Equal opportunities and equity: uncovering the roots of marginalisation

During the 1980s notions of equality of opportunity became increasingly influential in post-compulsory education. Importantly, by the mid-1980s students with special needs were included within the equal opportunities policies that establishments were formulating and using to inform provision. It is because of their crucial influence on provision for students with special needs that in this chapter I examine theoretical considerations of equal opportunities and the notion of equity. I also consider recent theories concerning the nature of policy development and use the example of Latour College to illustrate one approach to developing an equal educational opportunities policy for students with special needs.