ABSTRACT
This chapter provides some old thoughts about the relationship between principles and the reduction of exclusionary pressures and practices in schools and classrooms. It suggests that the main function of the terms 'special needs' or 'special education' is to signal an enduring, common concern with students who experience difficulties or have disabilities in education. The chapter considers the conflicting principles that inform the approaches to diversity in schools. It also argues that there is often insufficient acknowledgement of the principles which inform everyday practice and that this can lead to contradictions which undermine the intentions of educators. The chapter discusses some of the problems with the widely used language of special needs. There are two opposing solutions to teaching a diversity of students in schools which can be called 'selective' and 'inclusive'. Each is informed by a set of moral and political values which in turn limit the approaches to reducing difficulties in schools, to raising standards.
