Language of inclusion and diversity: policy discourses and social practices in Finnish and Norwegian schools

Arnesen, Anne-Lise; Mietola, Reetta; Lahelma, Elina

doi:10.1080/13603110600601034

Cited by 48 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Secondly, it seems that inclusion remains a political concept and is rarely an organising principle for daily practice in school settings (Haug 2010). Similar to findings in the United Kingdom (Sikes, Lawson, and Parker 2007), inclusion in Norway is most often defined along the binaries of inclusion/exclusion and of normality/abnormality (Arnesen, Mietola, and Lahelma 2007), or in relation to mainstream/special schools (Haug 2010), and consequently, rests paradoxically upon a discourse of exclusion and the Other (Slee 2011). Thirdly, inclusion is often used as a synonym for special education (Haug 2010), and therefore masks the deeper issues of how best to include all students in education as a human rights issue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…First of all, there is the tension between education for equality and social justice and the moral panics about lowering standards and the subsequent increased marketization of schooling (Arnesen, Mietola, and Lahelma 2007;Barton 2004;Nes 2004;Slee 1998;Stromstad 2004). Secondly, it seems that inclusion remains a political concept and is rarely an organising principle for daily practice in school settings (Haug 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Negotiating the discursive spaces of inclusive education: narratives of experience from contemporary Physical Education

Svendby

Dowling

2013

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

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Responding to calls about the urgent need to better understand young disabled people's experiences in the subject of Physical Education (PE), this paper adopts a narrative approach to explore how they experience and value teaching and learning in PE; when and how they feel in/excluded; and to ask 'what barriers/ facilitators are perceived to be of importance for their sense of in/exclusion?' Narratives structure and illuminate not only young people's own experiences and self-identities, but they also reveal insights about the socio-cultural locations they inhabit. When they are well told they can persuade us to revisit our taken-forgranted realities about disability and inclusive education. Analyses of a case study of stories from the discursive spaces of PE lessons reveal that the deep culture of schooling and the hegemonic 'truths' of PE, not least of performativity, often result in segregated and alienating experiences, in which the disabled student is defined as malfunctioning and lacking 'ability'.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating the discursive spaces of inclusive education: narratives of experience from contemporary Physical Education

Svendby

Dowling

2013

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

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“…Equality and inclusiveness are central values for Norwegian educational policies (Arnesen, Mietola, and Lahelma 2007), and exceptions to the principle of the unitary school are strictly regulated by the Education Act. From the first grade in elementary up to and including the third grade of upper secondary, education is free of charge and based on right.…”

Section: The Political Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education without a shared language: dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in Norwegian introductory classes for newly arrived minority language students

Hilt

2016

International Journal of Inclusive Education

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Based upon fieldwork in two upper secondary schools in Norway, this article offers an analysis of inclusion and exclusion processes for newly arrived minority language students. Minority language students are defined by policy as students who have a different mother tongue than the Norwegian and Sami languages, and students who are newly arrived in Norway are considered especially at risk for marginalisation. This article explores processes of inclusion and exclusion in two schools with segregated classes for this group, called introductory classes. The analytical framework is Niklas Luhmann's theory of autopoietic social systems, where inclusion is defined as the requirements for participation set by a system, and exclusion accordingly as being unable to meet these requirements. The article displays different constellations of inclusions and exclusions for newly arrived students in the educational system: in school organisations, organisation-based interactions and informal networks of students. It will be showed that introductory classes erect several barriers towards newly arrived students' inclusion, especially towards those students who are placed at the basic level of the schools' hierarchy of performances. As a consequence of multiple educational exclusions, informal networks emerge as alternative socialities that include and exclude students on the basis of mother tongue. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…Niemi, 2014;Sigurðardóttir & Óskarsdóttir, 2012). Arnesen et al (2007) have brought together these three positions and searched for new ways to analyse inclusion and diversity in the school policy and practice drawing from ethnographic studies in Finnish and Norwegian schools, both from mainstream and from special classes. The importance of disability as a category of difference that has conceptual potential in theorising education, teaching and pedagogy becomes visible in these three positions and perspectives of researchers.…”

Section: Discussion Of Finnish and Icelandic Contributions To Dsementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of these researchers have come to DS from outside the discipline of special education, and they concentrate on the critical analysis of inclusive education and on cultural practices of inclusion and exclusion (e.g. Arnesen, Mietola, & Lahelma, 2007;Hakala, 2010;Mietola & Lappalainen, 2006;Niemi, 2008).…”

Section: Finlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nordic perspectives on disability studies in education: a review of research in Finland and Iceland

et al. 2018

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Disability studies in education (DSE) is an interdisciplinary field derived from the need to re-conceptualise special education dominated by a medical perspective on disability. In this article we identify what characterises DSE research and consider whether there is a case for arguing for a specific field of DSE in Finland and Iceland. Our analysis is based on a review of 59 studies published by Finnish and Icelandic scholars during the time period of ratification process of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities from 2007 to 2016 in Finland and Iceland. We suggest that DSE has emerged as a dynamic area of research in both countries. It has provoked researchers to analyse disability in social contexts and turn the gaze from individual person with disabilities to the social structures and educational policies and practices. The fields of DSE in Finland and Iceland have not developed in identical ways and both have fluid crossovers to related fields such as disability studies and inclusive education. We argue for the potential of DSE to contribute to the discussion on educational equality and social justice. However, this requires opportunities to bring together scholars across disciplinary borders.

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Language of inclusion and diversity: policy discourses and social practices in Finnish and Norwegian schools

Cited by 48 publications

References 18 publications

Negotiating the discursive spaces of inclusive education: narratives of experience from contemporary Physical Education

Negotiating the discursive spaces of inclusive education: narratives of experience from contemporary Physical Education

Education without a shared language: dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in Norwegian introductory classes for newly arrived minority language students

Nordic perspectives on disability studies in education: a review of research in Finland and Iceland

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