This invited Lecture is held at each National Conference of the New Zealand Special Education Association to honour the memory of Len (Leyland Duvalle) Cosson (1933–1987), and is sponsored by the Len Cosson Memorial Trust. Len was a distinguished New Zealand special educator, and at the time of his untimely death he was Principal Lecturer in Special education at Christchurch College of Education. At Christchurch, had established New Zealand’s first special 1‐year training course for teachers in special education; he wrote many influential handbooks and articles aimed at improving teaching practice in special education; and played a major role in the establishment of NZSEA.

This paper reports on an investigation of the attitudes of 225 principals employed in Queensland state schools, toward inclusion of students with disabilities. The justification for the study lay in the important role of school principals in implementing social justice strategies, together with the need to focus on attitudes toward inclusion, as opposed to mainstreaming or integration. The approach to inclusion taken in this study was the placement of students with disabilities and special needs in classrooms with children who do not have such disabilities or needs, together with the provision of support for the included student. A 30‐item scale measuring attitudes toward inclusion was developed and administered. In an attempt to identify the influence of factors which might be seen to influence inclusion attitudes, the following demographic variables were used for analysis: principals’ age and gender; type and size of school; previous and present experience with students with disabilities; and special education qualifications. The results showed the large majority of school principals were positive about inclusion. It was found that the demographics age, gender, and school size had no impact on attitudes toward inclusion. Using a two‐factor solution and a clustering of types of disability, significant differences emerged on the basis of type of school (secondary vs primary), type of disability (a combination of sensory, learning, intellectual, speech) vs aggressive behaviour, and previous teaching experience with students with disabilities. In terms of the implementation of inclusion, all respondents were equally cautious, pointing to the need for further training of teachers, aides and principals, and additional resources to ensure effective inclusion.

The present study surveyed the views of parents about the education of students with special needs in regular classrooms. The survey involved 81 parents of students without disabilities and 29 parents of students with special needs. The children attended an Australian primary school. The school provided special education to 35 students with special needs and some of their education was provided in regular classrooms. Both groups of parents provided a range of supportive comments, but also expressed concerns about the implementation of special education in regular classrooms. Specific concerns included the extra time and added stress of educating children with special needs in the regular classroom, the potential disruption and disadvantage to other students, and the lack of support and resources, which may decrease the amount of learning. These views are consistent with those expressed by teachers and students without special needs as reported in the companion paper (Wright & Sigafoos, 1997) to the present study.

The relative quality of Physical Education and Sport for students with and without disabilities was examined by surveying the views of students, teachers, and support staff in a sample of West Australian schools. The findings indicate differences in quality of Physical Education and Sport for students with and without disabilities. Students with disabilities did not receive the same quality of Physical Education and Sport experiences, although they tended to be enthusiastic about what they did receive. A higher proportion of this group completed activities other than fully participating in Physical Education and Sport. Depending on individual circumstances, this may suggest that in addition to the inclusion model, there may be a need to establish parallel or segregated and personalised programs for some students. The findings also highlighted the urgent need for (a) inclusionary practice to be an integral part of pre‐service teacher education, (b) a range of professional development and networking opportunities for teachers of Physical Education, and (c) greater resources to be allocated for equipment, facilities and support staff to assist students with disabilities.

This study reports a further analysis of data presented by Chalmers, Carter, Clayton and Hook (in press) that examined teachers’ perceptions of possible best practice, reported implementation and training needs. Teachers of students with severe disabilities in 3 NSW Department of School Education regions were surveyed with 83 useable surveys being returned. Comparisons were made between teachers who worked in Schools for Specific Purposes (SSP) and those who working in support classes in regular schools as well as teachers with formal special education qualifications and those without such qualifications. Teachers in support classes reported a higher level of agreement with a majority of practices and disproportionately high levels of implementation when compared with teachers in SSPs. Teachers with formal special education qualifications reported higher levels of agreement than teachers without formal qualifications on the majority of items, but implementation levels were similar. There also appeared to be systematic differences in reported inservice training needs. Inadequacies in therapy services were reported as a barrier to best practice by over 50% of support class teachers.