Dispute resolution and avoidance in education: A study of special educational needs and additional support needs in England and Scotland 2008-2010

This project aims to assess the role and effectiveness of early and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in one of the most conflict-producing areas of educational provision and decision-making - special educational needs (SEN) in England or additional support needs (ADR) in Scotland. Its comparative approach will extend to the different statutory and judicial frameworks and legal and policy cultures in England and Scotland. It will have a strong empitical focus, looking at the factors that influence settlement of disputes without recourse to the processes of an appeal to a statutory tribunal. It will consider the 'justice' - procedural and substantive - inherent in the cases that are resolved in this way. The study will complement other research and debate on the role of ADR/mediation, extrapolating from the SEN/ASN experience, with its combination of formal, tribunal, and flexible, ADR, processes for resolving disagreements, to the wider context of the citizen-state dispute resolution. Theoretical concerns that conciliation or mediation may be inherently inappropriate in some or all citizen-versus-state disputes because of the imbalance of power will be tested.