ABSTRACT
As we have already seen, defining inclusion is a complex endeavour. This becomes even more problematic when we consider ways that national and international policies impact on the overall understanding and development of inclusive education in practice. Inclusion, rather than being a defining and absolute concept, is a problematic and controversial construct, open to significant variation, interpretation and prioritisation through varying national and international political agendas. Rather than assuming understanding and unanimous application of the same underpinning inclusive principles across areas, both within a country and across the world, we therefore need to be fiercely aware that there is ‘no one perspective on inclusion in a country, state or even school’ (Ainscow and Sandill, 2010: 402). Instead, we need to focus more on understanding the localised approaches to inclusion that have developed and emerged, and ways that these are a result of particular dominant policy agendas. This chapter therefore emphasises that there is a need to continually challenge the ‘long-standing assumption that a laudable idea – inclusive education – can travel seamlessly across cultures and contexts’ (Kozleski et al., 2011: 8).
