Bottlenecks introduces a powerful new way of understanding equal opportunity. Rather than literal equalization, Joseph Fishkin argues that Americans ought to aim to broaden the range of opportunities open to people, at every stage in life, to pursue different paths. This approach has significant implications for public policy and antidiscrimination law.

Against Equality of Opportunity deals with the ways in which opportunities - education, jobs and other things which affect how people get on in life - are distributed. Take jobs: should the best person always get the job? Or should everyone be given an equal 'life chance'? Or can we somehow combine these two ideas, saying that the best person should always get the job, but that everyone should have an equal chance to become the best? These seem to be the standard views, but this book argues that they are all flawed. We need to understand meritocracy for what it is - a technical rather than a moral ideal; and we need to accept that equality just isn't something we should be striving for at all in this area. We also need to rethink our approach to the related issue of discrimination. We tend to assume discrimination is wrong because it violates either meritocracy or equality, when in fact it is wrong for quite different reasons. In all these areas, then, Cavanagh aims to loosen the grip of established ways of thinking, in order that other ideas might find room to breathe. This is particularly important in the case of meritocracy, which after the recent conversion of the centre-left now dominates the debate more than ever. This book will be of interest to students and teachers of political philosophy, but ultimately it is aimed at anyone who cares about the fundamental values that lie behind the way society is organized. Though the argument is rigorous, it does not require a professional philosophical training to follow it.

Egalitarians have traditionally been suspicious of equality of opportunity, but recently there has been a sea-change in egalitarian thinking about that concept. Shlomi Segall brings together these developments in egalitarian theory and offers a comprehensive account of 'radical equality of opportunity'.

This book provides a completely new approach to planning and study for all childcare courses. Written by the country's leading childcare authors, A-Z of Childcare explains the most effective methods of study, and presents outline plans to all the key curriculum areas.

Maurice Lee's study illustrates how writers such as Poe, Melville, Douglass, Thoreau, Dickinson, and others participated in a broad intellectual and cultural shift in which Americans increasingly learned to live with the threatening and wonderful possibilities of chance.

This study of the effects and directions of social change in Taiwan examines questions such as: what was the society of Taiwan like before the current period of economic growth?; how has it changed?; and are there aspects that did not change, despite the significant transformation in some spheres.

`This book provides a succinct overview of SEN policy and is likely to be a useful resource for those undertaking accredited courses related to SEN and inclusion′ - SENCO Update ′The combination of the theoretical and practical aspects of special educational needs makes this book a valuable resource for practitioners and should enable them to develop reflective and insightful practice.′ - Michael Shevlin, Trinity College Dublin, TES Extra Special Needs `This is a comprehensive and thorough overview of the Special Educational Needs (SEN) landscape as it is in the UK today. The book is very clearly aimed at specialists in the field, and Michael Farrell incorporates developments that are sometimes ignored - emotional intelligence for example. There is a nice touch in that each chapter concludes with ′thinking points′. I could see that the book could make a sound basis for a training course on SEN, based around these. The book is highly readable though I expect it is more likely to be used as a reference text, or, as I suggested above, as a basis for training. However it is used, it is invaluable as an up to date assessment of SEN in 2004 and highly recommended to anyone working, or planning to work in this field′ - Nurtuting Potential `Essential reading for every SENCO, in fact, for everyone involved in special educational needs. By examining the background to key areas the book gives teachers, managers and advisers the depth of understanding that is necessary to make informed choices about what constitutes the most effective practice′ - Dr Tony Lingard, Head of Learning Support, Cambourne Science and Community College `With its scope and depth of coverage, this book provides a useful resource through combining background information, theory and practice as well as the tools for further research for both novice and experienced practitioner′ - Ms Lyn Hurst, Headteacher This book provides a `route map′ for special education. Through examining related disciplines, which illuminate the field, it considers how special education can be better understood. The author views issues in special education within the wider disciplines of history, sociology, law, politics, ethics, economics, medicine and psychology. He looks at the national, local and school frameworks in which special education operates, and shows how provision for pupils with special educational needs is influenced by structures, procedures and practices at national, local and school levels. Features include: } the ethics of preventing disability } ′lesson′s history } identifying value in sociological perspectives } psychological and other Models of teaching } aspects of the National Framework } aspects of the Local Framework } the School SEN Policy } the Curriculum and School Organization This book is essential reading for teachers, headteachers, Special Educational Needs co-ordinators and all those who have an interest in special education and managing inclusion.