial teacher education and continuing professional development of teachers and learning supporters.
Key priority two
(at the level of society: national policy and legislation, public awareness)
Contribute to the development and implementation of education law and policies affecting gender and disability equality.
Objectives:
- Lobby government for restructuring of mainstream provision:
- respond to government consultations.
- make oral and/or written representations towards shaping national policy.
- Campaign to raise public awareness:
- produce and disseminate material that challenges prejudice and discrimination.
- undertake research on current practice.
- engage with issues of terminology and seek to propose alternatives.
- work in collaboration with other organisations promoting inclusion nationally and internationally.
Key priority three
Maintain and develop internal and external operations to help achieve CSIE’s objectives.
Objectives:
- Conduct thorough review (“health-check”) of organisation.
- Establish financial sustainability.
- Review and develop CSIE’s information, accounting and data management systems.
- Review and develop protocols, policies and procedures with regard to all aspects of CSIE’s work.
VII. Implementation
Each key objective listed above is supported by an implementation strategy which outlines how each objective will be achieved, as well as by a series of performance indicators which will help us monitor progress. These are available on request from admin@csie.org.uk This Strategic Plan will be reviewed annually, in November of each year. Progress and achievements will be described in CSIE’s annual report.
Page last updated: Friday 03 December 2010