Part II
Inclusion: a complex concept
Introduction: Since the Salamanca Declaration in 1994, most European countries have accepted the notion that inclusive education is a vital prerequisite to securing equal educational rights for all persons with varied needs (UNESCO 1994). At the same time, inclusion is a complex and contested concept. Its interpretation can vary from region to region, and it cannot be achieved by simply stopping with special education and teaching.
Task
Task: Read the following quotes/or listen to the podcast. Identify further aspects of inclusion that make its implementation problematic. Make a bullet point list. Then answer the quiz.
Welcome to our podcast on the complexities of inclusive education. Today, we’ll explore the challenges and nuances of implementing truly inclusive educational practices.
Inclusive education aims to provide all students, regardless of their abilities or background, with an ambitious and tailored educational experience. However, this noble goal comes with significant challenges.
The process of identifying individual student needs is incredibly complex. It requires a deep, contextualized analysis of how students learn across cognitive, social, family, psychological, and institutional levels. Educators must also understand various disorders, disabilities, and their impacts on learning in different situations.
While the ideal of inclusion is widely accepted, there’s often a gap between policy and practice. Many countries struggle to create truly inclusive environments and teaching methods. The concept of inclusion is strongly value-driven, making it difficult to criticize or oppose.
Interestingly, some theorists worry that broadening the definition of inclusion could inadvertently sideline the needs of students with disabilities as other minority interests are pursued.
It’s crucial to recognize that inclusive education isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Each country must develop its own approach, respecting local values and traditions. Implementing advanced inclusive policies can be challenging when they conflict with established norms.
Ultimately, the focus needs to shift from simply providing access to developing high-quality inclusive pedagogical practices. This requires systematic development and documentation of teachers’ competencies in inclusive education.
In conclusion, while inclusive education is a laudable goal, its implementation is complex and requires careful consideration of local contexts, comprehensive understanding of diverse student needs, and ongoing development of teaching practices. It’s a journey that will take time, effort, and dedication to truly achieve.”
“The desire to offer all students, even those with lacking academic expectations, an ambitious education by adapting education to specific needs of individual students is laudable. However, it requires a very complex process of categorization. The identification of pupil skills and barriers to learning requires an in-depth and contextualized analysis of the ways in which pupils construct knowledge on several levels: cognitive, social, family, psychological and institutional. It also requires knowledge of possible disorders and disabilities and associated consequences in different education and learning situations, as well as considering the specificity of each context. The assessment and identification of specific needs are essential processes for the success of inclusive pathways.” (Kohout-Diaz, 2023: 190)
“The cultural, historical, linguistic, economic, and even geopolitical particularities of national and regional contexts manifest in problematic, sometimes even contradictory, ways in relationship to international recommendations for inclusive education. Those in charge of making decisions, including on the local level, do not always understand that practices for inclusive education can never be a normative force. Nor is inclusive education a method for reducing, overtly or covertly, the costs of education and health. These realities contribute to tensions in joint and situated assessments of student needs.” (Kohout-Diaz, 2023: 190)
“The practical state of inclusive education in many countries differs widely, between and even within schools. As Allan (2008) has concluded: ‘There appears, however, to be deep uncertainty about how to create inclusive environments within schools and about how to teach inclusively’ (10). In all countries there seems to be a gap between formulations and realizations of inclusive education.” (Haug, 2017: 206)
“The definition presented in the introduction represents a strong and widely accepted ideal ethical ethos attributed to inclusion. I refer to it as a masterpiece of rhetoric, easy to accept and difficult to be against or even criticize. This illustrates that inclusion is strongly value- and ideology-driven, in the same category as other similar concepts such as democracy and social justice. The ambitions and ideal value aspects of inclusion have few negative positions or limitations (Norwich 2014). The European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education supports this notion, when they formulate the challenges explicitly in this way: ‘The current debate is no longer about what inclusion is and why it is needed; the key question is how it is to be achieved’ (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education 2014a, 5).” (Haug, 2017: 206)
“Some inclusive theorists worry about the consequences of widening the inclusion territory, and criticize the broad definition. This could be a possible threat not only to inclusive theory but also to inclusive practices. Since the broad definition concerns not only persons with disabilities, there is a risk that the interests of those with disabilities might become secondary or even be overlooked when pursuing other minority interests, for instance related to gender or social class (Norwich 2014).” (Haug 2017: 209)
“The empirical evidence tells us that to be successful, both importers and exporters of inclusive philosophies must respect local values. This means that it is very challenging for a country and its schools over a short time period to implement an advanced inclusive policy when it is in contrast to established national traditions. Each country must develop its own path to inclusive education (Mitchell 2005a).” (Haug 2017: 211)
“That is the struggle to develop educational quality in classrooms so that all stu- dents benefit from inclusive education, regardless of which definition of inclusion one supports. Teachers’ competencies are decisive for these results. The importance of access and placement in inclusive education has received too much attention, at the expense of developing pedagogical quality. Therefore, to be able to realize inclusive education we have to further develop teachers’ competencies in this particular form of education. This has to be done systematically, and must be empirically documented. It will be crucial to reveal the challenges involved in inclusive education and to develop ways in which teachers can meet them. To do so will take time and effort.” (Haug 2017: 215).
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