Session Information
04 SES 03 B, Discussing Concepts II
Parallel Paper Session
Contribution
Inclusive education/mainstreaming is a key policy objective for the education of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. Media as E.Include, The Journal of Inclusion Europe, published many articles about it, the meetings and projects supported by the Council of Europe, and specific national and international associations fight for them.
But an international shift is developing towards approaches of inclusive education as it guarantees the right to education for all children, not only regardless of their physical and intellectual conditions, but taking into account sociocultural or other conditions too, for instance, pupils from immigrant backgrounds, or discriminated native students such as the Roms in Europe. Inclusive education is conceived as an important step towards the development of an inclusive society for all, because a diverse population of young people being educated in the same school is bound to create an increased degree of tolerance and will contribute to a growing acceptance of difference in society.
Thus, in the final Conference of the Council of Europe project “Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity” (2006-2009), 26 – 28 October 2009, in Oslo, Norway, diversity and inclusion were described as the main challenges for teacher education. In Arnesen et al. (2008), “Maintaining and Developing the Unity and Diversity of European Societies ” is the introduction to the Council of Europe report on the survey concerning initial teacher education with respect to sociocultural diversity.
Thomas and Vaughan (2009) described such an evolution since its lineage in notions about rights and social justice and “inclusion based in justice as distinct from needs” and in “rights rather than charity” (pp. 2-3). They quote Rawls (1972), Paine (1999), Tawney (1931, 1964), the civil right movement of the 1960s and Martin Luther King (“I have a dream”, 1963) and, among a range of modern sources, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. They focus on important changes to national and international legislation made on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as the UNESCO Salamanca Statement of 1994.
The main problem is that such targets for an inclusive mainstream education system could only be achieved by partnerships, networking and joint learning by all stakeholders (Padoani David & PB Sajeev, 2011; Zay, 1998, 2002, 2005). It was a challenge for the DOCA project teams (2007-2009), supported by the European Commission in ten countries, and whose research results are the main basis of the present paper. We have led a comparative analysis through key meaningful themes relatively to an inclusive education for all, that is to say, whose targets are “to keep everybody on board” (Muskens, 2009).
The paper will describe how some educational policies and systems are more inclusive than others, why some practices are better than others, but too, why none allows to propose solutions for all problems. Nonetheless, case studies in the project and empirical studies continuing it offer some keys worthwhile to be deepened.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Arnesen, A.-L. et al. (2008). Policies and Practices for Teaching Sociocultural Diversity – Report. Strasbourg : Council of Europe Publishing, King Jr., M. L. (1963). “I have a dream”. In J. M. Washington (Ed.). Writings and Speeches that Changed the World. San Francisco: Harper. Muskens, G. (2008). Inclusion and Education, INTMEAS Interim Report for contract –2007-2094/001 TRA-TRSPO. General Overview, Further Steps. Lepelstraat: DOCA Bureaus. Muskens, G. (2009). Inclusion and Education in European Countries. Final Report 2 : Comparative conclusions. INTMEAS Report for contract 2007-2094/001 TRA-TRSPO. Lepelstraat: DOCA Bureaus -2009 August. Padoani David, G. (2009). The Democratisation of Access to Selective Education in French Higher Education : PSE (Projet Soutien à l’Excellence/ Excellence Support Project). In D. Zay (2009 - see below- pp. 183-198). Padoani David, G. & Sajeev, P.B. (2011). Favoriser l'autonomie économique des femmes - L'exemple d'un programme de formation professionnelle en Inde. Revue internationale d'éducation-Sèvres, 58, 57-66. Paine, T. (1999). The Rights of Man. Dover : Dover publications. Rawls, J. (1972). A Theory of Justice. Oxford : Oxford University Press. Tawney, R. H. (1931) (1964). Equality. London: George Allen & Unwin. Thomas, G. & Vaughan, M. (2009). Inclusive Education. Readings and Reflections. Berkshire: Open University Press and New York : Two Pen Plaza, 1st ed. 2004. Zay, Danielle (dir.) (1998). Profesores y agentes sociales en la escuela. Madrid : Editorial La Muralla. Zay, D. (2002). New Educational Policies for Developing Regional Partnerships in Europe : Analyses and Case Studies, International Journal on Educational Policy. Research and Practice (3) 1, 5-26. Zay, Danielle (2005). Preventing School and Social Exclusion. A French-British Comparative Study. EERJ, 4 (2), 2005, 109-120. Zay, D. (2009). Inclusion and Education in European countries. Final report : 4. France. Lepelstraat : DOCA Bureaus. Zay, D. (2011). Cooperative school model to promote intercultural dialogue between citizens-to-be. Policy Futures in Education, 9 (1), 96-103. ERIC n° EJ918301 : www.eric.ed.gov
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