Unthinkable, unfundable and unknowable: the evidence void on making science accessible to pupils with learning disabilities

There is a growing question of how, in an age of performativity, we will be enabled to undertake any research other than that which promises to be productive in the short-term. This tension was highlighted by the recent resignation of a top Canadian academic over the issue (Migdal, 2018) For educational researchers, this a concern because the lack of evidence on wider educational issues, that are of less apparent usefulness, may perpetuate disadvantage. An example of this is the way that science is treated, and research into science education funded, solely as a subject with an economic and industrial purpose, without regards to the other, broader aims that it could fulfil.