Rethinking Inclusive Education The Philosophers Of Difference In Practice

With Warnock, the so-called ‘architect’ of inclusion now pronouncing this her ‘big mistake’ and calling for a return to special schooling, inclusion appears to be under threat as never before. This book takes key ideas of the philosophers of difference – Deleuze, Foucault and Derrida – and puts them to work on inclusion. The book offers new challenges for those involved with education to invent new ways of tackling the ‘problem’ of inclusion.

In Belonging: Rethinking Inclusive Practices to Support Well-Being and Identity, issues related to inclusive education and belonging across a range of education contexts are examined and matters related to participation, policy and theory, and identity and well-being are explored.

Rethinking Children and Inclusive Education examines attitudes towards, and experiences of, children's marginalization and inclusion. Sue Pearson draws on a wide range of thought, research and practice from different fields and countries to debate, challenge and reappraise long held beliefs, attitudes and ways of working and living with children with differing needs and learning challenges. This book adopts a broad view of inclusive education that embraces all, with examples mainly but not exclusively related to special educational needs; takes a nuanced perspective which goes beyond reductionist debates about placement; and gives attention to the wider educational and social contexts that envelop schools and those that follow schooling. Throughout, Rethinking Children and Inclusive Education acknowledges some of the tensions, contradictions and overlaps in policies and practices by exploring a variety of UK and international sources. Making an original contribution to current debates, the text emphasises research that adopts a socio-cultural/ecological perspective alongside that which focuses on child factors, including participatory or emancipatory research, and highlights the links between principles, research, policies and practices. Including extensive examples of research, practical activities, key points and guidance on further reading, Rethinking Children and Inclusive Education is essential reading for all those studying childhood at undergraduate and graduate level and of great interest to those working with children in any field.

Based on extensive research, Addressing Tensions and Dilemmas in Inclusive Education presents a contemporary and critical analysis of the interaction between different perspectives and positions in the field of inclusive education. Referring to existing attitudes on the education of children and young people with learning difficulties and disabilities, Professor Norwich argues that despite the appeal of inclusion as a single powerful position, its practical realisation involves tensions and dilemmas that have to be addressed and resolved. This core analysis is illustrated by a review of relevant national and international concepts, principles, research and practices drawing on literature in areas of current interest and concern, such as: identification and classification; current national and international conceptions; pedagogic and curriculum issues; organisation of schooling; parental and student perspectives; the contribution of research to policy and practice. Engaging with the fundamental issues in the field and providing a coherent perspective that recognises and justifies the inter-connection between specialised and general school provision, this accessible and timely book will be of interest to all researchers and students of inclusive education.

The Language of Inclusive Education is an insightful text which considers the writing, speaking, reading and hearing of inclusive education. Based on the premise that humans use language to construct their worlds and their realities, this book is concerned with how language works to determine what we know and understand about issues related to in/exclusion in education. Using a variety of analytical tools, the author exposes language-at-work in academic and popular literature and in policy documents. Areas of focus include: What inclusive education means and how it is defined How metaphor works to position inclusive education How textbooks construct inclusive education How we use language to build what we understand to be difference and disability, with particular reference to AD(H)D and Asperger’s Syndrome Listening to children and young people as a means to promote inclusion in schools Woven through this volume is the argument for a more critical awareness of how we use language in the field that we call ‘inclusive education’. This book is a must-read for any individual studying, practicing or an interest in inclusion and exploring the associations with language.

How do we articulate the possibilities, limitations and challenges of inclusive schooling and education in African contexts? This book insists that inclusive education cannot be taken for granted. Inclusion is neither a natural nor a given educational practice. It must be struggled for. Bringing a critical perspective to inclusive schooling and education is imperative. This book adds to current educational debates with an African lens. It engages inclusive education from multiple lenses of curriculum content, classroom pedagogy and instruction, representation, culture, environment and the socio-organization life of schools, the pursuit of equity and social justice and the search for educational relevance. It is opined that Africa cannot be left behind in rethinking educational inclusion in ways that evoke critical questions of power, equity and social difference. The question of leaner’s identity in terms of class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, language, ethnicity and race are equally consequential for African schooling and education. When inclusion is understood as wholeness of education, then how schooling and education engage the complete learner – her/his body, mind, soul and spirit, as well as the use of local community and Indigenous knowledges in teaching and learning become relevant. Inclusion stands the risk of liberal educational agendas that simply tinker or toy with schooling and education and hardly embrace the challenge of educational change. What we need is a fundamental structural change that ensures schooling and education embraces difference while grappling with the teaching of Indigeneity, decolonization and resistance.

This essential textbook explores inclusive pedagogies by presenting theoretical viewpoints and research on everyday practices in early childhood education that affirm diversity in relation to learning, disability and culture. The authors consider the pedagogical practices involved in supporting educational inclusion for young children. The book focuses on key issues in relation to inclusive pedagogy including young children’s learning subjectivities, socio-material realities of learning in early childhood contexts, and perspective-taking of children and adults in relation to learning and difference. The book draws together findings from experts who are employing innovative methods for research in early childhood education, including conversation analysis, phenomenological enquiry and participant ethnography, in order to create new knowledge and understanding about how young children are and feel themselves to be included. This textbook will be essential reading for students and practitioners alike. The book is particularly pertinent for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying early years as well as courses which focus on education or teaching or inclusion.

This volume focuses on inquiry into inclusive education from the perspective of scholarly influences in the field of practice and research.