ABSTRACT
Teaching Assistants are often viewed as the solution to difficulties encountered with pupils identified as needing 'special' education in different environments. Understanding the social history of special schooling is important for all staff. This chapter explores these issues and reflect on the impact initiatives in the past and present have had on those associated with special schools. The origins of special schools were about keeping disabled people away from the rest of society and ensuring that they did not affect others education. In response to national developments for the UK education system to become more school-led, special schools have established an important role for themselves as part of Teaching School Alliances, providing support and professional development for partner schools. During the following years from 1997, schools and local education authorities developed provision to meet local needs in line with the Green Paper's plan and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA).
