Inclusive education is an international phenomenon connected to questions of equity and democracy. The UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UN-CRPD) sets the legal obligation for states to implement an “inclusive education system at all levels” (Art. 24). This demands States - regarding school systems and practices within schools – to engage into a transformational process in order to foster participation of all learners. This process is, as we will discuss, connected with (spatial) power structures, relating to the social and economic frame of contemporary societies.

In the context of inclusive schooling, questions and challenges of dealing with heterogeneity (e.g. gender, (dis-)ability, ethnic or social background) arise. These can be discussed didactically, socially, or – as we intend to do in the planned symposium – spatially. Space, positioning and location will serve us as analytical concepts and instruments for exploring the production of inclusion and/or exclusion in schools (Hemingway & Armstrong 2012). They can help to describe and theorize phenomena of power within educational settings that might lead to discrimination or marginalization (Allan 2004).

Referring to the so-called “spatial turn” in social and cultural sciences, space can not only be regarded as either social or physical space, but as an interrelated, reciprocal hybrid of both (Löw 2015). Beyond a binary understanding of “in and out” or of „included and excluded”, space can be a helpful analytical tool to reveal barriers or opportunities of participation or separation. Space allows us to think about the situational, hidden and interactive production of in- and exclusion within spatial constructions such as classroom seating arrangements, facility equipment or students’ actions at schoolyards. 

In this symposium, authors from four different European countries (Austria, Germany, Norway and United Kingdom) will present results of empirical qualitative studies, in which different methods were employed to investigate spatial structures and practices within mainstream educational settings.

In the first paper, Borgunn Ytterhus and Ingvild Åmot describe and discuss how spatial constructions and organisations of Kindergartens interact with children’s possibilities for inclusion and recognition.

Following thoughts of Foucault (1994) and Martina Löw (2015), Tobias Buchner analyses in the second paper of the symposium how spatial practices of teachers relate to spatial practices of peers in different locations of schools, such as schoolyards.

Within the third paper, Julie Allan and Clara Rübner Jørgensen present findings from their qualitative study. Students were invited to take photographs of places within their schoos. Pictures served as a basis for qualitative interviews about spaces in relation  to  inclusion and exclusion in the school.

The fourth paper by Andreas Köpfer deals with the production of space through cooperation processes in inclusive schools. The presentation will focuse on the collaboration of regular and special needs teachers, taking into account differing dimensions of space and expertise.

The symposium aims to compare results from empirical studies from different European countries - in order to investigate the relevance and impact of space on the production of inclusion/exclusion, social relations, identities, opportunities and barriers. Comparison between studies and phenomena will be conducted in a sensitive way, taking into account the variety of school cultures, education systems and country-specific aspects. We will show that space and spatial practices are useful concepts for comparison practices and structures in inclusive education across cultures and countries.

Allan, Julie (2004): Deterritorializations: Putting postmodernism to work on teacher education and inclusion. In: Educational Philosophy and Theory, Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 417-432. Foucault, Michel (1994): Überwachen und Strafen. Die Geburt des Gefängnisses. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag. Hemingway, Judy & Armstrong, Felicity (2012): Space, place and inclusive learning. In: International Journal of Inclusive Education, Vol. 16, No. 5-6, p. 479-483. Löw, Martina (2000): Raumsoziologie. Frankfurt am Main: suhrkamp wissenschaft. Armstrong