Diversity And Inclusion Research Paper

Defining the term ‘inclusion’, according to Sikes at al. (2007:366), ‘is a thorny and controversial task which has occupied many commentators over the years’. Many have also argued that ‘inclusion is a bewildering concept which can have a variety of interpretations and applications’ (Avramidis et al., 2002:158 cited Hansen, 2011:62). One might consider inclusion in relation to acknowledging diversity - people differ in all sorts of ways from race and ethnicity, culture and belief, gender and sexuality, age and social status. It is recognised that some people find it more difficult to have their voice heard in mainstream society, and inclusion is about positively striving to meet these needs of different people and taking deliberate action to

However, the term inclusion has long been associated with children with special educational needs (Kilburn & Mills, 2012). This association also requires clarification, as Ainscow et al. (2006) explains the difficulty of defining inclusion, by distinguishing between narrow and broad definitions; narrow referring to aspects of SEN, and the broad to all aspects of marginalisation and diversity. This contrasts the thoughts of Armstrong et al. (2010) who points out the key dangers in stating ‘the meaning of inclusion is by no means clear and perhaps conveniently blurs the edges of social policy with ‘feel-good’ rhetoric that no-one could be opposed to (cited Kilburn & Mills,

It also became obvious that these children were experiencing inappropriate teaching as the teachers of the time had no specific training. Educationalists and society ultimately came to the opinion that children with special educational needs were hindering ‘normal’ teaching and limiting the progress of ‘normal’ children (Coune, 2003 cited Frederickson & Cline, 2009). Due to higher incurred costs of providing appropriate special education, which many school-boards could not afford, led to the isolation of children with special needs and segregation from their peers, something that, today, the followers of social constructivist, Vygotsky, would