Children and young persons with severe behavioural disorders are attracting an increasing amount of political attention and publicity due to the disruption which many of them cause in community and educational settings. In this paper the authors examine definitions of behavioural disorders and summarize recent literature in the area. Other issues raised relate to prevalence data, and the apparent growth of the problem of disruption, the stability of behavioural disorders across time into adolescence and adulthood, and the increase in stress in teachers attributable to the presence of children with behavioural disorders in schools. Management approaches are described which hold promise of alleviating the problem for pupils, teachers and the wider community.

Two Hong Kong studies are described which investigate the perceptions of junior secondary school pupils (high- and low-achieving) concerning the effectiveness of rewards and punishments. Both studies employ versions of Caffyn’s questionnaire. Initial analysis reveals that (a) there is a relationship between disaffection and achievement, and (b) pupils of both achievement levels have more favourable perceptions regarding the effectiveness of rewards than they do of punishments. A focus on the relationships between achievement and perceptions reveals that (c) high-achievers perceive a large number of rewards as more effective than do low-achievers, (d) low-achievers perceive very few other rewards as being more effective than do high-achievers, and (e) the situation is a little more balanced for punishments. The paper includes a discussion regarding particular reward and punishment items perceptions about which differentiate low-and high-achievers. Finally, it is noted that there is a high level of consistency between findings in the two studies reported in this paper. Where it is possible to make comparisons with other research findings from Hong Kong and elsewhere, a high degree of agreement between such findings is found.

This paper examines, from a philosophical perspective, some of the main ethical problems pertaining to the special education field. It is argued that while special education practice has been strongly grounded in psychological theory, it has not always been adequately justified by reference to general moral principles. Rationales for intervention are mostly couched in descriptive or explanatory terms while the over-riding prescriptive or evaluative dimensions are often presupposed without explicit justification. Particular issues such as diagnostic assessment, educational placement and behavioural management can be seen to entail complex ethical problems concerning the consideration of individual rights and interests, equality of educational opportunity, and respect for personal autonomy. Examples of the moral dilemmas inherent in particular special educational practices are examined. Finally, it is claimed that special educators must be able to defend not only the empirical bases of their educational theories, but also the value judgments implicit in them.

The extent to which young people with emotional and behavioural disturbances can remain integrated within the normal school is contentious. The article proposes that every effort should be made to maintain integration and that an Alternative Unit is one means of helping to bring this about. The Alternative Unit would not only work with students in the mainstream but could also function as an intermediary between mainstream and special education.

An examination was made of the employment patterns of school leavers who had graduated from the four Christchurch work-experience programmes for mildly retarded children during a 4-year period in the current economic recession. Contrary to expectations, no differences were found in the employment patterns for graduates of each of the four years. In each year-group, levels of employment were high as were meantimes in employment since graduation, and frequencies of job changes were low. Several methodological problems which cloud interpretation of the results are discussed and the need for comprehensive and consistent monitoring of the employment patterns of mildly retarded school-leavers over the next few years is emphasised.

Recently Maggs described a model for the delivery of technical assistance in special education settings in which he emphasized the importance to service delivery of the role played by consultant personnel. This paper identifies three fundamentally important influences on the work performance of consultants, whether they are working “traditionally” or within a model such as that proposed by Maggs.

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the integration of an exceptional child with Down syndrome into a regular primary school. In investigating the demands made on the teachers in this situation, the researcher attempted to discover personal, professional development and support needs. The data revealed that there were greatly increased demands placed on the teachers of the exceptional child and their personal and professional needs were significant. The study concluded that it is only with adequate professional, financial and moral support of the entire school community that justice for teachers of exceptional children in integrated classrooms is both done and seen to be done.

The Des English Memorial Lecture provides an unique opportunity each year to reflect on the history that has brought us together and has carried us to this point in the evolution of the discipline of special education. It provides us with a time to dream, a time to foreshadow, a time to hint or guess at the better world that we strive to create in our classrooms each day, in our schools each week and in our administrative or academic systems each year. There are many lessons from the educational past for us to heed as we move forward towards the 21st Century and help forge the changes that our schools and services must necessarily undergo in order to serve well future generations of students with special academic and social needs.

While New Zealand has a long history of providing special classes for the educationally handicapped, (Havill & Mitchell 1972) substantial specialized training programmes at a post-graduate level for teachers of these classes are a comparatively recent development. Apart from well-established courses for speech therapists and teachers of the deaf, the first systematic attempt to develop specialized training programmes for teachers in Special Education in New Zealand was the establishment in 1974 of a one-year post-graduate course for teachers of the Educationally Handicapped at Christchurch Teachers College.