Inclusive science education: meeting the needs of all children in science

An inclusive science education implies that all pupils, not least those with learning or communication difficulties, should be given the opportunity of some sort of ‘scientific experience’. This statement applies to all pupils with special educational needs (SEN), whether the difficulty they have in learning is general or specific, severe or less severe. Indeed, we should remember that we all experience difficulty of some kind or another in learning, whether it is due to tiredness, saturation or simply that it ‘won’t go in’. All pupils should receive a broad and balanced curriculum, relevant to their individual needs. The idea of ‘inclusive education’, and a discussion of how this might be achieved in mainstream schools, is the subject of this chapter.