Wherefore art thou, inclusion? Analysing the development of inclusive education in New South Wales, Alberta and Finland

Teachers’ Perceptions of the Relationship between Inclusive Education and Distributed Leadership in two Primary Schools in Slovakia and New South Wales (Australia)

“…The wider social and political context, dominated by the neoliberal value system and deficit discourses of disability and special educational needs, both in NSW (Graham & Jahnukainen, 2011;Slee, 2011) and Slovakia (KaËák & Pupala, 2011;fiovinec & Seidler, 2010), may be inconsistent with an inclusive value system and may pose significant challenges to the sustainability of inclusion in schools (Armstrong, Armstrong & Spandagou, 2010, p. 110). Thus, one needs to be careful not to put all the responsibility on teachers and schools for failing to practise inclusive education.…”

“…In many countries there continues to be an increase in the number of students assessed as having special educational needs (SEN), including Australia (Graham & Jahnukainen, 2011) and Slovakia (fiovinec & Seidler, 2010). Despite, the global rhetoric of inclusive education, fuelled primarily by the Organisation of United Nations and its international policy initiatives, such as UNESCOís Salamanca Statement on Principles, Policy and Practice in Special Needs Education (Armstrong, Armstrong, & Spandagou, 2010), many practitioners and academics have questioned the extent to which inclusive education practices occur in schools.…”

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“…This was followed by reductions in special school enrolments in Australia, intimating that inclusion was working, and children were physically included. However, Graham and Jahnukainen (2011) found that other forms of segregated placements were growing within the neighbourhood schools, creating a dual system where children were segregated in separate classrooms within the same school or not provided with instruction that allowed access to the curriculum, just as there is in the United States. The split approach to education that exists in the United States and Australia with special education existing as a separate but parallel form of education was also how UNESCO described education from 1965 until roughly the mid 1990's (Kiuppis, 2014).…”

“…While inclusion is being framed in market-driven rhetoric internationally and within the United Graham & Jahnukainen, 2011). This was followed by reductions in special school enrolments in Australia, intimating that inclusion was working, and children were physically included.…”

Social Justice and Lower Attainers in a Global Knowledge Economy

“…The declared aim by the Ministry of Education is to disrupt the transmission of inequalities between generations, and policies are designed to attempt this. Around 30% of children are offered what is described as special education, but is in essence additional help throughout the pre-school and school years to 19 and children do not have to wait to fail [40] before they are given additional educational support. Some 8% of students are regarded as having more severe problems and this number is a matter of concern for government and educationalists.…”