Inclusion

A Framework for Inclusion

Inclusion is a term that has been applied to international educational contexts for many decades, but is open to interpretation by policy makers, practitioners and academics alike. This article is the first of three that that seeks to re-define a framework for how children and young people are included in education, regardless of their background, challenge or need.

Introduction

Written from a United Kingdom (UK) perspective, informed by international practice, this article will consider how inclusion – policy and practice might be defined. The second articleAre We Included? summarises the work of Sharma and his colleagues (20121, 20162, 20183 20214, 20225) across several international contexts primarily aimed at examining students’, teachers’, and parents’ views on being included and how this could be further developed in the UK.

The final article Mutuality introduces a relatively new interpretation of inclusive policy and practice developed in England from 20186.

To be included

As a starting point, inclusion is a term that infers that we all must have equal access to opportunities or resources. Inclusion is much more than just placement of a student in a class. When a student is ‘included’, the student attends regular classroom; participates in all activities offered to other students; is accepted by the rest of the school community; achieves in all learning domains; has a strong sense of belongingness and feels happy to be part of the school community.

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