ABSTRACT
Chapter Two explores how we understand exclusion. It is the first of two theoretical chapters in this book (the second being Chapter Seven, which focuses on inclusion). I critique how exclusion and inclusion are often framed in everyday science learning and introduce a different theoretical approach that, I argue, is more helpful. I argue that exclusion is all too often framed as the result of deficits on the part of the excluded, while inclusion is understood as a kind of assimilationist crusade. We would be in a better position to understand exclusion and work towards inclusive, equitable practices if, instead, we took the roles of structural inequalities – racism, class discrimination, sexism and other forms of oppression – and social reproduction into account. I argue that we must move beyond deficit approaches to understanding exclusion and crusade approaches to understanding inclusion if we wish to create meaningfully inclusive practices.
