ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on a relatively neglected ingredient in this history, that of the role of the preparation of teachers. It provides an examination of how in the comparatively short history of British teacher education a unique opportunity was presented in which significant advances might have been made in equipping teachers to tackle inequality in schooling. It outlines the events surrounding the emergence of that opportunity, evaluates what was made of it and the extent to which it has been lost. It reviews the potential of the current situation for tackling the problem. The 1981 Education Act incorporated this integrationalist strategy, while four-year special-education training courses were ended on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee for the Supply and Education of Teachers. The dangers and reality of permeation are clear — it has become a catchword, can lead to trivialization, or as Gaine (1987) puts it 'things can become so well permeated that they disappear altogether.'.
