Session Information
04 SES 02 A, Discussing Concepts
Paper Session
Contribution
The concept of the unfinished requires an explanation. I will try to specify what I mean by this term, based on Thomas Mathiesen's essay “The unfinished” (1971), but the reason for the focus on the unfinished is my experience that theories of inclusion appear to be finished. Several books have been published that describe the proper way to conduct inclusion and to create an inclusive learning environment. There are many ready-made recipes and many of these books are very good, but a problem they face is that they often appear to be finished in a double sense. First, they are finished because they are based on a coherent logic that makes them appear to be complete – giving a full explanation of the problem they are pointing at. Second, this means that they also are finished in a political and theoretical sense because they no longer represent an alternative, a change in relation to the status quo. In other words, they are professionally and politically correct. This complete description is problematic for the goal of creating an inclusive school because this completion establishes new barriers to inclusion.
An alternative to the finished is the unfinished, and it is the unfinished that is presented here as a way towards inclusion. The unfinished option is to contest the final in the status quo, and it is this competitive scenario that can be used to bring new aspects into the goal of creating an inclusive school. The aim of this paper is not to present ready-made theories of educational practice and inclusion, but to create a point of departure for pedagogical debate that preserves inclusion as an unfinished project.
The alternative is created through a contradiction to the established order. The contradiction arises when it is possible to point to an alternative framework for understanding the status quo. As pointed out by Mathiesen (1971), it is the actual experience of that option that is a necessity for creating change. This experience must be felt as a real competition for the status quo. If the option is not perceived as a competition to the status quo, it will be rejected as a non-option. The unfinished must therefore be perceived as a competitive contradiction to the established order in order it to lead to a change in our way of thinking.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Mathiesen, Thomas (1971). Det uferdige. Bidrag til politisk aksjonsteori. Oslo: Pax forlag
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