The phenomenon of ‘Inclusive Education’ has spread rapidly across the world.  Its origins in critical sociology and disability studies has in many respects been overtaken by its adoption in the international policy rhetoric of Education for All.  It has become synonymous with the expansion of educational opportunity for those previously denied access to education.  Yet this expansion has been characterised by the absence of the theorisation of educational exclusion that featured in the origins of this concept.  One consequence of this is that policies related to inclusive education tend to be fragmented and driven by competing agendas.  In September 2015, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which outlines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) covering the period 2015-2030. The SDGs build on the success and failures of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (2000-2015).  SDG 4 aims to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning refers explicitly to inclusive education, and inclusive development is a key term of the SDGs agenda.

The emphasis upon inclusive education in the SDGs sets an ambitious, humanitarian goals for educational access and yet the achievement of these goals may be ephemeral without a deep understanding of the complex circumstances that pertain to particular contexts and histories. Moreover, the international drive for inclusive education is significantly influenced by the perspectives policies and interests of those countries providing donor funding to support inclusive education delivery.  SDG 17 aims to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development setting specific expectations for countries. Systems integration and policy borrowing driven by the international relations of post-colonialism ensures the continuing influence of western ideas. This paper will examine and critique these developments in the internationalisation of ‘inclusive education’.

In particular, what constitutes inclusive education continues to be perpetuated through international agencies and government aid directed towards developing countries. Priorities for aid and development funding may be set in line with the focus and objectives of the donors which may not necessarily align with the needs or cultures of recipients leading to problems of ownership, poor implementation and confusion around interpretation. Underlying these relationships between developed, donor countries and agencies on the one hand, and aid-recipient countries on the other, are the histories and current power and resource dynamics between and among these countries.

Yet, the idea of inclusive education that has emanated from post-colonialist development thinking continues to be contested in both theory and practice within developing and developed countries. However, this view of policy borrowing in the international context can obfuscate the independent and creative ways in which educators in developing countries and regions have drawn upon their own traditional knowledge and experience to radically rethink western ideas in the context of that experience.  In the western world, the diversity of policy development is far more nuanced than is sometimes represented, despite the universalising ideology of neo-liberalism that has preached and enforced international conformity and orthodoxy, based around an idea of individual rights and choices.  Drawing on examples from the international policy documents related to SDGs, this presentation looks at the development of thinking and practice around inclusive education of developed and developing countries in the context of the complex and yet disruptive conditions of post-colonialism.

The paper asks the following questions:

• What is the impact of ‘boomerang’ development?
• To what extent are developing countries able to choose self-determination for educational inclusion?
• To what extent have the interpretations of SDGs and the CRPD impacted the re-interpretation of inclusive education in developed countries like Australia and developing countries like Fiji?

This paper provides a critique of the international framework of policy with an emphasis on the Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) the General Comment 4 on article 24 of the CRPD have expanded the scope of the developmental agenda to all countries and the diverse responses across countries and regions. The paper is grounded in critical sociology and postcolonial analysis of the development of inclusive education in developing countries as contextualised by their relationship with developed countries and international development agencies. Different levels of analysis is undertaken using critical documentary research to review how the choices facing developing countries have impacted the policies and practices of inclusive education. The first level is international, then regional and then country, with the two case studies used being Australia and Fiji. These are used to highlight the interpretation and implementation in the transition from policy to practice including the relationship and dependency between countries at different ends of the development assistance program. The timeframe covers the last ten years. This is considered within the international context of political, social, and economic upheavals reverberating across the world especially since the global economic crisis of 2008 and the process of moving from MDGs to SDGs.

The paper will contribute to the theorisation of inclusive education as a concept grounded in the socio-political relations of contemporary societies and the continuing role and influence of powerful countries and international dominant ideologies in the postcolonial world. In particular, the paper will provide insight into these areas through case studies of policy development and implementation in Australia and Fiji. The paper will explore the tensions that exist between the policy interpretations of inclusion in a developed donor country and the cultural dynamics in a developing country context. The paper will add to an emerging literature in this field which is challenging traditional conceptualisations of international inclusive education interventions in terms of altruistic, humanitarian benevolence which are represented uncritically as empowering developing countries. In particular, it will explore and highlight the implicit deficit representations of development and the needs of people in developing country as well as how ‘boomerang’ development contributes to continuing disadvantage and disempowerment.

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