An investigation into a local education authority's inclusion strategy : the construction and management of change

Abstract

The research investigated how various people, such as Local Education Authority officers, teachers and parents, represented change (defined as becoming different from a previous state) concerning an inclusion strategy. The investigation used a case study approach and methodology based upon grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) and heuristic research (Moustakas, 1990). Several different case studies within the LEA were used, a formal consultation concerning the change of specialist provision, staff views in a “MLD” school and LEA officer views. Data used was discourse, written and spoken, semi-structured interviews, public meetings and media publications. NVivo, a computer programme, was used to analyse the discourse, relating this to different theoretical orientations, cognitive psychology, social psychology, management theory and school improvement. Foucault (1977), especially the concept of episteme/paradigms, provided the most useful theoretical framework for analysing data. It is argued that inclusion within the case study LEA was not a paradigm shift, but change around the edge of a paradigm with a stable core, which related to groups of pupils being seen as different. Comparison has been made with Kuhn (1996) on how scientific paradigms are modelled, linking together the research methodology and findings.