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This study is a philosophical conceptualisation of educational equality in relation to provision for disabled students and students with Special Educational Needs. Its theoretical core is the outline of a principled framework for a just distribution of educational opportunities to these students. Situated within liberal egalitarianism, this conceptualisation relates principles of justice as fairness (as developed by John Rawls) and the capability approach (as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum) to the areas of disability studies and special and inclusive education. Current perspectives on disability, and in particular the social model of disability, and positions on Special Educational Needs, as well as related policies, present theoretical and operational limits not only in relation to the achievement of inclusion, but also in addressing the equal entitlement of children to education. These limits derive primarily from the absence of clear principles, and relate specifically to the understandings of disability and special educational needs informing these perspectives. This conceptualisation of educational equality operationalises the capability approach with reference both to issues of definitions and of provision. The capability approach is a normative framework where equality is evaluated within the space of the actual freedoms - or capabilities - people have to pursue their ends and to convert resources into functionings they value. In connecting capability to the demands of justice, this approach contributes important insights to the theorisation of a principled framework for resource distribution. The framework theorised entails principles of justice as fairness informed by a capability metric, which is sensitive to the interests of disabled students and students with learning difficulties, and underpinned by definitions of disability and Special Educational Needs reconsidered in terms of functionings and capabilities. Whilst re-establishing the centrality of educational equality, this study reconceptualises disability and Special Educational Needs within a framework of justice.

In September 2010 Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, introduced the Academies Act. This was part of the Conservative educational manifesto to extend the powers of City Academies programme to 'free' more local authority schools. Academisation disrupted the British educational landscape by creating a new hybrid model of education, positioned in the blurred boundaries of traditional local authority maintained schools, and private fee paying schools. Thus began a new language and common sense way of thinking about a culture of academisation and the disarticulation of educational governance. Research into academisation has generated interest in recent years with many studies focussing on the impact of academies policies. This thesis offers a new perspective and insight of academies and academisation as well as contributing an analysis and new understanding into the cultural framing of academisation in the public imagination. Grounded in the theoretical and conceptional works of Stuart Hall, Richard Johnson, and Raymond Williams, I mobilised their understanding and approaches to representation, culture, and ideology as a mean to study the framing which has existed in popular media since 2010. Methodologically, I situated this thesis in a qualitative post-structuralist paradigm, employing thematic analysis as the means to study media representations. The data was collected across from print, online, broadcast, and social media over a ten-year period. Findings suggest that popular media have contributed to the development of political and ideological narratives and mobilised representations of academisation which have support an educational commonsense. These educational commonsenses also mobilised moral panics and played into the imagined fear of audiences in an attempt to reinforce dominant hegemonic narratives. Over the last decade, there have been four distinct periods that political representations of academisation have fed into a wider common sense way of thinking the role of the academies programme in society. In the culture of everyday life, popular media have presented different ways of thinking about what academisation means. Narratives and representations have been normalised as part of the cultural framing which exists.

This thesis explores the multifaceted nature of care, insisting that care should be seen as a legitimate ground of moral and political contestation. Further, I argue that our conception of care should shape our political projects. To this end, I unpack Heidegger's notion of care as being, investigate Foucault's understanding of care of the self, and advance care ethics's argument for the contestability of care. Turning to our pressing material concerns of care, I outline the decline of state care services and the impact upon care of both austerity and Covid-19. I here critique immaterial labour theory and the heralding of sudden technological unemployment, both for attempting to suggest care can be 'fixed' with technology and for romanticising the gruelling labour that enables care. I then engage with the interplay of care and value, in terms of both material and affective care. I critique the argument that unpaid domestic care labour should be considered productive labour in a capitalist society and discuss how affective care work is utilised as labour-power in the service of value accumulation. Throughout, I acknowledge the complicated picture of care as sustaining both life and the social relations which exploit and dominate us. I then apply the lessons of the above to education, which I argue is a primary site of the complex and contestable manifestations of care, inhibited from practicing good care by working conditions and techniques of discipline. Finally, I detail my notion of the messiness of care, arguing that we should understand care as an ongoing facet of life, a complex condition of existence whose manifestations we can normatively judge. Our care constitutes ourselves and our world, and by arguing for and enacting the kinds of care we wish to see we help to create a better world.

Globally, the spread of English continues to have a significant impact on educational policies and practices in countries around the world. Implementation challenges have been acknowledged widely and Colombia is no exception to this. The Colombian government has endorsed policies and pedagogical reforms to improve the teaching-learning quality of the English Language and thus advance the language competence of students. This thesis aims to provide a deeper and useful insight into how disadvantaged youths experience the objectives of Colombia's National Bilingual Program (NBP) in relation to the symbolic and cultural capitals associated with learning English. This is an under-researched area, where available literature has mainly focused on teachers, teaching methodologies and the national bilingual program itself, with limited consideration for the social context and the learning process experienced by the students. The project asks disadvantaged youths about their perspective on and perception of the role of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)in their social mobility, social integration, and/or marginalisation as local and global citizens, and how EFL influences their life trajectory, identity (trans)formation, and present and future desires. In doing so, the findings enable policymakers and academics to better understand the experiences and realities of those directly affected by the implementation of these policies. This study gives youths a voice to express their attitudes, experiences and perceptions concerning the role of the English language in their lives. Bylooking at individual experiences rather than figures at Macro level, the study provides a new perspective of Colombia's National Bilingual Program directly from those at the receiving end of it. Following a qualitative methodology consisting of focus groups, interviews and observations, I show that EFL learning experiences at school, family support and social networks can influence why most participants do not reach the objectives of Colombia's NBP. Similarly, the presence of structural and symbolic violence in their social context influencestheir perception of English as well as plays a significant role in their lives, identity formation and future aspirations.

This thesis is a study of the discourse on disability as it is encountered by disabled teachers within schools. This discourse is researched through three primary strands of data. The first source of data resulted from interviews conducted with teachers with disabilities. Nine teachers were interviewed. I also interviewed head teachers so as to set the analysis of the discourse in the fuller context of practices within schools. Three headteachers were interviewed. The third strand of data used in this thesis consisted of equality legislation and supporting documents. The question under investigation was this: 'how does the discourse on disability within schools constrain, restrict or empower disabled teachers'? The method of analysis used was that of discourse analysis. My theoretical analysis follows the work of Michel Foucault whom I chose because his analysis of the normalising and disciplinary discourses in society offered theories of society that supported the rubric of Disability Studies with a focus of disability in line with the social model of disability. The main conclusions of this thesis are that schools as disciplinary institutions are constrained themselves to operate through normalising and disciplinary discourses. These discourses constrain all teachers. The Equality Act 2010 is premised on the basis of formal equality and, as such, would posit that all teachers in schools are constrained in identical ways. My analysis refutes that view and I argue that the discourses through which teachers are constrained to act constrain disabled teachers more than others because the practices of these discourses posit a non disabled person. However, I show also the ways the teachers interviewed resisted the subjection offered. Foucault's theory of the care of the self, in particular, begins to offer a nuanced way to analyse this resistance. I end the thesis with suggestions for implementing change.

I explore the experiences of children with Special Education Needs and disabilities (SEND) placed in two mainstream primary schools within postcolonial Guyana. It is a qualitative study, which employed situational analysis as posited by Adele Clarke (2005, 2008). I embraced the social model of disability. I also used the poststructuralist lens to understand the discourse, meaning and interpretations of the experiences of children with SEND. Throughout the nine chapters in this thesis, I argue that the placement of children with SEND in the two mainstream primary schools I studied was an unpleasant, marginalising and depersonalising experience for the children. In this study, I make five significant contributions to the literature. First, I provide an understanding of the experiences of children with SEND in the two mainstream primary schools studied. Second, I provide a southern inclusive framework to guide the placement of children with SEND in mainstream schools in Guyana. Third, I give a southern inclusive checker as a tool to support the framework and guide mainstream teachers to self-monitor and regulate their practice. This could initiate more meaningful experiences for all children in an inclusive learning environment. It could also support mainstream teachers in making simple, reasonable adjustments to reduce barriers faced by children which are unique to the mainstream schooling within postcolonial Guyana. Fourth, I provide guidelines for the development of the structures, practices and values within the Guyanese education system. Finally, I offer an analysis of the northern social model of disability frameworks from a southern perspective and explain the challenges and opportunities within these frameworks if they are to be used extensively in Guyana.

Over the last 20 years there has been a hotly argued debate about the potentially positive and negative outcomes of including children with special educational needs, particularly those on the autism spectrum, in mainstream schools. The present study explores whether, and in what ways, pupils with autism can benefit from a music and dance intervention in terms of their participation and interaction with their peers, and how it can enhance their inclusion. This study involves an intervention that was designed and carried out in primary mainstream settings in London with forty two children in total; among which seven were on the autism spectrum, aged 5-8 years. The intervention consists of a story, accompanied by music and dance activities, presented over six sessions. The six sessions were recorded on video. The results were analysed using a mixed-method design to allow comparison of the different variables through quantitative and qualitative analyses. The research used spatial proximity and task participation as proxy measures of inclusion. The main findings show that the pupils with autism and their peers were more engaged during music and that the children on the autism spectrum were more included during music and dance tasks, and less engaged or included during other activities unrelated to music or dance. Music and dance are effective tools for relaxation, helping children to self-regulate and organise their responses to sensory stimuli. The activities also offered opportunities for interaction, enhancing co-operation and inclusion. Music was found to be a positive cue for pupils to remember and perform tasks. The structure of the sessions and the repetition of tasks was also found to have a positive impact. Building on the findings, the study discusses how the inclusion of pupils on the autism spectrum can be successful and suggests introducing music and movement in other curricular areas, including literacy.

This thesis explores inclusive practices in four pre-schools to study how the inclusion of children with disabilities operates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Educational inclusion is just one aspect of how governments approach the integration of all children into their societies. Theoretical aspects, such as equality, children's rights and social justice, all underlie this inclusion. The United Nations introduced conventions on the rights of children that contain specific provisions for children with disabilities. However, to date, academic research about the integration of children with disabilities in the KSA is limited. This study therefore examines the stance of the Saudi government on this subject; how well the practices comply with the UN Conventions, and Saudi government recommendations; what obstacles might exist which prevent true inclusion; and how these obstacles might be overcome. To achieve these aims, this study utilised and triangulated a range of qualitative methods, using documentary analysis, questionnaires, interviews and observations to gather salient data. The findings show that the Saudi government has written a clear policy concerning inclusion, and that this complies with both the UN Conventions about access to education, as well as with Saudi policy. There are however, major gaps between what the Saudi government has said it would like to achieve and what is shown in practice. This thesis concludes with the implications of these findings, offering a range of recommendations for how these gaps can be narrowed and how the obstacles to true inclusion can be overcome in the KSA.

This project explores how pupils respond to disabled characters encountered in two fictional stories and considers the potential implications such reactions hold for teaching and learning in schools. The project reviewed three streams of literature, namely books for children in which disabled characters play a part, the literature of disability studies, and literature linked to inclusive education. The research data set was gathered at group sessions held with a total of 41 pupils in four mainstream primary schools and two schools for SEN pupils. The sessions were recorded on DVD. This data set was analysed using a cluster coding convention and grounded theory model. The pupils discussed issues raised by two excerpts from works of fiction in which motor impaired characters play a significant role. The pupils responded actively, coming to grips with complex issues, presenting their own views, discussing the views of others and completing a brief written exercise. The views expressed by the pupils were often supportive of disabled people but critical where the behaviour of the disabled people in the stories warranted criticism. They rarely used prejudicial language about disabled people and they appeared to be almost unaffected by anti- disabled prejudices. One group session was held with disabled pupils at a part-boarding, part-day school for disabled pupils from age 7 to 19. These pupils showed a greater awareness of the day to day realities of life for a motor impaired person. They also showed enthusiasm or the use of books to familiarise non-disabled people with disability. The project also demonstrated that fictional texts featuring motor impaired characters can be used to teach pupils about motor impairment and to encourage them to think about what it means to be thus disabled. It identified key characteristics of the methods used for research with children. It also identified an opportunity for improved teaching in the area of disability. The KS2 curriculum for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) makes only one mention of disability. Disability could feature more prominently in the curriculum taught by schools and individual teachers.

This thesis examines the enactment of the National Strategies for school improvement in two English primary schools. Within a qualitative case study design, data were collected on the everyday practice of school professionals employing the instruments of 27 semi-structured interviews, on-site observations and documentary data analysis. The data were interpreted within a social constructionist paradigm and a conceptual framework based on complex responsive processes theory in combination with discourse analysis. The political context for this enquiry is the relentless implementation of neoliberal policies in the English education sector and their reinforcement by the now deeply embedded audit regime. According to complex responsive processes theory, centrally designed and controlled strategy ignores the vital influence of human interdependence and the emergent nature of social change. Critically, target-driven reform focuses practitioners’ attention on idealised, ‘abstract’ children at the risk of severing their connection to children as they really are: embodied, emotional, susceptible, vulnerable. Complex responsive processes theory brings into focus the choices we can make, both individually and collectively, therefore illuminating the responsibility each of us holds for the current condition and the future of education. Within the patterns of conversation in the case study schools, practitioners appeared to be conflicted by the imperatives of target-driven agendas and their personal commitment to the child. However, the patterns of conversation also signalled a strong convergence with the dominant discourse of school improvement which defines educational transformation as the delivery of national targets and standards. This thesis contends that the prevalence of government improvement discourse in primary schools may have narrowed the educational experience of children by reducing teaching to a target-driven assessment cycle. It is argued that as a consequence of government strategy enactment in primary schools, children have become reconstructed as instruments for measuring the effectiveness of the system rather than being the recipients of ‘improved education’.