ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the role of special needs coordinator was full of contradictions and tensions, caught between competing discourses which permitted no coherent course of action to emerge. There are a few coordinators who appear to have completed the transition from manager of special needs to managers of special response. Special needs practice is predicated upon a discourse of specialness — a discourse which divides 'needs' into the 'special' and the 'ordinary', and which seeks to meet 'special' needs through 'special' provision and teaching. Responsibility for 'special needs' may still remain, but as one amongst many duties, perhaps including appraisal, mentoring, managing the school's resource centre, quality assurance, and the formulation of a range of learning-focused policies for the school. The coordinator, therefore, is given explicit responsibility for these issues, rather than attempting to address them from the limited 'special needs' perspective.
