Inclusion/Exclusion? Historically Complicating ’In’s and ‘Out’s Concerning Education
Abstract
Inclusion has become a focal point in education. Research institutions, international organisations, national governments and agencies increasingly support inclusive youth programmes and education systems to promote equal opportunity, social justice, etc. Nonetheless, as social, cultural and political constructions, inclusion and exclusion continue to trigger controversies. Network 17 invites proposals for ECER 2018 in Bolzano in the form of papers, symposia, roundtables, research workshops, pecha kuchas, video presentations and posters that aim to historically interrogate this dichotomy. While the Network welcomes any contribution related to the main conference theme, it particularly encourages the use of underexplored sources, new theories and methods and also suggests some specific research foci (see below).
Specific research foci:
- Inclusion and exclusion: meanings and ideologies
In the public sphere, notions of educational inclusion are extremely present. These have been variably linked to specific topics over time. Related concepts include equality, equity, diversity and democracy, which are in turn tied up with notions of class, gender, race/ethnicity, disability, etc. The shaping of such notions can be studied at all levels from the local, to the regional and the national, through to the transnational. How have the meanings of educational inclusion and exclusion changed across different ideological contexts? What critical junctures have been key? And what interests and processes are behind them?
- Inclusion, exclusion and the legacy of movements
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of celebrated social movements. Student movements raised various issues concerned with education and social marginalization of specific groups (women, disadvantaged people, ethnic minorities, disabled people, etc.). Around that time in many countries there were attempts to “go comprehensive”. How can we rethink the legacy of such movements on both sides of the Iron Curtain not just in terms of political outcomes, but also of new, potentially disruptive pedagogical practices?
- Inclusion and exclusion in everyday educational practices
The everyday life dimension, as an interesting research area, may reveal particular inclusive and exclusive dynamics. It may shed light on hidden aspects of political reforms, their implementation and/or diversion or subversion. It may also offer fresh insights into struggles between individual actors, professional groups and forms of social resilience or political opposition: how have educators promoted inclusive educational practices as acts of resistance in times of ethnic, religious or political persecution?
- Inclusion and exclusion in educational spaces and school design
Scholarship has highlighted how the educational environment and material conditions play a crucial role in promoting inclusion and exclusion. Papers may address the following questions: how have school furniture, architecture and objects perpetuated marginalisation? Does inclusion as a paradigm change the way that schools and other educational spaces have been designed?
- Inclusion and exclusion in educational media
It is common knowledge that, historically, the underrepresentation of specific subjects in textbooks, documentaries, films, etc. has characterized educational media production. How have underrepresented subjects been described or integrated in mainstream media? What has been the impact of these forms of exclusion on the construction of collective identities in various contexts?
Contact person(s)
Helena Ribeiro de Castro (<link window for sending>hribeiro.castro@gmail.com), Iveta Kestere (<link window for sending>iveta.kestere@lu.lv), Elena Tabacchi, Geert Thyssen, Pieter Verstraete, Christian Ydesen