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Unconvention: Special Education Podcast
· 39 min
Episode Unconvention: Special Education Podcast
After three months focused on special education, I recap debates on routes into special education teaching, SNA issues (including the 72-hour proposal), professional development and respect, special classes/schools, and flawed SET allocation models. I highlight how “choice” often means simply finding any available place, and argue placements must be explainable, reviewable and judged by children’s lived experience—learning, participation, attendance, wellbeing and belonging—rather than “a bum on a seat”. I outline disagreements about specialist provision versus full inclusion (including concerns about a New Brunswick-style model without supports), raise risks around diagnosis and proposed placement criteria, and conclude that a dedicated convention on special education and urgent, independent reviews of allocation and training are needed.
The full report can be found here:
Summary of Podcast
00:00 Convention Kickoff00:57 Podcast Format Explained02:26 Special Education Recap05:35 Rethinking Choice08:37 Placements And Transitions13:46 Inclusion Debate19:21 Need For Bigger Forum20:51 Teacher Learning And Training23:49 Allocation Models Mess27:43 Diagnosis And Safeguards30:35 Minister Takeaways37:08 Closing Thanks
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