ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the possibilities which the use of research action in the classroom can offer mainstream teachers struggling to maximise the inclusion of children experiencing difficulty in the everyday milieu of school life. The research focused on an individual child, Joe, a Year 4 pupil who was experiencing difficulty connecting with many aspects of both learning and social life. I was immersed in debates surrounding inclusive education at the time when Joe first came to my attention because I was involved in a continuing professional development course at a local university and this, together with initial engagement with the Index for Inclusion (Booth et al., 2002) in the workplace, focused my thinking on the identification of barriers to participation for particular pupils at risk of exclusion in the learning environment. Joe was experiencing difficulties and I was aware that he would feel uncomfortable if expected to articulate his views and feelings about what was happening to him. I realised a radical approach to accessing his perspectives would be required and began to think about developing possible strategies for accessing his views. My aim was to use research action to find out more about Joe’s perspective and subsequently help bring about increasingly inclusive practice in the classroom.
