Table Of ContentAutonomy, Rights and Children
with Special Educational Needs
Understanding Capacity
across Contexts
Sheila Riddell
Autonomy, Rights and Children with Special
Educational Needs
Sheila Riddell
Autonomy, Rights
and Children with
Special Educational
Needs
Understanding Capacity across
Contexts
Sheila Riddell
Moray House School of Education
University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh, UK
ISBN 978-3-030-55824-6 ISBN 978-3-030-55825-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55825-3
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Acknowledgements
This book is based on findings from an ESRC-funded research project
entitled Autonomy, Rights and Children with Special Needs: A New
Paradigm? (Ref. ES/P002641/1). This project was conducted by research-
ers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Manchester between 2017 and
2019, under the joint directorship of Professor Neville Harris and myself.
I am very grateful to the ESRC for their support of this work.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Neville Harris, Emeritus
Professor of Law in the Department of Law, University of Manchester,
who provided endless insights into the intricacies of the legal framework
surrounding children’s rights across the UK. Thanks are also due to Dr
James MacAllister, Edinburgh University, who worked as Co-Investigator
throughout the project and Dr Amanda Gillooly, University of Glasgow,
who worked on the later stages of the project and produced the figures
and tables which feature in Chap. 4. Dr Gail Davidge, University of
Manchester, undertook the bulk of the fieldwork in England, forging
strong relationships with students, parents and teachers. Thanks are also
due to Dr Duncan Carmichael and Dr Lucy Dix, who contributed to the
early development of the work.
v
vi Acknowledgements
Major thanks are due to Dr Grace Kong, who provided technical sup-
port throughout the project and formatted this book through its various
iterations.
Finally, this book is dedicated to my granddaughters, Sylvie and Cora
Jessop, who are already knowledgeable experts on children’s human
rights—as well as being fairly tough negotiators.
Contents
1 Children’s Independent Rights in Education: Setting the
Scene 1
2 Research Methods 15
3 Special and Additional Support Needs Policy and the
Rights of Children and Young People 31
4 Children’s Rights, Categorisation and Disproportionality 49
5 Translating Grand Designs into Grassroots Policy and
Practice 73
6 Children and Young People’s Participation Rights in
Schools and Classrooms 95
7 Participation by Children and Young People in
Representative Bodies 113
8 Children and Young People’s Involvement in Formal
Educational Planning 133
vii
viii Contents
9 School Choice and the Rights of Children, Young People
and Their Families 161
10 Participation in Dispute Resolution by Children, Young
People and Their Families 189
11 Conclusion 215
Appendix A: Glossary and Explanation of Key Terms 229
Appendix B: Profiles of Children and Young People 233
Index 247
List of Figures
Fig. 4.1 Children with SEN/ASN as a percentage of the total school
population in England and Scotland (Source: Department
for Education. Special educational needs in England: January
2019. National Tables: Table 1; Scottish Government, Pupil
Census 2019, Table 1.6.) 52
Fig. 4.2 Percentage of whole school population with a statutory
support plan in England and Scotland (Source: Department
for Education. Special educational needs in England: January
2019. National Tables: Table 1; Scottish Government, Pupil
Census 2019, Table 1.7.) 54
Fig. 4.3 ASN pupils by type of need, Scotland, 2019 (rate per
thousand pupils) (Source: Scottish Government, Pupil
Census 2019, Table 1.8. Note: Entries per category are not
discrete; a child may be recorded in multiple categories) 55
Fig. 4.4 SEN pupils by type of need, England, 2019 (rate per
thousand pupils) (Source: Department for Education. Special
educational needs in England: January 2019. National
Tables: Table 8. Note: The DfE records primary need only) 56
Fig. 4.5 Percentage of pupils with SEN/ASN by gender in England
and Scotland, 2019 (Source: Department for Education.
Special educational needs in England: January 2019.
National Tables: Table 3.) 58
ix
x List of Figures
Fig. 4.6 Pupils with SEN by type of need and gender, England 2019
(Source: Department for Education. Special educational
needs in England: January 2019. Additional Tables: Table A) 59
Fig. 4.7 ASN identification by type of need and gender, Scotland
2019 (Source: Scottish Government, Pupil Census 2019,
Table 1.8) 60
Fig. 4.8 Percentage of pupils within each ethnic group identified with
SEN in England, 2019 (Source: Department for Education.
Special educational needs in England: January 2019.
National Tables: Table 6) 61
Fig. 4.9 Percentage of pupils within each ethnic group identified with
ASN including English as an Additional Language in
Scotland, 2019 (Source: Scottish Government. Pupil Census
2019: special request data.) 62
Fig. 4.10 Percentage of pupils within each ethnic group identified with
ASN excluding English as an Additional Language in
Scotland, 2019 (Source: Scottish Government. Pupil Census
2019: special request data.) 63
Fig. 4.11 Pupils with ASN by SIMD decile, 2019 (Source: Scottish
Government, Pupil Census 2019, Table 1.16) 64
Fig. 4.12 Percentage of ASN pupils per category of need in the most
and least deprived areas, 2019 (Source: Scottish Government.
Pupil Census 2019: special request data.) 65
Fig. 4.13 Percentage of ASN pupils with a CSP per SIMD decile, 2019
(Source: Scottish Government, Pupil Census 2019, Table 1.16) 66
Fig. 4.14 Percentage of children with a CSP by type of difficulty, 2019
(Source: Scottish Government, Pupil Census 2019: special
request data) 67
Fig. 4.15 Registered appeals in England 2018–2019 (type of appeal by
percentage of total) (Source: Ministry of Justice. Tribunals
and Gender Recognition Statistics Quarterly, July to
September 2019. SEND tribunal tables 2018–2019) 68
Fig. 4.16 Registered appeals in Scotland 2018–2019, (type of appeal
by percentage of total) (Source: Tribunal Additional Support
Needs Forum, 8 May 2019: 13th Annual Report 2018) 69
