ABSTRACT
The Education Act 1944 was an ambitious attempt to create a new structure for post-war British education. As with other acts, the substantive content of the 1944 legislation related to the education system in general (for example, the Act provided universal free schooling in three distinct types of school; grammar, secondary modern and technical, as well as raising the school leaving age to 15 years). R.A. Butler hoped that these schools would cater for the different academic levels and other aptitudes of children. Entry to these schools was based on the 11+ examination. In respect of SEN, the 1944 Act established that the education that
children receive should be based on their age, aptitude and ‘ability’ (which at that time was mainly demonstrated by 11+ testing). Eleven categories or groups of ‘handicap’ were described. These were: blind, partially sighted, deaf, partially deaf, delicate, diabetic, educationally subnormal, epileptic, maladjusted, physically handicapped and those with speech defects. It was the responsibility of the local education authority to determine who were handicapped, using their own often arbitrary diagnostic and assessment procedures. Illustrative of this process is the case of ‘subnormality’ – a handicap which was first mooted by Sir Cyril Burt in 1935. He calculated that children scoring 50-85 on mental tests should be considered as ‘educationally subnormal’. Once categorised, the child was allocated to a school or other set-
ting. There was little involvement sought from parents or carers. Indicative of the thinking of the time was the general philosophy that the child should adjust to ‘fit’ the school rather than the school making any changes to its policies or operations to meet the learning difficulties of the child. Discussion point/question: Does the way in which the 1944
Education Act categorised children with SEN have any practical value at the present time? Is this way of grouping children consistent with ‘inclusive education’?
