The Importance,and the Challenges,to Ensuring an Inclusive School Climate

Although three articles in this special issue address three very different social groupings—gender, ethnicity, and academic needs—they all highlight why inclusion is important for students’ healthy development. The authors make specific suggestions for how schools might promote a more inclusive and welcoming climate for their students. Ultimately, all of the authors recognized that positive intergroup contact is necessary for students to feel included at school but will not simply occur because students have the opportunity to interact. Rather, it is necessary for teachers to be active in establishing prosocial and inclusive classroom norms. This will likely be both the best way to create inclusive schools and the biggest challenge.