ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is on the interaction of ethnic minority families with the special education system. An understanding of the dynamics involved is crucial for two main reasons. There is considerable concern at international level about the representation of children of ethnic minority origin in special education. A study in seven European countries found a significantly higher number of ethnic minorities (especially bilingual and Muslim pupils) in special education, mainly because mainstream schools had failed to address their bilingual and bicultural needs (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 1987). Secondly, ethnic minority communities have long been cast in a deficit light by mainstream institutions. Their legitimate hopes and aspirations for equal opportunities within the EU have been frustrated not only by overt racism, manifested in harassment and violence, but more significantly by the persistent and widespread racial discrimination which they encounter in securing their rights to public services as families (McEwen 1995). As will be illustrated here, while Europe is multiracial and multi-ethnic in composition, the models underpinning public services remain firmly monocultural, e.g. rarely are issues of ethnicity an integral feature of mainstream research and policy. Yet, to ignore these realities is to deny the sources of the barriers ethnic minorities face and the means by which service providers can put in place more effective measures to support them.
