Our need for certainty in an uncertain world: the difference between special education and inclusion?

Abstract

Despite decades of effort to achieve inclusive education systems, the emphasis on special education persists. This article explores the contradictory impulses that underpin these two concepts and considers whether they can be brought together. It does this through the development of two models; a model of certainty and a 'model of uncertainty'. These models seek to represent and create a platform for thinking about the emergence and perpetuation of these two contradictory impulses and how these contradictions are experienced and might be resolved.

Differentiated instruction: ‘to be, or not to be, that is the question’

“…Two factors can explain this misinterpretation: (a) the theoretical roots of differentiated instruction. These roots are extremely connected to the research on individual learning differences and in the adaptation of the learning goals to the abilities of individual children with special needs as a way to make schools responsive to all students (Rix 2020); and (b) the origin of the word differentiation itself. For instance, in the Portuguese dictionary, differentiate is a transitive and pronominal verb that means to make or establish a difference, to discriminate, to distinguish.…”

“…However, one main reason for this difficulty may reside in the attempt teachers make to differentiate their work while maintaining the classic school organisation structure. Traditional grammars of schooling are related to those regular structures and rules that organise the work of instruction in a whole class teaching approach focusing exclusively in subjects, classes, lessons, age-grades and testing (Rix 2020). This reason can be pointed out as a major limitation to the development of the paradigm proposed in the new decree law.…”

“…The origin of these misperceptions and inconsistencies may be associated with the theoretical roots of differentiated instruction. These roots are linked to research on individual learning differences and in the adaptation of the learning goals and content to the abilities of individual children with special needs by creating separate individualised education programmes for them, as a way to make schools responsive to students with disabilities (Landrum and McDuffie 2010;Nind et al 2013;Rix 2020). Bearing this in mind, sorting pupils into more and less able and providing them with experiences matched accordingly, is a very well-established response to make learning accessible for a diverse range of abilities and learning styles (Nind et al 2013).…”

“…However, practitioners recognise that practice has remained largely unchanged (Gheyssens et al 2020;Rix 2020). Studies demonstrate that teachers support inclusion at a theoretical level but in practice find it a difficult concept to operationalise (Bondie, Dahnke, and Zusho 2019;Gaitas and Martins 2017).…”

Organizational and Pedagogical Conditions for the Educational Process Implementation within the Inclusive Education in the Republic of Kazakhstan

“…Shemanov and E.V. Samsonova (Shemanov, Samsonova, 2019), Jonathan Rix (Rix, 2020) and Roger Slee (Slee, 2019) argue that it contradicts the major politics of UNESCO (UNESCO, 2013) since it only generates more sophisticated forms of separate education in the framework of a general education institution.…”