ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the arena where the definition is made; namely, the school, the classroom and the interactions between teachers and taught. It examines the starting point of the ordinary school. This is stage one of the process that can lead a child to the special provisions. Theory and available evidence suggest that the classroom is not immune from the inaccuracies and inequalities and biases that are in evidence elsewhere. In assisting in the diagnosis and assessment of behaviour and emotional disturbance in school children various tests have been devised, and are used by educationalists and social researchers. The school that participated in the research was a primary school with a population of 196 children. It was typical of schools in the area with similar intake. There is no elite school in the catchment area that creams off the brighter prospects and might render its intake unrepresentative.
