Inclusion in Scotland and Europe

• Understandings of integration and inclusion

• Shifting political and policy contexts

• Patterns and trends

• Barriers to inclusion

• Children’s views of inclusion

• Prospects and possibilities

Understandings of inclusion

• Integration: increasing participation of all children

• Inclusion endorsed by Salamanca statement, 1994, signed by 92 governments and 25 international organizations

• Inclusion: increasing participation of all children and removing barriers (which may be structural, environmental or attitudinal) to participation

• But uncertainty about what inclusion means in practice.

Shifting political and policy contexts

• Drives to improve attainment and achievement • International comparisons: eg Pisa• Individualisation: Individualised Educational

Programmes; resource led assessment of special needs

• Parental choice• Children’s rights: UN Convention on the Rights of

the Child• Human rights: European Convention on Human

Rights• Disability activism

Patterns and trends• 2.4 million ‘missing children’ of primary school age not in

education• 12 million ‘missing children of lower and upper secondary

school age not in education• Urban-rural differences in enrolment rates • Over-expansion in higher education in some countries (over

55%); other countries left behind in rush to higher education• Minority ethnic groups at an educational disadvantage in

several countries, especially Roma• For disabled children, educational opportunities outside

institutional provision limited in several countries• Gender inequality not a significant problem.(Source: UNICEF, 2007, A regional study on education in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth

of Independent States. Geneva: UNICEF)

Challenging trends: the case of Roma

• Czech Republic brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the practice of ‘shunting’ Roma children into special schools

• Argued that Roma children in Ostrava were 27 times more likely to be segregated than other similarly situated non-Roma children

• Court ruled that the practice of segregating non-Roma children amounted to unlawful discrimination in breach of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights

• ‘Pathbreaking judgement’.

Barriers to inclusion

• Competing policy demands• Responsibilities for provision often shared

across ministries (eg health, education, social welfare)

• Legacies of defectology and special needs• Resistance from teachers and teachers unions• Teachers’ confusion, frustration, guilt and

exhaustion• Warnock: inclusion ‘not a very bright idea’

Children’s views of inclusion

• One school implementing children’s rights• ‘Special Needs Observation Group’ focused on

inclusion. • Identified barriers to inclusion• For one student, Alistair, taking responsibility for

others stopped his own deviant behaviour• Initial concerns with the inclusion of disabled

children; focus shifted to asylum seekers, then to children with weight problems.

AlistairA: I used to be, like, really really bad. I used to fight everybody, but now I’ve

calmed down because I’ve got a responsibility to look after them …When I started to know them I was, like, I need to show them I want to be good, cos I used to get into fights and stupid things like that but when I started to get to know them and got into the SNOG group I started my behaviour; I wanted to start again and be good.

A: …I didn’t want everybody to know me as Alistairthe bad boy. I want to be good now. So that’s what I was trying to do when I went into the SNOG group.

J: Wow. So, before you used to get into lots of fights?

A Yeah. Now I get into them not that much… but sometimes I’m amazing and no-one thinks that I used to fight and that, but I just kick it off again. I just want to be good but I can’t sometimes. I think I’ve really improved my behaviour. I used to be really bad but now I’m not that bad. I’m quite good now.”

Children’s views of diversity

The language of difference We shouldn’t be scared of them cos when people of a different colour first

came to Britain, racism was a big thing when black people first came to Britain but I think it’s getting better.

We’re all the same, except we’re different. How does that work? We’re not different at all!

I mean, it’s not just white people ganging up on coloured people, it can be coloured people ganging up on white people as well, no offence.

Just because you’re disabled doesn’t mean your brain doesn’t work. Being disabled doesn’t mean they can’t do something. For all we know they

could do something better than us. They could find things a little bit more difficult than us or they could find

things more easy than us.

Children’s views of diversity

Understanding discrimination Some white people think all black people are bad and some black people think all

white people are bad. Black people get a lot of bad press and one of the reasons people feel prejudiced towards them is terrorism

That was Muslims But [do not] say it was Muslims cos not all Muslims are bad Yeah it’s just it was those people whether they were black or Muslim or spotted. You

can’t just say it’s all those people with blue eyes are going to kill us.

You can try to decrease it but it will never disappear completely. People ignore posters and leaflets: you need to get the message across in TV and

theatre shows.

Don’t be too sympathetic, like don’t help out with absolutely everything all the time Because they want to be independent Just act like they’re normal But they are normal Yes.

Inclusion: prospects and possibilities

• Addressing competing policy demands

• Learning from children and families about the experiences of inclusion and exclusion

• Research on inclusion and diversity

• Teacher education programmes which help teachers to understand and engage with inclusion and diversity