Enhancing Inclusive Education through Engagement with Individual Perspectives: a matter of philosophy, methodology and pedagogy

Author(s):

Jane Tarr(presenting / submitting)Diana Tsokova(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 06 B, Effective Provision: Improving Education

Parallel Paper Session

Time:

2012-09-19

15:30-17:00

Room:

FFL - Aula 17

Chair:

Philip Ferguson

Contribution

This paper seeks to present a research process that assembled different perspectives on inclusive education from a range of stakeholders including parents, children, teachers, teaching assistants, educational psychologists, social workers, health practitioners and members of the community and voluntary sector. The study was initiated with a key question ‘how different stakeholders perceived their roles and responsibilities in relation to inclusive school communities.

The theoretical framework that was being tested builds on the validity of extended schools and children’s centres developed during the new Labour government in Uk (1997-2009). In these contexts professionals and community members who contribute to the healthy development, well-being and education of all children and young people are drawn together to enable every young learner to thrive and flourish within an inclusive school community. Such an educational context may be able to provide for all children and develop an ethos of respect for difference, equality, social justice, and social cohesion.

Azzopardi (2008:11) argues that ‘inclusive education’ needs to be viewed as a process located within the culture, policies and practices of a whole school and community.’ He therefore suggests that research into it should draw on an ‘assortment of contexts: school, family, disabled and parent activists, policy-makers, service providers and trade unionists’. This research aims to draw on a similar breadth of perspectives. Slee (2011:104) too endorses the importance of aiming for such an emancipatory worldview based in the analysis of the complex social factors in schools ‘that more or less disable or enable children’. The framework draws on emancipatory disability studies and the social model of disability (Oliver 1996, Barnes 2002); on dialogue as a fundamental way of human engagement (Sidorkin 1999, Bakhtin 1981)and on Vygotsky and Freire 1971, 2009 in relation to inclusive pedagogy.

Method

Narrative life stories were collected through single interviews with a wide range of stakeholders around inclusive school communities including parents, children, teachers, teaching assistants, educational psychologists, social workers, health practitioners and members of the community and voluntary sector. All the contributors were known to us through our professional lives and as such were prepared to discuss openly their lives and influences on their beliefs and values around inclusive education. This process emphasised the importance of intellectual and emotional engagement from contributors through the sharing of their stories, together with our listening and learning (Young 2000). As researchers in the project we also present our own life story narratives as further data to review. Such a methodological approach could be regarded both as a precondition and means of ethical research into inclusive education. In education, engagement with diverse perspectives complexly challenges learners to simultaneously respect, hold and advance the individual and the collective with particular attention to transformative action/agency (Griffiths 2003). It is intended that through a reflection upon life experiences each person might recognise and perhaps gain a deeper insight into the importance of their agency within the political nature of inclusive school communities.

Expected Outcomes

We have drawn out from our research some key learning points which are useful to explore. The structure of the crafted life stories enabled us to gain insights about the relationships between the components of early life experiences, professional experiences, and individual conceptual understandings of inclusion and roles leading to responsibilities and potential actions for enhancing inclusive school communities. Data gathered gives an early indication of links between early life and educational experiences with how individuals define their understanding of inclusive education and how they feel themselves as agents in the process of developing inclusive school communities. What change can be brought about by such insight? In terms of inclusive school communities the transformative potential is that ‘listening to the various stakeholders and of allowing the voices of people at the sharp end of inclusive practice’ to be heard holds opportunity to ‘be instrumental in the development of such services.’ Jones (2003:159). Our experience, reflections and thoughts provoked by this research process enhanced our understanding of what may be some potential markers of inclusive school communities.

References

Azzopardi, A. (2009). Reading stories of inclusion: Engaging with different perspectives towards an agenda for inclusion. Germany: VDM Verlag. Bakhtin, M. M. (1981) The dialogic imagination: four essays. Austin : University of Texas Press, 1981. Barnes, C. (2002) Emancipatory Disability Research: Project or Process?, Journal of Research on Special Educational Needs, 1(2) Buber, M. (1959) I and thou. Edinburgh: Clark. Friere P (1971) Pedagogy of the Oppressed New York: Continuum Publishing Company Freire, P. (2009) Pedagogy of Hope. Continuum: London & NY Griffiths, M. (2003) Action for Social Justice in Education. Fairly different. Open University Press: Maidenhead, Berks and Philadephia ,PA USA Jones, P.(2003) The synergy between research and practice: listening to the perspectives of key stakeholders about the development of an inclusive early years service Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs Volume 3 Number 2 p.159 Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability: From theory to practice. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Sidorkin, A. (1999) Beyond Discourse: Education, the Self and Dialogue Albany: State University New York Slee, R. (2011) Irregular School. Exclusion, Schooling and Inclusive Education, London&NY: Routledge Vygotsky (in Russian) Выготский Л. С (1983) Собрание сочинений: В 6 т, М.: Педагогика.

Author Information

Jane Tarr (presenting / submitting)

University of the West of England Bristol UK

Education

BRISTOL

Diana Tsokova (presenting)

Institute of Education, University of London

EYPE/PHD

London

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.