ABSTRACT
Whilst inclusion is seen by many to represent a ‘profoundly important policy shift in education’ (Jull, 2009: 492), others ‘view the idea of inclusion as utopian: so far from the reality of practice in many educational systems’ (Ruairc, 2013: 185). Part of the problem is that the existence of the term inclusion denies the actual complexity of the concept of inclusion in policy and practice. Thus, typically, inclusion is used as a taken-for-granted concept: as teachers, practitioners, policy makers, researchers, we use the term frequently and assume consensus on the definition of its meaning. Yet, the concept is extremely complex, with the term inclusive education becoming ‘so used and abused that it has little meaning’ (Corbett, 2001: 10). Inclusion, therefore, is experienced as a broad concept, characterised not by clarity, but instead by conceptual difficulties, slippage and confusion (Barton, 1997; Miles and Singal, 2010) in terms of its definition and usage nationally and internationally. As a result, inclusion as a concept and educational practice remains one of the most controversial issues within educational discussions today (Mitchell, 2005; Slee, 2007). Booth (2003: 1) asserts that ‘any attempt to deepen our understanding
This chapter considers
of inclusion and exclusion has to start from a definition of terms’, but this is easier said than done.
