The UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (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 and between schools – to engage in a transformational process. Several studies show that municipalities, national and federal states have a different reaction regarding this demand (see European Agency 2018; for Germany see Powell et al. 2016). 

Referring to the so-called “spatial turn” we assume that this transformational process also depends on the structures of spaces. This assumption is confirmed by studies focused on space and (in)equality of education (see Hemingway & Armstrong 2012). One of the results is, the ‘axes of educational (in)equality’ do not only run along class affiliation and/or national/ ethnical origin, but also along spatial borders (Radtke & Stošić 2009).

In regard to a relational approach to space (see Löw 2016), spaces ”are constituted through the objects and bodies that are placed in the world and the modes of making-sense of the meaning of particular spaces“ (Fuller & Löw 2017, 476). Following this relationalspatial perspective (and the two operations of spacing and synthesis, see Löw 2016) we focus on the reactions, changes and effects in local school systems to the challenges and frame conditions of the inclusion.  

We use our current research project, todiscuss in an exemplary way the potential of this research approach, in order to discuss the effect of the UN-CRPDalso beyond national borders. The research project, which is funded by the German Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF), is called “Local Constellations of Inclusive Education. Knowledge, Action, Organisation in the Educational Area” (“Lokale Konstellationen inklusiver Bildung. Wissen, Handeln, Organisation im Bildungsraum” LoKoBi). 

The main research aim of the study is, to reconstruct and to elaborate local circumstances of success with regard to the realization of the demand for inclusion. We work with the thesis that spatial configurations in educational spaces can be part of the solution and also part of the problem and that the adaptive strategies can have inclusive and exclusive and primarily non-intended effects. The overall objective of the study is to contribute to the professionalization of teachers in the topic “inclusive education”. We also expect relevant impulses for school improvement. 

We reconstruct the impact of the CRPD on local school configurations based on one region in Germany by asking the following questions: 1. How does the school landscape change with regard to the inclusion- and exclusion rates of SEND? 2. Which relations and spatial constellations can be reconstructed in this school landscape? 3. How do actors perceive the change of and the relations in the local school system? What implicit action-guiding knowledge can be reconstructed? Therefore, we use a mixed-methods-design: In a first phase we analyse school-statistical data concerning three different time periods: before (2008/09) and shortly after the UN-CRPD (2012) came into force and at the current time (2017/18). The question of how many pupils with special education needs and disability (SEND) visit which school and how these rates of school attendance have changed, is what interests us. Secondly, we want to analyse the relations between the schools out of a spatial-theoretical perspective, in order to reconstruct local constellations of inclusive education. First of all, for this we analyse the schools‘ profiles in the selected region regarding the inclusive-orientated localizations. Then we use the findings of this data for the selection of schools. At this schools, we will secondly reconstruct the actors’ implicit knowledge with respect to the school landscape/ topography by using qualitative-reconstructive interviews with relevant actors, like parents, teachers, pupils and principals as well as school administrators.

The results of the quantitative survey will be presented in the talk. The previous findings indicate here that the assumption of a relationship between the quotes of school attendance and the geographical distance to the next special school is not statistically significant. In contrast, a considerable relationship exists between the type of school and the quote of inclusion, even though here considerable differences depending on the area can be found, too. This in turn calls attention to regional characteristics, which cannot be explained statistically by pure local positionings of schools. Hereinafter, these characteristics will be analysed in the course of the LoKoBi project with help of the qualitative-reconstructive sub study, respectively the interviews with relevant educational actors. First insights will be presented in the qualitative sub study. In the outlook, with the help of these results, the potential, but also the limits of these results will be discussed with regard to a further space analysis. As already announced, it will be demonstrated which potential this spatial-theoretical research has for an international perspective on the analysis of the effects of the UN- CRPD.

European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (2018). European Agency Statistics on Inclusive Education: 2016 Dataset Cross-Country Report. (J. Ramberg, A. Lénárt, and A. Watkins, eds.). Odense, Denmark Fuller, M. & Löw M. (2017). Introduction: An invitation to spatial sociology. Current Sociology. 65(4). doi.org/10.1177/0011392117697461 Hemingway, J. & Armstrong, F. (2012): Space, place and inclusive learning. In: International Journal of Inclusive Education, Vol. 16, No. 5-6, p. 479-483. Löw, M (2016) The Sociology of Space: Materiality, Social Structures, and Action. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Powell, J., Edelstein, B., & Blanck, J. (2016). Awareness-Raising, Legitimation or Backlash? Effects of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Education Systems in Germany. 14(2), 227-250. doi:10.1080/14767724.2014.982076 Radtke, F.-O., & Stošić, P. (2009). Lokale Bildungsräume: Ansatzpunkte für eine integrative Schulentwicklung. Geographische Revue, 11(1), 34-51.