Understanding marginalisation in education: The voice of children

This paper illustrates how conversations with children can enhance thinking and practice in relation to the development of inclusive education. In particular, evidence from research carried out in a primary school in Cyprus is used to throw light on notions of marginalisation. The study suggests that marginalisation can be conceptualised in four ways: when a child is experiencing some kind of marginalisation that is recognised almost by everybody, including himself/herself; when a child is feeling that he/she is experiencing marginalisation, whereas others do not recognise this: when a child is found in what appears to be marginalised situations but does not view this as marginalisation; and, finally, when a child appears to experience marginalisation but does not recognise this. The paper concludes that children’s voices should not only be used as a strategy for understanding and developing more inclusive practices, but more importantly that listening to children is itself a manifestation of being inclusive.     

Reflections on policy and practice of inclusive education in pre‐primary schools in Cyprus

In July 1999 the House of Parliament in Cyprus passed the Education Act for Children with Special Needs, according to which all children have the right to be educated in their neighbouring regular school together with their age‐mates. An important component of this law is that it introduces, for the first time, inclusive education into pre‐primary education. A child can be considered as having special needs only when he/she has attained the age of 3 years or older. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the policy of inclusive education is implemented in pre‐primary schools in ­Cyprus, to investigate whether some children are still marginalized (after the implementation of the new law) and, if they are, to identify factors influencing marginalization or acting as a barrier to inclusion. We also briefly present the results from a study we conducted that supports the discussion of the issues raised in this paper.     

Inclusive transition processes – considering socio-economically disadvantaged parents’ views and actions for their child’s successful school start

Previous research has noted that the transition to primary school is important for future school success. As a result, an inclusive transition process to school has become increasingly important. However, this process is particularly difficult for socio-economically disadvantaged children in Germany. The study considers parents’ views and actions in their children’s transition, especially with regard to parent–professional cooperation. Over a period of 36 months (18 months before and 18 months after school entry), 89 qualitative interviews with parents were conducted. Although five of the 16 children were affected by selective mechanisms, all parents emphasised the importance of their child’s regular school entry and assumed active roles in their child’s education. The findings suggest underlying selective structures that undermine the development of inclusive transition structures.     

新疆地区普通学生融合教育态度研究

采用自编问卷对新疆地区8218名小学三年级至大学四年级普通学生融合教育态度进行调查与分析。结果发现:普通学生对融合教育持比较积极态度,其中情感和行为意向最积极,但对残疾学生的认识有待进一步提高。总体上,普通学生对融合教育态度从小学到初中、高中呈上升趋势,步入大学后稳中有降。性别、是否独生子女、年级、区域、居住地、是否听过残疾人事例、学校是否有残疾人、班级是否有残疾人、是否接触过残疾人是影响学生融合教育态度的重要因素。基于以上结果,从加强对低年段学生融合教育态度的正向引导与干预;推动高等融合教育发展,改善大学生对融合教育的态度;加强农村地区融合教育支持保障体系建设;增进普通学生与残疾学生的接触,提高对残疾学生的正确认识四方面提出对策。     

A critical and contextual approach to inclusive education: perspectives from an Indian context

Post Salamanca, inclusive education was incorporated in government policies in countries of the North and South. Since then there have been numerous books, articles, and academic debates on the topic but with little representation from the South. This article examines how inclusive education is conceptualised in India, within four recent government policies and in practice. It draws on interview data from a larger study conducted in the metropolitan city of Kolkata and document data. The findings suggest the term inclusive education is well established in government policies and amongst school heads, special educators, and counsellors. While there is consensus on the ‘goodness' of inclusive education and it being synonymous with children with disabilities, there are multiple meanings assigned to inclusive education, inclusive schools, and the includable child. Variations and discrepancies were visible not only between school staff and policy documents but even within policies and schools, respectively. A visible change is schools emerging but varying ‘consciousness of responsibility' towards children with disabilities. Based on the persisting ambiguities surrounding inclusive education, the article argues for developing contextual understanding of how education of children with disabilities can take place in India and adopting a critical stance towards inclusive education.     

Encouraging children to think in more inclusive ways

This article explores the possible contributions that children can make in educational settings that aim to move towards greater inclusion. In constructing her debate, Kyriaki Messiou, lecturer in education in the Centre for Educational Studies at the University of Hull, draws on understandings gained through an ethnographic study carried out in a primary school in Cyprus. She used qualitative methods to collect her data, carrying out participant observations and semi-structured interviews with all the children in the school. Her study adopted a broad view of inclusion that is concerned with addressing any form of marginalisation that might be experienced by students. In the first phases of the study, children who were possibly experiencing marginalisation were identified and the practices used in the school were explored. Then, during the final phase, which is the main focus of this article, efforts were made to help children think in more inclusive ways. Kyriaki Messiou describes the activities she used in this intervention phase, all designed to promote pupil participation, and argues that these offer promising strategies for teachers who wish to develop more inclusive ways of working.     

Exploring the views and beliefs of parents of typically developing children about inclusion and inclusive education

Background: The inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SENDs) in regular classrooms has been identified as a high priority in many policy documents published by both European and international organisations. Its implementation, however, is influenced by a number of factors, some of which are directly related to the participation and attitudes of different stakeholders, including parents of typically developing children. Parents, as a social group, can act in favour of inclusion or they can support more segregated educational environments.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore, in a Greek context, the views and beliefs of parents of typically developing children about different aspects of the education of children with disabilities, with a particular focus on inclusion and inclusive education.

Method: Interviews were held with 40 Greek parents representing 40 typically developing school-aged children who were educated in six different primary education schools, from the broader area of central Greece. All of the children, at the time of the study, were educated in mainstream classes, in which an in-classroom support system was applied. Open-ended interview questions focused on parents’ views and beliefs about the implementation of inclusive educational programmes. Data were analysed according to the principles of an inductive data-driven approach.

Findings: The research findings indicate that most of the participant parents did not feel informed about specific school policy practices relevant to inclusive education; they were not aware of the notion of ‘inclusion’ or approached inclusion from an integrationist point of view. Within this context, they hold positive to neutral attitudes towards inclusion, on the basis that a child with SENDs can cope with the school requirements.

Conclusions: This small-scale, exploratory research study suggests the importance of informing and involving parents of typically developing children in efforts to promote more inclusive practices.     

Do inclusive education laws improve primary schooling among children with disabilities?

Of the approximately 93 million children with moderate or severe disabilities around the world, large numbers do not have access to quality education. Inclusive education systems have been advocated as a solution to this problem. In this paper, we examine whether legislation to advance inclusive education can increase the likelihood of children with disabilities attending school in a low-income country. Using a difference-in-difference methodology, we find that children with visual, hearing, and physical disabilities, who began school at a time when inclusive education was guaranteed in Uganda, had a significantly higher likelihood of going to school than children with disabilities in comparator countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as children with disabilities in Uganda who became of school age prior to the passage of legislation. However, this was no longer true when considering only the sample of children reported to have no ability to see, hear, or engage in physical activities. While our findings are promising, comparable data on more countries are needed to comprehensively examine the impact of similar legislation across multiple settings.     

融合教育体系中的学科课程与教学课程建设———以师范院校“语文课程与教学”课程为例

融合教育需要融合学校和融合教育师资,融合教育师资的培养需要有适应融合教育的课程。“语文课程与教学”是师范院校小学教育和特殊教育专业的一门重要课程,为了适应融合教育师资培养的需要,必须对这门课程进行改革,构建新的课程体系,在课程性质、结构内容和课程资源建设各方面体现融合教育理念和语文教育特点,以区别于普通学校“语文课程与教学”和“特殊（聋、弱智、盲）学校语文课程与教学”,并把这门课程纳入融合教育师资培养的课程体系中。     

香港中小学教育公平的实践

入学机会在香港虽早已普及,但这并不代表香港中小学教育是公平的。为了检视香港教育公平的实践,本文回顾了香港回归后与教育公平有关的教育政策争议,从学童的性别、贫穷家庭子女、特殊学习需要学童、少数族裔学童、新来港与跨境学童等几方面剖析了香港中小学在教育公平方面的实施情况,并就探讨香港教育公平课题提出了进一步的建议。     

Reclaiming teacher intellectualism through and for inclusive education

Inclusive education, understood as a pedagogical commitment to schooling experiences that value diversity and promote equitable participation for all students, has not been broadly taken up in practice in the United States. Much of the research in this field suggests that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education are the primary barrier to its successful spread and enactment. With this study, a year-long multiple case study design, I sought to understand how those teachers who do pursue inclusivity sustain themselves and their inclusive work in a national discourse that does not systemically value inclusivity. I found that schools worked as deskilling spaces; that enacting inclusivity was a tool for teachers to navigate these exclusionary climates and reclaim an intellectual self; and that an intellectual community was a key support for teachers to enact inclusive practices and in some cases even supported the reclaiming of the school as an intellectual space. These findings suggest that inclusive education can be thought of and enacted as a form of a resistance to audit culture, but that to do so requires ‘strategic transgression’ often in the form of flexible pedagogies. Additionally, providing teachers with an intellectual community and supporting them to navigate an exclusionary climate may be essential for the individual sustainability of enacting these practices have the potential to contribute to the spread of inclusive education.     

When differences do not matter: inclusion in a Mexican primary school / Cuando las diferencias no importan: la inclusión en una escuela primaria mexicana

Studies show that disability is a cause of educational exclusion worldwide. Different countries adopt different views of the inclusion movement. Different variables seem to be associated with the success or failure of inclusion. This study takes place in a primary school located in Mexico. It aims to identify how inclusion is experienced by children with and without special needs, and the connections between inclusion and quality of life. Measures utilized were the questionnaire My Primary School from the Index for Inclusion and the Questionnaires on Assessment of Quality of Life for Children, self-report, and parents’ report. Participants are 69 regular students and 15 students with special education needs. Self-reports from regular children and proxy reports from the mothers of the special education needs students were analysed. Results indicated that there is an association between perceived inclusion and experiencing quality of life; having special needs does not impact on scores on QoL or inclusion; educational level does not impact on perceived QoL or inclusion for special education students. These results are discussed in light of a culture that appreciates diversity.     

在中国发展全纳性教育

特殊教育在过去的两个世纪的发展中经历了四个发展阶段。目前特殊教育已经成为一个国家发展水平的标志而倍受重视。“特殊教育”由过去的为少数儿童服务的教育正发展成为为每一个儿童的“特殊需要教育”。在正常化原则、全面参与社会原则的推动下，特殊教育与普通教育结合起来，成为一体化教育。一体化教育又称为残儿童随班就读，在中国已走过了充满活力的十年。现在一体化教育的更进一步发展成为全纳性教育。全纳性教育可以分解为全纳教育体系、全纳性学校、全纳性课堂。在中国的教育界引起重视并发展起来。     

融合教育课程:内涵、缘由及策略

随迁农民工子女的社会融合教育是一个热点话题。要使学校的融合教育更富有成效,应重视课程问题。学校应调查并根据随迁农民工子女的教育需求、社会生活需要来确定融合教育课程目标、构建融合教育内容,根据随迁农民工子女的特点在课程实施时贯彻渗透性、活动性、合作性原则,并根据随迁农民工子女社会融合的指标体系来评价融合教育的效果。     

The attitudes of teachers towards inclusive education in Vojvodina

The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes of preschool, primary, secondary and high school teachers towards inclusive education of children with special educational needs. In addition, the study established the correlation between these attitudes and gender, education level, teaching experience, formal training in the special education field, and the duration and quality of work experience with children with special education needs. The sample comprised 322 teachers from the Serbian province of Vojvodina. The My Thinking about Inclusion Scale (Stoiber, K. C., M. Gettinger, and D. Goetz. 1998. “Exploring Factors Influencing Parents' and Early Childhood Practitioners Beliefs about Inclusion.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 13 (1): 107–131) was used. The results show that, in general, the participants held neutral attitudes towards inclusive education and more positive expectations regarding the outcomes of inclusion. This study also emphasised teaching performance in an inclusive class as a subject of great concern. The high school and preschool teachers as well as the teachers with previous positive experience with working in an inclusive environment reported more positive attitudes towards inclusive education than those from primary and secondary schools and those with negative experiences with the implementation of inclusive practices.     

Implementing Godly Play in educational settings: a cautionary tale

At the heart of all curriculum decision-making is the learner. Contemporary early childhood education theory and practice emphasises young children’s agency and voice in their learning paying particular attention to valuing each child’s sociocultural contexts. As learners, children are considered capable and active participants rather than as deficit and passive recipients. How does the implementation of godly play in prior-to-school and school early years settings sit within a contemporary view of childhood? To what extent does this programme align with early childhood theory and practice? This paper seeks to evaluate the presence and place of godly play (which is not a curriculum and nor does it claim to be a curriculum) in the religiously affiliated early childhood education context in either prior-to-school or school settings. It is to be emphasised that this paper is not evaluating the presence and place of godly play in the faith community of the local parish where all who participate are believers coming together to share that faith and to have that faith strengthened. However, its presence and place in formal educational settings outside of parish faith communities is questionable and requires closer critique.     

Responsibilities,tensions and ways forward: parents’ perspectives on children’s sexuality education

Abstract

Children’s sexuality education continues to be plagued with tensions and controversies. In consequence, children’s access to sexuality education is severely compromised, especially in terms of the time dedicated to this topic, the content addressed, how it is taught and by whom. Based on a study of 342 Australian parents of primary school aged children we explore: (i) parents’ perceptions of the relevance and importance of sexuality education to their primary school aged children and the discourses that inform their perspectives; (ii) parents’ views on who should be responsible for the sexuality education of young children; (iii) whether there are certain aspects of sexuality education considered more appropriate for the family to address with children; and (iv) what the implications of these findings are for sexuality education policy and practice in Australian primary schooling. Despite the controversial nature of the topic, the majority of parents in this study believed sexuality education was relevant and important to primary school children and that it should be a collaborative approach between families and schools. However, some parents/carers acknowledged that while that they believed that some topics should only be addressed at home they also indicated that this often does not happen.     

Female survivors’ perceptions of lifelong impact on their education of child abuse suffered in orphanages

Many children raised in orphanages suffered ongoing child abuse and neglect including sexual abuse, and nearly all were denied an adequate education. This paper explores adult females’ perceptions of the impacts on their education of child sexual abuse they suffered while living in orphanages in Australia. In-depth qualitative and anonymous one-on-one interviews were undertaken with 10 female volunteers. Their narrative quotes emanate from questions asked about their experiences and perceptions of child sexual abuse, and its impacts on their educational achievement, educational development and educational opportunity. Of these volunteer females, only two had completed primary school, none had completed more than two years of secondary school, and none had undertaken any tertiary education. All had perceived child sexual abuse, in particular, to have had overwhelmingly negative impacts on their lifelong, educational achievement, educational development and educational opportunity. These impacts have had detrimental inter-generational consequences upon their own children. These adult females perceived child sexual abuse to be a major factor in their very poor, life-long educational development, achievement and opportunities, with intergenerational consequences for their self-esteem, wellbeing and success. Implications for practice are that children at risk should receive specialised teaching, educational support and counselling; adults with deficient education need help with learning processes such as dynamic learning, to help achieve active and inclusive citizenship.