ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the characteristics of the standard provision which is made available. It seeks to consider what aspects of this standard provision would have to be changed in order for it to meet the needs of a substantial proportion of children for whom special provision is currently necessary. The 1981 Education Act defines children with special needs as those with 'a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made'. Classroom teaching was a sophisticated and ambitious response to the historical need to develop a mass education system, and mixed ability teaching a fully justified version of classroom teaching appropriate for the provision of comprehensive primary and secondary education. The commentary by the teachers reveals something of the thought-fulness and careful professional prioritization which underlies and to a substantial degree explains the observational findings. It also reveals something of the complexity of the work of classroom teaching.
