1st Edition

From Them to Us An International Study of Inclusion in Education

Edited By Mel Ainscow, Tony Booth Copyright 1998

    Inclusive education has become a phrase with international currency shaping the content of conferences and national educational policies around the world. But what does it mean? Is it about including a special group of disabled learners or students seen to have 'special needs' (them) or is it concerned with making educational institutions inclusive, responsive to the diversity of all their students (us)?
    In this unique comparative study, the editors have brought together an international team of researchers from eight countries to develop case-studies which explore the processes of inclusion and exclusion within a school or group of schools set in its local and national context. The study includes classroom observation, the experiences of the school day of students and interviews with staff, students, parents and school governors. Through an innovative juxtaposition of the case-studies and commentaries on them, differences of perspective within and between countries are revealed and analysed.
    The study arose from a dissatisfaction with previous research, which presents 'national perspectives' or seeks findings that have global significance. This book avoids such simplification and draws attention to the problems of translation of practice across cultures. The editors start from an assumption of diversity of perspective which like the diversity of students within schools can be viewed as problematic or as a resource to be recognized and celebrated.

    List of contributors, Acknowledgements, 1 From them to us: setting up the study, 2 USA: I kind of wonder if we’re fooling ourselves, 3 USA Response: Liberating voices?, 4 Scotland: Mainstreaming at the margins, 5 Scotland Response: Professionals at the centre?, 6 New Zealand: Inclusive school, inclusive philosophy? 7 New Zealand Response: One philosophy or two?, 8 Norway: Adapted education for all? 9 Norway Response: Adapted education for some?, 10 The Netherlands: A springboard for other initiatives, 11 The Netherlands Response: Plunging into inclusion?, 12 Ireland: Integration as appropriate, segregation where necessary, 13 Ireland Response: Limited resources for inclusion?, 14 Australia: Inclusion through categorisation?, 15 Australia Response: Paying attention to disorder?, 16 England: Inclusion and exclusion in a competitive system, 17 England Response: We wonder if we’re fooling ourselves, 18 Making comparisons: drawing conclusions, Bibliography, Name index, Subject index

    Biography

    Mel Ainscow, Tony Booth