© 2007 The Authors 90 Journal compilation © 2007 nasen Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs • Volume 7 • Number 2 • 2007 90–96 doi: 10.1111/j.1471-3802.2007.00084.x Blackwell Publishing Ltd XX The place of special schools in a policy climate of inclusion George Head and Anne Pirrie University of Glasgow Key words: inclusion, special education, mainstreaming. In November 2003, the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) commissioned the SCRE Centre at the University of Glasgow to evaluate the impact of Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 . The evaluation took place between January 2004 and August 2005. A major strand of the research was the impact of the presumption of mainstreaming on special schools, including an exploration of the changing role of special schools, and the changing demands on staff in special education. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that whilst there may be widespread support for specialist provision within a policy climate of inclusion, the sector has undergone significant changes in the last few years. These changes have had a particular impact on the curriculum, teaching and learning, and ‘specialness’ of special schools. However, not all of these changes are due to the impact of mainstreaming. Introduction ‘Inclusion is not easy, but it’s also not optional.’ (Graham Donaldson, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) Senior Chief Inspector speaking at the National Conference) ‘Count Us In, Further Good Practice in Inclusion’ (30 November 2004, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh) The experience of inclusion in education often makes headline news in both the popular and academic press. Usually, the stories that follow concentrate on the negative experiences of teachers in mainstream schools, and are centred around the argument that teachers are having to spend an inordinate amount of time attending to pupils with learning or behavioural difficulties to the detriment of the others. Moreover, recent guidelines and research have also tended to focus on the experiences of mainstream schools (Munn, Johnstone & Sharp, 2004; Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED), 2004). The effect of this publicity is to set up a view of inclusion that is unidirectional, namely, that inclusion is only about what is happening in mainstream primary and secondary schools. A unidirectional expectation serves to reinforce ideas of normalisation and the assumption that mainstream is the benchmark for the education of all children and young people. However, the process of inclusion does not simply impact on mainstream schools, and what is significant but less obviously reported is the effect on special schools. The impact of the inclusion agenda on special schools, however, has exercised leading academics. For example, Ainscow (2000) sets out the three dimensions of improving teaching, supporting learning and developing practice as a template for the development of inclusive schooling. Within this framework, he recognises a particular role for special education: The best special education contexts always seem to display a particular emphasis, which involves the creation of a problem-solving culture including learning how to use one another’s experiences and resources in order to devise better ways of overcoming barriers to learning. My view is that this commitment to collaborative problem-solving is the most important contribution that the special education community can make to the development of more inclusive practices in schools. (Ainscow, 2000, p. 79) This paper reports on the impact of the presumption of mainstreaming on special schools in Scotland. It sets out the context for the study, reports on responses from teachers and school managers, and finally considers the implications for the future role of special schools and the development of the ‘specialness’ of special education. In November 2003, the Scottish Executive Education Department (SEED) commissioned the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) Centre at the University of Glasgow to evaluate the impact of Section 15 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc Act 2000 . This legislation came into effect in August 2003, and introduced what is now commonly referred to as the ‘presumption of mainstreaming’ in relation to pupils with special educational needs (SEN). One of the changes enshrined in the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act (2004) is the adoption of the term ‘additional support needs’, which is considerably wider in scope than its predecessor. This change in nomenclature signals a general recognition amongst