IS INCLUSION AN ILLUSION

Is Inclusion an Illusion?

ABSTRACT

This study has examined the various approaches taken to defining inclusion and has argued that it is more helpful to separate out the concepts of inclusion and illusion than to unquestioningly assume that they are opposites at each end of a single continuum. Instead it was proposed that social inclusion operates at an individual or group level and is concerned with the extent to which people are accepted and feel they belong within different social contexts.

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Thesis Statement2

Research Questions:2

Research Objectives2

Methodology9

Research Design9

Literature Search9

Research Instrument10

Research Method11

Search Technique11

Theoretical Framework11

Data Collection11

Limitations and Recommendations for Future Research12

Conclusion13

Is Inclusion an Illusion?

Introduction

The issues of equality, diversity and ways to promote inclusion are of significance for teachers. All educators are expected to embed equality and diversity in teaching. This may be easier in some subjects than others. A teacher concerned with spreading awareness and respect for diversity needs to consider where their subject interfaces with human beings. In judging whether an educator as promoting equality, diversity and inclusion we need to consider the values and culture of the learners and the teacher, the physical environment and the learning materials. Because of the varying needs of students, teachers need to understand and promote the concept of inclusion (Artiles, Harris-Murri and Rostenberg, 2006).

Inclusive education is a complex and contentious area and has preoccupied teacher educators for many decades although not necessarily under this title. It arose in responding to 'individual differences' in the 1960s, in the 'selective schools versus comprehensive education' debate in the 1970s, in relation to the issue of 'special needs in ordinary schools' in the 1980s, again in the 1990s in the 'integration versus inclusion' debate and now in relation to differentiation and gifted education (Blackwell 2004).

Diversity and inclusion emerged in the later decades of the twentieth century as two central preoccupations of political and educational theory in liberal democracies. Social movements pressed for recognition of many forms of diversity: ability, class, culture, ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, religion and sexual orientation. If diversity is the great issue of our time, inclusion is commonly regarded in public discourse and policy as a key solution to the injustices suffered by groups excluded from the mainstream of society. These injustices have taken the form of mis-recognition of the traditions, cultures, preferences and material needs of the excluded, as well as their needs for access to and inclusion in educational provision. So it is widely agreed that education should recognize diversity and thereby be inclusive. As we will show, from here the issues become less straightforward (Tomey 1994). Key concepts in philosophy of education, while compelling at face value, are usually contested and often problematically in tension with one another. If we talk of inclusion, into what are we talking of including those who have excluded? Are all kinds of inclusion just and desirable? What if respecting some forms of diversity results in new forms of exclusion?

Thesis Statement

Is inclusion an illusion?

Research Questions:

What knowledge do researchers have general integration / inclusion?

What support and ...