From its early days inclusive education had a strong international dimension. Inclusive education gained international currency in the UNESCO’s Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action on Special Needs Education in 1994 (UNESCO, 1994). The Salamanca conference was organised in the context of the Education for All (EFA) movement which established six goals for all children, youth and adults’ learning needs to be met by 2015. The Preface to the Salamanca Statement by Frederico Mayor, the then director-general of UNESCO notes that “Special needs education – an issue of equal concern to countries of the North and of the South - cannot advance in isolation. It has to form part of an overall educational strategy and, indeed, of new social and economic policies. It calls for major reform of the ordinary school” (pp. iii-iv). While most countries of the North have had a long history of established special education provision, in the early 1990s most of them had limited, if any, history of inclusive education. In that sense, countries of the North were similar to countries of the South. Countries of the South tended to have a limited, if any special education provision and often this special education provision was not linked to state education but rather to charities, religious organisations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs). While special education has been an area of similar concern internationally, disparities that characterise educational provision across the world have been substantial.

Even though the call for inclusive education as a policy reform has been present in the developments of the last twenty years, its impact has been limited as inclusive education has been a peripheral discourse in the educational landscape. The post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals locates inclusive education at the centre of the international development agenda with Goal 4 being entitled “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2015). Bringing inclusive education to the centre of international educational developments cannot be underestimated, however it is unclear what ‘inclusive and equitable quality education’ means and how ‘inclusive’ is interpreted in this context

This presentation provides a comparative analysis of countries that are characterised by diversity in their histories, educational traditions and current situations. The analysis of policy documents and of other public documents of educational debates such as teachers’ unions, advocacy groups and media reports, aims to examine how inclusive education is represented and discussed. England and Greece from the geographical North and Australia and Fiji from the geographical South are discussed challenging understandings of North and South, as well as understandings of special needs education, and of development. The guiding research questions of this presentation are:

• How is inclusive education represented in each country and what are the dominant discourses?
• To what extent is the international development discourse influential to these representations?
• Is there any evidence of progressive development toward an educational reform promoting inclusive education?

Armstrong, A. C., Armstrong, D., & Spandagou, I. (2010). Inclusive education: International policy & practice. London, UK: Sage. Armstrong, D., Armstrong, A. C., & Spandagou, I. (2011). Inclusion: By choice or by chance. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(1), 29–39. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development. Available at https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld/publication UNESCO. (2015). Education for All 2000-2015; Achievements and challenges. Paris: UNESCO. UNESCO. (1994). The Salamanca statement and framework for action on special needs education. Paris: UNESCO. United Nations. (2006). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and optional protocol. New York: United Nations.