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This chapter describes the status of past and current special education, inclusive education, and Low-Incidence Disabilities (LID) in South Korea by introducing historical background, legal development, and current trend. Four main areas related to special education in South Korea are highlighted: the historical background and legal development of special education; current laws relating to special education; inclusive education and LID; and the future of LID support in South Korea. This chapter will provide valuable information for those who want to become more knowledgeable about the current status of special education and inclusive education for learners with LID in South Korea.

This chapter highlights aspects that are high on the agenda of the financing inclusive education debate: the need to re-think resource allocation mechanisms, the issue of empowerment, the way funding mechanisms support inclusive education, and the importance of appropriate governance and accountability mechanisms. It focuses on critical factors of financing that support the right to education, as outlined in Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (United Nations, 2006), in a context of financial constraints and explores issues in the policy-practice gap in relation to both national- and European-level policy priorities and objectives. It draws on existing literature on modes of funding, on past research conducted by the European Agency and on the conceptual framework developed within a new European Agency study on current policy and practice in this field.

There has been a policy for including pupils with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties in mainstream schools in England since the 1980s. However, effective inclusive education has proved to be very difficult to achieve in practice. Currently, there is a mixed economy of special and mainstream schools offering inclusive education, and we argue that the place of education is less important than the quality of that education. Ideally, pupils with S/PMLD would be educated in their own local communities, alongside their non-disabled peers, but this situation is not yet established in English schools.

This chapter builds upon two case studies, in Flensburg (Germany) and Essunga (Sweden), within the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education project Organisation of Provision to Support Inclusive Education (OoP). The cases highlight general policy issues and challenges relating to inclusion in Europe and, more specifically, the complex question of how to change school culture and structures in order to increase the inclusive capability of schools, thereby raising the achievement of all learners. The cases illustrate the need for co-ordinated changes both at municipal-political and administrative level and at school level. The findings also highlight the importance of what Kim and Mauborgne (Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2003). Tipping point leadership. Harvard Business Review, April, 61–69.) termed ‘tipping-point leadership’ in a study on positive transformation of the New York Police Department’s culture and structures during the mid-1990s. In Flensburg and Essunga, the leaders at different levels co-operated in an extraordinary situation and created a common crisis awareness among the staff, an understanding of the necessity to change, and ways to support the professional organisation to develop a new, more inclusive thought-action style with greater influence on learner achievement.

It has become increasingly apparent that one's perception of issues depends largely on his or her personal history. Human beings, professionals, and stakeholders vary in their perspectives, strategies, and solutions. Rather than arbitrarily selecting issues or seeking consensus among interdisciplinary but disparate groups, it is critical to examine the broader array of values and issues that impact learners with exceptionalities and the future of special education. In addition, it is important to conceptualize effective techniques to reverse traditional problems or difficulties while considering the “cycles” of change in general and special education. These cycles are based on the view that educational perspectives have their time since they come and go. When they are innovative, they become the status quo and become finally obsolete as the next group of methods, beliefs, and educational initiatives takes hold. In special education, we have fundamental values that must be respected and followed to deliver services to learners with exceptionalities. These values are sometimes not valued by ill prepared and unprepared professionals, especially since good professionals believe in change. This chapter focuses on how these values can be respected to protect and advance special education and education as a whole.

The relationship between learning and mental health, as well as a growing body of literature, underscores the need for art therapy in educational settings. This is particularly true for learners with special needs. Shostak et al. (1985) affirmed that “for children with special needs, art therapy in a school setting can offer opportunities to work through obstacles that impede educational success” (p. 19). School art therapy facilitates improved social interaction, increased learning behaviors, appropriate affective development, and increased empathy and personal well-being. It can be adapted to meet the specific developmental needs of individual students and to parallel students’ developmental, learning, and behavioral objectives. This chapter introduces the reader to the history and basic constructs of art therapy as a psychoeducational therapeutic intervention in schools. Model programs are identified, as well as the role of the art therapist within the context of K-12 education settings. Additionally, examples of special populations who benefit from art therapy intervention within school systems are provided, along with considerations for school-wide art therapy.

Urban schools serve a diverse student population that includes African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and “poor” European Americans. The school size and location and the composition of student population play a major part in determining learning outcomes of a particular school (Mukuria, 2002). The Carnegie Report (1988) described many urban schools as having a large, diverse population and located in “poor” neighborhoods. The report indicated that many schools lack purpose, coherence, and unifying culture and that they have neglected buildings that give them a negative appearance. In addition, these schools lack meaningful instructional programs and regular routines as well as a strong sense of community. As a result, they demonstrate the instability to establish a consensus on a unifying culture, which to a large extent, leads to disciplinary problems.

Special education and related services began in Nigeria, the most populous nation of Black people in the world, only a couple of decades ago courtesy of the efforts of missionaries from Europe and America. Although the government took over the responsibility of providing special education and related services to individuals in the late 1970s, evidence indicates that the provision of these services is beset by numerous formidable obstacles such as the absence of supporting laws, inadequacies in funding of services, inclusion programs, early identification and intervention services, personnel training programs, facilities, and educational materials. This chapter discusses these issues and focuses on current ways to improve the provision of meaningful special education and related services for people with disabilities in Nigeria.

Inclusive Education promotes access to quality education, as well as participation and achievement opportunities for all learners in heterogeneous settings, particularly for those who are vulnerable, have been marginalized, discriminated against, labeled, and segregated in separate schools for “special needs.” Key issues include equal opportunity, and systemic change to accommodate diversity. This discussion essay addresses the question of how comparative and international education research advances understanding of these issues. As a key strategy for school reform adopted by UNESCO for its millennium development goal of universal education, implications for research and professional development of inclusive education policy and practices are discussed.

This study aims to evaluate a culture-based blended learning multilingual course created for adult learners in ten languages and the development of learners’ 21st-century skills during its implementation in six European countries – Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia, Romania, Poland and Czechia in the COVID-19 period.

A cross-sectional survey of 638 participants was conducted using a paper-based questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out applying Bereday’s four-step model comprising description, interpretation, juxtaposition and comparison to find out similarities and differences among various groups of learners.

Overall, learners have developed their 21st-century skills, but the improvement has not been the same for all target audiences. Learners with economic, social and cultural barriers were more positive in their evaluation than those with geographic and learning obstacles.

The research was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the face-to-face stage was replaced with online learning on virtual platforms, which impacted the research results. The results cannot be generalized to all adult learners as significant differences were discovered among various target groups of learners.

The course may be implemented for formal and non-formal adult education when face-to-face teaching/learning is restricted.

The findings indicate that the course is especially suitable for learners with economic, social and cultural obstacles to learning.

The article focuses on the use of blended learning in non-formal/informal adult education, which is a less widely researched area. The target course implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic shows a novel way of engaging adult learners in lifelong learning, including those with certain barriers to learning.