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This paper examines the overlap between two groups of children, those with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) and those with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). The case is made that these are common and overlap, with serious consequences for the children and families concerned. The difficulties experienced by the children and their families have implications for health inequalities and should influence the way in which both child and adolescent mental health and public health services are conceptualised and delivered.

Some children with severe speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) can make use of assistive communication technology (ACT) to support and augment their speaking and writing. Different stakeholders may place emphasis on specific areas for ACT use, and this paper, therefore, proposes a framework for discussing and clarifying these varied expectations, using the ICF/ICF‐CY domains as a basis.

The authors discuss how the goal of increased participation for children helps all involved to keep in mind that, despite varying focuses for the use of ACT, it is the move towards increased involvement in life situations that will best drive our joint decisions and target‐setting.

Multi‐functional PC devices can support a range of communicative functions, including “chat”, curriculum support, play and leisure. Provision and use of ACT can, in consequence, have different focuses for different stakeholders (child, family, health and education staff), which can lead to disparate expectations around implementation of such technology.

A framework is proposed in this paper for an approach that hopes to offer a common understanding from which to discuss potential applications for ACT. This approach encourages equal value or weighting to each of the supports for inclusion and, therefore, encourages stakeholders to value their own priorities whilst considering others'.

The research demonstrates the role of activity systems based in Cultural Historical Activity Theory as a means of analysing characteristics and efficacy of specific provisions of coaching in education.

Three examples of coaching in education were selected, involving 51 schools in England. The three examples were re-analysed using activity systems. This drew on existing evaluation evidence, gathered through interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and recordings of coaching.

In each example, the object of the coaching was to address a specific challenge to secure the desired quality of education. Using activity systems it is possible to demonstrate that coaching has a range of functions (both intended and consequential). The individual examples illustrate the potential of coaching to support change in complex and diverse education settings.

The use of existing data from evaluations means that direct comparisons between examples are not made. While data were collected throughout the duration of each coaching programme no follow-up data was available.

The analysis of the examples of coaching using activity systems provides evidence of the efficacy of specific coaching provision in achieving individually defined objectives related to sustaining and improving specific educational practices.

The research offers insights into how coaching in education might be better tuned to the specific needs of contexts and the challenges experienced by the individuals working in them. In addition, it demonstrates the value of activity systems as an analytical tool to make sense of coaching efficacy.

This paper considers the accountability frameworks that are intended to determine the quality of teachers graduating from training programmes and considers how these frameworks may need to take more account of evidence for enabling and assistive technologies if they are to enable new teachers to make effective use of this technology for inclusion.

Speech pathology services have not been traditionally provided within school classroom settings. This chapter will describe the service-delivery options for provision of speech pathology services in classroom settings. A review of select research related to the efficacy of these services is included as applied examples for educators.

This chapter aims to provide a critical analysis of special needs education within the United Kingdom today. Central to such an analysis is an understanding of the rapidly changing social and political milieu within which special needs education is embedded, including the rapidly changing demographics of schooling, and the devolution of political power into four separate but linked countries – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Following a discussion of such wider social, political and educational issues, the authors explore the convergences and divergences in policy and practice across the four devolved administrations. The authors describe a plethora of contemporary policy developments within each of the four administrations that speak to the need for special needs education to change in response to 21st century concerns about the problems of access to, and equity in, education for all children. Despite this, the authors remain extremely circumspect about the potential of many of these developments to lead to successful inclusive practices and developments on the ground – and explain why. The analysis in the concluding section focuses on the issue of teacher education for inclusion and some very innovate UK research and development projects that have been reported to successfully engage teachers with new paradigm thinking and practice in the field of inclusive special needs education.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the dynamics of an emerging form of teaching and learning – social network knowledge construction – associated with the use of social networks, particularly 3D virtual world environments such as Second Life. As social network technologies not only frame the way individuals interact and learn, but actually impact on a learner's thinking process and development of future consciousness, new pedagogies are needed to effectively integrate these communication mechanisms into the learning environment.

The paper discusses the purpose and potential use of these networks in the teaching and learning process. Distinguishing features of social network knowledge construction as an emerging pedagogy are identified.

Strategies for incorporating a variety of identified social networks, both in and out of virtual worlds, for teaching and learning are noted.

The focus of this emerging pedagogy is framed within the social networks surrounding Second Life, in particular, although the pedagogical framework could be applied across any set of social networking or virtual world applications.

The paper provides critical information currently required by the early to mid‐adopters of social networks and virtual worlds for teaching and learning.

This paper identifies an emerging form of pedagogy that has yet to be fully discussed in the literature, and supports the present issue's emphasis on future‐focused learning.