Notions of race, gender and disability have significantly informed the development of social policy and of welfare and educational practices. Critically Discuss

The first 200 words of this essay...

To critically discuss the way in which notions of disability influence the development of policy and practice the social construction of difference and disability will be examined looking then specifically at the ideas underpinning the medical and social model of disability. To understand how these notions influence policy it is important to understand why social policies target disabled people. Power is argued to be an essential concept in understanding how notions of disability are constructed and subsequently influence the development of policy and practice.

The development of education policy will then be examined due to the broad scope of the question, analysing the assumptions about disability underlying the intended outcomes. This will be contrasted with the impact of policies in practice. It will be argued that the medical model of disability has lead to a strong focus upon impairment resulting in segregatory educational policy and practice. Although the social model presents a powerful challenge to this and is echoed in current education policy on inclusion, it will be argued that practice is still heavily underpinned by the medical model. This will be demonstrated by looking at the development of policy influenced by integration and then inclusion. Inclusion, however,