School exclusion, educational engagement and social equity

Abstract

Paul Cooper is a Chartered Psychologist and has been a Professor of Education at Leicester since January 2001. Before moving to Higher Education , he was a teacher of English in a Scottish comprehensive school and then taught in England in special facilities for children and young people with social , emotional and behavioural difficulties and a junior school. Since 1989 he has held academic posts in the universities of Birmingham, Oxford and Cambridge where he has developed research and teaching interests , along with an extensive list of publications , in the areas of social , emotional and behavioural difficulties in education , Attention Deficit! Hyperactivity Disorder , positive alternatives to school exclusion and effective teaching and learning in schools. For the last twenty years he has conducted in-service training in schools and t mainly through SEBDA ( Social , Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties Association ), advocated the concept of educational engagement as an antidote to school exclusion. In this interview , he will elaborate on the issues of school exclusion , neo-liberal discourse in education , special education , inclusive policies , educational engagement and parental voice.